Mattel Electronic Football

If you were 10-15 years old in 1977-78 you probably remember this game.

My friend had this game and I basically took it over every time we were on the bus and the times he would come over because he liked the auto racing game. I ended up buying it from him.

It was released in June of 1977 as the second game released by Mattel (Auto Race was the first) and sold through Sears. After less than 100,000 were made, Sears determined that the games would not be big sellers, and most of the production for Football and Auto Race was stopped. Well, Sears was wrong and had to restart the production.

By mid-February 1978 the sales figures were up to 500,000.

Who would think that red dashes could be so much fun?

Here is a commercial for the football game.

http://www.handheldmuseum.com/Mattel/Trivia.htm#9yards

 

Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball fan, old movie and tv show fan... and a songwriter, bass and guitar player.

20 thoughts on “Mattel Electronic Football”

  1. I had one of these.Very high tech at the time! My memory of it is getting my work done in one class every day and the teacher didn’t care as long as my work was done – let me play this. It was fun for a while.

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      1. I think today it would probably last 5 minutes at most in some teenagers hands. Back then it was cutting edge technology lol.. I would still rather play pong and those games than the video games of today which I consider a huge waste of time.

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      2. That is me also. Bailey has finally grown out of them. Way too complicated and you can spend all night. In my early twenties I was playing them a lot and then I realized…I just played for 10 hours and got nothing accomplished.

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      3. I had a brief period of time- I have the first Playstation somewhere in the basement- I was spending too much time playing them- they are addicting.. I know I am good at wasting time. I am never bored- but I’d rather ‘waste’ time reading, listening to music, etc.. than sitting playing a game like that where you walk away and what do you have?… Have you ever played APBA or Stratomatic? Now that isn’t a waste of time IMO.

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      4. In the early 2000s we got a playstation 2 and I got Grand Theft Auto Vice City about the 80s… of course I wouldn’t let Bailey play it or look at it…then I stopped because of so much time wasted.

        No I never played either of them but have read about them. They sound really interesting.

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      5. I have never played a full season of Stratomatic or anything but its fun playing the game- keeping stats.. hard to find anyone to play the game with. You can play the game by yourself but its more fun going against someone.

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      6. Thats my problem here. There is no one into baseball enough to play. I played free fantasy baseball a few years ago and had fun. You have to stay on top of it.

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      7. I have been playing fantasy baseball since 1985- and it is a lot of fun. I have 9 other guys who in the last ten years or so have been steady year in and year out players. It’s fun and like you said it is a daily thing. .. I think when you are young and college age its easy to find people to play the stratomatic type games people aren’t married – have regular jobs yet then adulthood comes in. I know to just schedule the two baseball fantasy leagues- i have a hard time getting dates when everyone can make it.. someone always has something to do.

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      8. With me it’s the nature of my job. I live with a laptop and phone because I never know when a call is coming. On one hand I get down time but on the other hand I don’t know when.
        I hope to have more time next year because I will be delegating more. I remember a time when time was all I had. Life happens and everything changes. I loved fantasy baseball because I knew all of the teams better then.

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      9. That is a big plus in playing- it makes you pay attention to what is going on. Especially in finding break out players- everyone is always scrambling for pitching- if some kid comes up from the minors and has a good first outing or two someone is going to grab him. Also in the format we use- makes you study up on the prospects.

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      10. For a while I got too wrapped up in prospects but like we said the other day…they can predict them a little better now…still it’s not certain thing.
        Whenever a prospect comes up people gets so excited if they start hitting everything…but it’s only a matter of time before the league catches up.

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      11. It is always how the player adjusts- the league figures them out- the ones who become great adjust. Also now its a shame if a guy doesn’t come up and set the world on first everyone is disappointed in them. Trout when he came up at the end of one year hit below .200.. I think he’s done ok… Mike Schmidt’s first year he hit .193 i think and he was a regular most of the season.. I have this Tucker for the Astros who is their top prospect he didn’t set the world on first in the time he played this year at the major league level. I figure he will be ok but who knows with prospects.

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      12. Yes they all go through adjusting…if they don’t they are history.
        The fans need to be patient with these kids but they are built up as the savior sometimes by the media and clubs themselves.

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      13. Patience anymore in sports is rare. I always think of Terry Bradshaw he struggled for 4 and a half seasons before coming into his own. Today- he might never had gotten those many changes with anyone. out of the league.

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      15. True and anymore you have to walk right in and do the job and it is a lot harder today than it once was as far as defenses etc. A friend and I were talking about how the Bills needed to just sit this Allen kid from Wyoming this year. He was getting the snot knocked out of him in pre-season- sure enough he is now hurt- they were talking Tommy John but now saying he will be out only a couple weeks. No doubt they will rush him back and it will be Tommy John…. they need to just pull the plug on him for 2018.

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      16. Football does need an instructional league but it’s so rough and you have so much money invested you don’t want to take a chance of someone getting hurt.
        Reading a defense now would be so much harder than say 10 years ago.

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      17. Teams in the NFL just can’t help themselves. It’s like when Bailey was younger- I am sure if he got a new toy he wanted to play with it. An NFL team gets a new toy in a QB and they just have to put the guy out there. They can’t put it away for another time.

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      18. Yea that is an expensive toy but you are right. They can really mess with these a quarterbacks confidence but like society it’s all about now.

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