Christmas and Electric Football Memories

[Shabby J]

bump

[roller]

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I wish I had pics to post...

I built a quickie gameboard (Browns) for my nephews for Xmas. I completed the board with a passing sticks set, a Browns home jersey team and a Bengals away bought off of ebay.

I gave it to them at our family holiday party on Saturday... It was awesome.

My nephews went nuts and had to have me set it up for them on the dining room table... only one problem. My brother-in-law, stepfather-in-law, and my other brother-in-law ended up playing with it all night. It was great. I actually hoped that they would be interested. If they were into it then I knew that my nephews would have an adult(s) to teach them how to play once I left town.

They couldn't stop talking about it. My stepfather-in-law wanted to look into starting a league at his Elks fraternity. .
He is the dude in charge so it may happen!

My brother-in-law who's sons were the recipient of the gift, said he was going to hang it on the wall of his room and was interested in learning more.

It was like the board was for the kids, but the adults ended up taking possesion!!!

I will be finishing up some great boards in the next couple of weeks... a fresh batch has been simmering in the kitchen

[raiderhp]

I too have fond EF memories. I remember when I was about 10 or 11 years old and going over one of my church friemds house tp hang out one day. He introduced me to EF and I loved it. I would always crave to go over there because it gave me a chance play for hours on end. My friend and I would have constant battles and we had great fun in our imaginary world. i think back on those times with mixed emotions. I remember he gave me my first EF team,(The Raiders of course) and eventually my first board. My parents couldn't understand my enthusiasm for playing it so much that I didn't even want to go outside. Once my friends interest in the hobby changed,he gave me his whole collection. I believe it was also near Christmas Time. That was the best time I could remember. I suddenly had about 22 teams and was playing games litterally until I passed out. As time went one,my friend and I went in different directions and some life choices took him where I couldn't follow but we always loved each other like brothers every time we saw each other. the last time I saw him, he was finally getting his life together and taking care of his family.Unfortunately,he passed just about a month later as I found out from his sister on facebook of all places.I will never forget the great times that we had especially with EF and I will never forget that he got me started in the hobby that will always burn a passion in me as long as I am here!!!!


Thanks Troy For Bringin Me To The World Of EF/MF!!!


Raiderhp

[Ray F]

Christmas 1969
These stories are great, thanks for posting, I can still remember how excited I was, knowing I would receive an electric football game that year. So on Christmas Day 1969 I received a Tudor grass field 620 game from my Godparents. It came with the Colts (D) and Packers (W) (not Browns and Giants as shown on the box). I remember having to leave the game at home while visiting my Grandmothers homes and other relatives that day. Later that night, I spent hours setting up the game and running plays. I even tried running pro plays and formations from a book I had. I never was very good at getting the players to run in the direction I wanted them to, but I always knew the game had tremendous potential. I can still remember how beautiful I thought the game was, especially the colors on the board, scoreboard and players. Lee Payne at Tudor was genius at designing something so special. Luckily I still have the game to this day, in near mint condition with all the parts, players and instructions. It still has the price tag on the box from the Jordan Marsh Dept. store in Boston, cost: $11.88, wow. Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to all. Ray F/Manhattan Ray

[GrandMasterKC]

by Xmas eve I had already played 8-10 games of "Undercover" EF. I got the JJ Newburys Red and Yellow teams/board by Tudor....But I would get a whole conference from the Sears mail order to compliment the board Mom always did a excellent job at hiding the Sears stuff. Now the AFX slot car tracks that was an entire different secret agent mission...lol

[TVsCHACHI]

Originally Posted by GrandMasterKC

by Xmas eve I had already played 8-10 games of "Undercover" EF. I got the JJ Newburys Red and Yellow teams/board by Tudor....But I would get a whole conference from the Sears mail order to compliment the board Mom always did a excellent job at hiding the Sears stuff. Now the AFX slot car tracks that was an entire different secret agent mission...lol

[Shabby J]

bump up for Weirdwolf

[ajahaana]

What memories! runnin to open da presents! My bad! But you can't have football or Xmas without it!

[2bme12]

While at the convention, a gentleman told me that you all liked these stories. Don't know if mine is all that different. I was/am a Marine brat. We were stationed in Quantico, Va. so the first football game I saw was a Cowboys-Redskins tilt. The Cowboys won easily and watching "Bullet" Bob Hayes on a reverse was about as exciting thing I had ever seen in my nine years. I instantly became a Cowboys fan. So, when the Cowboys marched to the Super Bowl (V), I was crushed when Craig Morton threw that interception to Mike Curtis (Mad Dog!) and Jim O'Brien kicked the game-winning field goal with just a couple of seconds left. The Colts won, 16-13, but I was a Cowboys fan.

This was also the first time I really knew that Dad had an in with Santa. He let me sift through the Sears Catelog. Yup, there is was, the Cowboys-Colts Super Bowl. I told my Dad that's ALL I wanted. Apparently, it was too late because Santa had already finished his shopping. Then one day, I canno remember if it was before or after Christmas, my Dad loaded me up in his truck (those of you who met me at the Convention know what I mean), and we went to local Sears. By that time, we had moved to NJ. I was kinda shivering when my Dad stopped and I stayed in the truck.

I figured that Dad needed to do some things and kinda dragged me along. I didn't even see him coming. The back hatch opened and he handed me Super Bowl V. Yes I screamed (I was 10 then, but you know) and I cried. I could not believe that I was getting the gift I wanted most.

Dad left me in the back with the game. Although the trip home was only 5 minutes, that's all it took for me to open the box, grab the Cowboys (in blue) and a set of white numbers. I think the drive only took 30 seconds because that's how fast time passed.

My Dad opened the hatch, and had a look on his face, like, "WT Heck!" (PG version). He looked at what I had done and said to me, "you forgot to number Craig Morton." I kinda snarled and said, "Roger Staubach Dad, Roger Staubach."

EF was always a fun thing for me as a kid. Quite a few of us got into it and played against each other but I did not enjoy those games so much. I instead played LOTS of solitaire games. And when the motor died on my game, I began to "tap" games to play. My brother, out of the Army, used to sit up with me late at night and watch my games. I was like 18 then. I worked a night shift so the tap was good because I could muffle it enough not to wake up my parents.

About 10 years ago, I found that Miggle had replaced Tudor. While my collection was aleady filled with all teams - home & away - through the early 1980s, I was missing some teams.

So, at age 38, I ordered some teams, including another set of Cowboys. I had kept my game at the parents' house all those years. A couple of years back, my parents needed to move for health reasons. I let the old board go at a make-believe garage sale, but kept the teams. My parents needed some help so they gave me the loft in their home. I have a place near my work, as well.

After searching on the computer, I saw that Miggle no longer had an NFL license but found some teams on Ebay. And these teams had those stamped helmets! Like a little kid at Christmas, I began buying lots of teams and eventually re-built my collection. My Dad could not climb stairs so I took some pix and showed him on the computer. I told him it remained my favorite toy (hard to believe I'm not married! - sarcasm). Last year, my Dad and I talked about going to the HOF ceremony. I knew the MFCA convention was happening and I thought about it.

Unfortunately, my Dad's health worsened. After 3.5 months of home hospice care, he died in January. Knowing that Emmitt was going in and the MFCA Convention were at the same time, I almost immediately booked my trip.

My high school held its 30th Reunion the same weekend. I kindly explained, I had some unfinished business.

Thanks Wolf for helping me find this thread and that to the person who bumped it up!

[Ray F]

If some of the authors of these stories could contact me (rfanara@verizon.net) I could bring out some additional details and publish them in the tweak as one article. Thanks, Ray F