“Make him mad and he will spin…
Throwing marbles so you can win!”
It was marble mayhem with the 1970 release of Mr. Mad from Ideal. The multi-player game challenged players to be the first to unload their marbles into Mr. Mad, a plastic robot with a penchant for flinging them back onto the playing surface when accidentally triggered.
GAMEPLAY
To start a game, each player selected one of the four available cups and placed it in front of them along with with a specific mix of eight coloured marbles.
At the start of a turn, Mr. Mad and the stopping rod were placed in front of each player. Then, each player attempted to place one to three marbles, one at a time, into Mr. Mad’s mouth. Just before taking action, the player was required to announce the colour of the marble being dropped.
Standing approximately 10-inches tall, Mr. Mad was powered by two D-batteries installed in his base. A button at the base of his transparent mouth would, if inadvertently hit by a player’s marble, trigger the robot to spin around and throw marbles out of large gaps in his arms.
As chaos ensued, the player could stop Mr. Mad from spinning by switching him off using the Stopping Rod to toggle his Stop Switch to the off position. Any marbles Mr. Mad flung out were added to the player’s cache, pushing them away from their intended goal.
The first player to get rid of all their marbles was declared the winner.
IN THE BOX
A complete Mr. Mad game included the plastic robot, marbles in four colours (blue, green, red, yellow), four cups, and a stopping rod. Printed instructions were provided on the inside of the box.
COLLECTOR CONSIDERATIONS
Copies of Mr. Mad are routinely available on the secondary market. Ensure your version is relatively unscathed from play and capable of spinning and throwing marbles when triggered.
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