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Current Board Game Price Guide
 Introduction Board games, they have been around for generations and will most likely
will be around forever. Who doesn’t have fond memories of playing a board game as a child; staying up late, laughing
and giggling the night away with your brother, sister or best friend. The board games were always there under your bed or
in your closet waiting to be taken out and strewn across your bedroom floor. Hollywood board games came to be with the advent
of the television in the American home during the 1950s. Television changed the fabric of American life and Hollywood board
games provided an extension of the television with family entertainment. Through the 1950s and 60s, Hollywood board games
were making history and becoming popular as a childhood right. During the 1970s, Hollywood board games were targeted directly
to children and less for family entertainment. The Hollywood board game would reach its top selling potential as virtually
every sitcom, Saturday morning cartoon and top motion picture had a matching board game. During the early 1980s, the advent
of computers in the home was as much a change in the American fabric of life as the television once was forty-years earlier.
The computer age changed the way children played and interacted with one another and board games became obsolete and out of
touch with technology. The top board game manufacturers all but stopped production of Hollywood board games in the early 1980s,
and eventually stopped production of theme board games altogether by the middle 80s. The board games that were once enjoyed
by millions of children across America for four-decades, were now cast aside like worthless junk. Board games were stored
away, given away, sold at yard sales, or the unthinkable, simply thrown away. The Hollywood board game became a part of history
next to the dial phone and the black and white television. Then in the 1990s, another remarkable change took place in American
culture; the consumer internet was born. The computer technology that had destroyed the life of the board game was now giving
those old board games new life as an icon of American Pop-Culture. The board games that had survived years of storage, years
of play and lost nostalgia, are now finding their way back into the mainstream of American life. That once worthless board
game is now worth as much as one hundred times the original price tag, and increasing in value every year.
The Hollywood Board game is back! Celebrities with Board Games. l to r Don Knotts, Billie Hayes, Al Lewis,
Connie Hines and Alan Young, Eric Estrada, Dawn Wells, Mickey Dolenz, Rip Taylor, Johnny Witaker and Walker Edminston
Hollywood Board Game History The very first Hollywood inspired board game was The
Lone Ranger game by Parker Brothers, produced in 1939, ironically the same year that the TV was introduced to America. The
first actual board game that was produced in conjunction with the media of TV was Hopalong Cassidy by Milton Bradley, produced
in 1950 as a family game. The company executives must have had the idea that a game could be purchased for a family to enjoy
when not viewing the actual TV show. Other companies soon followed with their own TV board games from companies like Transogram,
Standard Toy Kraft, Allison, Lowell, Hassenfeld and countless others for thirty-five years.  Throughout most of the twentieth century the most well known company synonymous with board games
was Milton Bradley. Today, the company is part of Hasbro Incorporated and still produces many games under the original brand
name. In 1860, Mr. Milton Bradley started a lithograph business in Springfield Massachusetts making lithographs of the soon
be president Abraham Lincoln. In 1861 with a game called The Checkered Game of Life, his business was able to sell 40,000
copies of the game. By the 1870s the company was producing games and puzzles under the Milton Bradley company name. Throughout
the turn of the century and prior to Bradley’s death in 1911, the company did not stand out as a prominent toy manufacturer.
For forty years the company struggled to stay profitable in a era of depression and two world wars with games like Candy Land,
Chutes & Ladders and the Checkered Game of Life. It was once thought of by the company that the new medium television,
that appeared in the early 1940s would doom the toy company for good as children would abandon their toys. In the 1950s game
show programs were the most popular television programing of the time. One particular program, Concentration aired on ABC,
and in 1959 with the brilliant idea of producing a board game based on the game show, Milton Bradley created the first game
inspired board game. In 1969 on the Tonight Show, Johnny Carson played Twister and sales of the game skyrocketed. With a connection
to television Milton Bradley would become the top producing game manufacturer in the world. After multiple company take overs
starting in 1969 by General Mills, the Milton Bradley Company was finally taken over by Hasbro in 1984 and the original factory
in Springfield was converted into condos in the 1990s.
 In 1883, an enterprising sixteen year old boy named George S. Parker took forty dollars of his
total fifty dollars life savings to publish and market a game that he had invented called Banking. After failures trying to
sell the game, Parker eventually took the advice of a Boston Banker and attempted to manufacturer and market the game himself.
Parker found success and Parker Brothers was incorporated in Salem Massachusetts in 1898. The company moved into a large building
in Salem and for the next thirty years would struggle as did Milton Bradley Company to stay profitable. In 1931, Charles Darrow
re-created a new banking game that Lizzie Phillips had created years earlier and attempted to sell the game to Parker Brothers.
Called Monopoly, Darrow changed Phillips original game ideas and thought that Parker Brothers would be very interested in
the new game. Darrow was turned down by both Parker and Milton Bradley. After company reconsideration, a year later Parker
decided that Monopoly might be a game that families would buy. With a few more changes, settling claims by Phillip’s
and Darrow, Monopoly would become the quintessential family board game and move Parker Brothers to a game powerhouse. For
the next sixty years Parker Brothers would be a successful game manufacturer following the paths of other board game companies
by creating television theme games. In 1994, Parker Brothers was taken over by Hasbro and by 1996 the large factory in Salem
was demolished to make room for housing and business development in the late 1990s. Parker Brothers faded into history.
Typical Hollywood Inspired Children's Board Games
Collecting Autographs and Hollywood Inspired Board Games Below are a few examples of celebrities and comments on board games. Batman Game
1966,
Milton Bradley, No. 4648
Batman, ABC, 7/1966 to 3/1968, 120 Episodes
National Periodical Pub.
