So, I was reading Maxim and there is a part in the magazine that has gift ideas or something like that. One of the gift ideas was Electric Football. Now, Ive seen these things before on tv or in magazines, but Ive never actually seen it in action. What the heck is it? I dont quite understand how you control these little magnet players. I dont understand how you kick field goals. I dont understand how you pass to your wide receivers. I dont understand anything about it. Anyone play this or have a clue on how it all works? I tried a search and I saw a bunch of message boards for it. Where have I been?
If you are talking about that game where the whole metal board vibrates and the little dudes move around on the board, I had one of those when I was a kid. You don't pass or kick field goals. You just set up your guys and the vibration does the work until an opponent runs into you. When you were living in a pre-Asteroids (even) world, this is what you did for entertainment. Now, it has kitch value.
Pass? Field goals? Playoffs? PLAYOFFS? Man, most of the time this game better resembled a hoe-down than a football game. You would take a piece of cotton (football) and stuff it under the arm of the player, then hit the switch and watch the players vibrate around until someone either got to the end zone or went out of bounds. Most of the time the players would connect arms and spin around in a circle(hoe-down). I must admit, it was a fun game!
Maybe you had a different version, but I remember having a qb that could actually pass. You had to put that tiny felt/cotton football in his arm, bend it back and try to hit your receiver. If you hit him it was considered a catch. I can't remember all the detail but I do remember being able to pass.
Supposedly, this new one that Maxim was advertising, you make passes and kick field goals. I have no clue how that goes down. Here is a quote from the president, found on www.miggle.com. "Electric Football is "the most realistic tabletop football game of all time" because players have hands-on control of the running, passing, defense and kicking elements of the game. In other words, you are the team owner, coach and quarterback all at once. It is these features that have helped the game grow since it was originally introduced in the 1940s." What the F?
Ah, actually if you had one circa 1984-5, which is when I think I got mine from my grandparents (who apparently did not realize that the existance of video games had made electric football pretty well obsolete), the QB could throw and kick the ball. They called it the "triple threat QB". You cocked his arm back (it was bendable plastic) and it clicked into place, like a cable tie or something, and then you released it by pressing a little plastic lever. This would propel the ball down the field, although never near any of the actual players. Here's the best image I could find. This is the exact model I had. It's a little indistrinct but you can kind of make out the r****ded QB deal:
I had one as a kid and I bought myself a new one about 8 years ago. It's time-consuming as hell (IF you can find someone to play), but alot of fun. The players have a base with little plastic tabs on them and the field is a sheet of metal with a motor in one corner. Flip it on and the motor causes the field to vibrate which is picked up through the tabs on the players bases which causes them to move. Direction is determined by bending the tabs in various directions. At least that's the concept. Kicking and passing is done by the "triple action" QB. Foget passing, it's impossible. Kicking is done by cocking the QB's leg back and then pulling back on his arm. Line 'em up, flip the switch...and hours of NFL fun. Tudor was the original manufacturer and was recently bought out by Miggle Toys. Everything you need can be found at www.miggle.com Are you younger than, say, 30? If so, that would explain how you missed it. That was a highlight of the Christmas catalog, picking out extra teams for your stocking! Anybody else have a Photo-Football game? Or MNF Talking NFL Football? And, of course, the king of football games Strat-O-Matic.
i had one that had the Oilers uniforms on one of the teams...i can't remember the other team. AB is right...it seems weird now...but it was fun!
Yeah, looks like I missed the boat on that one. Im 25. I had always seen these things but never cared to learn more about it since video games were the "thing".
in the 70's I had the cowboys and I painted the other team to be the oilers. Being a fan of both teams I took turns letting them win when I played by myself. and my version did not have that funky triple threat qb. I think that came much later.
My brother had one of those and we would play all the time. One team was the Cowboys and I think the other might have been the Steelers. I was so young that I really didn't know all the rules of football, so I would make formations with three men on the line of scrimmage that went back four deep, with the ballcarrier smack in the middle of the bunch. I also used to line up plays outside of the hashmarks. Such fun...
My dad had this game as a kid in the '50s and bought one on Ebay recently: Pro Foto-Football Anyone know this one? There are specific plays for both offensive and defense. Each side chooses their option and then the unique style of revealing the game is unfurled. The offense hides his play in a covered envelope and places it on the game board. Then the defense places his play OVER the offense; the defense gets to choose whether to overplay to the weak side or strong side, thus turning each play into one with 5-6 different options. As the play is unfolded, then the very simple but effective system comes into play. The one he had, you put the plays on a "light-box" that you plugged in. That way the offense and defense pieces overlapped and you could see both through the light.
My dad had the Tudor Baseball and Football games, and my brother and I would play them all the time as kids. The baseball game was the best because you were actually pitching, swinging, fielding, and "throwing". The runners in the baseball game ran around the field on a track, when you turned on the game. Hitting a home run was really cool, because you would actually have to hit the metal ball over an 8" fence.
A friend of mine had a later version of this one. Cool concept. He was the one that had MNF Talking NFL Football.
I had the game. I had to but the AFC central in order to get the oilers. You could pass and kick with that big yellow dude. Fun game as a kid. Especially since it was before the dawn of the video game. Other maxim note: Love the the practical joke that Cal tech played on Harvard. They changed the fan color cards at Harvard to read "YOU SUCK". Now that was awesome.
Anyone remember this game. I spent a lot of time on a modern verision of this game. I had stat sheets , playoffs, and the works. More good times. Basketball had so few board games. But then came nerf basketball and I was in heaven.
Electric football was awesome. My brother and I learned how to manipulate those little brush pads underneath the stands to make 'em run straight, or do a nice little sweep. However, for sheer football strategy, nothing could ever touch Strat-O-Matic football.
