Saturday, August 5, 2017

Retro Toy Chest: Simon (1978)

Milton Bradley got into the electronic game business in 1978 with Simon, in which players had to follow the instructions via flashing lights on the game board.

Nearly 40 years later, Simon has been rebooted and the line expanded by Hasbro, which acquired Milton Bradley in the 80's. Nothing, though, beats the original ad campaign, with a poem recited by horror legend Vincent Price.



Price also shilled for two other Milton Bradley games, Hangman & Stay Alive, both of which I played. Simon? Not so much. In England, the same commercial played with a British actor reciting the same poem.

8 comments:

Chris Sobieniak said...

Reminded myself of Simon as Milton-Bradley put this other thing out involving 8-tracks (and one of them has Vincent Price on it as well)!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyOKgLtUxto

hobbyfan said...

Hmm, the Omni was a little too expensive for its time. What was Milton Bradley thinking?

Chris Sobieniak said...

Who knows, it's obvious Simon found better ground for it's simplicity and emphasis on memory.

hobbyfan said...

Indeed. Simon's still around, as Hasbro continues to market it.

Chris Sobieniak said...

I know, just kinda odd to think how insignificant a name like Milton Bradley became anyway.

hobbyfan said...

Not so, considering there was a baseball player by that name not long ago.

Chris Sobieniak said...

Interesting.

hobbyfan said...

Oh, it's true. Milton Bradley is now out of baseball, and is better known for getting kicked out of games because of his temper.