A Battle For Toy Buyers With four different companies making Electric Football games, catalog space and toy store shelf space was becoming scarce. The problem was so serious that by summer there would only be three Electric Football makers left, … Continue reading
1971 Part II Tudor and Gotham Tudor continued to bring out new models in 1971, including a College game. Once again they supplied Sears with a Super Bowl, and Ward with a special model. But in Sears they had to … Continue reading
Gotham Hangs On Gotham, although cast adrift from Sears, was still grinding away. They had created a new Roman Gabriel Electric Football game, complete with a metal Gabriel QB figure. And they still were the featured Electric Football company in … Continue reading
A New Competitor in Coleco Tudor’s success with Electric Football enticed a third toy maker onto the vibrating gridiron in 1970. That company was Coleco, who was no stranger to the sports toy market thanks to their successful line … Continue reading
Twenty years after creating Electric Football, Tudor secured the game’s status as an all-time “Featured Toy.” They did it with their new Sears-exclusive Super Bowl model, a game that recreated in miniature the most important game in professional football history. … Continue reading
Tudor Takes the NFL License Electric Football’s place in American culture changed forever in 1967. The year is a dividing line for how the game is viewed, with the event dividing the pre-1967 and post-1967 periods being Tudor unseating Gotham … Continue reading
Tudor’s Answer to the Big Bowl Tudor and Ward took on the Big Bowl challenge. Lee Payne got to work and designed a bowl-like grandstand for a special Ward-exclusive Electric Football game. The game was the 1966 Sports Classic “accordion” … Continue reading
The Gotham Big Bowl Gotham and Sears unveil the most extravagant Electric Football game ever made – the Gotham NFL Big Bowl. The game has an elaborate double-deck grandstand that stretches 2/3 of the way around the playing field. And … Continue reading
The Fab 5 Norman Sas was a Toy Manufacturers Association vice president in 1964. And that year Tudor redesigned their legendary No. 500 model and also their 3-D Electric Football players. The No. 500 became more colorful game, including a … Continue reading
Tudor and Gotham War of Words Tudor’s new Sculpt-Action players are so successful that Gotham “borrows” from Tudor and makes their own 3-D Electric Football players. The two companies have a public “War of Words” in the toy trade publication … Continue reading
Tudor vs Gotham The Electric Football competition between Tudor and Gotham is truly “on.” After Gotham unveiled the NFL G-1500, Tudor responds by creating the first ever 3-D Electric Football players. The players were designed by Lee Payne, who also … Continue reading
Gotham Gets The NFL License Gotham markets the NFL G-1500, the first-ever NFL licensed Electric Football game. This makes Electric Football one of NFL’s earliest licensees. At 36” long the G-1500 is by far the largest Electric Football game ever … Continue reading
Electric Football Is a Top Toy A new decade begins with Electric Football having a prominent place in the toy world. This even includes a “Top Toy” designation! Tudor’s game is available at retailers around the country. This includes pharmacies, … Continue reading
A Decade of Electric Football 1959 marked 10 years of Electric Football. The first decade of the game had been a success for Norman Sas and Tudor. Even with Gotham standing on the opposing sideline for the last 6 years. … Continue reading
Electric Football Goes Color Montgomery Ward puts Electric Football on a color page. Because color printing was an expensive process in 1958, Ward would have deliberated long and hard about what toys should be presented in color. It’s significant that … Continue reading
Electric Football can be found in all major Christmas catalogs and is prominently featured in newspaper articles and advertisements. And football is also showing up more on television sets throughout the U.S. Electric Football continues to grow and … Continue reading
Tudor and Gotham Compete For Sales Tudor and Gotham continue their Electric Football competition as NFL pro football becomes more popular in American culture, thanks in large part to television. Gotham Being Sold by Sears and Montgomery Ward at … Continue reading
Tudor Goes On Offense Tudor responds to Gotham’s Electric Football challenge by creating a brand new set of Electric Football players. And Tudor’s No. 500 gets a Toy Guidance Council seal of approval, being part of a toy preview in … Continue reading
A Toy Fair Surprise in 1954 Tudor Electric Football did so well in the early 1950s that Norman Sas found a surprise at the 1954 New York City Toy Fair. That surprise was another company making an Electric Football game. … Continue reading
The Electric Football Game Top 20 Countdown moves into the Top 5 today with a very special game — the 1961 Gotham Pressed Steel NFL G-1500 model. This groundbreaking game has long been one of the most under appreciated games … Continue reading