Christmas and Electric Football Memories

This is a great theme. I just received a picture from my mom of my twin brother and I playing our new EF game in front of the tree in 1971. It was a Sears game I believe that had a white and yellow team and college's around the outside. This started a long love of the game that I carry with me to today. I think back and smile at the many hours of games my brother and I had as we played many seasons. It always seemed to be my favorite Vikings against his favorite Chiefs in the Super Bowl every year.

I Was About 9 Or 10, When I Got My First Set, It Was The 1979 Rams/steelers 660. It Was On Christmas 80 0r 81 I Believe. I New I Had The Set Before I Opened It, I Just Was Hoping I Had The Steelers/cowboys Teams. So That Was My Only Worry Christmas Eve, Not Knowing What Teams Were In The Box. But I Enjoyed The Set Anyway, But I Didn't Have Anybody To Play With Me. No Brothers, Only A Big Sister, And To Makes Things Worst None Of My Peers Wanted To Play Ef. I Was Introduced To The Game By Some Older Guys, And They Weren't Really Into It Anymore. So I Wasn't Really Able Play Ef, Till I Was About 13 Or 14. And That Was After I Introduced Ef To Some Guys A Year Or 2 Younger Then Me. We Played For A Month Or 2 Then That Was It. I Never Got Over Missing Out On Fun With That First Set, And I Think That's What Driving Me Now. I Was So Happy 3 Years Ago When I Found The Nyefl, Because They're Guys Who Have The Same Love And Passion For The Ef Culture That I Do. And I Was So Amazed By How Active The Hobby Still In This Day And Age. And That's Why I Truly Thank God, Miggle, Nyefl, And All You Minature Football Lovers Who Are Keeping This Hobby, Sport, And Culture Alive, Sincerely Lee Landry Aka Doomsday78....thanks For Letting Me Share, Season Blessings To You All

[capanther]

wow.........i remember very vividly staring at the little box under the tree that i knew was from brooklyn ny.............it was the first thing to get opened and anything else was just secondary..........then it was up to my room to number the new teams and put the bases on and go at it.............hours and hours of great times.............happy holidays to all..........electric football is a great memory and filled with future happiness for all of us.
charles

http://capanther.tripod.com

[jimmie]

Shabby J your story made me tear up thinking about the xmas of 1969 when I got my first electric football game I am going to try to post a pic of this but anyway my dad used to play with me that year!!But another memorie is the xmas of 1995 when I got my new miggle game from my wife I didnt know that they even made the game then and in Jan of 1996 we went to the electric football convention in Chicago thats when my life changed forever!!Wow seems like just a few years ago now going on 13 years ago.My wife was my favorite efler she passed away in 2001 she played with us and was very good, she learned to play well and was our best QB in 1996 ever time I play I think about all those games we played always at this time I miss her well I miss her all the time but xmas still brings me back to 1969 and 1995.I have and toy shop at the mall this weekend there was a sports card show a dealer had a chiefs and vikings superbowl though I had one I bought it man was it a throw back again to old tudor days!! Guys merry christmas!!

[eflfanatic]

My fondest Christmas memory is from 1970 when I received my very first electric football game at the age of 13, the AFL version model no. 520 with the Jets and Chiefs. Unfortunately the first thing I did was step right in the middle of it and put a big dent in it. But it still worked and I spent many hours playing with it. I ordered more teams and built up a six team league that included the Vikings, Raiders, Colts and Dolphins. My first attempt at painting was repainting the Colts to the Steelers. My first experience with electricity was when the switch broke and not kowing alot about how electricity worked rewiring the cord without the switch and taping it all together without separating the wires and plugging it in and hearing the loud POP and blowing the breaker and the black mark it left on the wall over the outlet in my bedroom. I played solitaire games for the most part and over the next 3 years played 10 seasons with my 6 team league including Super Bowls and All-star games. I kept a notebook with play-by-play game results and stats for all players. The game was put away after I discovered cars and girls and eventually given away to someone else who I thought would enjoy playing with it. But the last time I saw it most of the players had been broken off their bases and the game had been put away in storage and forgotten about.

