They Just Don't Know

[daainchent1]

When i knew i was getting back into the hobby i called every toy store,even ask some friends about electric football. The majority said no one plays that anymore.
The hobby shops were worse because they had never heard of the game before.
Its a good thing i didn't listen to them.

[mark robin]

glad you found us here. whats really weird is i know for a fact there are tons more of us that dont know how popular this hobby really is. in its heyday, there were lots of people who were in the hobby, and say, a kid who wasnt into it, well, bet your bottom dollar he knew someone in it. every street in my vast neihborhood had small leagues setup. i wish there was a way we could cheaply advertise it to those who are NOT online. in the past nearly everyone was in about a 18 year age range, when it was really popular, so we need to reach the people in the 38 to about 60 yrs old to get those back into it. plus we MUST get kids and teens into it also. one avenue i tried(only for a month, maybe i will do it again) is local online community forums and online local area websites that have stuff for sale and list clubs/hobbies/announcements etc etc. our local website gives one free ad per month, maybe when january comes i will post another ad, but they wont let you put websites on there unless you pay. how about some of us print CHEAP business cards showing some of these websites and put your phone number out, i mean, if you print up 500 or 1000 cards for say, 9.99 and give them all out, i bet we would at least get a few more back into it. give them out at hobbystores hobbyshops sports stores, sportsbars, you get the idea.... promote...sorry, two cups of coffee; lol.

[detroitchild]

Mark,

I think you're on to something. Initially, inexpensive marketing is the key. Perhaps sending fliers to hobby stores (I believe the MFCA had fliers at one time). Perhaps working something out in conjunction with a company like Miggle to contact toy stores. Perhaps the MFCA working in conjunction with various leagues to promote something with youth groups. I have not thought these things out and not sure if they would work but I'd like to see us attempt something.

[NATIONAL]

There are thousands that are not plugged in!!! Do you want the red or blue pill?!?! LOL

I was talking to a guy today at work. He was telling me about his fantasy football league. That his group have been playing for over 12yrs or so.
It was now around lunch, and we were walking to our cars, so I pulled out my latest Tweak issue to show him

He was blown away!!!

He wanted to know how do we pass, where can you buy the board.

I told him that our league (NEFL) starts in Feb, he said he will be there to check it out, and he's bringing his sons!
A few issues ago, Wolf printed up those MFCA cards....some had that Barry Sanders fig on it. I told him to have his son go to the website, and check it. I gave him 2 cards, and he wanted my phone number.
He said he might even get into it.....as he said, he's a football junkie!!!

I also printed out the flyer that was the back cover of the Tweak. I hung those up in recreation centers in the area. I got a lot of emails. Another thing to try is to play in sports bars or pizza shops. We sometimes play in a bowling alley where we have people that can watch us.

That is true, we have to get the kids involved. Even tho we have 32 teams in the NEFL, we also have the Deuce, last season there were 12 younger coaches that played in their own season, and ended in a Super Bowl (won by Zack Greco) The kids had a blast, we will again be looking to add to that amount, and increase the fun meter. The best thing about the kids, you never hear an argument when they play!!!!

The Tweak is a great recruitment tool, the only thing I didn't have with me was my ipod or PSP which has the ESPN special on them, and the Nissan commercial done by the coaches of the LAEFL.

Nat'l

[steelerfan]

What is the ESPN special??

[mark robin]

hey guys, here is one more way...

there are new people every Christmas that get onto the miggle forums, jump on there and answer some of their questions please.

[Lindyhopper49]

espn special!? how do i see it????

[jeff]

I think the espn special was titled " The lord of the Rings" if I am not mistaken.

[NATIONAL]

Maybe this is a dream of mine, or maybe this could happen. Most hobby stores don’t know because the people working there could be our kids. You would have to be in your 30’s and up to remember the heydays of electric football.
Most people don’t know we are here because there is no advertisement. At its peak you would walk into Toy R us and see stacks of electric football games. You brought your game home and started playing.
Now we are so advanced, but we may need to get back to the basics to get this thing going. Don’t think we would need the nfl license to make this work. But we have to package a functional game. I remember buying football cards, there was never a logo on the helmets (no license) so we could do that.

We could call it anything…for starters let’s say MFCA presents the Miniature Football Game.
Wolf would do the graphics for the box. There would be mfca promo cards, maybe a special tweak issue & dvd on how to get advanced play and rule sets inside.
The board would be slightly larger than 620. Generic field
Figs could be painted in unis but no helmet decals. Names and number decal sheet included
Geno QB & Kickers
And the most important thing…bases that will run out of the box. Maybe have them pre-tweaked or just make a new base?

Where would the money come from?
We could offer stock shares to our members. Who would be willing to put their money where their mouth is?
Who figs would we use? Anyone who put up shares to get the ball rolling.

Buy some commercial time. Start up with Target, or Modells, or Toys-R-us, anybody that’s willing to stock the game on their shelves.

It sounds far fetched, but look at the lady who started ebay, or the dude who started facebook?
Maybe it is, but it’s what I keep wishing for. Going into the toy stores, and not seeing any EF/MF games on the shelves just has me thinking………..what if!?

Simply getting back to the basics just might jump start everything.

the F.O.T.H. is Nat'l

[the french guy]

I believe the best sources for new players are the wargamers.


I think about the best painters here : There is a website where you can show your work, it's called "coolminiornot"'.

http://www.coolminiornot.com/234030


I posted my first figure (49ers center) on it, to promote the hobby (not my skills, because I know I'm just a "tabletop level" painter).

I'm happy I didn't be "flamed" by the visitors, since the level is very high on this website.


I can't believe that most of wargamers just don't know this game ! In USA since electric football is a classic child toy for a lot of people between 30 and 60 years old, most of US wargamers should know at least the concept. Whit all the skilled painters and modellers in the wargame world (not speaking of casters and other minis companies), it could bring a great new blood to MF.

In france, I suscribed to the biggest wargame forum too. I made articles to show everyone this game. Actually, one person bought a game and figures, and I believe, suscribed here too. Not so bad for France where US football is almost unknown.


I also tried to promote on NFL or real football french dedicated forums, I just found a polite success for now. People interested in football here seems to not be interested in modelling. I don't know how it is in USA, but usually here in France modellers, wargamers and other hobby people are not the same than the people interested in real sports.