“I Never had a game, but let me tell you, I wish now that I had bought thousands,
but who knew the series would be so popular thirty years later.A really neat game.” - Adam “Batman/Bruce
Wayne” West
“I have seen the game,
but I never owned one myself, how do you play it?
Am I on the cover? I loveddoing that show even
though we weren’t on for toolong, it was great fun.”
- Frank “The Riddler” Gorshin
Mr. Gorshin passed away on 5/17/2005.
“Hey
look at this! Noooo I don’t have one. I never bought one. Well look at Robin, how small he is,
I guess that’s why it’s called Batman.”
- Burt “Robin/Dick
Grayson” Ward
“No I don’t....this sounds like a great collection you have of all those games from the old shows. I shouldn’t say old should I.”
- Julie “Catwoman” Newmar
“No I don’t have one of these games either.”
-
Lee “Catwoman” Meriwether
“Oh look at this game. No I don’t have one of my own, and yes I played batgirl. Do you know
what other character I played, yes Barbara Gordon, the Commissioner’s
daughter.”
- Yvonne “Batgirl/Barbara” Graig Typical Hollywood Inspired Sitcom Board
Games.
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Laverne & Shirley Game
1977, Parker Brothers, No. 176 Laverne & Shirley, ABC,
1/1976 to 5/1983, 178 Episodes
Paramount Studios
“I think I did have a copy. I think I bought it long after the show was off the
air. I think it’s awonderful game,your collection sounds wonderful.It’s my pleasure to sign it for you Jeff.”
- Cindy “Shirley Feeney” Williams
“No, I never did. This was a cheesy game. I’m not saying that because I never
received any of the profits from the game or merchandise. I guess if I was ten years old and playing a game about boyfriends, it would
be a fun game.”
- Penny “Laverne DeFazio” Marshall “I don’t think I do, they could have put us on the cover. How is it played,
like the show? - David “Andrew ‘Squiggy’ Squigmon” Lander
Theme Playing
is the Munsters Theme From Season 2
Hollywood Board Game Price Guide  Many price guides of collectible toys use mint values as their top listed price. The values stated on
this site are what one would expect to pay for a board game that is in excellent condition. Likewise, a board game that
is in mint condition would be valued higher, and board games that are in very good, good, and poor conditions would be valued
much less. Of course, the collector dictates what the final price of a used board game is by how much he or she is willing
to pay for it. Keep in mind that a board game that is incomplete should not be considered in mint or excellent condition,
even if the box and contents are in mint or excellent conditions. No two board games are exactly alike. A board game rated
in excellent condition by one collector may be rated in good condition by another. Keep in mind that mint condition for vintage
board games is rare, as most board games today range from very good to poor condition. The following scale is a guide to keep
in mind when purchasing or selling a board game. Condition
Scale Mint Condition. Never opened, used, has no damage.
Excellent Condition.
Complete, has superficial damage.
Very Good Condition. Complete, has light damage.
Good Condition. Incomplete and or moderate
damage.
Poor Condition. Incomplete and or heavy damage.
Parts Game. You’ll know it when you see it. Rarity Scale Scarce. Never seen, very limited production. Hard to Find. They are
out there, but not too often. Getting Hard to Find. Less are seen. Easy to Find. Seen everywhere. Name, Date, Excellent $$$, Very Good $$$, Rarity
Currently updating values as of 6-2-08, please check back soon j
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Collecting Board
Games Many years ago I happened to be online on day searching through EBay’s list of collectible toys.
For the fun of it I typed in Land of the Lost board game and to my surprise a few listings appeared. About a week later and
to my joy, I received my very own Land of the Lost board game. As a child of the 70s, I fondly remember watching Land of the
Lost on Saturday mornings. After a few days though the novelty of the game wore off and it was tucked away inside a closet.
Month’s later as I sat in a Boarder’s Book store in Sherman Oaks California, an announcement was broadcast that
Wesley Eure would be signing his new book, A Fish out of Water later that night. I had no idea of whom Wesley Eure was and
didn’t think much of it; then the announcer caught my attention. After a long list of credits, she said, “And
you may also remember Wesley as Will from Land of the Lost.” I sprang up like someone had called my name. I thought
I have a Land of the Lost game at home and why not come back and have Wesley autograph it. That I did, and that game was my
very first autographed board game of what is today, a collection of over four-hundred and still counting.  Over
the years I have had the pleasure of meeting celebrities and chatting board games with. Some celebrities have since passed
away like Al “Grandpa Munster” Lewis, Don “Barney Fife” Knotts and Frank “the Riddler”
Gorshin to name a few. Only one celebrity so far has declined to sign a game for me, that was Robert Blake, of course it was
during his murder trial. He did grant me a picture with him though.
Most
celebrities have been thrilled to see and sign a game for me, such as when Erin Moran of Happy Day’s fame was in shock
when she saw a Happy Day’s board game in what I believe was the very first time, because she screamed, “I’m
on the cover!” Over and over. It is those moments that make collecting board games fun and exciting.    I hope that you will enjoy this site as another source for pricing your games.
I enjoy collecting and hope that you do too. Look for my new book, Hollywood Board Games, out soon with hundreds of games, hundreds of celebrity pictures and comments. The
book has a price guide, TV sitcom, cartoon and movie
database. DISCLAIMER This site and all of the celebrity photos on this site are © J. Moreno 2006-08All characters, theme song and game covers arecopyrighted by their individual owner(s) and this site does not imply ownership.
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