1 of the best times for me in EF

[nefgm.org]

Here's a cool post, I came across on Facebook today. 

From the Miniature Football Coaches Association. 

Posted by Norbert Revells on 1/10/2024.

"thats a reginald rutledge masterpiece from dallas, in 2007 I was so amazed by his passion and enthusiasm with EF, I just had to get on a plane and stay with this guy the whole weekend and absorb all his knowledge." 

 

[Benoît Racette]

What a set up, simply amazing

[Terry43]

 In the Unforgettable Buzz, Shores and Garcia wrote, "Gotham's new game was called the NFL Big Bowl Electric Football. It was the most stunning electric football game ever made. Surrounded on three sides with the gigantic double-decker grandstand, complete with overhanging roof, the Big Bowl looked a lot like the new stadiums in New York and Washington. ...(T)he Big Bowl was going to be a near perfect match with the stadiums opening in Atlanta and St. Louis. Gotham's stadium concept was almost as complex as it was ingenuous, requiring nearly 40 interlocking pieces of cardboard... Gotham's rather ordinary 3-D players almost seemed to be an afterthought, swallowed up by the majestic bowl. Heck, a kid could put plastic green army men on the field and it would still look good. (page 219)

"Boys who had to punch out and painstakingly assemble the many pieces of (Gotham's) Big Bowl on Christmas morning may have uttered less optimistic adjectives. Was the Big Bowl worth the extraordinary effort? For most boys it was. The sheer scale of the game made Christmas memories for a lifetime." (page 229)

I wonder what Reginald Rutledge got for Christmas? 🤔

Enjoy the Journey    T43    ⚡🏈♾️

[nefgm.org]

Good Question?? You have to meet Reggie in person to understand a lot about Reggie, his love and passion for the game and hobby, and his motivation for creating his line of footballfigure.net. electric football products. I met Reggie at the 1999 Miggle convention and tournament in Philadelphia, PA. There is a really interesting story behind all that that I don't know all the details of or remember enough to recount accurately. What I do remember though is it leading to a very strained relationship between Reggie and the owners of Miggle Toys that as far as I know was never mended or reconciled. Very rarely saw Reggie at any more Miggle sponsored events. I did see him occasionally at several of the other electric football tournaments and conventions sponsored by the MFCA, the TOC and other league and tournament events and had an opportunity to talk at length with him about a lot of things regarding electric football. There is no doubt that Reggie is a very creative and innovative person and a legend in the game and hobby and has a well-deserved place in the MFCA's Electric Football Hall of Fame and if I ever create an NEFGM Hall of Fame, he most very likely will be one of the first persons inducted. But that is a long way off and something I am very reluctant to do because of all the controversy and hurt feelings that it can cause and just something I REALLY HAVE NO DESIRE TO DEAL WITH at the present. My main focus right now is to get a physical "Brick and Mortar" location built for the museum and yes!!... an eventual NEFGM Hall of Fame.  

[Terry43]

I've never met Reginald Rutledge. I'm not sure about his disagreement with Miggle. I have watched his biographical video on Youtube and I have some thoughts.

I ran across this editorial in the first issue of Crackin' Plastic. 

Quote

Ask Dr. Pigskin
Texas Tony: Dear Dr. Pigskin, I've been in the EF hobby for over a decade and have seen the hobby evolve into a money grab pit; who can get rich quicker? The painters? The tweakers? The figure makers? Tournament turnout numbers are dropping and the older leagues breed cliques and buddy systems. What do you think it'll take for things to change??
Dear Texas Tony,
I appreciate your concerns. You have valid points but you didn't give me specific references; for that reason alone, I'll keep my response broad. Be more specific in the future. TT, the hobby is losing the race to Father Time. Great coaches are leaving the hobby either by choice or by force. Decades ago, coaches possessed skill sets and trades. A painter relied on events to display his works. Figure makers used raw materials, instead of 3D printing, or mold cast, or arm and body sprues. Tweakers pulled bases from the same mass producer and took time to make a tweak last. Today, the internet has made the hobby lazy and the love leave. Leagues suck because the coaches bounce around from league to league, like cheap hired guns, to make a name for themselves and not the leagues they're in or primarily belong to. Tournaments are just money pits! They're run poorly and the vendors take advantage of the poor showings by being the sole bright lights of the events. In the end, all merchants are becoming richer and all coaches are leaving broke and dissatisfied. Texas Tony, I prescribe, yourself and everyone else to find the love for the hobby again and find pride in team/leagues and skill sets. Share your knowledge and not your greed. The league needs legends not assholes.
Signed, Dr. Pigskin
The views and opinions expressed by Dr. Pigsksin are his and do not necessarily reflect those held by Crackin Plastic. But, you know what he's sayin is true, right?

