WISH LISTS GRANTED

 

The Summer (and Christmas) Lineup from Strat-O-Matic

 

 

By Glenn Guzzo

 

            Both the Strat-O-Matic game company and its customers will be celebrating this summer. It’s the 40th anniversary of the debut of Strat-O-Matic Pro Football. Gamers in every SOM sport gamers will receive a bounty of new seasons and all-star sets, including some long-sought issues that they had thought might never be done.

 

            Football gamers have wished for all-time great players, following the lead of Strat-O-Matic’s Hall of Fame sets for baseball and hockey. Granted: The game company will offer All-Time Franchise Football – nearly 1,500 all-time great players in 30 teams (see companion article for full description).

 

            Basketball gamers have wished for a season featuring all the pre-1970s superstars in their primes, players like Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Oscar Robertson, Jerry West and Elgin Baylor (among others). Granted: The computer game will have rosters for the 1966-67 season, when Chamberlain’s Philadelphia 76ers set an NBA record with 68 wins.

 

            Hockey gamers have wished for one the 1950s seasons when the Detroit Red Wings were dominant, and for the season when Philadelphia’s “Broad Street Bullies” became the first expansion team to win the Stanley Cup. Granted – and granted: Strat-O-Matic’s historic past seasons to be released this summer include 1950-51, when the Red Wings were the first NHL team to earn 100 points, and 1973-74, when the Philadelphia Flyers bullied their way to the championship.

 

            Surprise! – After long hesitation in the face of persistent wishing by baseball gamers, Strat-O-Matic has decided to release a Negro Leagues all-stars set and to have it out in time for Christmas delivery. The 108-card set is expected to contain every Negro Leagues player in the Hall of Fame, plus many other stars.

 

            There’s more for football, basketball and hockey. Here’s the complete lineup:

 

BASEBALL

Negro Leagues All-Star Set (108 cards, ETA: Christmas)

 

FOOTBALL

-- 2007 season, featuring the 16-0 New England Patriots and Super Bowl champion New York Giants.

 

-- 2007 NCAA season, featuring national champion LSU in the season of upsets.

 

-- 40th Anniversary All-Time Franchise Football, sold in six, five-team sets (three sets of AFC franchises and three sets of NFC franchises), with 13 skill players per team.

 

-- 1958 NFL season, featuring what some regard as the greatest NFL game ever: The first championship overtime game, won by the Baltimore Colts of Johnny Unitas, Alan Ameche, Lenny Moore and Raymond Berry (6 carded teams: Baltimore, New York, Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles and Pittsburgh. All teams on computer.)

 

-- 1983 NFL season, featuring the Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Raiders of Jim Plunkett, Marcus Allen and Howie Long (6 carded teams: Los Angeles Raiders, Washington, Dallas, Miami, San Francisco and Seattle. All teams on computer.)

 

BASKETBALL

-- 2007-08 NBA season

 

-- 1966-67 NBA season, featuring Wilt Chamberlain’s 68-win Philadelphia 76ers (computer only)

 

-- 1979-80 NBA season, featuring the franchise-changing rookie seasons of Boston’s Larry Bird and the Los Angeles Lakers’ Magic Johnson (computer only).

 

HOCKEY

-- 2007-08 NHL season

 

-- 1950-51 NHL season, featuring the 100-point Detroit Red Wings of Gordie Howe, Ted Lindsay, Sid Abel, Red Kelly and rookie goaltender Terry Sawchuk.

 

-- 1973-74 NHL season, featuring Phildelphia’s champion Broad Street Bullies (6 carded teams: Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, Montreal, New York Rangers and Toronto. All teams on computer.)

 

-- 1977-78 NHL season, featuring the Montreal Canadiens dynasty (6 carded teams: Montreal, Boston, Buffalo, Chicago, New York Islanders and Philadelphia. All teams on computer.)