Each Month, I will try to highlight
a particularly neat game, and provide as many photos, and as much info, as I can.
"Make a dive for the sunken treasure - then try to escape the clutches of ORVILLE THE OCTOPUS". This bizarre and neat game was made by Eberhard Faber Toy & Game Co, Inc. 1962. I've never heard of them, but if they made any other games that were as cool as this one, they deserve to be recognized...
Orville is a 8" wide metal Octopus with "flasher" eyes (he's missing one eye in our photo). He balances on a center post in his little seascape background. Danny Diver is a metallic deepsea diver with a magnet embedded in his feet. He is suspended on a rubber string connected to a rubber ball. Treasure pieces (in the form of gold bars, coins, and anchors) are scattered on the "sea floor". The object is to pick up as much plunder with Danny Diver as you can, BUT... if you get too close to Orville he will suddenly spin and "grab" Danny Diver with a sickening metallic "Ping" noise.
There are different kinds of games you can play with Orville, but all of them amount to trying to capture sunken treasure. As you get closer to Orville he'll start to menacingly turn toward you, and as you recoil, he'll start to turn the opposite way. The wonders of Magnetics!
It's a rare treat to find a neat game like this, and I've thoroughly enjoyed it. The graphics all around the box are excellent, and although my example is a tad beat up, would look very nice restored. If you can find it, get it. Value: $25 - $35
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