Pockets of Fun

Pardon me if my age shows while I switch into "kids these days" mode. 

It seems the sole source of entertainment for kids these days (see, I told you) are video games.  Sure, they come in a variety of platforms, but they're still video games.  Pre-Atari, I didn't have much exposure to video games.  But there were variety of options for game play I could choose; board games, cards, outdoor physical *gasp* games, and early electronic games.  And for a brief time in the late 1970's mixed among those other choices was a line of mechanical pocket games made by Tomy and other companies.

I remember going through bins of these at a local store as a kid, trying to decide which held the most fun and game play.

I found a couple of these this past summer. I had this Jackpot game in yellow.  Pull the lever, let it spin, push to button to stop the reels on a dime.  Of course, nothing ever dispensed for hitting the jackpot, but it felt great just the same.

With the explosive popularity of the Pac Man video game, companies tried to capitalize with their own adaptions.  This mechanical game is actually pretty clever.  Load up all the BBs at the top, turn a wheel on the side to load and drop them into the peg board below a la Pachinko, slide the Pac Man back and forth and attempt to capture the BBs.  For an additional challenge (and simulation of the video game), Pac Man opens and closes his mouth as it slides back and forth, so the mouth has to be aligned and open to capture the BB.

There doesn't seem to be a complete reference guide to these games available on the internet, but here's a few to tickle your memory.