|
|
|
|
| KeyMan
Collectibles |
NEWSLETTER |
October 2018 |
|
|
The Rise & Fall of
Parlor Base Ball Games
Board |
 |
|
Steven KeyMan |
|
|
& Card Games -
By Steven KeyMan |
|
Founder of
Keymancollectibles.com,
and a long time
collector, Steven
KeyMan has more than 30
years of experience in
researching, and
cataloging information
on Baseball
Memorabilia.
Researching his own personal
collection, and helping others find
information on their
collectibles, the
website grew into the
largest online resource
for baseball
memorabilia |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Ask
Steven: Direct your questions or feedback,
about Baseball Memorabilia to Steven KeyMan
Steve@keymancollectibles.com You can also Send
KeyMan pictures of your personal Memorabilia Display,
and get your own Free
Collectors Showcase Room featured on the website.. |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Played on an ordinary dining
or other large table, parlor games
were the rage beginning in 1866.
Inventor Francis C. Sebring's "Game
of Parlor Base-Ball" was the first,
but no example of the game has ever
been found. "The New Parlor Game of
Base Ball" by M.B. Sumner, is the
oldest parlor game to surface in
the collectors market. It sold for
$20K in a
2013 Heritage Auction.
 The
Perfection Novelty and Advertising
Co. manufactured and distributed
Leslie's Baseball Game in 1913. It
has a copyright of 1909, but as
stated at the bottom of the
instruction sheet It was "placed
before the public for the first
time in 1913." The instruction
sheet suggest that the delay in
distributing the game was that the
"game took Mr. Leslie, the
inventor, some years to perfect,
and he played over 10,000 games
before he was satisfied that he had
it mathematically and
scientifically correct."
It is noted that the great future
Hall of Fame pitcher Christie
Mathewson played the game with Mr.
Leslie, and said "It was the most
wonderful and interesting ball game
before the public."
Ty Cobb also gives his endorsement by stating; "Mr. Leslie, you have a
fortune in this game. I never
played a game that was as
scientific and mathematically
correct, and where 9 innings could
be played in 10 to 12 minutes,
bringing out every feature of the
game."
Major League Ball by the National
Game Makers, of Washington, D.C.
was issued in 1921 and was sold
throughout the 1920's. This game
played with three dice came with
die-cut players that you punched
out from a team sheet. Player
labels were provided to be glued to
the bottom. The labels featured the
popular players of the day
including Babe Ruth, and Ty Cobb. Each of the 16 teams came
in its own envelope with 14 die-cut
players with different team
uniforms.
Each year the set was issued with the same pieces but with different
player labels. The labels include
the player's name, position,
batting order, and numbered as
baseball cards were issued. The
die-cut players were to be inserted
into slots provided on the green
and brown baseball diamond game
board.
Designed by 1920's-1930's MLB
ballplayer Ethan Allen, this
All
Star Baseball game, manufactured by Cadaco Inc., first appeared in
1941. The game was revised in 1966,
again in 1968 and 1988. It was the
best selling baseball board game of
all time. The game is designed for
two players "each acting as manager
of one team"
The rules and play of All*Star
Baseball as the instructions read
on the inner lid of the box "are
the same as in real Baseball.
Players are assumed to have a
general idea of the rules of
baseball. Those who do not should
refer to a baseball guide." The
game came with 60 All Star player
discs, that Cadaco updated
annually, adding new players and
updated stats. Player photographs
were added to the cards in 1989 to
attract collectors, but the effort
failed as the board game market
loses out to the video game
generation.
The cover of the Parker Brothers
baseball tabletop board game
features great graphics depicting
1940's fedora wearing baseball fans
watching a ball game. The
scoreboard headlines "Parker
Brothers Baseball Game" Established
in 1883, Parker Brothers, a toy and
game manufacturer has published
over 1,800 games including the
iconic Monopoly board game. The
Parker brothers baseball game
originally sold in 1950 was
re-boxed in 1959, and again in
1967.
