PLAAY Connect 08.24.23
Time for another edition of the CONNECT! All the latest PLAAY Games info in one place!...
Equipment Status Update
Well, shoot. We're having to delay the release of our tennis game because of print equipment problems. Specifically, our large format output is producing severely blurred imagery (see the image in our "Photo Finish," end of the post). Normal-size printing is unaffected, so we have been able to press on for the most part. But you may have noticed that several products (like the baseball XL game book, All-Time Great Golfer and 75 Years of Racing cards) are out-of-stock. These products (and the tennis game, PLAAY Now games and a number of other things) require the large format print process.
The Konica-Minolta tech help arrived Monday and the diagnosis is a new transfer belt is needed. Parts are on order, we were told they might arrive today--but they have not. It's possible that we will be able to print next week sometime. That does put us behind schedule, though, as we have not been able able to print anything large format for a couple of weeks. So...
We've re-set the tennis release date for 09.14.23, and have juggled our release schedule to make room for it. Good news is, this means both the 2023 Football America and 1995 SCRAM Season cards will be available EARLIER than scheduled.
Apologies for the tennis delay, thanks for your patience and understanding! Pretty sure that you would not want cards looking like the sample photo...
Hockey Day in Canada!
Yup, it's time to start thinking about hockey! We're taking the Commissioner's Surprise Hockey Blast Tournament on the road again after a couple of years of COVID-driven quarantine. Join us Saturday 09.30.23 in Winnipeg, MB (Canada!) as we conduct our own March-Madness-style one-and-done hockey tournament using the 2022-23 Pro Season cards for Hockey Blast! Read MORE about the Winnipeg event here. This is our second Hockey Day in Canada, the first one (Hamilton, ON, 2017) was an amazing, memorable event!
PLAAY Games at the Baseball Hall of Fame!
Saturday 10.14.23 will be a red-letter day for board game baseball! We'll have 24 timeless teams of legendary baseball players ready to take the History Maker Baseball "Field of Dreams" in the first-ever "Hall-of-Fame Baseball Bash," at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown NY. This will NOT be a "great teams of the past" tournament, with, say, the 1927 Yankees playing the 1975 Reds. Rather, we'll divide up our newly-reformatted Cooperstown Cards into 24 epic, balanced teams, each team having representatives of all eras of baseball, including some "footnote" players and maybe even an "exile." (For one day, at least, Pete Rose will be in the Hall of Fame!) Each PLAAY gamer manger chooses a team randomly, there'll be a brief "hot stove" trading session where you can tweak your team via trades with other managers, and then "The Bash" will begin!
All manager slots have been claimed, so our event at the HOF is set. (If you’re on that list, watch for an e-mail update in the next week or two.) However, there's more baseball fun that weekend--and space for you to join us for it! Our 2023 Fall Classic Pre-PLAAY will happen Friday night 10.13.23 in the Evergreen Room at The Cooperstown Inn and Suites, 4470 State Highway 28, Milford, NY, our official event headquarters. Saturday night 10.14.23, we'll have bonus baseball at the hotel as well. Free! Reach out to us if you'd like more info.
Summer of NOW (>>sigh<<) is Coming to an End...
It's been a fun summer, and we've REALLY enjoyed featuring our "NOW" brand of PLAAY games throughout, from the "NOW-a-Thon" YouTube stream to the "V-8 Vengeance" Demo-Derby event, and all the Score Cards activity. Alas, the summer is winding down. Let's put an exclamation point on it with our "Summer of NOW Wrap-Up" show! Join us Thursday 09.07.23--the Thursday after Labor Day--6pm MDT (8pm EDT) on the PLAAY Games YouTube Channel.
PLAAY tonight's Big League Game TODAY, with the HMB In-Season Card Set!
There's nothing quite like playing tabletop baseball in real-time with the real-thing! The HMB In-Season cards (or PDF) let you do exactly that! We pre-PLAAYED the Colorado-Los Angeles game ourselves on the 08.10.23 PLAAY Space, it came pretty close to what happened in real life a few hours later. Of course, that doesn't ALWAYS happen, but it's just as much fun when it doesn't! Read more about the In-Season cards here...
MORE New Cards Sets are Comin'...
We have a steady stream of new card sets coming out in the next couple of months as we get ready to (gulp!) head into the holiday season...
• 1995 SCRAM Season for Red White & Blue Racin, 08.31.23: We're dialing back the SCRAM history almost 30 years in the new/vintage card set. Wayne Montana's rookie season!
• 2023 Football America for Second Season Football, 08.31.23: Our fourteenth consecutive season, this year's release swaps out the fringe player list for a new four-team developmental "Spring League!"
• 2022-23 Pro Hockey Season for Hockey Blast, 09.21.23: Re-live last year's exciting pro hockey season with this all-new card set created by Rob Gallamore! More details soon. We'll have these cards ready for Hockey Day in Canada.
• Cooperstown Cards for History Maker Baseball, 10.19.23: We've been hard at work behind the scenes, expanding the set to nearly 500 players and re-formatting the cards with an all-new design and a classic baseball card (3.5" x 2.5") size. Watch for a dedicated video stream about these cards after we've returned from Cooperstown, 10.19.23.
