ELECTRIC FOOTBALL Community Spotlight

Andre Cochran – Husband, Father, Fire Fighter, ELECTRIC FOOTBAL Collector and Tweaker Extraordinaire

I first got to know Andre when he began buying some of my custom painted teams. Since then, we have had many conversations regarding playing and collecting electric football (mostly through Facebook posts and Messenger).

I asked him if he would mind sending me some pictures of his collections and provide a bio along with his personal history with electric football. This week I received those pics.

Hello,

My name is Andre Cochran. I was born and raised in Mansfield Ohio. I am a 53-year-old married man, and the father of three grown Daughters.

My Electric Football experience started on my 10th Birthday in 1979 when my father gifted me my first Electric Football board. It was the Tudor Games Super Bowl that featured the Dallas Cowboys, and the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Cowboys were my favorite team at the time so I was thrilled. The vibrant colors of the Haiti Teams and this beautiful Board were something to behold, and I was hooked.

After receiving my first game I played and collected a few teams until 1982, at that time I was 13 years old and I had just began my freshman year of High school. During my high school years I was committed to playing football and working for my Grandfather in the offseason, that did not leave much time for electric football, so the figures were stored away for safe keeping, and the board was given away. On a side note I was able to keep those figures in pristine condition for over 35 years and most of them are still in my collection.

After High School, I attended college for a few years and worked part-time at Kroger’s, after figuring out that college wasn’t working out, I continued to work at Kroger until 1993 when I was hired at The Mansfield Fire Department, over the next 26 years I was married, divorced, and married a second time to my best friend Tracy, and we raised three wonderful Daughters.

My father passed away on July 16, 2019. At that time I had been away from Electric Football for over 35 years, but I found my way back to it one month later.

After my Father passed I hit a low point and just wasn’t doing well mentally. I needed something that had a connection to my father, and I wanted something that I could keep in his honor. That’s when I decided to reached out to the Electric Football community on Facebook to find out who made custom boards and figures, and that’s how I received my Custom Super Bowl 13 board and my custom Cowboys and Steelers teams. I figured what better way to honor my father than a custom rendition of the very first electric football game that I ever received from my Father.

I then began to teach myself how to tweak bases, I started off tweaking Tudor Rookie, TTC, and Proline bases. I then moved onto ITZ Championship Level 1 bases, Championship Level 2, and Blitz Bases. I have tweaked Buzzball, and Dev bases as well. It took me over 3 years, but I think I have become proficient enough to tweak any base on the market.

I was trying to figure out a way to give back to this wonderful hobby, and after seeing the number of coaches who were having trouble tweaking bases, I figured that helping those coaches learn how to tweak or providing tweaked bases for them was the way to go. After all it’s hard to enjoy the hobby if your figures don’t move.

I began to help by making instructional videos. I eventually got comfortable enough that I tweaked bases for free for a couple of guys. I then sold a few of my Pre-tweaked bases and they were such a hit that guys started reaching out to me to tweak bases for them. I then began taking custom orders and offering different packages and sales on Facebook.

I am now known for selling decently tweaked bases at a fair price, and I have several gentlemen who I not only call friends, but very loyal customers.

I am now an avid collector Electric Football Boards and Figures, and a fixture in the Electric Football community. I have made many friends and brothers during this Electric Football journey, and I am looking forward to making many more.

I would be remiss if I did not thank my wonderful wife for her support and understanding when it comes to my obsession with this great hobby.

Electric Football is the greatest hobby in the world.

Thank You.

Andre Cochran

Here are some highlights from his collection.

Vintage Game Boards