The Boggling Story Continues

As George Lucas might say... "The Saga Continues!"

I wrote an email to my friend Phil Orbanes (who used to be Vice President for the Research and Development Department of Parker Brothers).

Phil had just returned from a Toy Fair, and was tired. Yet, he was kind enough to fill me in with what he know about the mystery of Boggle's history. This is what he had to say:

Alan Turoff did invent the "random walk" principle of Boggle, but the game failed when first introduced in 1972.

Consumer letters sparked Parker's decision to relaunch it in 1976.

Parker's internal designers gave it uniqueness via the cute, effective shaker. (the also named it "Boggle" back in '72 to compete with "Scrabble's" double letters).

The product was established after a novel and expensive print campaign in New York City, featuring mock covers of a real woman's magazine named "Cosmopolitan."

All the stories on the mock covers were BOGGLE-related. It worked.

Parker then felt confident and rolled out national advertising.

Turoff made a lot of money in royalties, but none of his subsequent games were published and he died in his 40s of some disease.

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Phil Orbanes has his own games company called Winning Moves, and you can find his website by clicking this link: Winning Moves


Phil says that in his site "you'll find true classics, familiar favorites, award- winning innovative originals, and challenging new twists on old standards!".


T'is true! I've been to his site, and it is full of great games I'd love to put my hands on.



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So, there you are folks! That's all we can find out - for now - about this fantastic board game.

If anyone knows more about Boggle, feel free to post your comments in this blog.

Have fun!


Jeff

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