"Big Men" Teams

Here is a first of many posts that will show the different teams that Tudor had made, beginning with the "Big Men". Remember kids-67 Bigmen have the words "hong kong" engraved on the bottom of all the bases, have black shoes and are a little over an inch high.
Special thanks to Charlie Angel for his pictures of his collection.

AFC

Miami Dolphins

Oakland Raiders

San Diego Chargers

Kansas City Chiefs

New York Jets

Balt. Colts

Pittsburgh Steelers

Cleveland Browns

Buffalo Bills

NE Patroits

Denver Broncos

History of boards

Special Thanks to "The Read-Zone" , Miggle , and Ebay for all of this wonderful information.

Tudor’s games went virtually unchanged since their inception. That was until Tudor Owner/President Norman Sas showed his brilliance by hiring Lee Payne. Payne spear-headed a new vision of electric football. His first accomplishment was introducing true 3-D poses and a new quarterback similar to the one used today! Tudor then put the model #600 on the market, blitzing EF fans with its increased size (36-20”) and new photographed crowd scene grandstand.
If it was competition Tudor wanted, that’s what it got the following season (1963) with its own improved 3-D poses and something Tudor didn’t have... NFL licensing. The top of the line Gotham EF game was the model # 1500. It had a large fiberboard field with NFL logos surrounding its frame, came with two metal grandstands, and was featured in the Sears Wishbook Christmas catalog, death to competitors!
In 1965 Gotham took the idea of a large grandstand one step longer, introducing the Gotham Big Bowl (G1503S). The game, complete with a huge playing field, featured a two tiered cardboard stadium that surrounded 3/4 of the field!
However, in 1967, the Gotham Big Bowl was missing one thing, NFL licensing. Lee Payne was instrumental in convincing the NFL that Tudor could do better, and they did! Games would now come with teams re-painted in NFL uniforms, making it possible to buy any team in the NFL or AFL. The three games released in 1967 were the #510 (Colts Vs. Packers), a mid-size 613 game (Bears Vs. Cardinals), and the flagship #620 model,featuring a large field with “chalk” lines and numbers! This game came with the Browns and Giants.
Tudor also released an AFL model in 1968 that came with the Jets and Chiefs. The battle for electric gridiron superiority did not wane. Rather Gotham went deep in 1969 with its attempted bomb, the Super Dome. The Super Dome attempted to tap into the fascination with the Astrodome!

But Lee Payne intercepted Gotham’s bomb with the invention of a better EF game, one that exactly replicated Super Bowl II, down to its trophy (later named the Vince Lombardi Trophy) and team names in the end-zones. This model #633 game came with both the Jets and the Colts, and the series of games, including Super Bowls IV and V, are perhaps the most impressive EF games ever made!

Gotham tried to compete, signing a deal with the Player’s Association and unveiling new games with NFL stars like Joe Namath, Bob Lilly, Roman Gabriel, and Dick Butkus.
In 1970 a third manufacturer, Coleco a Canadian company, entered the market. They released two fields: the larger model #5785 and the smaller #5765.

Both of the games, like the Gotham, were made out of fiberboard. Another item borrowed from Gotham was the large, accurate quarterback. The players, however, were composed of two pieces, cut at the waist, molded in two different colors.
Perhaps the most collectable Coleco games are their CFL boards. These boards include two fifty yard lines (just like the CFL) and pictures of CFL stars or team logos around the side of the fields.

One year later Coleco added a feature electric football fans of the time were crying for...control of the game when the switch is turned on. Their vision was the new “Command Control,” which featured a magnetic arm latched underneath the board to allow each team one player to move. This feature proved greater on paper than in reality, as the players would destroy everything in their path: opponents, teammates, goal posts, etc.

Tudor answered Coleco’s“Command Control” with a better, more practical idea, Total Team Control. TTC bases allowed the coach to determine the direction of a base by rotating the front prongs. The first year, 1971, featured rookie bases with red removable prongs in the front. The following year Tudor changed to the modern TTC base configuration, though the old light green ones are still in demand!

