Sunday, 7 March 2021
GAME!
Inspired by Woodsy's post about the Kojak Detective Board Game, I thought I'd dig out a few of my old board games. I have to admit I don't really play board games but I do really like the covers, especially those that are painted.
The Palitoy Parker Action Man Game is a good example. I haven't a clue how the game is played but the cover looks great!
Tank Battle Game is another which would have caught my attention. This game has little tank kits you have to assemble yourself, very innovative!
T.V. related games are always a pull for me, and Woodsy, himself gave me a super Doctor Who game one time during a visit to the Woodsy Family Moon Unit. Most are just photos from the series, but this Starsky & Hutch game from Arrow has an evovative painting of the two cop buddys on patrol in their Ford Gran Torino, as well as a photo montage on the cover.
The Sweeney board game from Omnia uses an image from the title sequence. The playing pieces are 'Woodentop'uniformed Policemen, and sneaky looking villains with a swagbag on their backs! "Get yer trousers on, you're nicked!"
The Kojak game from Arrow uses a photo of Telly Savalas and a New York skyline. I think well all know Kojak's catch phrase!
Spy board game, Microdot from Parker Games has some interesting playing pieces, including a magnifying glass, presumably to read the microdots. Nice photo cover too. A smokey back street and an agent pulling a gun on a foreign plated 'Bee Em'!
Newsdesk from MB Games; Although I don't play, I do like some of the unique accessories some of these game have; this even has its own prop Telex machine!
Vincent Price makes an appearance on MB Games 'Hangman' box cover.
Waddington's vintage Formula 1 game. I might well have played this when I was a youngster. The pull is the card dashboard. I probably imagined they were rocket controls, or something!
And finally, some from the bottom of the toybox!
Love your collection Scoop. I'm a board game collector too, or I was. Had to stop because they take up so much space. Been slowly selling them off over the years. Yours are all in great shape. Were they yours as a kid?
ReplyDeleteSome are, but most were donated by one of my customers who knew I collected vintage toys and games. Oddly enough, even though I'm a Space:1999 fan I've never got round to getting the 1999 board game, even though I remember seeing it when it came out in the seventies and thinking I must buy that!
DeleteI don't have any board games myself, but an ace article, Scoop! Love those old TV cop shows. Yes, the box art is really good. I especially like The Sweeney with its gritty title image, although I haven't seen the game before.
ReplyDeleteLike Woodsy says they do take up space. Some of my others are hiding in the loft - Daleks, Doctor Who and On The Buses!
DeleteTank Battle looks interesting. But both sides appear to be using the same tank type, in different colours. I had a quick look online, and found this clip. Here, the green tanks appear to be American Shermans, while the sand tanks are German Panthers. Which makes sense. So why does your example appear to give everyone Panthers ? The vehicle on the boxtop is a Sherman.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFE_J_QXIdM
Ha,ha! Paul, I really don't know, it is just a board game, maybe the British version was different to the US version;)
DeleteThe little tanks originally came as parts to be assembled on two different coloured sprues (which are actually still in the box) I'd hazard a guess that it was probably more economical to have the same mould but alternative coloured playing pieces. There's also field guns in there (probably M198 Howitzers - I'm joking!) and fuel dumps.
Its interesting that Microdot shows a car with a Berlin number plate Scoop - "B" [the German reg system starts with the initial of the car's city] - at the time the game came out the Cold War was still going and Berlin was the flashpoint between East and West and rife with intrigue. Amazing that you walk round the whole city now as if it never happened. A great board game and one that was once part of my spy games collection, all of which I've flogged. Naturally I regret that now but you can't keep everything can you.
ReplyDeleteYour right, Woodsy, sadly you can't.
DeleteInteresting that you reckon it's an East German number plate, the box cover photographer had really done his homework on the photo then, well spotted!
I never thought that the Action Man illustration looked anything like Action Man. A photo of the actual toy's head would have been better in my humble opinion!
ReplyDeleteYes, it doesn't look anything like Action Man. Maybe they should have used the painted doll likeness on the Action Man packaging.
DeleteA friend gave me a good condition vintage Thunderball game. It's actually a pretty good play, using deduction and elimination to find where the atomic bombs are hidden... I've made a few special modifications- like rewriting the rules to make the enemy spies a little more dangerous and adding two hazard spaces for Booze and Dames!
ReplyDeleteNot sure about the dangerous enemy spies, but booze and dames, Lewis, l like it!
DeleteI recently discovered some of the US issues of Tank Battle actually had Sherman sculpts for the green team. I don't know if it was early or late versions though.
ReplyDeleteH
Interesting Hugh, maybe the Sherman's only turned up in the US sets.
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