I don't think a Hall of Fame, or a Brick and Mortar Museum, is really a priority for a hobby that, "...Is losing the race with Father Time."

5 hours ago, nefgm.org said:

... if I ever create an NEFGM Hall of Fame, he most very likely will be one of the first persons inducted. But that is a long way off and something I am very reluctant to do because of all the controversy and hurt feelings that it can cause...

I'm assuming you are speaking from personal experience with the MFCA Hall of Fame. Please, don't let it keep you awake at night. Life is too short and you have so much to share.

The important thing is to have fun and Enjoy the Journey   T43   ⚡🏈♾️

[nefgm.org]

"I'm assuming you are speaking from personal experience with the MFCA Hall of Fame. Please, don't let it keep you awake at night. Life is too short and you have so much to share.

The important thing is to have fun and Enjoy the Journey"

Terry, yes!! From the very beginning I have always told people that a Museum Hall of Fame would not be a Coaches's Hall of Fame but rather a Game Set Hall of Fame and an Innovators, and Painter's Hall of Fame. People who have had the most influence or impact on the game through their creative, innovativd and artistist abiliites not for someone who's "Greatness" is determined by the number of "Gold Balls" or other tournament / league trophies they have setting on their shelves.

What I have told the MFCA and TOC  or any other league organizers, is that if they want to celebrate their people with A "Hall of Fame., that I would provide a space for it( at a premium) with total responsibility of the maintenance and upkeep for it at their expense.  Needless to say I have had no takers and have received very little to absolutely no suppoert from these Organizations. Except from the LIEFL who have been very supportive of the Museum.

As for the Dr. Pigskin articles in Crackin' Plastic. They are total fiction anf meant to be more satiricsl in nature.than anything else. However there is a certain amoount of truth in them that their opinions are based on. I certainly have been a personal witness to much of thst side of the game and hobby and why I peronally dont' attend most of these events anymore. 

Edited January 13 by nefgm.org

[Terry43]

10 hours ago, nefgm.org said:

but rather a Game Set Hall of Fame and an Innovators, and Painter's Hall of Fame. People who have had the most influence or impact on the game through their creative, innovativd and artistist abiliites

I completely agree. 😃👍 I'd start with page 23 of the Unforgettable Buzz and work my way forward in time (Norman Sas and the Model 500 for innovation). Maybe Eddie Gluck and the G-1500 (for innovation) would be my second nomination (Chapter 12). Lee Payne gets my third nomination (page 241) and then Albert Sung (page 245 bottom of the page) for painting.

At one induction per year I probably wouldn't make it to Reginald Rutledge for over a decade.

Enjoy the Journey   T43.    ⚡🏈♾️

[nefgm.org]

Yeah, definitely Norman Sas and Lee Payne in the first class and probably the original 1949 Tudor Tru Action Electric Football Game Set.  

I took a risk and posted the following on Facebook. Will be interesting to see the responses.  I think I know where it will go, but just want to be sure. 

"At some point in the evolution of The National Electric Football Game Museum I plan on creating a NEFGM Hall of Fame. Am interested in finding out what type of Hall of Fame people would be interested in seeing and what the criteria should be for induction into this Hall of Fame." 

[Long island EFL]

On 1/12/2024 at 5:49 PM, Terry43 said:

 In the Unforgettable Buzz, Shores and Garcia wrote, "Gotham's new game was called the NFL Big Bowl Electric Football. It was the most stunning electric football game ever made. Surrounded on three sides with the gigantic double-decker grandstand, complete with overhanging roof, the Big Bowl looked a lot like the new stadiums in New York and Washington. ...(T)he Big Bowl was going to be a near perfect match with the stadiums opening in Atlanta and St. Louis. Gotham's stadium concept was almost as complex as it was ingenuous, requiring nearly 40 interlocking pieces of cardboard... Gotham's rather ordinary 3-D players almost seemed to be an afterthought, swallowed up by the majestic bowl. Heck, a kid could put plastic green army men on the field and it would still look good. (page 219)

"Boys who had to punch out and painstakingly assemble the many pieces of (Gotham's) Big Bowl on Christmas morning may have uttered less optimistic adjectives. Was the Big Bowl worth the extraordinary effort? For most boys it was. The sheer scale of the game made Christmas memories for a lifetime." (page 229)

I wonder what Reginald Rutledge got for Christmas? 🤔

Enjoy the Journey    T43    ⚡🏈♾️

Tudor should bring back their own version of a special vintage BIG BOWL GAME to match the Gotham Game! What say all of you? Levi-

[Terry43]

I think the stadium looks cool 😃👍 but... I walk around (and around and around and around, etc.) my field and grandstands just get in the way.

