August 30, 2015 by Amy

Spin Again Sunday: Family Affair Game (1968)

Readers of my Family Affair series should enjoy this Spin Again Sunday entry. I have already blogged about the relatively common Whitman Family Affair board game from 1971. Today, I’ll show you a much harder-to-find treasure.

Today’s Game: Family Affair Game.

Copyright Date: 1968.

Manufacturer: Remco.

Game Box: Its copy tells us this is “an exciting game for 2, 3, or 4 people” that is “based on the exciting CBS TV series.” Remco didn’t need to lay the excitement on so thick–the color photos make this box exciting enough for any Family Affair fan. We see nine cast photos, arranged scrapbook-style around the game’s title.

This image of French is my favorite.

Other highlights:

A nice photo of Uncle Bill.

And this one of Buffy and Jody.

The edges of the box also feature a photo.

With such a great box, it almost doesn’t matter what’s inside…but let’s take a look anyway.

Game Board: It’s minimalist depiction of Central Park is a bit of a let down. The bright colors and the drawing style are very 1960s, however.

The game’s cardboard insert is actually more interesting.

These caricatures are pretty well done, although Buffy looks a little generic.

These caricatures are cute, although Buffy looks a little generic.

And Buffy’s doll is completely unrecognizable. Maybe depicting Mrs. Beasley would have brought Remco into conflict with companies licensed to market her?

Game Pieces: The pawns depict the same caricatures that appear on the box insert.

Only Uncle Bill is missing, for reasons that will soon become clear.

(Incidentally, I think this artist nailed Jody’s essential derpiness.)

The cardboard caricatures slide into these plastic bases.

It’s nice that you don’t have to choose which Davis family member you want to be–each player gets to be all four characters!

Game Play: Players make a simple circuit around the board, and the first “Davis family” to reach home wins.

Uncle Bill is waiting at home for them. Don't you just love his mid-century modern chair?

Uncle Bill is waiting at home. Don’t you just love his mid-century modern chair?

When players come to a Roll Dice square on the board, they must stop and do just that. What happens next depends on the number they roll and where they are in the park. Instructions on the game’s cardboard insert spell things out:

Besides the “Roll Dice” squares, the board includes a few other spaces that can slow players down or speed them up on their journey to Uncle Bill.

Box Blooper: The instructions on the inside of the lid refer to Cissy as “Sissy.”

My Thoughts: The game play is not very exciting at all, box copy notwithstanding. The photos must have been quite a draw for young Family Affair fans in 1968, though–and Ebay prices show that it is still a draw for fans today.

Other Spin Again Sunday posts you might enjoy:

Batman Game

Mork & Mindy Game

Dating Game

May 24, 2015 by Amy

Spin Again Sunday: Batman Game, 1966

Today’s Game: Batman Game.

Copyright Date: 1966.

Manufacturer: Milton Bradley.

Recommended Ages: 8 to 15.

Game Box: Bold primary colors predominate, with Batman front and center. He’s looking ripped and, based on his body posture, feeling a bit cocky. Below the big red title, we see Batman and Robin in action against a Gotham City skyline. (I like the Joker-faced jack-in-the-box jumping out at Robin.) Above the title, we see spaceships, Saturn, and other cosmic orbs. I’m sure space-age imagery appealed to boys, but is space really in Batman’s purview?

Game Board: The central portrait shows Batman and Robin, um…leaping off a building into the path of the Joker’s car? That seems risky, but I’m sure they have a reasonable plan. Except for the Batman lettering, the colors seem washed-out on the board compared to the box lid. In the four corners of the playing grid, we see some Gotham City locales.

Game Pieces: Each player gets a Bat Control Board, which shows the six villains who need to be captured. My husband is something of a comic book expert (at least based on the square footage that his collection takes up in our house), so I ran these villains by him to double-check my sense that they seemed strange. Besides commenting that “they look like they were drawn by a fifth grader,” he said The Blockbuster and The Calendar Man never appeared on the 1966-68 TV series, and the Penguin and the Riddler look very different from their TV counterparts. That’s not surprising, I suppose, because this game was probably in the works before the show debuted. But he didn’t think any of the characters looked much like their 1960s comic-book counterparts, either.

Game Play: Players move a plastic “pedestrian” around the board’s outside track. Their goal is to land on a corner space that contains a Batmobile piece. If they do so, they roll again and move into the board’s circular track. On their next turn, they can finally move into the 36-square grid, onto which villain tiles have been placed. (These match the pictures on the Bat Control Board.) Players capture the villain tiles they land on. There are also Super Crime Lab tiles that act as wild cards, substituting for any villain on a player’s Bat Control Board.

Winning the Game: The first player to capture all six different villain tiles wins.

