Not one to advise of new merchandise, or to advertise for Borders, but I came across something a tad unusual. During 2006 a Simpsons Scrabble game was released in the UK by Mattel. I just came from Borders and they now also have a Simpsons scrabble released by Sababa Toys, a company that specializes in releasing special versions of board games. I'm particularly noting this because the game has a sticker proclaiming "Borders exclusive" and sure enough I can't find it anywhere else, including on the net or on any web site (you will find the UK version, which is different). Not on the Borders web site either...
There's one for sale on eBay: http://cgi.ebay.com/Simpsons-Scrabble-Game-NIB_W0QQitemZ230214668570QQihZ013QQcategoryZ146086QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
It carries the Borders sticker, so sounds like the one you mean. 2 bids with almost 4 days to go, could get expensive. The special game rules outlined on the auction page are worth reading...
Just wanted to send out a warning...I actually purchased the Scrabble last night at a Borders in Chicago and was super excited about it. It turned out to be craptastic quality...the board was thin and warped, the bag that holds the tiles was see-thru, there was no score pad and the instructions look like they were copied at Kinkos. It's a great concept that was poorly executed. I would not recommend buying it at full price (which was $24.99).
On Fri, 25 Jan 2008 07:28:26 -0800 (PST), [email] wrote:
I would concur this game is obviously not up to Scrabble standards, the mere absence of the wonderful wooden tiles ensure that. Nonetheless, I would like to note the following;
It's vastly superior in quality to the Simpson games released in 1990 (but that's not saying much!)
Since it's a Borders exclusive I'm not sure a strategy of waiting for a lower price would pay off - unless you wait for it to go on sale at Borders.
It's not only a great concept (and Scrabble has appeared/been referenced on OFF multiple times, starting with 7F03) but they actually put some thought into it; A Homer head shaped board, ten special Simpson tiles that result in special actions. I was going to save time and copy the following from the auction, but since they missed one rule and paraphrased (albeit in a somewhat superior fashion) all the others, we'll take it verbatim from the rules; (besides, I'm adding this to the games list on the archive!)
- Bart Simpson: The Rebel Rule. Use this tile and place a word in a completely different area of the board. It does not need to connect to the existing formation of words - Cletus DelRoy: The Misspelling Rule. Use this to spell like a slack-jawed yokel. One letter, and one letter only, may be misspelled. - "Grandpa" Abraham Simpson: The Sudden Sleep Rule. After laying down your tiles, use this rule to skip the next player's turn, as if they fell asleep and missed their turn. - Otto: The Bus Stop Mix-up Rule. Use this action to mix up everyone's tiles. Your tiles are not affected unless you would like them to be. - Ned Flanders: The Leftorium Rule. Use this tile and after you lay down your word, play now switches ways and moves to left, or counter-clockwise. - Principal Seymour Skinner: The "You Can't Spell Principal without 'Pal'" Rule. If you add any letters to any existing word to form a new word, you can use this tile to double your word points. Examples can be anything from changing something like "car" to "carpool" to adding an "s" to make a word plural. This doubling of your points would be in addition to any extra word or letter points designated by the board. - Chief Clancy Wiggum: The Search Warrant Rule. Pick one player and search their "couch". They need to spin theircouch [SIC] around for all players to see. The scan spin it as fast as they want but who knows if some tile may go flying off.. - C. Montgomery Burns: The Evil Rule. Excellent for you, bad for your opponent. Play this tile and the next player only gets half the points on their next turn. You get the other half. - Mr. Teeny: The Make a Teeny Word Worth More Rule. If you spell a word that is only two letters, use this tile to double your score. This doubling of your points would be in addition to any extra word or letter points designated by the board. - Patty and Selma: The Go Again Rule. Use this tile to go twice in a row - once for Patty and again for Selma.
My complaint would simply be that they could have put a little effort into the rack look a little more like a couch; it's just a yellow plastic rack.
Good question - management called it "BNY" and hated "BONY" (bo-knee), which is what everyone else, employees, customers, etc., called it. IIRC an early Web site was BONYxxxx.com, but I think that's been retired. Looks as though newer sites, i.e., post the merger with Mellon Bank, include .BNYMellon. as a node, <some> older sites use .BankofNY.