17 replies to this topic

[Cootster]

You know, the ones that were basically like Labyrinth or Marble Craze without knobs, where you just tilted the whole thing to get the ball where you wanted it to go?

I believe Tomy made the ones that I'm most interested in, particularly a really intricate and cunning one called Obstacle Course.

And of course, they don't make them now or anything remotely like them, because everyone has a GB . . . The closest you can get are the really flimsy grocery-store things with cheap cardboard backs . . . But the old ones were all plastic and highly durable . . .

[Room 34]

I went through a very brief, but intense, phase of obsession with a particular line of pocket versions of these around 1985.

I have no idea what happened to them. They could very well still be in my parents' basement.

I think they MAY have been the ones by Tomy. A Google search revealed this page:

http://masters.me.uk...s/jfrmswaps.htm

Now you have piqued my interest... I will search more...

[Room 34]

Holy crap... I am having a flood of memories of goofy toys I owned as a kid and had long since forgotten... most of which seem to have been made by Tomy.

Examples...

[Room 34]

OK... last post (until someone else replies, at least)...

Here's a very useful link I just found, to a site with extensive information on a huge array of handheld games...


http://users2.ev1.net/~rik1138

[NE146]

Sorry not really what you're talking about cootster (and I do know what you're saying) but I just had to chime in on that page

Room 34 said:

http://masters.me.uk...s/jfrmswaps.htm

Now you have piqued my interest... I will search more...

That's a great page as I was checking that out not that long ago (those things have always fascinated me as well). You should probably change your link to the frontpage though http://masters.me.uk/pocketeers/ .. Old handheld games of all types (mechanical, electronic vfd/lcd/led, etc.) have been one of my obsessions for ages and probably the one thing I "collect" even moreso than Atari sometimes

Interesting how those are the UK versions however.. "pocketeers"? Funkaay!

Anyway these bring back lots of memories.. I remember these things being given away at school by the govt. "santa", and generally thrown all around the playground. I didn't have very many of them (and I don't have any more of them ) But I did have these ones

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http://users2.ev1.net/~rik1138

That is a great site as well. The easier url for it is http://www.handheldmuseum.com

Also.. don't forget http://www.handhelden.com

[Room 34]

Cool...

I still haven't found the exact games I had as a kid. I am sure I'll recognize them the moment I spot them. (Well... I mean I did already recognize the Demon Driver and Entek baseball games... but there was a specific line of very small pocket games that had ball bearings in them, and I haven't seen them yet on any of these sites. The Tomy ones are close, but not exactly what I had.)

[SteveW]

Was that Obstacle Course game one where you move a ball bearing through a maze, including one little area where you have to get your ball on a little sliding cart-type thing? And the bottom is orange? Because that's one I remember real well. I played that one all the time in middle school. Ah, memories..........

[Cootster]

SteveW said:

Was that Obstacle Course game one where you move a ball bearing through a maze, including one little area where you have to get your ball on a little sliding cart-type thing? And the bottom is orange? Because that's one I remember real well. I played that one all the time in middle school. Ah, memories..........

Mine had a green bottom, IIRC. But that is definitely the one . . . Because the bit with the little cart (actually, I believe it's meant to be a boat) was more addictive than Tetris, almost.

[Cootster]

Thanks for the links and such.

And I had the Tandy/Radio Shack version of that Entek baseball game at one point (actually, I'm damn sure I still do somewhere). Always loved that one . . .

Only difference between the two is that the pitch buttons are on the unit rather than that remote gadget . . .

[Cootster]

The ones on http://masters.me.uk/pocketeers/ are definitely the right ones . . . Damn, I must have had half of these at one point or another . . . Maybe I'll run across an actual one at a thrift soon to get a better handle on the physics . . .

[Inky]

Wonderful Waterfuls! I loved those things! I had a couple of them!

Then the Electronic Grand Prix! That thing was great!

[FABombjoy]

SteveW said:

including one little area where you have to get your ball on a little sliding cart-type thing?

I had one that sounds a lot like this. Mine was called "Tomy Pocket Steeplechase"

[NE146]

Cootster said:

SteveW said:

Was that Obstacle Course game one where you move a ball bearing through a maze, including one little area where you have to get your ball on a little sliding cart-type thing? And the bottom is orange? Because that's one I remember real well. I played that one all the time in middle school. Ah, memories..........

Mine had a green bottom, IIRC. But that is definitely the one . . . Because the bit with the little cart (actually, I believe it's meant to be a boat) was more addictive than Tetris, almost.

Was it this one?

[maibock]

lol Oh man nice stuff!!

When I was young our family vacation every summer was a drive from Philly down to Mississippi to vist Grandma and cousins. My mom used to get us all this stuff to play on the way down. I was the only one who really liked them(my brother would read Hardy Boys the entire trip). I know I have a box full of those somewhere in our attic. My favorite was a moto-cross one where you wound up game and as it moved you had to dodge other cycles coming at you.

Some of those on that webpage look very familiar. Thanks!

[SteveW]

For some reason, I kept remembering the orange plastic. I thought that all the little obstacles and the bottom base were the same color. Oh well.

Man, I spent so much time on that thing. It would go well through the course, until that damn cart thing. I guess it's not a cart, since it's supposed to be going across water, so it must be a ferry. Anyway, that's when i'd lose control.

I'm a serious packrat. I wonder if I might still have mine somewhere? I know i'd never voluntarily throw mine away, but my mother would have. Typical mother, if it doesn't mean anything to her, then it goes in the trash, regardless of whether it means anything to you. Ask anyone who had a lot of old rare comic books (or sports trading cards) when he was a kid, and he'll tell you that dear ol' mom threw them out.

[Mr.FoodMonster]

When I was 9 my mom threw away an Intellivision I got at a yard sale for $15. That system was the shortest and most forgotten videogame anything ever at my house. I had it for about a whopping month, and only 1 game.

[Cootster]

NE146 said:

Was it this one?

Yep, it is indeed that one . . .

All of those games own, though . . . Which begs the question: Why no re-release? Or PocketMAME?

[MegaManFan]

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http://masters.me.uk.../jmpachinko.jpg

Holy poop! I had one of these as a kid. I wonder what ever happened to it? My mom probably gave it to my nephews.