My Thoughts: Game play is simple and some of the art work is questionable, but I think target-age superhero fans would have enjoyed this one.

Other Spin Again Sunday posts you might enjoy:

Gomer Pyle

Planet of the Apes Game

Dragnet

January 11, 2015 by Amy

Spin Again Sunday: Mork & Mindy Game, 1979

The world lost one its most beloved entertainers in 2014. The role that first brought Robin Williams into the national spotlight also catapulted him onto toy-store shelves in 1979. Mork & Mindy spawned a card game, as well as a board game. I was in fourth grade when Mork & Mindy hit the airwaves, and it wasn’t long before my classmates were wearing rainbow suspenders and trying to speak Orkan. I’m sure many of us had this game; I remember playing it, but I’m not sure whether I owned it or a friend did.

This Week’s Game: Mork & Mindy Game.

Copyright Date: 1979.

Manufacturer: Parker Brothers.

Box: A full-color photo of the title characters spreads across the whole lid. It’s strange, though, that Parker Brothers chose a shot that provides a better view of Mindy’s face than Mork’s. He was unquestionably the show’s main draw, especially for young viewers.

The back of the box provides and black-and-white photo of the game board and an explanation of the game. And this game does require quite a bit of explaining.

The back of the box features a black-and-white photo of the game board and an explanation of the game. And this game does require quite a bit of explaining.

Recommended Ages: 7 to 14.

Object: Collecting more “grebbles” than other players. These, apparently, are Orkan coins.

Board: Against a green background, we have an oval game track in vivid shades of pink, purple, red, and orange. These spaces prominently feature Orkan words like “wump,” “splink,” and “nimnul.”

Illustrations of Mork and Mindy surround the track, and Mork does dominate here–he shows up twice as often as Mindy. (These illustrations are pretty good as game-board art goes and much better than those on the card game I linked above.)

A large egg labeled “Orson’s Nest Egg” fills up one corner, while the opposite corner shows six small egg-shaped spaces and a “Gleek Space.”

Game Pieces: The game includes 50 Grebble coins, which players try to collect. As pawns, they use colored cardboard markers that slide into a plastic base. One cardboard marker has the word Gleek on it; a player who rolls a six slides it into his or her plastic base along with the regular marker.

The game also includes Mork’s splinkblinker, which I’ll try to explain below.

Game Play: The grebbles start the game in Orson’s Nest Egg. Players move around the track and do a lot of splinking, which is apparently Orkan for bluffing. The player who lands on an “Everybody Splink” space drops both dice into the splinkblinker. He or she looks at the numbers showing, turns to the player on the left and announces any two numbers. The player on the left says “Kayo” if he or she believes the original player and “Shazbot” if he or she thinks the original player is lying. If the second player has guessed correctly, he or she wins two grebbles. Otherwise, the original player wins the grebbles. The splinking process repeats around the table until everyone has had a chance to guess.

Other spaces give players a chance to take grebbles from other players, to win grebbles by “making contact” with Orson, and to place a grebble in the “Grebble Up” row of eggs. A player who completes a row of at least three grebbles in the “Grebble Up” row wins them all.

The player who roles a six and possesses the “gleek” (until another player roles a six) has his or her grebble-earning power doubled and can’t lose grebbles to other players.

When Orson’s Nest Egg is empty, the player with the most grebbles wins.

“Sound confusing? Sound exciting? Sound like daffy fun?” the box asks. Well…confusing, certainly.

My Thoughts: It seems a bit over-complicated. I’m not sure my friends and I would have made it through a whole game, but we would have had fun spouting Orkan words at each other.

Bonus Feature: If reading about the game has made you want to revisit Mork & Mindy, this Season 1 gag reel is lots of fun. Be forewarned however: There’s strong language here, and it’s not Orkan.

Other Spin Again Sunday posts you might enjoy:

Happy Days

Laverne & Shirley

Charlie’s Angels

July 13, 2014 by Amy

Spin Again Sunday: The Muppet Show Game (1977)

Almost two years ago, I featured a 1979 Muppet Show game. Today’s version, from 1977, is special to me because I actually owned it as a child. (I probably received it as a gift for my ninth birthday.)

Today’s Game: The Muppet Show Game

Copyright Date: 1977.

Manufacturer: Parker Brothers.

Box: A colorful photographic array of Muppets and a large Muppet Show logo must have made this eye-catching in the toy aisle.

Recommended Ages: 7 to 14.

Board: It is meant to resemble a stage, with dressing rooms at the bottom and footlights at the top. Most squares are blank floor spaces, but others identify starting and stopping points for various “sets.”

This is a “set” for Veterinarian Hospital.

