Wednesday, November 7, 2018

The Jetsons Racing Game

Found this really weird, cheapo cool dime store toy a few weeks back and seriously laugh every time I look at it, because hey, remember when the Jetsons used to drive a blue VW around on dirt roads in the sky--?!! Whatever this gloriously off model idea game concept is trying to convey, it's definitely not Jetsons! Still, a fun "made in Hong Kong" find (no date on it though) and the paper track that you wheel around with your thumb (see black dial on the left) is totally intact, and the steering mechanism actually does move the car back and forth along the road. It's wonderfully fun for about a minute and a half, but man, I do so love the Jetsons!

Okay, since I can't think of a good "Jane, stop this crazy thing!" type joke to add at the end here, I'm just gonna pull off at the Road Diner for some Plutonian pork chops instead. Later, friends...







5 comments:

Tom said...

That's actually really cool. I would have bought that when I was a kid (I still would if I saw it somewhere!). It kind of reminds me of Shaper's U-Drive-It toy from the '70's. Man, I wanted that for Christmas one year, but my mom said I was too old for it. I'm STILL not too old for it!

top_cat_james said...

Should have included an option where you could run over Orbitty.

JMR777 said...

"Should have included an option where you could run over Orbitty."

Or Mr. Spacely.

Cool too cool find Karswell.

Even if the blue car doesn't fit into what we expect from the Jeston's, its fun to see a toy maker turn out a cheapy product that youngsters (and oldsters) would still have fun playing with.

Mr. Cavin said...

I love it, but also I kind of want to hack it. I mean, this would make a great apocalyptic outback Road Warrior chase. Or an eye-popping Temple of Doom runaway mine car thrill-ride. Or maybe an exploratory venture up the Amazon looking for the Black Lagoon. Man, that blue Beetle could really get around.

Mr. Karswell said...

@Tom: Yep, back in the day this is the sort of thing we had to settle for until Bally Midway released Spy Hunter in '83

@Top Cat & JMR: what about Cogswell's Sentro?

@ Mr. C: there's definitely a plethora of films you could translate into this game, as well as old arcade classics that would be tons of fun too. I mentioned Spy Hunter above, but also ones like Toobin' etc