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For generations, thumbing through
the Sears Wish Book or a local toy
store circular looking for that
game or toy that you just had to
have was a magical time for a
kid. I still love to check out
vintage catalogs, looking for that
toy I had or wanted. Tis The Season
for Baseball Games & Toys Part
II
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 Dexterity
games AKA skill games, palm puzzles
and hand-held games, became popular
around the mid 19th Century. The
games reached their height of
popularity from about 1920 to and
through the 1950's. Formed in 1888,
this National Base Ball Puzzle
was produced by the Popular Games
Company.
The glass covered 3" diameter stamped lithograph illustrates a green
baseball diamond with 10 players, 2
umpires, and 2 coaches. The first
base lines reads "The Trick - Hold
'Matty' (refers to Christie
Mathewson) in box while Evers
(refers to Johnny Evers of Cubs
Infielders - Tinker to Evers to
Chance fame) makes home run without
running off diamond.
Copyrighted in 1909 the Perfection
Novelty and Advertising Co.
manufactured and distributed
Leslie's Baseball Game in 1913.
The game, as printed on the cover sheet had a retail Price of $1.00.
Leslie's Perfection card game was
also made available through a mail
order, "Postage paid by Parcel
Post," from the company located at
607 Columbia BLDG, Cleveland, Ohio.
Leslie's
Base Ball Game consists of a
large 11x14, "Base Ball Diamond."
This is the playing board to the
game that resides at the bottom of
the box. Game pieces includes
"Baseball players and umpires" that
are represented by wooden pawn like
markers, a fifty-six page score
book and 84 playing cards. The
cards are neatly housed in a dark
green case. There are at least two
editions of this game, one having a
maroon colored case, and 85 cards.
Major League Ball, "The
Indoor Base Ball Game Supreme"
was produced by the National Game
Makers, of Washington, D.C. in
1921. The game came with die-cut
players that you punched out from a
team sheet, used to play the game.
Player labels were provided to be
glued to the bottom. The labels
could be purchased each year to
update the team players throughout
the 1920's. The labels featured the
popular players of the day. Key
'cards' include: Walter Johnson, Ty
Cobb, Babe Ruth, and Lou Gehrig.
This
Babe Ruth Baseball dexterity puzzle
game could have been produced
anywhere between 1920-1950s, but
because of rarity I would lean
towards the 1920's-1930's.
The game could be played in the palm of your hand, by maneuvering the ball
into one of four holes. The
hand-eye challenge is to maneuver
the ball into the "Home Run" hole
located at the upper right, by
tilting the round glass top
capsule, while avoiding the other
three holes.
The round capsule measure 2 1/4" in diameter, and about 1/2" deep. At the
top of the inner card reads "BABE
RUTH, BASEBALL" framed inside a
rectangle. Below and in the center
of the four score holes, is an
illustration of a ballplayer in the
likeness of Babe Ruth.
Yankees, Tony Lazzeri was given the
name "Push-'em-Up Tony" while
playing for the Salt Lake City
Bees, in the Pacific Coast League.
A fan of Italian descent that
wanted him to get a hit, and could
not express himself well, shouted "Poosh-'Em
Up, Tony."...(Push-'em-Up said with
an Italian accent Poosh-M-Up) The
nickname followed him to New York.
Playing off Lazzeri's popularity, the Northwestern Products Co., produced
this
"Poosh-M-Up Jr." 4-in-1
tabletop pinball game.
The four games that can be played on this glass covered, wood-frame game
are; Baseball, Put-In-Take, colors,
and Bagatelle. The popular 1930s
game hit the shelves and patented
in 1932. After WWII, the game
became popular again. In 1949, a
battery operated model was
introduced.
This
celluloid catcher Wind-up toy
was given the nickname "Bill
Dickey" by collectors because of
the Yankees interlocking "NY" on
the sleeve. Dickey a HOF catcher who played for the
Yankees from; 1928 to
1943, served in the military in
1944 & 1945, and finished his
career in 1946.
The toy is usually dated to 1946, Dickey's last season but, there is no
dating on the box, and the toy is
embossed with "Made In Occupied
Japan" on the back.
Items stamped "Occupied Japan," can
be dated to 1945-1952. There are
two different boxes that the toy
came in which can be an indication
the toy was issued in different
years. There's no indication on the
box or toy that the catcher is Bill
Dickey, or a Yankee, outside the
interlocking "NY" Sleeve.
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 box cover features "Bob Feller's Big League Baseball Game"
printed over an infield diamond,
and depicts an illustration of a
smiling Bob feller to the left. The
game was made for all ages, played
at home or on the road.
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.
The game involving baseball
statistics, and strategy was
first created, and sold in 1951 by
Dick Seitz. The original game
offered 20 player cards for each of
the 16 major league teams and two
play charts, for $10.00. The 150
games sold encouraged Seitz that
there was a market for his game so
he produced new versions annually
from 1952-56. That steady increase
in sales encouraged Seitz to quit
his job in 1957 to make APBA a
career. APBA Games and Collector
Software are still based in
Lancaster, to this day.
Pitch 'em ... Hit 'em ... Catch 'em! This
Automatic Action Baseball
Pitching Game, manufactured by
Louis Marx & Co., Hit the shelves
in 1958. The battery operated
mechanical game pitches 3 plastic
balls in intervals, and you can
catch them or hit them out of the
bedroom! Or - If mom throws you
out, it can be used outdoors. The
sturdy Lithographed steel pitching
machine can help you perfect your
skills.
Franklin, a sporting goods company
founded by Sydney, and Irving H.