Various Muppets (including my daughter’s favorite, Janice) show up in illustrated form at the very top of the game board. This illustration is similar to the one on the 1979 game box.

Pawns: These feature double-sided photographs of eight characters. They make up color-coded teams, and each player manipulates both members of his or her team.

Object: Getting your two pawns, plus the color-coded set associated with them, from their starting spots on the board to their ending spots near the footlights.

Here you can see dressing rooms, where characters start the game, as well as two starting points for sets.

The photo above shows ending points for several characters and sets.

Game Play: A Muppet Show “script” guides players on their journey.

First, they use this double spinner to determine their act and scene numbers.

Then, they look that combination up in this script, which tells them how many spaces they can move either their set or one of their Muppets. They can move forward, backwards, sideways, and–if specifically told to do so–diagonally. Occasionally, they get a chance to move another player’s Muppet. They can also try to block other players with their own Muppets.

My Thoughts: This is a simple game, but the character pawns and unique way of moving them makes it fun to play.

Other Spin Again Sunday posts you might enjoy:

Bewitched

Family Affair

The Bride Game

June 8, 2014 by Amy

Spin Again Sunday: Apple’s Way (1974)

Remember the TV show Apple’s Way? I do, just barely. Earl Hamner created it as a modern take on the family themes that The Waltons explored so successfully.Wikipedia tells me that the Apple family followed that 1970s dream of ditching the urban rat race and retreating to the country.

The set is the main thing that impressed me as a child: The Apples’ house had a cool interior and a working mill outside. Also, I remember one episode in which the little boy got hit by a car. At least, I think I remember that–my memory for TV details is notoriously unreliable.

The show lasted two short seasons, which was enough to launch a board game. The box seems to overstate things a bit, though, when it says, “From the popular TV show.”

Today’s Game: Apple’s Way.

Copyright Date: 1974.

Manufacturer: Milton Bradley.

Box: A photo of the cast–including Ronny Cox as the dad and Vince Van Patten as the older son–superimposed on an attention-getting hot-pink background. Kristy McNichol played the younger daughter in the second season, replacing actress Frannie Michel. A Van Patten and Kristy McNichol…yep, this is a 1970s family drama. (Thanks to commenter Matt for pointing out my mistake in the first version of this posting.)

Recommended Ages: 7 to 15.

Object: Be the first to match all your cards.

Game Board: Old-timey drawings of the mill alternate with color photos from the series.

This close-up from the board shows that the Apples had a lamb.

They also had a dog, apparently.

And dinnerware that resembles Corelle.

Game Pieces: Players move standard plastic pawns. Green and yellow cards show the Apple family engaging in typical activities at home and in the community.

Life for the Apples was a never-ending whirlwind of excitement.

Game Play: Players get four yellow cards at the start. They move around the board and try to land on the picture spaces, where they can pick up green cards. The goal is to get green cards that match the numbers and activities on the yellow cards. Manufacturers add a few wrinkles to make things more interesting. For example, a player must announce whether he’s looking for a “Home” or “Away” card before he chooses a green card. If he gets the type of card wrong, he has to show the card to all the other players before putting it back in its pile.

My Thoughts: On the plus side, I always like a TV game that includes color photos from the show.

This isn’t the most exciting game in the world, but it does seem to match the excitement level on the show, judging from this–the most boring TV opening imaginable:

Other Spin Again Sunday posts you might enjoy:

The Waltons

The Patty Duke Game

Happy Days

May 4, 2014 by Amy

Spin Again Sunday: The Bionic Woman (1976)

Last week, we explored the game inspired by that 1970s icon, the Six Million Dollar Man. This week, we turn to the fairer electromechanical sex.

This Week’s Game: The Bionic Woman.

Manufactured by: Parker Brothers.

Copyright Date: 1976.

Recommended Ages: 7 to 12. (Curious that Parker Brothers recommended the Six Million Dollar Man game for ages 7 to 14. Perhaps they figured that girls mature earlier and set aside toys like this at a younger age.)

Box: My copy is a bit faded, but the color scheme is vivid greed and hot pink. We get a pretty close-up illustration of Jaime Sommers, along with her “autograph.” The action scene seems to show her trying to capture a mountain lion with a wispy net. I wonder what that mountain lion ever did to her.

Game Board: It’s disappointingly generic–trails of white dots and pink lines across some forested terrain. Looking closer, you can see some situations crying out for bionic attention, including a power plant inferno.

There’s also this train derailment.

Object: “Jaime Sommers, the Bionic Woman, needs your help. She must travel by airplane, helicopter, and automobile to carry out many dangerous adventures. Your job is to help Jaime through these adventures and assist her whenever you can. If you cover a lot of territory and complete the Top Secret Assignment…you may win the game.”

