Title:
Superstar Baseball
Description:
In 1971, Time Inc (owner of Sports Illustrated magazine) published their first baseball game. It included about 20 players on each at-that-time current (1970 season) baseball team, presented on tri-fold color charts. The following two years, they released new editions to cover the most recent season. For 1972, they switched to teams of 25 players each on single double-sided color charts. In 1973, the teams roster size was reduced considerably and the player charts were presented on individual player cards with no color coding.
Also in 1973, they release their All-Time All-Star Baseball game, in the style of their second edition (1971 season, 1972 publication, color charts). It included each of the original American League and National League franchises, each with the 25 ”best” players from that team’s long history. This was a smashing success amongst tabletop managers, but was apparently not enough to sustain the enterprise and was the last new baseball product produced by Time Inc in this line.
The All-Time All-Star edition was altered to match the individual card format and relabeled as Superstar Baseball. This was later transferred to Avalon Hill when they picked up the entire line of sports games from Time. This also granted Avalon Hill the right to use the words ”A Sports Illustrated Game” on any Avalon Hill sports product, even if it wasn’t part of the original Time, Inc line of games, which led to some confusion for titles such as Baseball Strategy, Football Strategy, and Pro Golf.
Special dice with results ranging from 10 through 39 (often called 10-39 Dice, see How to make a set of SIBB dice -- A Tutorial) were required to play this game, and sister games in the original Sports Illustrated sports simulation line.
The James Family board game collection has two copies of this game. Both are in excellent condition.
The Avalon Hill Superstar Baseball! game originally dates back to 1971 when it was called Sports Illustrated Baseball. In 1973, the All-Time All-Star Baseball game was released. The game included each of the original American League and National League franchises, with the 25 ”best” players from each team’s history (hence the name All-Time All-Star Baseball).
In 1974, the All-Time All-Star edition was altered to match the individual card format and relabeled as Superstar Baseball. The game was later transferred to Avalon Hill when they picked up the entire line of sports games from Time Inc (owner of Sports Illustrated magazine).
The Superstar Baseball game should be considered a basic/entry level baseball game which involves a very simple game system. Despite the simplicity of the game system, the game is very fun to play and perfect for getting kids hooked on baseball board games. The game includes individual pitcher and batter cards for 96 of the all time best players. This allows you to match up great hitters like Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Lou Gehrig and Mickey Mantle against pitching legends like Cy Young, Walter Johnson, Sandy Koufax and Bob Gibson. A full 9-inning game takes about 10-20 minutes to play. The game can be played head-to-head or solitaire. Because the game is relatively simple, solitaire play is almost as fun as head-to-head play.
There are a few problems with the mechanics of the game. The game rates the players on their defensive, running, bunting and hitting abilities against left and right pitchers. Despite that, the game is heavily slanted towards defense and pitching and as a result, most games end up as a defensive struggle with low scoring.
Overall, the game is simple and fun to play. This game should be recommended for beginning baseball gamers even though the games are unrealistically defensive.
Also in 1973, they release their All-Time All-Star Baseball game, in the style of their second edition (1971 season, 1972 publication, color charts). It included each of the original American League and National League franchises, each with the 25 ”best” players from that team’s long history. This was a smashing success amongst tabletop managers, but was apparently not enough to sustain the enterprise and was the last new baseball product produced by Time Inc in this line.
The All-Time All-Star edition was altered to match the individual card format and relabeled as Superstar Baseball. This was later transferred to Avalon Hill when they picked up the entire line of sports games from Time. This also granted Avalon Hill the right to use the words ”A Sports Illustrated Game” on any Avalon Hill sports product, even if it wasn’t part of the original Time, Inc line of games, which led to some confusion for titles such as Baseball Strategy, Football Strategy, and Pro Golf.
Special dice with results ranging from 10 through 39 (often called 10-39 Dice, see How to make a set of SIBB dice -- A Tutorial) were required to play this game, and sister games in the original Sports Illustrated sports simulation line.
The James Family board game collection has two copies of this game. Both are in excellent condition.
The Avalon Hill Superstar Baseball! game originally dates back to 1971 when it was called Sports Illustrated Baseball. In 1973, the All-Time All-Star Baseball game was released. The game included each of the original American League and National League franchises, with the 25 ”best” players from each team’s history (hence the name All-Time All-Star Baseball).
In 1974, the All-Time All-Star edition was altered to match the individual card format and relabeled as Superstar Baseball. The game was later transferred to Avalon Hill when they picked up the entire line of sports games from Time Inc (owner of Sports Illustrated magazine).
The Superstar Baseball game should be considered a basic/entry level baseball game which involves a very simple game system. Despite the simplicity of the game system, the game is very fun to play and perfect for getting kids hooked on baseball board games. The game includes individual pitcher and batter cards for 96 of the all time best players. This allows you to match up great hitters like Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Lou Gehrig and Mickey Mantle against pitching legends like Cy Young, Walter Johnson, Sandy Koufax and Bob Gibson. A full 9-inning game takes about 10-20 minutes to play. The game can be played head-to-head or solitaire. Because the game is relatively simple, solitaire play is almost as fun as head-to-head play.
There are a few problems with the mechanics of the game. The game rates the players on their defensive, running, bunting and hitting abilities against left and right pitchers. Despite that, the game is heavily slanted towards defense and pitching and as a result, most games end up as a defensive struggle with low scoring.
Overall, the game is simple and fun to play. This game should be recommended for beginning baseball gamers even though the games are unrealistically defensive.
Artist:
Sports Illustrated
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Date Added:
2019-04-17 14:30:00
Date Added:
2019-04-17 14:30:00