Franklin was established in 1946.
The company produced footballs and
other sports equipment, toys and
sports medicine products. Franklin
also produced a line of Juvenile
baseball glove, bat & ball sets,
which were sold in toy, drug, and
discount stores, for about $1.98.
The
Pee-Wee League boxed set, came
with a genuine leather BS104 Big
Boy League Fielders glove, a 2.25"
Pee-Wee League sponge rubber
baseball, and a Pee-Wee League by
Franklin 18" baseball bat. "All
scaled down in size from
professional models" The glove and
ball was also sold in a separate
boxed set.
Complete with 4 plastic baseballs,
a cardboard home plate, and a
repair kit (patches, glue, and
instruction) the Inflatable
Yogi
Berra Pitch Kit hit the stores in
1963. Yogi Berra stands 36" tall
with weighted sand filled feet. The
game is played by pitching the
plastic baseballs into Yogi's
facsimile autographed mitt. The
cover of the box reads "Pitch One
To Yogi. Learn To Pitch Like a Pro"
From the day that Babe Ruth first
slipped on his Yankee pinstripes,
baseball fans around the world have
either loved the Yankees or hated
them with a passion. This 1960's
board game capitalized on those
emotions as you tried to "Challenge
the Yankees".
This game has become one of the most popular post-war baseball games in
the hobby- and for good reason- it
has everything. The cover of the
box has a magnificent drawing of
the "old" Yankee Stadium. It also
has cameo drawings of three of
their stars - Mickey Mantle, Tom
Tresh and Elston Howard.
As advertised - "You Manage...in
the most exciting realistic
baseball game you've ever
played..." Taking advantage of the
1969 Miracle Mets World Series
Victory,
RGI
Gil Hodges' Pennant Fever
hit the shelves in 1970. You direct
the action for every team in the
National and American Leagues. Over
600 individually rated players.
Power hitters like Tony Perez, Boog
Powell, and Frank Howard.
Spray hitters like Pere Rose, and Curt Flood. Strong arm starters like
Juan Marichal and Tom Seaver.
Pennant fever puts you right in the
dugout... deciding weather sluggers
like Johnny Bench and Hank Aaron
take the 3-0 pitch or swing for the
fences.
 The
Ernie Banks Ball 'n Strike
Instructional Batting Game & Record
was distributed by H.B.S. Sales
in 1977. The game came with a hard
ball attached to a 20 foot
long-lasting cord that could be
seen through a window at
the front of the box.
After Ernie banks was elected into the Baseball Hall Of Fame in 1977, a
panel was added to the front with
an exclamation! of the event. The
top of the box that holds the ball
and cord reads:
"GREAT for Little Leaguers high school and college players! Dad (or Mom)
and the boys can have a ball with
Ernie Banks Ball'nStrike" The game
also came with a 13 minute, 33⅓ RPM
7" Flexi-Disc record. Featured on
the recording is "Instructional
Batting Tips From the Chicago Cubs
All-Time Home Run Hitter."
 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.
When you turn on the Head to Head Electronic baseball game, it plays "Take
Me Out to the Ball Game." You have
the choice to play against the
computer or another opponent. With
all the options of a real baseball
game, you can hit and run, steal,
bunt, tag up, and more.
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The
1984 Milton Bradley Championship
Baseball tabletop board game
came with special Topps baseball
cards, which directs all the action
in the game. The games dice roll
outcomes are printed on the back of
each card which feature
statistically accurate batting
records that have been computer
analyzed into dice roll
combinations. the set's checklist
consist of 30 standard size cards,
and feature Hal Of Fame players
such as; Rod Carew, Reggie Jackson,
George Brett, Mike Schmidt Wade
Boggs, and more.
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. The set
included a Bo Jackson Rookie card,
with Bo, swinging a baseball bat,
and wearing an Auburn football
uniform. The back of each card
features 1986 & career player
stats, four trivia questions, and
at the bottom an Autograph space
for the player to sign. New
editions, and update sets were
produced throughout the 1990's.
Rookies in the set include; Bo
Jackson, Wally Joyner, and Barry
Larkin.
Excalibur Hobbies LTD of Malen, Maine, manufactured these plastic
baseball players during the 1990s. Sold
in plastic bags, they came in many
colors, including Red, white,
Green, and blue.
The miniature, baseball player toy
figures, were produced from the
original molds used for the 1958
Nabisco cereal prizes.
In 1958, Yellow Sox baseball players were inserted into boxes of Rice
Honeys cereal, and the Blue Sox
players were inserted into Wheat
Honeys cereal boxes. Each team set
consisted of batters, fielders,
umpires, base runners, pitchers,
and an ABC cameraman. |
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In 1999 Parker Brothers issued
the
Major League edition of
Monopoly. Team editions that
included the Red Sox, and Dodgers
would follow; along with special
World Champion editions, My Fantasy
baseball players Edition, and this
2001 Yankees Collectors Edition.
The Monopoly brand created a
special edition that commemorates
the Bronx Bombers, the Century's
greatest team. The game board
features the same setup as the
classic Monopoly game but with a
Yankee theme twist.
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Tis The Season for Baseball
Games & Toys Part I |
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KEYMAN COLLECTIBLES
RELATED RESOURCES |
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KeyMan
Collectibles Collectors Corner
- Keep up with the latest collecting news,
announcements, and articles of interest on the
webs best resource for baseball memorabilia. |
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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. |
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KeyMan Collectibles Forum
- A great option for those that "Don't do
facebook" Post Questions and
comments relating to Baseball Collectibles and
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