Find: Electronic Milton

One of the local thrift stores (Thrift Mart on University Dr.) had a 50% off of sale today. I happened to drop by earlier and found out about it. I thought it might be a good chance to pick up some needed clothes for our children cheaply. Well, that and I spotted a copy of Essential Super-Villain Team-Up in one of their display cases. I couldn't see the price, but figured anything cheaper than cover price would be a good deal.

Then, over the weekend, I saw a commercial for the sale on TV. But surely, that won't really affect how many people show up that much, will it? Well, I can't say for sure what it was, but there were tons of people there. We arrived around lunch time and decided to go eat before coming back.

Upon our return, it wasn't any better. After we'd been inside a while, my oldest son pointed out that the checkout line stretched all the way to the back of the store! But at least the book was still there. And just $9.98, meaning today it would be $5! I'd searched the Web and discovered that the book, now out of print, can't be had for less than $20 online, so it was a steal.

However, this entry is about the electronic game I found called Milton. As you might have guessed, it's from Milton Bradley and features the short-lived MB Electronics logo on the box. I'm by no means an expert on such games and this one was unfamiliar to me. The box was taped shut, but I decided it was easily worth the $1 (originally priced $1.98) gamble to buy it.

As you can see on Wikipedia, this game came out in 1980, a couple years after Simon. I suspect from the round design and one-word name, they were hoping to capitalize on the huge success Simon was turning out to be. Apparently they were so confident it would be a hit, they were willing to name it after the company! Unfortunately for Milton Bradley, the game was not a hit and quickly became an obscurity.

One thing I found interesting is the inclusion of a power adapter. Again, I'm no expert, but I can't think of any similar electronic games of the time that weren't battery powered. I know adapters were offered for some electronic games of the age, but they were alternatives to batteries and usually had to be purchased separately. I love the big warning on the front of the box: "CAUTION: ELECTRICALLY OPERATED PRODUCT / Not recommended for children under 7 years of age. As with all electric products, precautions should be observed during handling and use to prevent electric shock." And you thought today's product warning labels were excessive!

So when I got home, I found inside the box the game, the adapter, one piece of Styrofoam for the adapter, and a feedback/registration card. No instructions, but the back of the box summarizes the three games well enough. Essentially, you've got to match the first (the red circles) and last words (the yellow circles) of various phrases (e.g. "kiss my lips", "flush your toilet"). It's like the card game Memory, but with spoken words instead of cards. So during play, you get phrases like "kiss my . . . toilet". Hilarity ensues.

Oh yes, just as the box says, it talks! And fairly well, too. From my experience with talking electronics, I'd guess they used recorded speech rather than completely electronically-generated speech. The interesting thing is that Milton has an accent I can't quite put my finger on. I initially was thinking Southern, but my wife said Cajun and she may be right. Judge for yourself by watching this YouTube video. (Not mine.) It also gives some basic instructions as you go, which is much more user-friendly than some other electronic games of the day I've tried to play without instructions. (I'm looking at you, Comp IV!)

Unfortunately, while this one is in working condition, the power cord is touchy. It fits into the game loosely and if bumped, will cause the game to reset. I'm not sure that anything can be done about that. The contacts also look like they need some cleaning. The adapter has a three-prong arrangement I've not seen on any other electronics.

This makes an interesting addition to my vintage electronic (non-video) game collection. I have yet to try it with my kids beyond a brief game with my 3-year-old daughter, but I suspect it won't hold any long-term interest with them. I can see why it wasn't a big hit.

The Untouchables

Ever since it first came out, I wanted a copy of Steve Jackson Games' Strange Synergy. This strategy board game gives you a deck of 100 cards with super powers and "gadgets." You are dealt nine cards and have three warriors on which to distribute the powers/gadgets on the cards. And to make it even better, the character art is by Phil Foglio.

The game came out in 2003 and was unfortunately not a hit. It's gone out of print and now costs $100+ in new condition. I only recently found this out and immediately created an eBay search to see if I could snag one. The very first one it notified me of was a used copy with a starting bid of $6.00. No one else bid on it! A week later, the game (literally) arrived at my doorstep.

My first game was against my 12-year-old son. I figured I'd give him a better chance of winning I played the Mad Scientists. Each team has a unique ability and theirs is merely to carry unlimited gadgets. Turns out he didn't need any help. I was only dealt one gadget and little in the way of offensive powers.

He managed to get the abilities Inner Peace, Stunning Beauty, and Acrobatic Evasion. Inner Peace prevents any opponents from hitting the warrior until he attacks someone. Stunning Beauty makes the recipient so beautiful, opponents require a roll of the die just to attempt to attack him. Then you have to roll again to actually land a hit. Acrobatic Evasion lets the warrior automatically avoid one attack per turn. Naturally he gave each of his warriors one of these. By the way, except for Stunning Beauty, these abilities are secret until you attack the warrior with them.

