The Playmakers rocks, Tim. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to be involved.

Yes, I too think The Playmakers rocks!!!
Good Luck, Bro.!!!

Dude

Fabulous job, an obvious labor of love that we all will enjoy. This inspires me to update my toy chest with the classics.

Tim
Glad to see that other reviewers concur with me! You have another winner! Love the book and your site.

Congrats on the results of a lot of hard work!

See you at Toy Fair.
Let’s play!

Its nice to see this book. My dad emailed me about it, and that Twister was included. He invented that in the early 60’s with his partner, its nice too see it slated up there with the classics where I think it belongs!

I’ll have to get the book!

Mike

Hey Mike! I had a great time speaking to your dad about the early days of Pretzel (aka Twister). I know there is some controversy over its creation and I tried to tell the entire story. It’s such a classic game.

Thanks for writing and let me know what you think of the book!

Dear Mr. Walsh,
I heard you on the Michelson in the morning show,and I thought mabye you could help me.I have been looking for 2 games I played as a kid. The first being a game called Pro Draft which was a football board game, and the other was a bouncing marble game called Cascade I believe. I f you have any ideas as to how to find either of these I would love to hear from you.

Thank You For Your Time

Sincerely, Scott Bingham

Pro Draft was released by Parker Brothers in 1974 and contained 50 Topps trading cards! Cascade was a rare game in that it was released by Matchbox of die-cast car fame. It was a tall plastic tower with three drum-like cyclinders that acted like trampolines for the falling marbles. Very Cool!

I heard you today on the radio. I too love the old toys and remember the hours we spent interacting with each other. I particularly remember a board game titled “THUNK”. It was played with four different colored “checker-like” discs. We played this around 1958. Did you ever see or hear of this one? ROE

Haven’t heard of that one. There was a game called Think Thunk but that one didn’t come out until 1973 and it did not contain disks. I’ll keep a look out.

Can you help me locate a game called Rami, or Ramy? It is math game. It was around in the 1980’s.

Thank you.

Sorry but I didn’t turn that game up in any of my game books or other sources. Try the American Game & Puzzle Collectors Association website at www.agpc.org. They have a forum there where you can post your query and see if any real experts have heard of it.

Happy Hunting!

Hi Tim,
I phoned while you were on WHYY last week and asked about a game that had pewter aiplanes on bases ( or small pedestals) as game pieces, You thought it was a Parker Bros game. Any ideas of its name? Part of the game was to fly to different continents and buy or sell crops(I think) Thanks Ann

I suspect that the game in question is a Parker Brothers game which originally came out in 1933 called “Hendrik Van Loon’s Wide World.” It was reissued in 1957 but with the title shortened to “Wide World” with the subtitle “travel game.” Both games contained metal airplane playing pieces like the ones you described.

Thanks for stopping by!

I heard you on KMOX 1120 on 8/3/04 and could not ask this question, because of the volume of calls. I was wandering where I might be able to find the game Kismet. It is like Yahtzee but the numbers are colored. 1’s and 6’s are black, 2’s and 5’s are red, 3’s and 4’s are green. I believe it was made by E.S. Lowe but not for sure. Could you help me.

Thanks,
Tim

Just today I wrote an entry talking about board games based on TV game shows and mentioned Endless Games. They produce a new version of Kismet. You can get a new version from them at www.endlessgames.com. If you want the original, it was first released by Lakeside in 1964 and billed as “the modern game of Yacht.” The auction site Ebay (www.ebay.com) would be your best bet to find an earlier version.

Roll ‘dem bones!

Tim; my brother in St. Louis directed me to your new book/website. Can’t wait to read the book. E-bay is great for locating old favorites, but two toys that I haven’t been able to locate (maybe because they weren’t made of plastic) are “Lighting Bug Glowjuice,” which was a small pale green plastic bottle of glow-in-the-dark paint and “Flubber,” a clear (until you played with it a few times) version of Silly Putty that was pulled off the market in the early ’60s when thousands of kids — myself included — suffered alergic skin reactions after playing with it. Any help with these two liquid toys? Thanks!

