Blast from the Past

My brothers and I, back when we were but small wee lads, were a creative sort and would write (and I use the term loosely) comic strips based on our adventures (again, a term used loosely).  Most of these stories were basically rip-offs of He-Man or G.I. Joe cartoons.  I also seem to remember a story that featured Large Marge, the truck driver from the Pee Wee Herman movie but details are foggy so I could be wrong, or at the very least out of context. 

In any event, these comic strips led to the creation of a board game.  Time passed.  I moved away, grew up, joined the Navy traveled the world, finished my enlistment, got a job, then a different job, then another job after that and these cartoons were largely forgotten. 

Then a few weeks ago, while I was watching an “Ancient Aliens” marathon on the History Channel, my phone beeped.  I had received a message on Facebook from my cousin Ben.  The message contained a pair of pictures and asked if I knew anything about what was shown. 

It was the board game. 

I told Ben everything I have told you, my readers, up to this point and asked for him to send it me. 

It arrived yesterday.

Outside Cover

Inside (Game Board)

Inside the folder, there was also a packet of vehicle schematics (mostly traced from the “blueprints” included in G.I. Joe accessory vehicles but there were a few that were original designs) of varying quality.  Some of these may even see their inclusion into my ongoing campaign when the players finally make it to Earth.

Some brief internet research gives me a rough estimate that the original creation date of this game was no later than 1986.  The fact that the game has survived for over 30 years, let alone in what turns out to be remarkably good condition, just amazes me. 

Eventually, I will get everything scanned and saved onto my flash drive but I thought I would share this glimpse into my earliest forays into the world of gaming.