• 2022-23 Pro Season, Highlight Maker Hoops, 10.26.23: Denver's first-ever pro championship makes this an exciting set for us to release! Details coming soon.
• 2023-24 BLAM Season Highlight Maker Hoops, 10.26.23: Our first update of the fictional hoops cards released with the game last year. Career movement from the BLAM vets, and a healthy infusion of rookie talent! Possible league expansion--stay tuned!
ViDEO ACTiViTY
Here's what we have planned for the PLAAY Games YouTube Channel in the next 30 days...
• 08.24.23 (TONIGHT!), Football America Training Camp/Exhibition Game: We'll give you a quick overview of what's new for Football America 2023, then get some exhibition game action on your screen, Detroit at San Antonio. Starters play only the first series--hey, it's an exhibition game!!
• 08.31.23, 1995 SCRAM Season Debut Race: We'll hop in the "Way Back Machine" and give you a first-look at the new/old SCRAM season cards. Our product page gives you a sneak peek at some of the driver cards, see them ALL in this ‘95 debut race, the 1995 Copper State 500 at Desert Saguaro SuperSpeedway!
• 09.07.23, Summer of Now Wrap-Up Show: Hate to see the summer end, but we're not gonna let it go out with a whimper! Fun, games, freebies.
• 09.14.23, Let’s PLAAY Tennis is LIVE!: Now on a NEW date, we'll put the new game components to good use with a 2023 TAG Women's Tournament!
• 09.21.23, Hockey Blast Pre-Season Puck Drop: The real-life pro hockey exhibition season starts the following night (09.22.23), we'll get a jump on it AND set the stage for "Hockey Day in Canada!"
And--did you catch these PLAAY Space YouTube streams? If not, check out the archived video footage--some good stuff!...
• 08.03.23, PLAAY News Night: We provided updates on a number of different topics, including the full-play hoops game.
• HOF Card Set Vote-In Show: This was a fun show, we invited viewers to nominate players for the five remaining cards in our Cooperstown card set. Lots of great names from baseball's glorious past!
NEW: "The Game Garage!"
This is a new feature on our YT channel, the first episode was hosted by Sam. The idea is casual, informal and fun. In the first installment, which aired last Friday 08.18.23, Sam tinkers around with a new deck-building card game idea featuring "guys" and "things" and other quirky stuff, as PLAAY gamers provide input and commentary from the other side of the screen. We're going to continue this series at least a couple more installments, stay tuned.
Free Stuff!
Tell you what, the community really stepped up this month with some awesome freebies for YOU! Take a look...
• Jule Sigall's '76-77 Pro Season cards, Highlight Maker Hoops: Jule's been a long-time supporter and contributor to the PLAAY basketball initiative, going all the way back to 2017 and the first-ever look at PLAAY hoops at our live event in Seattle. These cards were a labor of love!
• Harvey Couch's 2023 College Baseball Finals, History Maker Baseball: Harvey's put together a timely "Sweet Sixteen" set of cards based on the college baseball playoffs, you'll love 'em!
• Brien Aronov's Japanese Dominant Baseball Teams, History Maker Baseball: Brien's knowledge of Japanese baseball (indeed, of ALL batted ball sports, world wide) is impressive! Here's a collection of some of the greatest teams in Japanese baseball history.
PLAAY Games Hot List
Here's a new feature for the monthly e-newsletter, a throwback to my previous career as a top 40 radio DJ, where a regular chart of the week's hottest hits was a radio industry staple. We'll chronicle the top twenty PLAAY Games each month. Where does YOUR favorite game land on the list?...
(For the 30-day period ending 08.23.23, includes printed and PDF versions)
TW (LW) game title
1 ( 3 ) History Maker Baseball Express
2 ( 1 ) History Maker Baseball
3 ( 6 ) Second Season Pro Football
4 ( 2 ) History Maker Golf
5 ( 7 ) Soccer Blast
6 ( 14 ) Highlight Maker Hoops
7 ( 16 ) Score Cards
8 ( 19 ) Second Season Express
9. ( 5 ) Hockey Blast
10 ( 10 ) Red White & Blue Racin'
11 ( 4 ) Face to the Mat Pro Wrestling
12 ( 17 ) "We Have a Problem, Mr. President..."
13 ( 10 ) Demo Derby Smash-Down
14 ( 13) Cold Snap
15 ( 20) Let's PLAAY Jai-Alai
16 ( 8 ) Roller Rumble
17 ( 9) Aviatrix '37
18 ( 18 ) Bowl-O-Rama
19 ( --) Planet Flipper
20 ( 15) Fury Football
Photo Finish?
Here’s what the new tennis game cards look like coming out of our machine—pretty sure that you would NOT want cards looking like this! NOT to worry, though—the game is ready, we’re in the repair queue and all will be in order SOON…
That’s it for this month! Lots of exciting stuff coming in the days and weeks ahead, thanks for being part of our fantastic community of hobby gamers! We appreciate you!