Saturday, March 28, 2015

1988 Kenner Talking Baseball


Talk about a blast from the past. During last month's COMC pick-up, I came across a bunch of 1988 San Diego Padres Starting Lineup Talking Baseball cards. I actually bought this electronic card game, made by Parker Brothers Toys of Beverly, Mass., for my oldest son's birthday that year. 

 
This electronic game, which set you back about $100 in the day, was basically a small computer and keyboard housed in a miniature baseball stadium, which allowed you to respond to baseball game situations. The cards, measuring 2-5/8 x 3, were part of the Starting Lineup Talking Baseball game, which also included a team game cartridge. And it only took four "C"-sized batteries to operate.

For those of you who aren't too familiar with this electronic game, here's an actual TV ad for Starting Lineup Talking Baseball.


There were 42 cards in the complete National and American League "All-Star" set, including seven instruction cards (without player pictures) as well as Tony Gwynn (21b). Like Panini and other card companies today, Kenner only had a player’s association license for the game, so of course, there are no logos on the uniforms or hats.

You could also pick up one of the 26 individual teams sets, so you could play, say the San Diego Padres against the San Francisco Giants. You have to remember though, there was no interleague play, or even Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies, Miami (Florida) Marlins, or Tampa Bay Devil Rays, for that matter. And while the Los Angeles Angels played in Anaheim just off of I-5, there were no Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

Here's the 14 San Diego Padres cards I picked up through COMC.
 


 

The entire San Diego Padres Team Set includes
1-Shawn Abner
2-Roberto Alomar
3-Bobby Brown
4-Joey Cora
5-Mark Davis
6-Tim Flannery
7-Goose Gossage
8-Mark Grant
9-Tony Gwynn
10-Stan Jefferson
11-John Kruk
12-Shane Mack
13-Carmelo Martinez
14-Lance McCullers
15-Randy Ready
16-Benito Santiago
17-Eric Show
18-Garry Templeton
19-Ed Whitson
20-Marvell Wynn
21-Batting Order Checklist. 
  

1 comment:

  1. I so want the entire team set & the actual electronic game.

    ReplyDelete