Only because one of my warriors had Flameblast (an initially secret offensive power), Two Heads (gives two attacks per turn), and Trick Shot (allows attacks on diagonals and is secret until used) did I manage to even damage his warrior with Acrobatic Evasion. Unfortunately, that was the first warrior he killed, so after that things went downhill for me quickly. (The only other offensive weapon/power I had was a boomerang.) At least he had a good time and wants to play again.

Brag: Turbo board game

[Originally posted to rec.games.video.classic.]

Today was half-price day at the local kids' sale. For those without kids, this is basically a giant consignment sale. A small group rents a space for a month, takes in pre-priced items from contributors, has volunteers help sort them and set up, and so on. The primary seller is kids' clothing, but there are also toys, books, baby items, etc.

Since most items come from parents of kids ages 0-12, it's usually not a hot spot to find classic video game stuff, although often there's some more modern games. Today I scored a 1982 Turbo board game in great shape and complete for $2. I didn't have this one, so it was a nice find.

I also picked up one of those Ms. Pac-Man TV Games by Jakks Pacific for $2. Someone had left the batteries in it until they leaked -- I didn't think these things had been around long enough for that to happen(!) -- but some Q-tips and vinegar took care of that. It works fine. This is the first of the arcade-based TV Games plug-and-plays I've spent any time playing. It's old news, but they did an okay job on it. The controls obviously aren't up to arcade standards, but the games are close enough to the real thing that the differences just nag at you a bit. (As opposed to the whole thing being so obviously something like an NES-on-a-chip that you want to retch.) Rotating the joystick to steer in Pole Position worked better than I thought it would.

It's been a long time. Nice to find something "new" again.

Today's finds (future classics?) [N64 clock, strategy guides, Stop Thief]

[Originally posted to rec.games.video.classic.]

I only had time to hit four yard sales today, but the first one was good. It advertised computer & video games. Turns out the guy was a former Electronics Boutique manager and was dumping a bunch of stuff. I picked up several expensive hint books for games and systems I don't have (yet) at $0.50 each! I even picked up a little bit of software, too. But the coolest item had to be a Nintendo 64 clock for $5. It has the big 3-D N logo in the middle. I don't have a clock in my office, so this will do. It might even be worth something to people like us in 20 years. 8) Of course, I'd trade it for an Atari logo clock in a heartbeat. 8)

Quick notes on some of the books:

The Battlezone Strategy Guide has some quotes from the creator of the classic arcade game. He talks about how being a home game allows the new Battlezone to have more depth.

The Summer 1999 Expert Codebook actually tells you how to find the secret room in Adventure! It's an "Extra" in the Saturn section. (Yes, there really is a short Saturn section.) Right below it is another Extra that talks about the stuff you can get by frying your 2600. They don't actually call it that, nor do they mention that you could potentially damage your system doing it.

The only other things I found were at my second stop. A Stop Thief board game ($1, eBait) and a computer data switch ($2). I think I'll eventually use the latter for the Intellivision Controller Interface when I get the money for them.

[The N64 clock is still on my wall, but I still don't own a N64. Nor did I ever buy the Intellivision Controller Interface, which is probably just as well since computers have all gone USB since. — 15 August 2010]

[Galen Tatsuo Komatsu posted the following regarding the Adventure secret room instructions four days later (6/23/1999):]

This originally appeared in the August'98 issue of Expert Gamer, in an article, "50 Greatest Videogame Tricks of All Time" which also appears on their videogames.com website.

Since you have the item in front of you, grab a copy of Atari B-TECH and compare the text of the trick in the two.

hmmm...

Minor finds & unrelated grouse [Stop Thief, blue label Pitfall!]

[Originally posted to rec.games.video.classic.]

I don't remember the details, but I dreamt of finding boxed carts last night. Unfortunately, this wasn't an omen. All I found was a Stop Thief board game (complete minus battery cover) and a blue label 2600 Pitfall. I passed on an Atari 8-bit Gyruss and a Comp IV. This is my third Stop Thief in two months, but the first with instructions. (Naturally, someone mailed me a photocopy of them just a couple weeks ago.) The blue label Pitfall is up for trade. See my trading post (http://home.hiwaay.net/~lkseitz/trade/) for my want list & a link to my have lists. (It's under construction, but the video game part is pretty much done.)

The grouse has to do with what I missed out on. Near the concentration of local thrifts is a Blockbutser Video. I've been visiting it weekly, waiting for them to get rid of their last set of SNES games, which included Atari's Greatest Hits:The Atari Collection. I went today and didn't notice any new SNES games for sale, but when I went to see if it was on the shelf, I found PlayStation games. I asked the clerk and AGH had already been sold. Bummer! (Not that I really needed it with MAME and a full-sized Missile Command in my garage.)

[I'm not sure why I passed on the Comp IV, although it's probably because there doesn't seem to be much of a market for them, despite their historical significance. Later in the month, however, I picked up my second Comp IV. The trading post link is no longer valid. I gave up on it because it wasn't generating any leads. —14 August 2010]