Richard
Olathe, KS

Pit first came out in 1904 and was produced by Parker Brothers. It’s hard to date many early games, but one way is to look for patent numbers. If you can find one on the box or rules then you can date the game by using this chart.

What a great book! I am giving one to each of my brothers and sisters along with one or two of the vintage games for Christmas. We are all in our 30s and 40s so it should be fun. Too bad I couldn’t find a copy in Sarasota. I had to order them from Barnes and Noble. I hope I have them in time for one of your book signings! Hope to meet you Tim!!

Hollee!

Sorry you had some trouble finding the book - especially in our home town! It was sold out for a time, but Circle Books, Borders, Barnes and Noble, Waldens and Books-A-Million should all be getting copies back in shortly. I look forward to meeting you and signing some books for your family. The 1960s and 1970s are very well represented in The Playmakers so your 30-40 year old siblings will most definately have their memories jogged! I hope to see you at one of these signings.

I heard you on the Columbus, Ohio radio show with John Corby. This is great! I have five siblings that would enjoy this book (we are all in the mid forties to early fifties). I am so glad that Corby found atopic that was good… for once!

Best to you!

Thanks for listening JT. It was a fast and furious show and I enjoyed the fun energy of the callers. Thanks for listening!

Just wanted everyone to know that there will be a display of “Treasured Toys from the Past” at the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina running now through August 27th. For more information, go to www.islandpacket.com and click on the “A&E” section. There will be more than 2,000 toys on display including playthings that originated in the United States and Europe and date back to 1905.

P.S. “Hello” to the Walsh family - it’s Sarah from Old Stone in Rockton!

Sarah! Thanks for the post. I am traveling north in a month or so and I will certainly stop by the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina (like I really need an excuse to go to Hilton Head — twist…my…ARM!) I might even call them about trying to set up a book signing there.

I recognized your name immediately! Tell your Mom, Dad, Melissa and Rachel we said “Hello!” We love to get your Mom’s Christmas update letters.

You made my day!

We have the Wide World Game with little metal airplanes, that I received when I was about 10 in 1969.
I am playing it with my kids, ages 8,10 11 and 16, but we’re making up our own rules for now. Did one roll the die, and if a 6 or land on a red spot, you get a travel agent card?
How many product cards did you need to end the game? When did you accumulate them? By landing on your destinations and by travel agent cards? When is the game over?

I don’t have a Wide World Game, so I am not sure of how it plays. Great find though. Enjoy!

This site is so much fun looking back at toys that my kids and even I enjoyed over the years. I am looking for an India Rubber Ball. In the forties and fifties most girls had them. Not the foam rubber but very hard and very bouncy. They were painted white. Please let me know if you know of a source. I would love to share the fun with granddaughters.

I have been looking for Silly Sand for my grandchildren, do they still make this. My kids use to have so much fun with it. Who made it?
Thank you,
Paula Whalen

Tim,

We make a high end Tournament Series wood game board product. I received a call from you the other day and look forward to discussing our game product and how it may or may not work into your film documentary. I actually was in transit to Chicago for a big tournament going on in the Windy City. Please e-mail a good time to call and talk with you. - f

Do you know where I can get the game silly sand. I had it as a young child and have been looking for it for awhile now?

Hi Tim,
I just watched a program on TV that included an interview with you. You were in a plant that produces Monopoly money.

I once appeared on the “I’ve got a Secret” show and my secret was that I played the world’s longest Monopoly game (2 weeks - the record has been broken many times since.). I still have the original b & w tape of the show, some money and a wooden boxed game that was given as a gift from Parker Bros. Shoot me an email if you have an interest in any of this.

I have a Silly Sand kit that is still in the original box with all parts and never used. The directions in the box say copyright 1967 and the box says copyright 1966. The box and all of the pieces are intact and look to be in mint condition to me. Is this worth anything? I have done some searching nut I am not sure of the value.