In 1986 and 1987, Milton Bradley introduced a line of one-player action and puzzle games called T.H.I.N.G.S., short for Totally Hilarious Incredibly Neat Games of Skill. Each game used a timer to create a short challenge, with the object always to finish the task before time ran out.
The series included nine different titles, each offering a different challenge. Astro-Nots asked players to pluck stranded astronauts from craters using a magnetic ship. In Dr. Wack-O, the goal was to flip lids into slots beside a mad scientist before the platform sent them flying. E-E-Egor challenged players to sink skulls into a tomb as a figure slowly rose to block the hole. Eggzilla was a puzzle where five shell pieces had to be fitted back around a dinosaur before time expired.
Others in the series leaned more on speed and reflexes. Flip-O-Potamus had players shooting marbles into the mouth of a snapping hippo. Go-Rilla required launching barrels across a bridge that a gorilla rocked back and forth. Grabbit placed players in control of a frog leaping at rotating flies. Jack B. Timber challenged players to chop through wooden pieces before the stump toppled. The final title, Sir Ring-A-Lot, sent a knight springing upward to catch rings from spinning bats.
COLLECTOR CONSIDERATIONS
Because the T.H.I.N.G.S. games were produced for only a short time, sets in good condition are relatively rare today. Their small moving parts were often lost or broken, making complete versions harder to track down. Sets that remain in good condition, especially with their original boxes and inserts, are of particular interest to collectors of 1980s toys and Milton Bradley novelties.
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