What was your favorite sports game/toy growing up?

[David Watts]

Not talking Strat O Matic, APBA, Status Pro etc.

My all time favorite had to be Lever Hockey. I loved that game. Sad thing was, I only had a few friends that could actually play the game worth a damn. We would create leagues and use a clock radio to time the periods. We even kept stats. Tons of fun.

I think I had every football game ever created, electric, talking, see action.
The strangest football game I ever had though involved a huge rubber mat for the field (picture the game Twister) a running back you attached to a windup device and defensive players on wheels that you rolled at the running back trying to knock him down. Not even sure if the game had a name. It came in a plain brown box. My mom got it for me and I'm not sure, but I think she may have been the only person to ever purchase the game.

[Airdrop01]

Wiffle ball. Our yard was about an acre and backed up to a church with a huge (it seemed like 50' but was probably 10) railroad tie retaining wall with a chain link fence on top of it. It was like our own version of Fenway. Somewhere we kept a log of the homers hit over that sucker and it was awesome fun. I had forgotten about it and now we will talk about it at Christmas because of this! Thanks!

[CONN CHRIS]

Wiffle Ball for me too. My brother and I have records of our games dating back to the mid eighties. We still play a few times a year.

[David Watts]

Originally Posted by Airdrop01

Wiffle ball. Our yard was about an acre and backed up to a church with a huge (it seemed like 50' but was probably 10) railroad tie retaining wall with a chain link fence on top of it. It was like our own version of Fenway. Somewhere we kept a log of the homers hit over that sucker and it was awesome fun. I had forgotten about it and now we will talk about it at Christmas because of this! Thanks!

Loved Wiffle Ball. Did y'all run the bases? We used to play what we called "Marking Baseball." Hits were designated spots on the field. If a groundball was stopped before passing a certain point it was an out. Anything caught in the air was an out. We used a lawn chair against the garage door for a strikezone.

My nephew (10 years younger) carried on the tradition. In fact, he built a field in my moms back yard that's still there.

[TribeFanInNC]

I used to throw a racquetball up on the roof and catch it when it came down. I know, that's not really a toy. I lived a simple existence...

There was one of the old, buzzy, vibrating electric football games at my grandma's house. I used to like playing with that, even if the running back ran toward the wrong goal line half the time.

[David Watts]

Originally Posted by TribeFanInNC

I used to throw a racquetball up on the roof and catch it when it came down. I know, that's not really a toy. I lived a simple existence...

There was one of the old, buzzy, vibrating electric football games at my grandma's house. I used to like playing with that, even if the running back ran toward the wrong goal line half the time.

Yup, Electric Football. I remember when the buzzy vibrating part of my game quit working. Plug it in, turn it on and nothing would happen. So I would just tap on the side of the game with a screw driver.

Oh an then I remember going to a friends house and he had the more sophisticated version. His players actually had dials on the bottom that allowed you to control where they went. Yeah right. It was cool though, he had like six different NFL teams with very real looking helmets and uniforms. Each team had it's very own storage container that looked like a locker.

Still wonder if anyone on earth ever completed a pass with one of those combo qb kicker devices.

[Caporegime]

Intellivision Major League Baseball....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6L1sWZCeCgw

and NFL Football

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHWrFWb3WwY

Played both absolutely to death back in the day with my friends. We'd have our own tournaments. The winner got....well, nothing but braggin' rights (not that this was worth braggin' about ).

Honorable mention:

Mattel's Football
Mattel Football I

And...

Mattel's Baseball
Mattel Baseball

Played these to death as well, both alone and with my buds. I can still hear those unmistakable beeps in my head.

I feel like a very old man now.

[Leo_The_Lip]

Wiffle ball, of course, with rules similar to the above plus if you hit the ball between the branches of certain double trunk trees, it was a triple.

Lots of All-Star baseball, the game where each player was a cardboard circle that fitted around a spinner.

A hockey game with the Canadians and Maple Leafs on fixed spinners that hit a marble into the net.

I've been trying to find the name and a picture of the first baseball game we played. There was a dial in the middle that controlled a huge cardboard disc under the field. You placed plastic fielders and umpires and a batter to cover up the result holes. You twisted the disk (too much friction to really spin it) to show a pitch color, then the batter chose to swing or take. If you swung, you picked up the batter to see the position where the ball was hit to, with line over it:

An 'm' sort of icon to represent a bouncing grounder;
A hump back curve for a fly ball;
A flatter curve for a line drive;
Or an 'S' for swing and miss.

Then you'd pick up the fielder and see three result codes and choose the one for the type of batted ball. If it was grounder, you'd make a play to the base and pick up the umpire to see the call, or error.

I've never even seen this one on Ebay.

