With me movie review plans this week, I've been thinking over how to do a few quick toy blogs. After reviewing Jaws 3 and then looking through my old pics, I hit on a perfect solution: Start a new feature on movie toys and merchandise, with an egregious example already mentioned. I present for your consideration the Jaws game, still lying around the family estate. Here's a few pics to start things off.
The Jaws game was released in 1975 by Ideal. It was already reasonably routine for board games to be released based on movies and TV shows. Ideal's offering went in a new direction with a quite large shark whose (ahem) jaws could be rigged to snap shut with rubber bands. The goal was to pick various pieces of flotsam from out of the shark's mouth using a providing tool that looks like a dental pick. It was similar to Ideal's 1970 game Buck-A-Roo as well as Operation, and likely influenced other action-gimmick games like Crocodile Dentist. Somewhat unusually, the game was re-issued without the movie name Sharkey's Diner.
My own recollections of this game are simply of having it around forever. I can't recall if I ever played it, but I can remember looking over the pieces, so we must have gotten it out once in a while. It will be clear that the shark is the worse for wear; the eyes are stickers that are peeling, and the teeth have been mostly separated for a very long time. I always remember the pick being taped up with what looked like a paper clip, a further indication it must have gotten used at some point. It was only when I researched this post that I found out it was originally all plastic. It does still come with all the original pieces, one of which only turned up after I had taken most of the pics. Here's a shot of the pieces, instruction sheet and the end of the box.
Inevitably, the main attraction for me was to play with it as a toy. I can only remember trying two or three times at most, and even with the imagination of young me, it never quite worked. The obvious problem was that I had no idea how to rig the jaws (and still don't). Without that, the jaw just sort of flops up and down, as seen in these pics. Examining it now, the fins are just as problematic, clearly and correctly designed to hold the shark up at an upward angle but a direct obstacle it you try to maneuver it to dive or even strike straight ahead. Still, I'm sure I got at least a little play out of it Here's a few pics with old and new playmates.
"I think we need a bigger rake."
It's Sidekick Carl, he'll be fine. Maybe.
I think I need a bigger couch.
There was just one more thing to try, just for fun. It's not like it's really... Oh, Hell no.
You should've seen the one that got away.
For links, here's a video and followup about the game by John Wild, and a Battlegrip post that includes some vintage advertising.
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