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IDEAL – MESSAGE FROM M

American “Ideal Toy” James Bond 007 Message From M Board Game Designed By Marvin Glass Includes The Characters/ James Bond Villains: Dr. No (Joseph Wiseman), Rosa Klebb (Lotte Lenya), Auric Goldfinger (Gert Fröbe) And Emilio Largo (Adolfo Celi) – For 2-4 Players/Product Code 2621-1

The “Game Board” Consists Of Four Plastic Territories That Represent The Home Grounds Of The Enemies Of James Bond 007. Players Must Force The Villains Back To The Hideout (Last Hole Of That Territory). The First Player To Land On Any One Of The Villains In The Last Space Of Their Territory, Captures The Villain And Wins The Game. Parts From This Game Were Later Used In Ideal’s Mystery Famous Series.

It Appears There Was A Production Error In This Game, On The Intructions Inside The Box Lid The Letter “Q” Was Overwritten By Hand With The Letter “E”. This Refers To The “Message From M Machine”, The Device Has A Spinner; That Players Use To Determine Their Movement And Any Further Instructions As To Gameplay. In This Instance, The Error Refers To If Upon Spinning, The Letter “Q” Should Appear In The “Message From M Machine” Window Then Take A Piece Of Equipment. The Letter “Q” Is Nowhere To Be Found On The Spinner, Instead There Is The Letter “E”. Even The Coded “Message From M” Cards Refer To Get Equipment From “Q”. Obviously, Someone In The Factory Took The “E” For Equipment As The Nominiated Letter And Had It Moulded Into The Spinner; Perhaps Licencing Hadn’t Been Fully Thought Out, And This Was A Last Minute, Hasty Change. At Any Rate It Does Spoil The Whole Marvellous James Bond 007 Theme Going On In This Game With All Its References To Characters And Bond Items From The First 4 Classic Bond Films (1962 Dr No, 1963 From Russia With Love, 1964 Goldfinger And Last But Not Least 1965 Thunderball).
Ideal Ty Corp. N.Y., USA 1966

Various Board Game Editions Overview