So does anyone remember a pocket travel game from the 1980's called Flipsiders? They were dubiously marketed but insanely cool pocket/magnetic board games with breathtakingly rad board art (aparently done with mad skill in probably Adobe Photoshop V negative 1.5, circa 1987).
Each game looked vaguely like an audio cassette (though normally more wildly colored). They were the same size, just a fraction of an inch thicker. Where the tape wheels were, there was a dual-spinner in place of dice. In the top was a small compartment holding 4 colored magnetic game peices. Out of the bottom, with a simple flick of the wrist, would cascade a 3-pane magnetic board that was simple to fold back up into the cartrage.
I owned at least ten of these gems as a kid, but I think my grandparents sold or gave them away while I was at college, along with a few 18-ounce bars of platinum and the Hope Diamond. I was a bit dissapointed :)
The games were hella fun, the form factor was hella portable. I could really fit all 10 of them in a small pouch in my backpack. They were durable as hell too.. like any cell phone or PDA I've ever owned, they'd been through more physical maltreatment than the three stooges.. over the course of several years.. and every mechanism on every game held up like a jeep. The only drawback was the magnetic peices, which could be easily lost... but that could have been solved by having a bag of extras at home to replenish the stock. They only varied in color, and came in like 6 colors across all the games.
I've been running the Yahoo Group for a few months now, and with the help of fewer cohorts than even ye who read *this* blog, we got a reply back from an Anjar representative (in the group no less!) earlier today, offering info and even intimating that the games may be re-released soon. w00t!
So lemme know if you've ever heard of these things, and/or what you thought of them? And/or where can I buy some? *ball*
Posted by jesse at May 11, 2004 12:30 AM