[canadiancreed]

Originally Posted by Leo_The_Lip

A hockey game with the Canadians and Maple Leafs on fixed spinners that hit a marble into the net.

Something like this?



We used to have this at our house, including all the tin guys for the O6 teams, the flags for counting goals, the whole nine yards. The handles were so worn we had tape on them so you could get a grip. Only non-electronic sports game I ever had really. Too bad my sisters dogs trashed the thing.

[Leo_The_Lip]

That's it!!

[TribeFanInNC]

Originally Posted by Caporegime

[/SIZE][/B]Honorable mention:

Mattel's Football
Mattel Football I

Oh yeah, I kept Duracell in business with that thing. We've come a long way in 35 years since a grid full of LEDs. Now we complain if every video game doesn't look like the movie Avatar.

[David Watts]

Originally Posted by canadiancreed

Something like this?



We used to have this at our house, including all the tin guys for the O6 teams, the flags for counting goals, the whole nine yards. The handles were so worn we had tape on them so you could get a grip. Only non-electronic sports game I ever had really. Too bad my sisters dogs trashed the thing.

Wow, I've never seen that version. Ours had grooves that allowed you to move the players up and down the ice. We didn't have the things yours did to keep the puck from going behind the net either. Thanks for posting that picture.

[Orcin]

Wiffle ball FTW!!!

[Orcin]

I also had a Pitchback. I used to throw at this thing for hours.

[CONN CHRIS]

Originally Posted by David Watts

Loved Wiffle Ball. Did y'all run the bases? We used to play what we called "Marking Baseball." Hits were designated spots on the field. If a groundball was stopped before passing a certain point it was an out. Anything caught in the air was an out. We used a lawn chair against the garage door for a strikezone.

My nephew (10 years younger) carried on the tradition. In fact, he built a field in my moms back yard that's still there.

That's what we did. Our main 'field' uses my parents house as the outfield wall. Corners of the house are foul poles. Singles line for ground balls. Off the house (un-caught) was a double or triple depending upon how high up. Off the roof was a HR unless caught. Over was a home run. Lawn chair for strike zone. 3 innings, 2 outs per side, 2 strikes for a K.

[stl jason]

Originally Posted by TribeFanInNC

I used to throw a racquetball up on the roof and catch it when it came down. I know, that's not really a toy. I lived a simple existence...

heh... threw a racquetball against the side of our garage (off the bricks) instead of up on the roof. Had about 30 feet between our house and the nieghbor (who had a huge two-story brick wall opposite our garage wall; with ledge near the top and wood siding finishing the last 4 feet to the roof). Buddy and I came up with a whole set of rules/etc for games: fly ball catch was an out; ground ball stopped before it got to the wall/past you - had to tag the base within 4 seconds of the ball coming off the garage to get the out; any ball that got past you (off the neighbor wall or into their yard) had to be thrown back against the garage and then tag the base in 4 seconds for the out; any ball above the brick ledge/hitting the wood siding or on the roof was a HR...)

spent countless hours out there (and many lost racquetballs in the neighbor's gutter )

[CONN CHRIS]

Originally Posted by David Watts

Wow, I've never seen that version. Ours had grooves that allowed you to move the players up and down the ice. We didn't have the things yours did to keep the puck from going behind the net either. Thanks for posting that picture.

Ours had the slots and the hole for another skater near the net when you wanted to pull the goalie. It was a Derek Sanderson edition with the Bruins and Purple clad Kings on the tin figures. Probably got it in the house in '74 or so.

[David Watts]

Originally Posted by CONN CHRIS

Ours had the slots and the hole for another skater near the net when you wanted to pull the goalie. It was a Derek Sanderson edition with the Bruins and Purple clad Kings on the tin figures. Probably got it in the house in '74 or so.

I never knew that version existed either. So cool. My first version had the tin figures as well. I know one team was the Buffalo Sabres. My second version had the plastic players.

[David Watts]

Did any of you ever have the basketball game, I want to say it was call Basket that had the two cardboard pieces with bakets attached that you put at each end, the floor was made so the ball would roll into little holes and you flicked a metal lever to shoot the ball? It's hard to even describe some of these games. I can't imagine the look on a kids face today if you tried to give them such a game.

[CONN CHRIS]

Originally Posted by David Watts

I never knew that version existed either. So cool. My first version had the tin figures as well. I know one team was the Buffalo Sabres. My second version had the plastic players.

Can't find a pic of it on the internet but it looks just like the Bobby Hull version that is easy to Google. The extra skater had a post that went into a hole just outside the goal crease. So the hole for the extra skater didn't interfere with game play. The ES was hard to turn so if you used it, all you could really do was try to slap a shot off it and into the net with your center.


It is still at Dad's house, I'll have to take a pic and post it.