# Found a DIFFERENT electric toy from the '60s...



## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

Picked this up at a yard sale in Bethlehem, PA:



















the box says Rams and Cowboys...










but the guys in black uniforms sure look like Steelers to me...










--rick


----------



## 1976Cordoba (Sep 20, 2000)

Are these dudes HO scale? - lol


----------



## bobhch (Apr 22, 2007)

Cool find rick,

I remember playing with these as a kid. They came with little foam footballs and even had a slot for a kicker that worked to kick off the ball...Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, bzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Here are your boys...(click on link below)

http://cgi.ebay.com/OLD-TUDOR-ELECT...tem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5193e03cad

and here are the Rams...(clicke again)

http://cgi.ebay.com/Tudor-Electric-...tem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item45f40127f8

Blue, 42, blue, 42, hut, hut, hut...hike. lol I wonder if these caused interference with TVs too?

Bob...bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...zilla


----------



## bobwoodly (Aug 25, 2008)

I had one too. There was a comedian who did a bit on how crappy those were. I loved mine although it never worked too well. Don't think I ever completed a pass with the felt football. They had a baseball version that was even more lame.


----------



## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

Apparently there is a hardcore group of fans who collect these and still play with them:

http://www.miggle.com/products/news/

http://miniaturefootball.org/

http://www.electricarenafootball.com/

Imagine that. A bunch of wacky geezers playing with some antiquated electric toys from their childhood... 

--rick


----------



## Joe65SkylarkGS (Feb 15, 2010)

I had that set!!!!!!!:thumbsup:


----------



## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

Joe65SkylarkGS said:


> I had that set!!!!!!!:thumbsup:


You remember what year it was from? I'm thinking this was very late '60s or early '70s but that's as close as I can guess...

--rick


----------



## Joe65SkylarkGS (Feb 15, 2010)

ParkRNDL said:


> You remember what year it was from? I'm thinking this was very late '60s or early '70s but that's as close as I can guess...
> 
> --rick




I'd say early 70's. I was born 65 so in 73 I would have been 8. I'd say 73 to 76.


----------



## bobwoodly (Aug 25, 2008)

Wikipedia - "In 1947, Tudor Games created electric football, using a vibrating car race game made by Tudor as the base for the game technology. Electric football was an immediate hit. More than 40 million of the games have been sold since its creation, and new editions are sold each year. " I had one in the late 1960's

In Bill Bryson's "The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir," the author describes electric football as "The worst toy of the decade [the 1950s], possibly the worst toy ever built...it took forever to set up each play because the men were so fiddly and kept falling over, and because you argued continuously with your opponent about what formations were legal and who got to position the final man...it hardly mattered how they were set up because electric football players never went in the direction intended. In practice what happened was that half the players instantly fell over and lay twitching violently as if suffering from some extreme gastric disorder, while the others streamed off in as many different directions as there were upright players before eventually clumping together in a corner, where they pushed against the unyielding sides like victims of a nightclub fire at a locked exit. The one exception to this was the running back who just trembled in place for five or six minutes, then slowly turned and went on an unopposed glide toward the wrong end zone until knocked over with a finger on the two-yard line by his distressed manager, occasioning more bickering."


----------



## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

ROFL ROFL ROFL... i tried it out, that's exactly what they do...

--rick


----------



## videojimmy (Jan 12, 2006)

I loved the baseball version, My buddy and I played it all the time. We made our own rules, which made the game more realistic and playable. I also had the race car game too, kinda fun, but after awhile I figured out which car, in which lane, would always win


----------



## RUSSELL ZACHRY (Aug 4, 1999)

I have several different sets of the electric football games including one from 1948 I think. We had a blast with those too, when I was a kid in the early 70's.
The men from the 1948 set are all metal.

Russell


----------



## Dslot (Sep 2, 2007)

Here's the one I remember (or much like it). 










Unpainted plastic men, two little celluloid flippers under the bases instead of the cast-in-place whiskers that the later ones had. The kid next door had the set and my experience with it :freak: made certain I'd never ask for one.



bobwoodly said:


> "... half the players instantly fell over and lay twitching violently ... while the others streamed off in ... different directions ... before eventually clumping together in a corner, ... The one exception to this was the running back who just trembled in place for five or six minutes, then slowly turned and went on an unopposed glide toward the wrong end zone..."


A fair description, missing only the players who liked to spend the whole play spinning in place.

It's amazing, and a testament to the power of childhood longing, that this unworkable gizmo sold 40 million copies. It shows the power of offering a kid a chance to create a world in miniature that is not just a static display, but moves and acts - in a scale that allows him some measure of control over those actions. That's the core appeal of electric football, model trains, slot cars, and miniature wargames. Now *YOU* can command an army or sports team, take the wheel of a powerful race car or the throttle of a massive locomotive; it's *just like the real thing*! 

It never is, of course, but our ten-year old imaginations surf for years on the wave of hope that if I can just solve this little problem or tweak the toy in that way, it _*will*_ be (or close enough, anyway). I sometimes think that it's the memory of that bygone state of hope and optimism and excited anticipation, as much as the toy itself, that fuels adult nostalgia for these toys. 

-- D


----------



## vaBcHRog (Feb 19, 2003)

Mine came with metal bases and a magnetic football so you didn't have to just hit your reciever the ball had to stick to the base.

Roger Corrie


----------



## RacerDave (Mar 28, 2006)

Nice blast from the past. I loved electric football as a kid. My brother and I played all the time. We even used to send away for the different teams thru the mail. Dave.


----------



## rod766 (May 11, 2010)

I have the one with the colt vs cowboys super bowl 4, I think. Just had it out the past weekend. Everybody complained about the noise but I kind enjoyed the sound.:thumbsup:


----------



## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

Noise, that brings back memories.
A neighbor had the Superbowl X Cowboys vs. Steelers. (X or XIII?)
He put some change on it to see how loud it would be.

I wonder how much that one is worth now??


----------



## tjetsgrig (Nov 1, 2009)

Dslot said:


> It's amazing, and a testament to the power of childhood longing, that this unworkable gizmo sold 40 million copies. It shows the power of offering a kid a chance to create a world in miniature that is not just a static display, but moves and acts - in a scale that allows him some measure of control over those actions. That's the core appeal of electric football, model trains, slot cars, and miniature wargames. Now *YOU* can command an army or sports team, take the wheel of a powerful race car or the throttle of a massive locomotive; it's *just like the real thing*!
> 
> It never is, of course, but our ten-year old imaginations surf for years on the wave of hope that if I can just solve this little problem or tweak the toy in that way, it _*will*_ be (or close enough, anyway). I sometimes think that it's the memory of that bygone state of hope and optimism and excited anticipation, as much as the toy itself, that fuels adult nostalgia for these toys.
> 
> -- D


And there you have it folks!! Couldn't have said it any better!! 

Now, I'm headed to the shop to fuel my adult nostalgia!!

Jim Sgrig


----------



## Dyno Dom (May 26, 2007)

A following for almost anything. Our HO club had a very knowledgeable
member many years ago. He originally raced scratchbuilt 1/32nd cars on home routed tracks for a travel series on East coast. Unfortunately, he became bored w/slot racing & went on to electric table top football. Apparently, it is very workable. He modified the pcs. to run plays, custom
painted the helmets/jerseys for current players & competed in national events on sports programs. :thumbsup:


----------

