Grandstand_Leisure

Grandstand (game manufacturer)

Grandstand (game manufacturer)

Electronics manufacturer

Grandstand (also known as Grandstand Leisure Products) is a video game console and electronic game manufacturer and distributor. It was based in the United Kingdom and New Zealand[1] and was active in the 1970s and 1980s.

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Overview

The company initially behind the Grandstand label was Adam Imports Ltd., (from 1980 Adam Leisure Group Ltd. and by 1983 Adam Leisure Group PLC) founded in 1973 by Chris Rycroft and Les Kenyon of Harrogate, UK.[2][1][3] The company initially started as a mail order company and was the single largest supplier of calculators in the UK by 1974.[4] By August 1978, George Bassett had acquired a 75% holding in the capital of Adam Imports for £750,000 cash, plus 60p in the pound of profits before tax in excess of £500,000 for year to December 31, 1978.[5] Adam Imports was re-acquired from George Bassett by Chris Rycroft in 1980.[4] It chiefly imported electronic products from other manufacturers such as VTech, Epoch, Tomy & Entex,[2][1][6] selling them in the UK re-branded under the Grandstand name.

Some imported products' names were changed for the UK market.[1][6] For example, the Tomy tabletop electronic game sold in the US as Pac Man (and in Japan as Puck Man) was released by Grandstand in the UK re-badged as Munchman.[7]

Products

Grandstand released numerous products over the years of which some are listed below. There were large numbers of similar variations, alternative names and model numbers typically referring to multiple evolutionary versions of the various game consoles and electronic games. Particularly, this is found with the Pong type game consoles[8] as the semiconductor technology rapidly progressed during the period that the Grandstand brand was active.

Video game consoles

Integrated pong consoles

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Processor-cartridge based consoles

Sports Centre 5000 Colour

Subsequently, the primitive cartridge-based Grandstand Colour Programmable video game console[18][19] (sold in New Zealand as the Mark III Video Game[19]) and several compatible Grandstand programmable video game cartridges[20] were introduced. These consoles, belonging to the PC-50x Family, were still essentially Pong type affairs, but had a limited selection of cartridges available, each housing a different General Instruments processor chip AY-3-8xxx.[21] This arrangement allowed for some variation in gameplay[18][22] including the implementation of simple racing games featuring Pong-era graphics.[20] However, these systems lack the flexibility found in later ROM cartridge based consoles, and there were never more than a few such processor-based cartridges released.[18][21]

ROM-cartridge based consoles

The Grandstand Video Entertainment Computer (Fairchild Channel F variant)

Later, the potentially more versatile[22] ROM Cartridge based Fairchild Channel F was licensed, rebadged and released under the Adman Grandstand label as the Video Entertainment Computer in the UK (pictured). The company sold rebadged SG-1000s in New Zealand.[23]

Tabletop electronic games

Astro Wars, Munchman, Caveman, Scramble, Firefox F-7[24] and The Big Game: Soccer[25] amongst others were popular VFD-based tabletop electronic games released by Grandstand in the early 1980s.[6][26][27]

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Handheld electronic games

Grandstand also produced LCD-based handheld electronic games such as Mini-Munchman,[28] Scramble,[29] Caveman[30] and Crazy Kong.[31]

In addition Grandstand released 4 different games (6 total including name variations), including BMX Flyer, in the Multicolorlaser 6000 series. Manufactured by Tomy these were licensed for sale in the UK and featured a multi-colored backlit LCD.[32]

Projector-based 'Light' games

A Playtime Light Games console

The projector-based game system was developed by Hong Kong company Playtime Products, and was released in other regions where it is known as the Light Games Color LCD Projector. It was Playtime's only console to be sold. Fantastiko released the "PROJECTOR MEGA VIDEO GAME Color LCD system" in Italy in 1988, while Grandstand rebranded it as "Light Games LCD Colour Projection System" for the UK, and Hunter Caesar Toys (Defunct in 1996) released it for Australia.[33] It was a tabletop projector based machine with built-in controller, that ran games on small cartridges with LCD windows. Light would be directed through the LCD window and magnified onto a wall. The window was painted with a semi-transparent background and the black LCD display would block the light from passing through. This provided 'big screen' entertainment and was a novelty at the time. The visual design and 'animation' being projected from these game carts were somewhat reminiscent of Nintendo's popular Game & Watch series of electronic handheld game devices that consisted of a segmented LCD display being pre-printed with an overlay. The machine ran from D sized batteries and was available for sale in various parts of Europe including the UK.[34] 13 games were developed for it.[35]

Pinball Machines

Grandstand Pinball Wizard

In the mid-late 1980s Grandstand collaborated with Tomy to release the Grandstand Pinball Wizard, a rebranded version of Tomy's popular Tomy Astro Shooter Pinball, an electric wall-plug based pinball machine.

