A thing regarded as a representative symbol.
In ELECTRIC FOOTBALL that would be the things that are the most representative symbols of the game and hobby such as Game Sets, Teams and Figures.
Icons can be represented by both persons and things. However, for the purpose of this Hall of Fame, we are going to keep it simple and just use those things that best represent the game and hobby.
The 1967 Tudor Model 620 NFL ELECTRIC FOOTBALL Game Set
Electric Football Game Top 20 Countdown — No. 1
There are more colorful Electric Football games, there are more elaborate Electric Football games, and as we’ve seen in our Top 20 Countdown there are even Electric Football games that recreate some of Pro Football’s greatest moments…but there is only one Tudor “Grass Field” NFL No. 620.
Tudor made the Giants-Browns No. 620 from 1967-69, and we think that any game from the that period IS very special. But for our countdown we’re picking the 1967 No. 620. This initial version came with some unique features that clearly distinguish it from later models.
The reason the No. 620 comes in at No. 1, ahead of Electric Football games that seemingly have much “more” to offer, is simple: Whenever we’ve displayed a No. 620 at an Electric Football event — and this covers a period stretching from the first Miggle Convention in 1996 to TudorCon in 2014 — it’s always the game we spend the most time standing over.
It generates the most conversations, the most recollections, as well as the most looks of wonder as middle-aged men instantaneously become boys, being magically transported back to the moment when they first saw a Browns-Giants No. 620. It might have been a neighbor’s game, a brother’s game, their own game, on a toy store shelf, or even just the photo in the Tudor Rule Book. No other Electric Football game generates the same reaction. It’s not even close.
The No. 620 is the benchmark of benchmarks in Electric Football. 1967 was Tudor’s first year with the NFL license, and they were determined to make a big impact with their brand new NFL line. Since Gotham had been making and selling NFL-licensed Electric Football games since 1961, an NFL model wasn’t necessarily a new thing. But Norman Sas and Lee Payne had the motivation, talent, and business acumen to design something that seemed totally new.
So many of the concepts they had been working on and refining since 1961 all came to full bloom on the No. 620. So, most of the pieces for the No. 620 where in already in place when Tudor received official word from the NFL that it had won the NFL license for 1967.
We’ve talked a lot about “firsts” during the Countdown, and the No. 620 has some of the most notable firsts of all time.
1) First painted NFL teams, the Browns and Giants.
2) First large Electric Football game with a metal field.
3) First NFL markings on an Electric Football field with the “NFL” in each end zone (some Gotham games did have an NFL shield on their sidelines, but it was not in the field of play).
4) First single-posted slingshot style goal post, colored in Official NFL gold no less.
5) First fabric goal post pads
6) First clip-on grandstand
7) First grandstand crowd photo of an actual NFL stadium (Atlanta).
Breaking down all these firsts almost diminishes the game because it was the combined impact of all of these features that blew us away. The white markings on the green field just draw you in — you can almost smell the grass. And then there’s the giant letters in the end zones “N-F-L.” Rising majestically from the “F’s” are two modern “NFL gold” slingshot-style goal post… arguably the most realistic Electric Football goal posts ever commercially produced.
The feature that truly separates the 1967 version from all others — the field. In this first year of production the metal of the frame and field is noticeably more substantial than No. 620’s from 1968-69. In fact, Tudor used a double fold in the frame wall which gives both the frame and field added support and strength. (ALL subsequent Tudor 610 and 620 models only have a single frame fold). The field is “tight,” with very little “crown” or flex to it. The result is a field that Electric Football aficionados consider to be the truest vibrating surface that Tudor ever created.
The Tudor 1967 Original “Hong Kong Bigman” NFL and AFL “Official Team Color” Teams.
These are the most valuable and most frequently sought after teams and figures to anyone who collects Electric football teams and figures. Only one year of production and the first figures to be used in painting the AFL and NFL teams in their “Official Team Color” Uniforms. What makes these unique and different from all other teams and figures is that they are all stamped “Hong Kong” on the bottom of the platform and the AFL teams are only available in “dark” jerseys. They are also slightly larger than any figures that came after them.
What makes them so rare is that the original figure molds were destroyed by a fire at the factory in Hong Kong at the end of the first production run and some of the uniform paint and color combinations are only found on these figures.
Charles Angell (aka c_a_ panther is the only person that I know of who has spent a lifetime collecting these figures. You can check out some pics of his collection by visiting our Collectors Gallery. and by checking out his Facebook Page
The Tudor “Fab 5” Electric Football Action Figures
Originally created in 1964 as the “Standard” figures, they eventually evolved into the “Deluxe” figures in 1967. These immediately became the most popular figures in electric football. Today they are known as the “Haiti Repro” Electric Football Action Figures, and they are the favorite figures for painting electric football teams by the majority of EF artists and for people who collect electric football teams and figures.
These are the “ICONS” that in my opinion best represent the things that are most representative of the electric football game and hobby. If you have a different opinion, then please go to our NEFGM Hall of Fame page and nominate what you think are the best Games, Teams and Figures to represent ELECTRIC FOOTBALL.
The National Electric Football Game Museum 