Adam Savage's Favorite Mechanical Handheld Game!
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ม.ค. 2024
- Before we had the Game Boy and other handheld video game systems, toymaker TOMY released a line of electro-mechanical handhelds that emulated the video game experience, fully mechanically. The 1978 racing game Digital Derby was Adam's personal favorite, and he finally finds a working model to investigate how this game actually works. With the help of Lumafield CT scans, we can now see the brilliant engineering behind these handhelds.
This video is part of a sponsored series with Lumafield. Learn more about these scans at: www.lumafield.com/article/ins...
Shot by Joey Fameli and edited by Norman Chan
Additional media courtesy Lumafield
Music by Jinglepunks
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This video is part of a sponsored series with Lumafield. Learn more about these scans at: www.lumafield.com/article/inside-tomy-handheld-games
What a great video! Digital Derby is, to this day, my favorite handheld. I was only 2yo when it was released and my elder cousin had one. I played with it at every visit to his home. I liked it so much that he eventually gave it to me. I have cherished it all these years and never miss a chance to show it off!
There were three different mechanical games by this company.
Digital Derby
Blip
i can not remember the third but we had all three of them when I was a kid.
I still own that same handheld ...since I was a little kid in the 70s, but mine, European version, is called "electronic FORMULA 1" by TOMY. I have it in my hands right now as I watch the video... next to my E.T. Atari Cartridge lol
OMG .... Adam I played that game for hours also. I did end up taking mine apart also when it broke. But I found it so amazing. Hey, now that I think about it. Aren't the patents existed? I'd love to 3D print this. If anyone makes a design copy please let me know! Or at least Adam so he can share! 🎉
Dear social media manager: are there educational products available? Like youth course materials and the like? Thanks.
My uncle was an engineer at TOMY and Kenner from the late 60's through the 80's, which meant that I got all of these games in Beta as they were working out the kinks. I was 10 years old and was telling adult engineers what was good, and bad, about these games. Digital Derby was, by far, my favorite game of the era and I probably went through three or four thanks to my uncle. I was also lucky to own just about every Evel Knievel toy that was released by Kenner in that decade. Sadly, none of them survived into adolescence.
Sound like Tom Hanks from the movie “Big”😊
LOL NO YOU DIDNT
Lol those Evel Knievel toys took a beating, every damn day.
@@anderj235minus the boy pedophilia with the boy and older women
Yes, but did you manage to market and promote yourself well enough to earn monetary compensation for your valuable feedback???
I had this game as a kid, and I totally had forgotten about it until this video. Thanks for the revived memories!
I also mentioned that I had forgotten about owning this. But, it served a dual purpose. It was also my tricorder.
Same here. Spent so much time playing it.
@@markp2085 Perfect!
Same here! The wave of nostalgia and memory that hit me when I saw the Digital Derby game on screen was overwhelming. My 9-year-old self would be overjoyed at being able to see the inner workings of the thing that he thought was so cool.
Ya me too!
Adam I had that game as a kid. (58yrs old). Actually still have it to this day. Never seen another one until now. Awesome
No way! I bought one of these at a garage sale last summer and I was absolutely blown away by it, one of my favorite things I got last year
That guys voice and confidence was memorizing. He played along while letting Adam discover the bits and bobs.
I use to play that! I forgot all about it. Love it!
There was also Blip! which was a mechanical version of Pong. It did have a battery which was only there to light up the LED for the ball. A wind up mechanism provided all the motion.
We have that too !
I, too, had both Digital Derby and Blip. I may still have them and my old Merlin in storage somewhere. Now I want to dig them out and relive old memories.
I had Blip. Completely mechanical, outside of the red LED. Not quite random...If you played it long enough you knew the pattern.... I took it apart many times... I also once saw someone use it for a Darth Vader chest box. I'm not a hundred percent on this, but I'm thinking it was a skit on a show called Fridays. May have been Michael Richards....
I forget which channel did it, but someone did a pretty fascinating breakdown and explanation of Blip on here a while back. Tomy did some incredible stuff with their engineering in the ‘70s and ‘80s.
All we had in the mid-late 80s were those water games and ball bearing labyrinth games. We did get a sneak peak from time to time at new devices that were smuggled behind the iron curtain. So from 1985 to 1995 we went through the same technology cycle as the west did from 1970 to 1990, which means everything became instantly obsolete :)
Remember playing with a labyrinth maze with a bead of mercury in it at Kmart. 😁 Then chit it split 🤪
the old Radioshack Super Armatron is another great mechanical toy. I never actually had any of the little blocks and things that you're supposed to manipulate that came with it, but I had a lot of fun just making it move around.
