Sale of the Century bonus rounds

[Dbacksfan12]

As we all know; Sale featured three, grossly different bonus rounds during its run in the eighties.  Which was your favorite...and why?  I'd appreciate if this discussion remained intelligent; and we don't delve into factors such as [I think the font on the sign from 1987 looks cooler than the one from 1983].

[Craig Karlberg]

My favoritte is the Winners Big Money Board where a player picks numbers from 1-20 untill a match occurs.  It took a little longer to clear all the prizes than the shopping round I think, but there was really nothing to risk there.  The shopping round came a close second because there was drama involved.  I always wondered near the end of the main games is whether the champ had enough of a score to add it to her score total to get that prize they were eyeing.  The Winners Big Money Game was definitely a bad idea & it was so akward how the structure was set up as far as cash & cars went.  Sure you can solve a series of mini puzzles to beat the clock but the trick is to stay ahead of it at all costs.  Needless to say, it never fit in.

[clemon79]

I liked the Winner's Board. I liked that a player had an outside shot at winning the car on their first day, and I liked the look and operation of the thing. It looked like it would be fun to play with.

[garfybrewer]

I loved the Shopping bonus round. I loved how it posed this question- "Will he take the prize, or give it up for something bigger?"

[Jimmy Owen]

The first one was best.  It was similar to the original Jack Kelly version and that's the one I enjoyed best.

[Don Howard]

[quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' date=\'Jan 8 2005, 07:53 AM\']The first one was best.

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I'm with you, Jimmy. This way a contestant could be forgiven for racking up a big lead during the main game. He or she wasn't necessarily showboating--they were jockeying for one of the bigger prizes. Under these bonus round rules, the entire show featured items that truly were The Sale Of The Century!!!!!. I also enjoyed seeing how high that jackpot would grow. They could've retained the increasing jackpot element for the other bonuses (which means Rani White would've won a king's ransom instead of just a fortune) but alas.
Oh, and I thought the 1983 font was better than 1987's.

[tvwxman]

I also thought the first one was most appropiate for the show...though i do prefer shows that have an actual 'bonus' round....

I always wondered if they could develop a bonus round for players who won, with a chance for them to add a little bit to their total, to get them closer to the top prizes....

Could you see it? A big thrilling end game to win......$50! But if it were counted as part of your score...it could be the most important fifty bucks you ever earned on a game show!

Just mah two cents.

[TLEberle]

Growing up, the first one I saw was the Big Board, and along with Chris, I liked the idea of winning $10k or the Car on day one.

After seeing the USA reruns, I think that the Shopping portion embodies the true nature of the program, and it's a shame that they changed.

As a contestant, I think I'd most want to play the Money Game.  Given what I just said earlier, it sounds weird, but I might not make it the whole way, and winning a bundle of cash sure sounds good.

[sshuffield70]

I'm in the first bonus round camp, though I did like the concept of the "Winners Board".

[Chief-O]

I can't say a favorite at all, but I can say that the Winner's Big Money Game belonged somewhere other than SOTC.

[Rastaub]

When a champ was close to the jackpot or all of the prizes+ the jackpot, you couldn't beat the suspense. However I happen to prefer the random odds of the winners board myself.

[Steve McClellan]

Gee, looks like I'm alone here. I like seeing an endgame that's ...well... an endgame. Not a single question of preference, not something that might as well be a flip of a ten-sided coin. A game. One which requires some degree of skill. So, whether it fits in or not, the WBMG gets my vote, if only because of the process of elimination.

(And Matt S. gets my vote for "endgame the show shoulda had".)

[Ian Wallis]

I'll go along with the first one.  It was more interesting to see if a champ could get enough money to get to the next prize level.  The puzzle format didn't really fit the show, IMHO.

Having said that, I would have liked to have seen them give the champ a little something for winning the game - e.g. if they didn't have enough to get to the next level, maybe they should have at least got a little cash added to their total, that way if they lost the next game they'd at least have something.  It's possible on that show to win three or four games, and only leave with the $200 or so you won the games with - if you didn't buy any instant bargains along the way.

[DJDustman]

[quote name=\'Ian Wallis\' date=\'Jan 8 2005, 03:40 PM\']
Having said that, I would have liked to have seen them give the champ a little something for winning the game - e.g. if they didn't have enough to get to the next level, maybe they should have at least got a little cash added to their total, that way if they lost the next game they'd at least have something.  It's possible on that show to win three or four games, and only leave with the $200 or so you won the games with - if you didn't buy any instant bargains along the way.

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That's what the Instant Bargains and Fame games were there for!

No doubt, Shopping was the better bonus game.  Shopping produced what I think was the best drama in game shows.  To see the life changing huge wins by people like John Goss, Tim Hollerin and Alice Conkright was something else.  The shopping bit also offered more unique prizes.

The Winner's Board was ok.  A lot of the prizes became more cheap and there was very little risk until the end where you would risk all the 10 major prizes you earned on that board for an additional $50,000.  The only advantage of this bonus game is that people actually left with the prizes if defeated.  But still, you could leave with prizes from again the Instant Bargains and Fame Games.

Now the Winner's Big Money Game was not bad, but as previous posters stated, it was on the wrong show.  This game really had NOTHING to do with Shopping, or SALE of the Century.  Too bad the music was revamped so good to such a bad season for $OTC.

[BrandonFG]

The first one made Sale of the Century what it was, so it gets my vote. I feel this version added more drama to the game...could so-and-so win the cash jackpot today? They're only $40 away from it all?

The Winner's Board was cool too, and would make a sweet flashgame, but it just had no place on $ale. Would've made a nice bonus game on Classic Concentration though.