Hot on the heels of the wildly popular Mattel Football handheld game, Tudor Games released NFL DELUXE Electronic Football in 1980. Toy companies are certainly no stranger to hyperbole, but I think even by their loose standards this ad strains the limits of credibility. I have to hand it to any kid who could play this and envision themselves in the Super Bowl.

Speaking of which – people, Super Bowl is two words, not one. No one ever writes about the Rosebowl or the Meineke Car Carebowl.

Anyway, I am curious about one thing – if this is the DELUXE version of NFL Electronic Football, what does the regular version look like? A circuit board with the NFL logo on it? Well thanks to Google, now I know. It looks like this. Oh yes, a huge improvement. I’ll say this for kids back then – they sure had active imaginations.

Even more incredible than the game’s claim of NFL excitement is the price tag. NFL DELUXEElectronic Football checks in at a modest $34.95! According to my handy inflation calculator that would be $85.85 in 2007 dollars. Dayum! (NFL Deluxe Electronic Football, 1980)