The Super Armatron was actually another Tomy creation. Some people added computer control to the arm. If I remember correctly, solenoids to pitch the joysticks back and forth.
Loved it too, and I still have mine! It still works. I almost bought something so it could be controlled by my Tandy Color Computer 😂
I had the regular original Armatron when I was a kid, so I bought one a few years ago on eBay for my kid. It’s needed some repairs/upkeep over the years, so I’ve definitely had it all apart and been fascinated how it all works by engaging various gears connected to a single central motor that constantly runs (as long as the timer is in a running position).
I love it.
I got one for $5 at a local thrift store when I was like 13. Opening it up for cleaning was an adventure. The gear trains and such were genius.
I had a Mobile Armatron in the late 1980's thru Early 1990's. It was a lot of fun making it drive around and pickup and move various things.
The nerdiness level of seeing this on the x-ray scan and scrolling through the layers is immensely satisfying.
It's fascinating how fast technology was advancing at this time. The arcade version of Pong came out in 1972, and in 1975 the home version came out. In 1982, Just 4 years after this game was released, The Commodore 64 came out. And in 1983 the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) was released.
Kind of missed the Atari 2600 in that list. Don't know if it was the first of its kind, but it was the biggest.
You left out Intellevision from 1981. They had much better graphics than the Atari system from the previous year.
I had one in canada, forgot how loud the damn thing was. I guess that why the batteries kept getting 'misplaced' by my parents.
Yes but...they were all incredibly expensive to buy. Just like a PS5 today!
What's crazy to me is that in 40 years we went from the Commodore 64 to 13900K and RTX 4090 PCs. The pace of computer technology is crazy.
I loved this game as a kid. I'm a total car person, even as a young child. I had 100s of matchbox/hot wheel cars, and I can still feel "the action" of switching the gears on this and the red button feels like. I wonder how many hours I spent playing this as a kid. Thanks for the walk down memory lane. ❤
Same! Played this for hours. It was amazing.
Same! My brother got this one for Christmas, and I got the Mattel Electronics [hand-held] Football game, with the 3x9 red LED display.
@@CineSoarI had both also. Played with them tons.
I remember having this around when I was a child... Simpler times.
One of my favorite toys as a kid. I still have it and it still works.
Amazing on both counts!
@@tested I should also mention, it is possible to lap the "odometer". I did it a couple times as a kid.
I loved this game growing up, along with Digital Daredevil.
Dirt bike was sooo cool👍
holy shit.... I am 5 again, back in 79 and the 80s I played it soooooooooo much. it was the first Xmas gift I can still remember . 😢
I still have mine! Played it last year but now I gotta get it out again!!!
I wanted that as a kid too 😍
Super flashback time! I spent many hours playing that game on road trips.
I got this as a Christmas present and have exactly the same experience as Adam.
I had completely forgotten about Digital Derby, but as soon as I saw it, I remembered that I had one as a child. Great blast from the past.
Everything about this is amazing: the mechanical engineering behind these old games to the digital engineering of the scanners used to look inside them.
There was a whole series of games from Tomy called Pocketeers which were also called Pocketmates in Japan. They were pocket sized versions of these types of game and were really fascinating and very inventive in their many variations.
Oh my goodness this game just woke up the 9 year old little awkward nerdy boy in me that really I will always be. I can't even comprehend just how much I loved this game and literally played for hours and hours and what my optometrist blamed was causing my bad eye sight as a kid. Oh how I loved this game. Thank you for sharing, everyone keep yourselves and love ones safe and healthy and remember to SMILE 😊 God Bless 🙏
I just took apart a "digital volleyball" game last weekend, having never seen something like this before! Good timing :)
Thanks for the memories, this and Tomy's Big loader construction set were among my favorites.
Played the heck out of Digital Derby as a kid.
Adam, your video unveiling the inner workings of that handheld racing game hit me right in the nostalgia feels! Thanks for taking me back to simpler times, shedding light on the mechanics behind my cherished childhood memories, and delving into the intricacies to help me rediscover the magic that fueled countless hours of joy. 🏎️✨🔧
Oh wow, Digital Derby! I had one of those as a kid! Really cool to see the mechanics behind how it worked!
oh man, I had this game and loved it. I forgot about it until now.
Vintage toys always amazes me. They put so much love and thought into those toys. Everything is digital and cold nowadays.
Digital Derby! Owned it. Loved it. Thanks for bringing back the memories Adam!
I got a Digital Derby for Christmas back in 1981 when I 7. It was one of my favorite childhood toys! I wish I still had the thing, but I wore it out playing it all the time.