So cool idea, but probably not on my wishlist.

Enjoy the Journey.    T43.   ⚡🏈♾️

[Long island EFL]

On 1/13/2024 at 12:06 PM, nefgm.org said:

Yeah, definitely Norman Sas and Lee Payne in the first class and probably the original 1949 Tudor Tru Action Electric Football Game Set.  

I took a risk and posted the following on Facebook. Will be interesting to see the responses.  I think I know where it will go, but just want to be sure. 

"At some point in the evolution of The National Electric Football Game Museum I plan on creating a NEFGM Hall of Fame. Am interested in finding out what type of Hall of Fame people would be interested in seeing and what the criteria should be for induction into this Hall of Fame." 

Just Some Thoughts: Hall of Fame: Dare to be Different, Do our Homework, Be Fair, Be Accurate, Have an Established and Strict Criteria by a Committee. That's what makes a HOF special. A Hall of Fame, monument should honor electric football citizens who have achieved distinction, fame or innovation that changed the game to the next stage. The HOF Member should be in good standing in the community through local records of their distinction. In other words, organizational references standing at the summit in our hobby. Using a Who's Who of electric football is a solid place to start to qualify a HOF. Some people on here would make awesome HOF Committee Members. Daryl, Terry, the moderators, capanther ... There is a nice trustworthy unbiased list.

-History First List! I may be bias but have to vote NEFGM "Best at Preserving EF History"

All Hall of Fame worthy? That is what needs to be determined.

In 2018, the "Unforgettable Buzz" created a Top 20 Countdown. Here are a few:

1) First painted NFL teams, the Browns and Giants.

2) First large Electric Football game with a metal field.

3) First NFL markings on an Electric Football field with the “NFL” in each end zone (some Gotham games did have an NFL shield on their sidelines, but it was not in the field of play).

4) First single-posted slingshot style goal post, colored in Official NFL gold no less.

5) First fabric goal post pads

6) First clip-on grandstand

7) First grandstand crowd photo of an actual NFL stadium (Atlanta).

WHAT DEFINES OUR HISTORY?

THE PLAYERS OF OUR HISTORY?

BEST PARTICIPANTS 

-Unforgettable Buzz Earl Shore, Roddie Garcia and others Chris LeMay.

-Leadership Award: (POLL ON HERE BY MAKING A MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT)

-Best rated game board by Tudor or Miggle Hobbyists (POLL ON HERE)

-Best Innovation (POLL ON HERE)

-Best Customization Innovation Game Board (POLL ON HERE)

-Best Customization Innovation Game Board (POLL ON HERE)

-Most notable "Mayor's of Electric Football" Using a Criteria to be decided on (POLL ON HERE)

-Best Figure ERA  (POLL ON HERE)

-First Manufacturers and process

-Best running League with statistical data to support the claim 

-LEVI

 

[nefgm.org]

17 hours ago, Long island EFL said:

Just Some Thoughts: Hall of Fame: Dare to be Different, Do our Homework, Be Fair, Be Accurate, Have an Established and Strict Criteria by a Committee. That's what makes a HOF special. A Hall of Fame, monument should honor electric football citizens who have achieved distinction, fame or innovation that changed the game to the next stage. The HOF Member should be in good standing in the community through local records of their distinction. In other words, organizational references standing at the summit in our hobby. Using a Who's Who of electric football is a solid place to start to qualify a HOF. Some people on here would make awesome HOF Committee Members. Daryl, Terry, the moderators, capanther ... There is a nice trustworthy unbiased list.

Very GOOD!!! My thoughts almost exactly!!

[Terry43]

Are there any pictures or videos of Norman Sas actually playing an entire game of electric football?

Enjoy the Journey   T43   ⚡🏈♾️

[nefgm.org]

8 minutes ago, Terry43 said:

Are there any pictures or videos of Norman Sas actually playing an entire game of electric football?

Enjoy the Journey   T43   ⚡🏈♾️

No. None that I know of. I doubt very seriouly he ever actually played the game.