After rediscovering Electric Football in 1997, I received a Super Bowl game with the Packers and Patriots for Christmas and discovered all that was going on with the game again, conventions and tournaments and leagues. But it is also then that I began my quest to find another AFL version model 520 game.
After 10 years of searching flea markets, yard sales, thrift stores and many unsuccessful bidding attempts on ebay, I finally won one on ebay this past month. Receiving it and opening it was just like that Christmas morning 37 years ago. Hopefully I won't step on it and dent it and if the switch breaks, I think I have learned enough about electricity to fix it without blowing out a breaker this time. The board is in great shape and only one of the Jets figures has a broken arm. I plan on collecting the teams that I had again and reviving my solitaire league with this game.

Thanks for the opportunity to relive and share this memory

[Coach_J]

Yes Christmas and Electric Football are pretty much joined at the hip. Many of us including myself got started playing electric football after we got our first gameboards for Christmas as children. It was in the early 70's when I was around 8 or 9 in the early when I got my first gameboard. I played until I was about 14 when I went to high school and it was no longer cool. I had not thought about electric football until I went to Sears in the early 90's looking for a new freezer. I had to walk through the kids toy section to get to the home appliances. When I looked up I saw a gameboard and the memories of Christmas came back. This took place in November and I was too embarrassed at the time to purchase the gameboard. I went back a few weeks later when it was December and bought the gameboard. I was still a little embarrassed and told the sales clerk that the board was for my nephew when in reality it was for me.

Thanks again for sharing the memories and have a good Christmas.

Coach J

[capanther]

Another great thing about electric football and the holidays..it gives us time to get in another holiday tournament. We have one set up for tuesday and wednesday....most of the battles are usually within a touchdown difference...here are some pics from last chritmas..........my 2 sons and me and my youngest in the other.....great fun and great memories.

[daghstrydr]

You guys are starting to get old memories going again. I was 8 when my pop 1st got it for me, the teams had to be painted, so my brother and me each went to work. One team was in black and the other was white. Oh what fun we had playing the game for the next 4 or 5 years. My cousin finally got a board, and he had his all taped up with electric tape blew us away, but we never stop coming. It wasnt until this past May/Jun when I for some unknown reason went shopping for a board, boy I'm glad I cam back. Happy holidays guys and hop that you all have a very happy new year.

Leonard

[Shabby J]

Originally Posted by jimmie

Shabby J your story made me tear up thinking about the xmas of 1969 when I got my first electric football game I am going to try to post a pic of this but anyway my dad used to play with me that year!!But another memorie is the xmas of 1995 when I got my new miggle game from my wife I didnt know that they even made the game then and in Jan of 1996 we went to the electric football convention in Chicago thats when my life changed forever!!Wow seems like just a few years ago now going on 13 years ago.My wife was my favorite efler she passed away in 2001 she played with us and was very good, she learned to play well and was our best QB in 1996 ever time I play I think about all those games we played always at this time I miss her well I miss her all the time but xmas still brings me back to 1969 and 1995.I have and toy shop at the mall this weekend there was a sports card show a dealer had a chiefs and vikings superbowl though I had one I bought it man was it a throw back again to old tudor days!! Guys merry christmas!!

Jimmie, I read your story and I am tearing up, I am from Allen Park and I still have relatives that live there and all around Detroit. Maybe next year when I am there for a visit we can hook up for a scrimmage.

EF is special to all of us in one way or another, but when our passion for a toy/hobby involves a loved one(s) in some way it makes the memories all the more special.

It's this hobby that takes us all back to a great carefree time in our lives and that's why a lot of us cherish it so much.

I also need to check out your shop, I am an avid collector of vintage '60s-'70s
toys.

God bless my friend!

[Shabby J]

Come on fellas, these are beautiful stories keep 'em coming.