OMG!! I had this game as a kid!! I can still hear it in my head, that mechanical roar sound and crash.
I had a toy just like that second one as a kid, I'd completely forgotten about it until just that sound alone brought it all back.
I got a laser cutter recently and have been working on more and more complex mechanisms. I hope to build a handheld game of some sort out of wood eventually.
EDIT: I have always been fascinated by mechanical things, so being able to now design and build my own devices is like a dream come true.
1979 Christmas,i gotten one , had so much fun playing with it, thanks for the memories 😊
OMG I bought Digital Derby from a local toy shop when I was a kid & I just found the TOMY Copter Combat the other day at the local swap & it works 😄.
I had that racing game a long time ago!
Good old days...
This was really cool. It's crazy that something seems so simple is SO complex.
Wanted that game SOOOOO BAD back in the day.
Hey Adam. I had a Digital Derby too. I also had its predecessor, “Blip” which was a mechanical pong game, where the “ball” was an LED swinging back and forth on a mechanical arm between 2 players.
I use to play mine for hours. I loved it.
I had that. It's amazing the toys you loved...then forgot about as a child. I needed this today Adam.
Dude!!! I asked for that for Christmas too!! And got it I believe in 1979. I was 5. I broke mine as well and took it apart. I saw that on the thumbnail and it brought the biggest smile to my face!! Thank you so much for bringing back this seemingly ancient memory. You rock dude. Edit: this reminded me of another game I had called Merlin. It was a red plastic digital toy that almost resembled a phone. Any chance of getting a hole of one of those to check out? I don't imagine it would be serviceable like this toy but still would be cool to cover!
The font on the Digital Derby box is soooo period as well. From the movies to the toys etc - it is soooo spot on.
Tks for the childhood flashback. I also owned a Digital Derby and loved it. I think it lingered around well into my teens but it still worked. Wish I knew where it was now. Great episode.
Wow! Memories! I loved this game as a kid. I couldn’t wait to go to my cousins house to play this game! When they finally stopped playing it they gave it to me and I was hooked!
Thank you stirring up the memory of this. I too opened mine up after if broke 40+ years ago. It blew my kid mind.
I loved that game as a kid. I can feel your enthusiasm.
Had this! Can't believe we are talking about it 40+ years later...
Tomy was the BEST when I was growing up! My mom managed the children's department of an "old fashioned" department store (the kind with different department on each floor of the building...before there were Wal-Marts and Targets everywhere), so I got to play with all the coolest toys of the late 70s/early 80's. I still have many of my Tomy pocket games, and one of my favs is the Speedway game (with magnets making the cars go around the track). Every one of those games still works totally fine after all these years. Pure joy!
What a dream job for a parent to have!
OH MAN! I had one of those as a kid, and had completely forgotten about it! I loved that as a kid.
This content is absolutely fantastic. The anthropologic joy I get from Adam exploring objects and their place in humanity is immense. I hope more of this type of stuff comes out!!
I have one of these and a kid and LOVED IT!! I 1000% took it apart to see how it worked.
My father had one of these he showed me when I was a kid. Was really neat.
I had this as a kid. it was life!
I got this derby game at my grandparents in the 2000's I was about 10yo and never got to play very far.
But this toy had me intrigued, with those mechanical sounds. A very hypnotizing experience.
I had this as a kid. I loved playing it. I still have it in a box somewhere in a closet with other older toys I've kept.
I had that game, Memories galore, I had forgotten about it!
I got digital derby for Xmas at age 11 and played the heck out of it. Great trip down memory lane.
Wow. I feel old now. I played this game so much.🥰
Had this in the 80s and loved it!!! Thanks for the flashbacks.💜
Awesome! I had this as a child. Took it apart immediately.
Still have this. My cousins brought this from the states 1979 brought this to west germany in 1982 and nobody had seen something like this. Had other electromechanical games but this was the best! It still works
I have fond memories of playing Digital Derby as a kid. It was my favorite game! Sitting in the backseat of my parents 1979 Ford LTD heading to my Grandparents house in Mississippi for vacation and holidays. Also had the Mattel Classic Baseball game. Needless to say we had to carry a lot of extra C and AA batteries. I still have my Digital Derby and Baseball game to this day.
Man! I remember finding my dad's game like this at my grandma's house and playing with it even though I had an SNES. I remember the light vibration and God awful noise, but I was mesmerized by it because as a milinial I had never seen anything like it. I knew it was something special and seeing this video brought back so much nostalgia for me. In a very different way than someone growing up with one, but childhood nostalgia none the less. 😂
I had one of those in 1979 as a kid. Wore it out. Great game.
