Mattel Electronic Football — what it was?

What it was: Red LED dashes on a tiny field; you were a dash, they were dashes, and you ran between them.

Toy Files · 🎛️ Electronic & handheld

G33Z3R Toy Files · 1977–1985

What was the first handheld electronic football game?

Mattel Electronic Football

Introduced: 1977
Made by: Mattel Electronics
What it was: Red LED dashes on a tiny field; you were a dash, they were dashes, and you ran between them
The numbers: Millions sold; Football II in 1978 added passing

🗳️ Did you have one?

Be one of the first to weigh in. No account needed.

The file

A brown plastic slab the size of a wallet with a screen made of red LED dashes. You were a slightly brighter dash, the defense was the other dashes, and the whole game was running up and down a field two inches wide.

It was the first video game you could hide in a desk and it was confiscated in every school in America. The beep of a touchdown is one of the definitive late-'70s sounds.

Sources: Wikipedia — Mattel Electronics Football

Did you have a Mattel Electronic Football? Tell us about it — or about the year you asked and didn't get one.

The drive, the dance, the heartbreak, the summer. Add a memory of Mattel Electronic Football.

What was the first handheld electronic football game?

The file

Did you have a Mattel Electronic Football? Tell us about it — or about the year you asked and didn't get one.

Community Memories

More from the Toy Files

When did the Simon game come out?

When did Speak & Spell come out?

When did Bop It come out?

Why was Furby banned by the NSA?