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From slot cars to electric football!

PostPosted: Mon Oct 05, 2015 8:19 pm
by HomeRacingWorld
For those that do not know, my second passion is electric football. I have collected many sets over the years, but this set is a special one.

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It is a second generation Tudor Games edition, circa 1952. The first set with plastic instead of metal players. I bought this when my youngest Anthony turned 1 year old :)

Fast forward 18 years!

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Here he is setting up for the kick off :)

Perhaps it's these toys of our youth that keep us young? Who knows? But we already had a great afternoon of slot car racing...why not keep playing? :)

Re: From slot cars to electric football!

PostPosted: Mon Oct 05, 2015 8:23 pm
by eightwheels
I had this one, with the metal pass - kicker.

Re: From slot cars to electric football!

PostPosted: Mon Oct 05, 2015 8:35 pm
by oldtymer
Wow Harry....you bring back old memories..I had the one with the little felt football and even had a kicker to kick that piece of felt. We would wake up our parents on Saturday morning because that darn game was so loud on the kitchen table with that vibrating motor...Great to see someone still using old toys..
Fred

Re: From slot cars to electric football!

PostPosted: Mon Oct 05, 2015 8:41 pm
by dreinecke
I LOVE these! They have a huge cult following and I know of leagues in my area. Mike Bennett got the fetching Mrs. Bennett on in Alabama colors I believe just last year.

Very cool!

Wait...why were we not playing these when I came out? I see, ok to crash your cars, but sack your QB once....

Re: From slot cars to electric football!

PostPosted: Mon Oct 05, 2015 8:49 pm
by HomeRacingWorld
Haha:-)

Yes, this has that metal qb with felt footballs.

I played in a league when I was stationed at Ft. CARSON Doc! We actually played at the AF Academy the last year. That was a fun time.

Re: From slot cars to electric football!

PostPosted: Mon Oct 05, 2015 8:50 pm
by dreinecke
Very cool, and I'm not surprised to hear you were involved in yet ANOTHER hobby out here ;)

Re: From slot cars to electric football!

PostPosted: Mon Oct 05, 2015 9:12 pm
by waaytoomuchintothis
If that set has the clear plastic contacts under the players, its the very one I had. My rat fink cousins got it when we moved away and it was junk by the time we came back to visit for Christmas the same year. A few years ago, I found one of the white felt footballs in a desk drawer.

Re: From slot cars to electric football!

PostPosted: Mon Oct 05, 2015 9:14 pm
by Gameover
That's super cool!

Re: From slot cars to electric football!

PostPosted: Tue Oct 06, 2015 5:25 am
by Dangermouse
Wow

never heard of it (being a foreigner :) ) We had a Test Match Cricket game
https://simonscricketblog.files.wordpre ... icket2.jpg

I looked up some Youtube videos and noticed that Tudor Game has a website.

From looking at the videos I assume you set up a play and then hope that the random movement caused by the vibration results in a down or touchdown -or is there some strategy and tactics to it all - that can result in certain events occurring e.g. the angle you place a player at?

I shall keep searching videos - things like this make me marvel at the wonder of humans - think of all the crazy, whacky, practical and just downright cool things that have been invented so that we can entertain ourselves. (Don't even start me on all the other wonderful inventions)

DM

Re: From slot cars to electric football!

PostPosted: Tue Oct 06, 2015 10:12 am
by ourwayband
Didn't know ya like the cool ol' Electric Football games Harry.. :)
They are getting kinda hard to find,but we run across them every so often..

Cool hobby!

Rusty

Re: From slot cars to electric football!

PostPosted: Tue Oct 06, 2015 10:21 am
by waaytoomuchintothis
I was just looking at the photos again, and I remembered my favorite formations I used. There was one offensive formation that was like a 1:1 "I" formation. We would slightly bend the contact "legs" underneath to get a path we needed for the players. Trouble was, if you bent them too much, the player would just go around in tight circles. That was our rainy day fun. Everybody had one, and we would gather at someone's house and spend hours laughing and screaming and driving someone's mother crazy.

Re: From slot cars to electric football!

PostPosted: Tue Oct 06, 2015 11:28 am
by RazorJon
I wanted one of those and asked every year, I got the hockey set with the rods to control the teams instead but had fun with it.

I have never played the football game

Re: From slot cars to electric football!

PostPosted: Tue Oct 06, 2015 12:12 pm
by HomeRacingWorld
Years ago I wrote a column for a newsletter about the hobby. If you think slot cars is a small hobby, you have not entered into this reclusive like one :)

I have about 18-20 sets collected. One is an original first release form late 1946 with the stamped steel players. Then other examples from each era, as well as a few other brands such as Gotham and Coleco.

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These games are just like slot cars in that it reminds me of my youth :)

But I rarely play them. Around this time of year I get one out, clean it up and run a few plays. With Anthony here, it was fun to have a re-match. He used to play this exact set for hours on end.

The bases are thin sheet plastic. I have replaced the plastic sheet with clear plastic material that is almost the exact thickness.

Re: From slot cars to electric football!

PostPosted: Tue Oct 06, 2015 12:48 pm
by waaytoomuchintothis
Yep. That's the stuff I remember. I thought it must be the same set. If I ever get to HRW Headquarters, we'll have to get that one out and regress to childhood together.

My neighbor in Texas moved away and left me his childhood hockey game with the brass rods to move and swivel the players. It was easy to restore, and it didn't need repainting. I never saw the cricket game before, but I have seen soccer, kinda like a tiny Foosball table. My boys had a tiny air hockey table that worked great.

Re: From slot cars to electric football!

PostPosted: Tue Oct 06, 2015 3:10 pm
by dw5555
I have the NFL Strategy game. I played it with my Bro in Law last year. Wupped him too.... :lol:

Dave