I found a used copy of Perfection to play with Emma. I wasn't sure if she'd like it, but we have both had a lot of fun with it. When I was a boy, my Grandmother had this version at her house -- it was really her only cool one-player toy, so I played it a lot, until I could finish it ridiculously fast. I can't say that we ever played using the peculiar scoring record that is on the game -- I can see why they did away with that. In the eighties, my brother got Superfection for his birthday one year. It was kind of cool, but didn't outdo the original. I've long wondered what it would be like to play the unusual Head to Head version of the game.I love that all the pieces are safely contained within the unit. One of the few games where you can safely throw out the box after you open it. Definitely the coolest part of the game is the way all your efforts are completely spoiled if you take too long... it is hard not to feel a jolt of suprise every time that stupid thing pops. A really beautiful game mechanic. I wonder who designed it?
I decided to search for perfection, and found your comment - and your last question - "I wonder who designed it?" about the Perfection game. Well, I can answer that - it was designed by my father, Harry Wilson, who was a mold maker for Harmonic Reed, later Reed Toys, in Conshohoken PA. The company was later sold. My father was asked to design "something that popped up", and your picture of your grandmother's toy is the original that was made.
ReplyDeleteBeth-
ReplyDeleteThat's amazing! It was such a wonderful game -- I had no idea it was from Conshohoken! I hope your Dad collected royalties off of that -- he certainly deserved them!
PS -- I guess we're all "searching for perfection" :)
ReplyDelete