GAME OF THE MONTH

THE GAME OF TERRY AND THE PIRATES- by Whitman, 1937. A very rare game, from a company that normally made pretty cheesy offerings... the game has beautiful graphics and is well-constructed compared to other games from Whitman.

TERRY AND THE PIRATES was the popular comic strip creation of Milton Caniff, and featured the sultry nemesis the "Dragon Lady" (who doesn't appear in the game, unfortunately). Special dice enabled each player to move one of his 6 playing pieces (Terry plus Pat, Connie, Bandits, Old Pop and Dale). As everyone was going everywhere, you tried to advance Terry to the hidden treasure, and victory. Playing pieces were small wooden pawns and wooden discs.

Although the game came in a sturdy box, which in itself was unusual for Whitman, the board is just heavy cardboard, rather than a proper game board. The dice look like something you made in shop class, the wooden discs from an old bingo game, and the pawns rejects from BOOBY-TRAP. The sad part is, this is premium stuff compared to the paper boards, flimsey boxes, and punch-out paper pawns of other games from the company (I have a WIZARD OF OZ GAME from Whitman from 1939 and I think the board is made of cheesecloth...). Like other game companies such as Hasbro in the 1960's and Built-Rite in the 50's and 60's, Whitman didn't spend a lot on the construction of their games, apparently blowing all their budget on the purchase of the character license. However, scarce title and (sadly) top of the line implements make this a hot collectible... Value: $300 - $400