The Old Price Is Right

[Jimmy Owen]

Parker Brothers?, well if Milton Bradley wasn't interested, that says something.

[The Ol' Guy]

Yeah, right about that time, Parker pulled a Cardinal and put out home versions of 2 G-T "B" games. They also issued their version of Number Please that also was altered for home use. For those who have wondered about getting one - two players come up with their own phrase, maximum 24 letters/spaces. The phrases don't need a connection, unlike the game show. You could write Vacation Bible School, your opponent could write Marilyn Manson rocks! The phrase is written on a wipe-off strip inserted into a plastic frame, each letter hiding behind a plastic sliding cover like a Jeopardy home game value slide. On the back of each slide was a money amount. On your turn, you'd pick a number on your opponent's frame from 1 to 24. He'd take away the slide, read you the value behind it, and you paid that much to see the letter. You'd be swapping cash back and forth until one person can guess the other's phrase. There could have been other payoffs, but it's been a while since I've had it out.

[Steve Gavazzi]

[quote name=\'DjohnsonCB\' date=\'Mar 7 2005, 10:16 AM\']Maxene Fabe covered this in her book.  Bud Grant of CBS called Mark Goodson and told him he was interested in bringing TPIR back as part of a new AM GS block in Fall 1972.  But Goodson eventually discovered the original format wouldn't work "these days"--too boring and too slow.  He contacted Grant and told him that "unless you want a whole new show, we're going to have to cancel our deal", to which Grant replied "No, go ahead, I trust you.  Overhaul it from top to bottom if you have to."  And the rest is history.

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I know I'm pulling something up from four pages ago...but I'd always heard that the show was only shopped to CBS at all because NBC turned it down.  I know that's not really the topic of the thread...but which story is right?

[DjohnsonCB]

[quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' date=\'Mar 10 2005, 08:34 AM\']Parker Brothers?, well if Milton Bradley wasn't interested, that says something.

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Parker Brothers *did* get first crack at a home version of at least one "A"-list GS:  Concentration.  They let MB take over because they couldn't come up with one that was satisfactory.  I also heard that the original MB prototype for Concentration wasn't like the ones that were in production all those years.  I'd give anything to see it if it still exists, especially the game board.  

The inventor's superior nixed his first attempt because the price would have been $4 in 1959 bucks (makes one wonder what it would have gone for 20 years later), and he asked another employee to try and revamp it so they wouldn't have to use so much plastic and cardboard.  The price of the Rolomatic version was still a bit more than they'd preferred, but they took a chance on it and it was a million seller that first year.  Too bad the refill rolls weren't easy for me to come by.

BTW if anyone's interested in the Say When! home game, I have one for sale...

[The Ol' Guy]

That is intriguing, from the standpoint of "1959 dollars". I chuckle when I read the old Lowell games brochures, with many of the games released in the 1955-1958 years in the $2.98 range, with Beat The Clock at $3.98, which was probably considered pretty pricey for the mid 50s...or was it? Jeopardy, Eye Guess and several other MB games in the mid-60s retailed at right around $2.98 early on, if I remember correctly. Password, with a $2 tag, went for as little as $1.39-$1.59 at deep discount stores. Anyone have some comparative prices for, say, Monopoly, Clue and Candy Land in those years? Granted, licensing was probably part of the higher price, but it seems putting out a game at $3.98 back then seemed pretty bold.