One of many of these things that I’m slowly collecting, I loved this one.
I completely forgot that I had that digital Derby game! When I saw it the memories all came rushing back.
I too spent countless hours playing the Digital Derby game growing up!! Thanks for the trip back in time!
You really are phenomenally mechanically gifted. The number of times I took apart a toy or machine, sometimes things would fly out. Regardless, rarely could I get them back together. I had anxiety watching you pull it apart - knowing what horrors I have unintentionally visited upon such lovely creations.
Great video! Just picked this up on ebay a few months ago, as well as a Hit and Missile to round out my childhood handheld collection (Mattel Electronics Football was nowhere near as cool as these). Thanks for bringing in this new tech to look at old stuff!
I have to agree, the football and baseball games sucked compared to anything tomy put out
Wow, nostalgia right there....I had totally forgotten about it,neat.
Thank you. My grandma had this and I played it as a kid in the 80s
digital derby !!! total childhood flashback, i spent a very long time playing this when i was little. as far as i knew it wasnt sold in the uk and my dad brought me one from overseas so none of my friends had seen it. i wish i knew what happened to it. it was my favourite toy at the time/
TOMY engineers were next level ! I am lucky enough to still have my Atomic Pinball from TOMY , a D batteries devouring , mechanical noise machine from that era...The solutions they found to somehow recreate the "digital" feel with only gears and a motor were no less than remarkable . Also the game BLIP (a sort of Pong clone) inner workings had me puzzled to this day.
I hate to think how many hours I spent playing Atomic Pinball as a little kid ... that and screwball-scramble
@@njones420YES! You made me remember I still have my "Run yourself ragged" in a box , which is actually the same game as screwball-scramble !! Great memmories !
@@theforso So last year (2023) they released "Screwball Scramble Level 2" ... which connects to the side of the original game to continue it :)
...just had to wait 43 years
I had one of these too! I took it apart too! Never thought I'd see someone do a video on this thing. Fantastic!
I had a wind up (no battery) motorbike racing game in the early 80’s my Mum bought me when we were in Spain. Loved it!
In grade school in the 80s for a while we'd take shoe box lids and cut slits in the top top - one at each short side, one on the long side - and make a side-scrolling shooter game. Ya glue sheets of paper together to make a long scroll for the level and thread it through the smaller slits, then take some thin cardboard to make a little arm with a spaceship and laser as the player piece, and slowly thread the scroll along. Before hand you'd draw stuff on the scroll, and "shoot" it with your little ship. Your imagination did a lot of the heavy lifting there, but it was fun for what it was.
I still own that same handheld ...since I was a little kid in the 70s, but mine, European version, is called "electronic FORMULA 1". I have it in my hands right now as I watch the video
Crazy memories! My younger brother had that, it was awesome!
Great content! Thanks. Would love to see more dissections like this
Fascinating little machines, thanks for sharing.
OMG!!!!! I had this in the 80's!! It was my favourite game EVER!!!! I begged my mum and dad for one for Christmas and actually got it!!!! It was called Demon Driver in the UK and I played it constantly!!!!!! 😁😁😁😁🥰🥰🥰🥰
I still have this game in my childhood home, my kids play it when they go to Grandma's. The only issue is the battery back is looong gone. I think the water basketball game was recently trashed.
Thank you for the revisited childhood enjoyment. I remember taking apart this same toy at about the same age. Great memories.
I had one of those as a kid, it was the coolest toy you could have for Christmas. We had other kids come to our house just to play.
Had one of these when I was little. The grinding sound it made was pleasant somehow.
I just tracked down Dark Tower, a board game with an electronic tower. The tower has a motor inside that drives a carousel of images to display as the game plays. It uses an IR LED and sensor to calibrate the picture carousel. It's wonderful in its simplicity!
So glad you took it apart.
This was one of my favourite toys as a kid. Fantastic video!
I have a huge collection of the 70's80's electronic games 😊
I still have one of these, but it's non-functional. Thank you for this video, it will certainly help in my effort to repair it. What a marvelous piece of engineering!
Hope you’re able to repair it now! Keep us posted!
This driving game was my first electronic toy , what a treat to finally see it's insides, thank you!
I got one of these in the late 70's for Christmas as a kid also! I loved it! I still have mine and it still works! :)
I never had anything quite like this, but I remember going to this antique arcade with a lot of electro-mechanical games and though it was so cool.
Absolutely loved this toy as a kid.
Great to see a CT scanner put to proper use. Imagine a CT scanner scanning a CT scanner😵💫