Bob Feller's Big League Baseball
board game, was produced by the Saalfield Artcraft Publishing Co.,
in 1950. The company also issued
another Big League baseball game in
1959, without Feller's endorsement,
and a Bob Feller's Big League
Baseball Game travel edition in
1960. The green game cover, depicts
an illustration of a smiling Bob
feller. Stats for game play were
compiled over a one year period,
based on batting and fielding
averages of American and National
League play.
The American Professional Baseball
Association, APBA - dates back to
the 1930s and a bunch of
high-school buddies in Lancaster,
PA. The boys played a baseball
simulation game invented by one of
them, Dick Seitz. His game was
loosely based on an old tabletop
baseball game called National
Pastime. But unlike any previous
board game, it combined the
randomness of dice with the
on-field performances of individual
players.
Involving statistics, and strategy the first game was sold in 1951, and
new versions were produced annually
from 1952-56. APBA Games and
Collector Software are still based
in Lancaster, to this day. the APBA
baseball game played today is not
much different than the 1957
version. The original 1957 APBA
game offered 20 player cards for
each of the 16 major league teams.
Produced by Gardner toys,
Mickey
Mantle's Big League Baseball was
issued in three variations from
1957 to 1959. "Mickey Mantle's
Baseball Record" stat card for each
version, has the last year of stats
listed from the previous year. Each
game also came with a 7"x9" black &
white photo with a Mickey Mantle
facsimile autograph, and two play
cards picturing Mantle in a batting
pose. The playing board featured a
baseball diamond spinner.
The 1968
Milton Bradley Topps
"Win-A-Card" game,
came with 1968 Topps Baseball,
Football and Hot Rod trading cards.
It is unclear how many cards
actually came with the game, but
the box reads "Contains a generous
supply." Actual numbers reported
range from 50-70 baseball cards,
and various amount of the other
sports, and non sports cards. The
1968 Topps cards that were included
with the game are of a different
variation to the regular issued
Topps cards. The backs of the cards
are a bright yellow as opposed to
golden backs.
|
|
| |
 |
|
| |
Milton
Bradley produced the
Official
Baseball Card Games, in
1969, 1970 and 1972. The 1969 game
consisted of 296 black & white
baseball cards that measured 2" x
3," the 1970 game included 28
player portrait photo game cards,
and the 1972 set 402 cards. The
1969 and 1972 cards are alike. One
way of distinguishing the
difference is that the 1969 cards
all the red digits. Player included
in the set of cards include the
likes of; Willie Mays, Pete Rose,
Ernie Banks, Roberto Clemente, and
Rico Petrocelli.
 Game
Time LTD, produced the
Classic
Major League Baseball Board game in
1987. Based on baseball trivia, the
game was issued to take
advantage of the collectors market,
and the "baseball card boom" that began in the
mid 1980's. The 1987 Premier
edition came with 100 collectible
baseball cards, including a Bo
Jackson Rookie card, with Bo,
wearing a football uniform,
swinging a baseball bat. The back
of each card featured player stats,
and four trivia questions. New
editions, and update sets were
produced throughout the 1990's.
No baseball cards, spinners, or
dice to tumble, the
1980 Coleco
Head to Head Baseball game brought
in the era of computerized tabletop games. It all started with
inventor Ralph Baer, the "Father of
TV Games," and the electronic
entertainment home video games that
he introduced into the market. The
1972 release of the Magnavox
Odyssey, home video game consoles,
led to the demise of conventional
table top board games, which
dominated the market for over 100
years. |
|
| |
 |
|
|
|
|
| |
KEYMAN COLLECTIBLES
RELATED RESOURCES |
|
| |
|
|
| |
KeyMan
Collectibles Collectors Corner
- Keep up with the latest collecting news,
announcements, and articles of interest on the
webs best resource for baseball memorabilia. |
|
| |
KeyMan Collectibles Baseball
Memorabilia Facebook Group -
Post Questions and comments relating to
Baseball Collectibles and Memorabilia. Interact
with other collectors or show off your
collection. |
|
| |
KeyMan Collectibles Network54 Forum
- A great option for those that "Don't do
facebook" Post Questions and
comments relating to Baseball Collectibles and
Memorabilia |
|
|
|
|
|