Accessories

Accessories were also marketed under the Grandstand name, such as the Universal Mains Adaptor.[36]

References

  1. [1]
    "Obscure Pixels - Grandstand". Archived from the original on 2009-03-08. Retrieved 2009-05-03.
  2. [2]
    Retro Gamer Issue 106 - Electronic Dreams. pp. 22–31.
  3. [3]
    "CGL Galaxy Invader 1000 - Toy List - TV Cream Toy Catalogue - Blog Edition". Archived from the original on 2009-01-10. Retrieved 2009-05-03.
  4. [4]
    "Profile: Chris Rycroft | Yorkshire Post". 2013-05-07. Archived from the original on 2021-06-26. Retrieved 2021-06-26.
  5. [5]
    The Times, 1978-08-09, UK, English. 1978-08-09. p. 18.
  6. [6]
    "Grandstand & Epoch Electronic Games". Archived from the original on 2012-04-02. Retrieved 2021-11-01.
  7. [7]
    "Tomy Pac Man, Etc". www.handheldmuseum.com.
  8. [8]
    "Binary Dinosaurs - PONG!". www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk.
  9. [9]
    "VTech | History". Retrieved 2021-06-27.
  10. [10]
    http://www.old-computers.com/MUSEUM/computer.asp?st=3&c=1288
  11. [11]
    "Scotcade Grandstand 3000 Advert".
  12. [12]
    http://www.old-computers.com/MUSEUM/computer.asp?st=3&c=1289
  13. [13]
    "Adman Grandstand TVG-2600 Mk II - Game Console - Computing History". www.computinghistory.org.uk. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
  14. [14]
    "Adman Grandstand 3600 Mk II TV Game - Game Console - Computing History". www.computinghistory.org.uk. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
  15. [15]
    "Adman Grandstand 3600 Mk III TV Game - Game Console - Computing History". www.computinghistory.org.uk. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
  16. [16]
    "Grandstand 5000 Deluxe - Game Console - Computing History". www.computinghistory.org.uk. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
  17. [17]
    "Grandstand 6000 Colour - Game Console - Computing History". www.computinghistory.org.uk. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
  18. [18]
    "PC 50 X General Instrument Consoles - Ultimate Console Database". ultimateconsoledatabase.com.
  19. [19]
    "Obscure Pixels". Archived from the original on 2009-04-16. Retrieved 2009-05-03.
  20. [20]
    "Obscure Pixels". Archived from the original on 2009-02-05. Retrieved 2009-05-03.
  21. [21]
    "Dark Watcher's Console History". Archived from the original on 2009-05-06. Retrieved 2009-05-20.
  22. [22]
    "Fairchild Channel F - Ultimate Console Database". ultimateconsoledatabase.com.
  23. [23]
    Marley, Scott (December 2016). "SG-1000". Retro Gamer. No. 163. Future Publishing. p. 60.
  24. [24]
    "Grandstand Firefox F-7". www.handheldmuseum.com.
  25. [25]
    "Grandstand The Big Game Soccer". www.handheldmuseum.com.
  26. [26]
    "Buy Grandstand For Sale at Console Passion - Old Games & Retro Consoles". consolepassion.co.uk.
  27. [27]
    "Grandstand Museum". www.retro-games.co.uk.
  28. [28]
    "Grandstand Mini-Munchman". www.handheldmuseum.com.
  29. [29]
    "Grandstand Pocket Scramble". www.handheldmuseum.com.
  30. [30]
    "Grandstand Caveman LCD". www.handheldmuseum.com. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  31. [31]
    "Grandstand Crazy Kong". www.handheldmuseum.com.
  32. [32]
    "Grandstand BMX Flyer". www.handheldmuseum.com. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  33. [33]
    "20th Century Retro Games gallery page for Light Games". 20thcenturyvideogames.com. Retrieved 2020-07-20.
  34. [34]
    zadoc (2017-01-15). "A closer look at the Projector MEGA VIDEO GAME Color LCD console". Imgur. Retrieved 2020-07-20.
  35. [35]
    www.CONSOLLECTION.de (2014-12-30). "CONSOLLECTION.de entry for Light Games". Facebook. Retrieved 2020-07-20.
  36. [36]
    "Grandstand Universal Mains Adapter". www.handheldmuseum.com.
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