Game Play: I’ll try to make this as simple as possible, which is more than I can say for Parker Brothers.

That’s a lot of words.

All players start at “H.Q.,” and receive an Adventure Card telling them where to go and how many points they will earn.

These cards make you understand how tough Jaime’s life must be. She not only does standard superhero stuff like stopping runaway school buses, but must also be on call to repair faulty hospital equipment.

Players head to the space on the board that corresponds to their adventure number. They can either travel by “automobile”–following the white circles; by “helicopter”–sliding up or down the pink lines; or by “airplane,” which requires landing on an Airport space by exact count and then moving to any other Airport space.

When you complete your adventure, you can accept your points or take a double-or-nothing gamble that requires rolling 7 or higher. Then you start a new adventure. When a player rolls double ones or sixes, their mission becomes a Special Assignment, which earns 50 bonus points. After players have completed four Special Assignments, the next double ones or sixes trigger a Top Secret Assignment. That carries 100 bonus points, and its completion ends the game. Since the player with the most points wins, getting the Top Secret Assignment is usually the deciding factor.

Six Million Dollar Shout-Out: Sometimes, instead of an adventure card, players receive a “Steve Austin Assists” card. The idea that Jaime requires this assistance seems a little sexist. And since Steve only lets you double-roll one die, his help isn’t worth much.

Game Pieces: Regular plastic pawns. There are also white plastic clips players attach to their cards–one clip designates a Special Assignment; two clips indicate a Top Secret Assignment.

My Thoughts: I would have been thrilled to receive this game in 1976. I don’t think I would have played it much, though, after scanning those intimidating instructions. If anything, my friends and I might have come up with our own simplified scenario.

Bonus Feature: For a show that only lasted two years, The Bionic Woman inspired many toys. Kenner’s Jaime doll was surprisingly ugly, but it was fun to open her leg panels to see her bionic parts. And, as you can see here, her bionic side and her feminine side co-existed happily.

She had many cool accessories (the dome house!), documented on the fun site Retrojunk.

Other Spin Again Sunday posts you might enjoy:

S.W.A.T.

The Muppet Show

Patty Duke

April 27, 2014 by Amy

Spin Again Sunday: The Six Million Dollar Man (1975)

Today’s Game: The Six Million Dollar Man.

Copyright Date: 1975.

Manufactured by: Parker Brothers.

Recommended Ages: 7 to 14.

Game Box: In shades of blue, we see Steve Austin’s face, with circles radiating out from his zoom-lens left eye. The bold red game name makes a nice contrast with the background blue. Four inset drawings show Steve rescuing a stranded astronaut, preventing a nuclear background attempt, knocking out an international crime ring, and locating an underwater missile network. All in a day’s work when you’re part cyborg.

Game Board: The same four assignment drawings are featured here, along with some bright 1970s green and orange graphics. I like the “futuristic” font on the Power squares.

Computer spinner

Game Pieces: I love the “computer spinner.” The pawns show Steve running (in slow motion, no doubt).

Nice track suit, Steve.

Object: “Each player controls a bionic man–but only one is the real Six Million Dollar Man. The first player to complete his 4 assignments wins the game, proving that he’s the Six Million Dollar Man.

Game Play: It’s basically a race through the four assignments on the board, with a few elements added to make it more interesting. Players get and lose Power cards throughout the game. Without at least one of these cards in their possession, players lose a turn. At the end of each assignment, you have to roll a certain number, or higher, to move forward. Each failure to move forward costs a player a Power card.

Random Oddity: At the bottom of the instructions are these words: “We will be glad to answer inquiries concerning these rules.” A mailing address in Salem, Massachusetts, is listed. In a game with a high-tech theme, it’s funny to see this reminder of how far we’ve come since the 1970s. Can you imagine using snail mail to ask a question about a game and having to wait days or weeks for a response?

My Thoughts: If you were going to a boy’s birthday party in the mid-1970s, this would have been an ideal gift. Personally, I was more of a Bionic Woman fan. I’ll review that show’s game next week.

Other Spin Again Sunday posts you might enjoy:

Charlie’s Angels

Dragnet

The Waltons

Embarrassing Treasures

Evoking bygone amusements and guilty pleasures

Tag Archives: Vintage Toys

Spin Again Sunday: Family Affair Game (1968)

Spin Again Sunday: Batman Game, 1966

Spin Again Sunday: Mork & Mindy Game, 1979

Spin Again Sunday: The Muppet Show Game (1977)

Spin Again Sunday: Apple’s Way (1974)

Spin Again Sunday: The Bionic Woman (1976)

Spin Again Sunday: The Six Million Dollar Man (1975)

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