1973 witnessed the culmination of the NFL’s most dominate team ever, the undefeated Miami Dolphins. It also boasted the inclusion of fellow Canadian manufacturer Munro into the EF fraternity. Munro produced many great games, such as the Joe Namath game pictured here. Their release of the Day/Night game, however, wowed players then and collectors today! It had the largest field ever produced (40-25”), a double deck grandstand, and flood lights. The bases were similar to Tudor’s TTC bases except all four prongs were on the wheel and the front of the base was rounded. The teams came in pre-painted CFL colors and the quarterback, like Gotham and Coleco, were very large. While the game did wow players, it also wowed parents, as the game was nine dollars more than the Tudor Super Bowl model.
The competition brought out the best in all four electric football manufacturers. However, there was simply not enough room in that market to support them, and in the mid seventies, Tudor found themselves all alone in the clear.
The company started to scale back its models, producing only three. In 1977, the last of the giant boards (model #660) was made. The game came with the Vikings and the Raiders, and was the last to include felt footballs.
The following year the Super Bowl game field was smaller, had foam balls and dark green TTC bases. From then on, the Super Bowl model only got smaller and smaller.
While Tudor beat all electric football competitors, it fell,victim to the new “bleep” computerized games. In 1990, on a dark day, Tudor’s new manufacturer, Superior Toys, filed for bankruptcy. Many EF enthusiasts have memories that haunt them to this day of the trip to the mailbox and the letter inside marked "returned, company out of business."
However, a bright former salesman of Superior had a vision. Mike Landsman bought the company and started producing the greatest game ever invented once more. His new company, Miggle Toys started a renaissance in EF unrivaled by even the glorious past.

I have compiled pictures of other boards in hopes to have every board ever made. Some I know what they are, others I do not. So, any advice would help. Thanks in advance.

Jim Prentice, 1950's

Not vibrating football as we know it, but still very cool in its own right.

Board from 1960's, #500

Tudor #600, 1962

Tudor #?, 1963?

Tudor #613, 1967

Tudor #613, 1967

Tudor #520, 1968-69

Tudor #500, 1968

Tudor #660, 1976 & 1977

Tudor #635, year ?

Tudor #645, year?

Tudor #655, year?

Helmet Buggie collection

I know this isn't vibrating football but its a start, plus its very cool to remember all those childhood memories.
Here is a look at my Helmet Buggie collection. I orginally had the idea from this old Sears catalog ad, as seen here:

And after asking around to see if anyone had some buggies they would like to sell, somebody stepped up and offered their whole set to me. Now I will not tell you what I paid, but lets say I paid a very well.
It is a complete set of teams, the only missing helmet is the Cleveland Browns (the holy grail).

AFC CENTRAL

AFC EAST

AFC WEST

NFC CENTRAL

NFC EAST

NFC WEST

Welcome

Hello everyone,

This is my first blog of the day. I am hoping to compile information and pictures all about the world of electric football. It is my goal to have have picutures of every team ever made from Bigmen to China. Heck, I will even add some odd ball things along the way. Like my helmet buggie collection.

Sit back and enjoy the ride.

Chris

A quick history lesson

Electric football was invented in 1947 by Norman Sas of Tudor games in Brooklyn New York. The first games were small what are called #500 models with tiny little red, yellow, or blue men that were one solid color. These figures today are commonly called "Gorilla".See example:

Then in 1967 Tudor brought out the 1967 deluxe figures painted to represent the then 16 nfl teams (dark and white jerseys) and 9 afl teams (dark jersery only). These men were very detailed and looked like the true NFL teams. All 67 Bigmen

have the words "hong kong" engraved on the bottom of all the bases, have black shoes and are a little over an inch high.
In late 1968 Tudor switched to slightly smaller men. the legs and butts are thicker and wider than the ones produced the year before,they would become to be known as "hoglegs".

Hoglegs are still highly sought after by collectors around the world. HOGLEG players are smaller than BIGMEN and only 4 players are marked Hong Kong on the bottom of their bases.
Once again in 1970 Tudor switched their men again and made what we call "chicken legs". Chicken legs were almost the same size as hoglegs but not as thick and not as detailed. Chicken legs were made from 1970 until 1974. CHICKEN LEGS were still NFL teams with black shoes, but none have the Hong Kong marking. See Picture:

In the mid 70’s Tudor switched production from Hong Kong to Haiti . Haiti figures were bigger than Hoglegs but smaller than 67 Bigmen. Haiti figures were probably known best for nice neat paint jobs. Like all their older "brothers" from Hong Kong that had certain identifiable characteristics., Haiti could be identified by the little "burs" on each side of their base on the bottom side. All of Hong Kong and haiti teams from 1967 until about 1975 or 76 had black shoes.
In 1978 or 79 production was switched back to Hong Kong, players were made with white shoes and stayed there until the early 90's when China took over production.