Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    Nostalgia Central
    • Home
    • Blog
      • Lists
    • Television
      • TV by Decade
        • TV – 1950s
        • TV – 1960s
        • TV – 1970s
        • TV – 1980s
        • TV – 1990s
      • Comedy
      • Drama
      • Kids TV
      • Variety
      • News & Sport
      • Advertisements
    • Music
      • Music by Decade
        • Music – 1950s
        • Music – 1960s
        • Music – 1970s
        • Music – 1980s
        • Music – 1990s
      • Artists – A to K
        • Artists – A
        • Artists – B
        • Artists – C
        • Artists – D
        • Artists – E
        • Artists – F
        • Artists – G
        • Artists – H
        • Artists – I
        • Artists – J
        • Artists – K
      • Artists – L to Z
        • Artists – L
        • Artists – M
        • Artists – N
        • Artists – O
        • Artists – P
        • Artists – Q
        • Artists – R
        • Artists – S
        • Artists – T
        • Artists – U
        • Artists – V
        • Artists – W
        • Artists – X
        • Artists – Y
        • Artists – Z
      • Artists – 0 to 9
      • Genres
      • Music on Film & TV
      • One-Hit Wonders
      • Playlists
      • Online Radio
    • Movies
      • Movies by Decade
        • Movies – 1950s
        • Movies – 1960s
        • Movies – 1970s
        • Movies – 1980s
        • Movies – 1990s
      • Movies – 0 to 9
      • Movies – A to K
        • Movies – A
        • Movies – B
        • Movies – C
        • Movies – D
        • Movies – E
        • Movies – F
        • Movies – G
        • Movies – H
        • Movies – I
        • Movies – J
        • Movies – K
      • Movies – L to Z
        • Movies – L
        • Movies – M
        • Movies – N
        • Movies – O
        • Movies – P
        • Movies – Q
        • Movies – R
        • Movies – S
        • Movies – T
        • Movies – U
        • Movies – V
        • Movies – W
        • Movies – X
        • Movies – Y
        • Movies – Z
    • Pop Culture
      • Fads
      • Toys & Games
      • Fashion
      • Decor
      • Food & Drink
      • People
      • Technology
      • Transport
    • Social History
      • 1950s Year by Year
      • 1960s Year by Year
      • 1970s Year by Year
      • 1980s Year by Year
      • 1990s Year by Year
      • Events
    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Pop Culture»Toys & Games
    Toys & Games 2 Mins Read

    Battling Tops

    Share
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email

    Battling Tops was as close to watching gladiatorial combat as most kids got (except those kids whose dads took them to illegal cockfights!).

    Once you sent that top into the arena of battle, all you could do was watch, cheer, and hope your little spinner was the last top standing.

    battlingtops_000

    It was a brutal sport for the tops, what with all the spinning and knocking together, but oh, what a thrill for their gladiatorial masters.

    Ideal’s 1968 Battling Tops game had six fierce spinning warriors (all with non-threatening names like Dizzy Dan, Twirling Tim and Tricky Nicky, but don’t be fooled), four of whom could enter the combat arena at any one time.

    The round arena had four top-launching areas, wherein the battle-ready top could fit snugly until it was time to spin. Four ‘Battling Top Pullers’ started the action – wind the string around the top, hold the puller outside the arena, then give puller a solid yank to send the tops flying.

    Out the tops went into combat, ramming against each other until only one remained spinning.

    Alas, there was no time for the victorious top to enjoy its glory, nor for the losers to lick their wounds (metaphorically – the tops didn’t actually have tongues). The melee went on until one top-scored ten victories, enough to make any top gladiator bruised, exhausted, and very, very dizzy.

    Battling Tops quickly became a family favourite in many homes – so easy that even the littlest siblings could play (as long as some kind soul wound their tops for them), yet compelling enough that even the oldest member of the household couldn’t take his eyes off the spinning dance of death (the hypnotic patterns of the tops’ surface may have had something to do with it).

    battl_topsIn the late 70s, Ideal redesigned the game in the wake of Star Wars mania as ‘Battling Spaceships’. Redesigned tops and a new space-themed gameboard around the arena added a twist or two, but the name of the game was still last-top-standing.

    Marx took over the Battling Tops title in the 80s, but by the end of the decade, the game had disappeared from toy shelves. And while the embattled tops themselves may be grateful, the rest of us fondly remember one of the most enjoyable spectator sports in the family game room.

    The later ‘Beyblade’ fad owed much to Battling Tops!

    Related Posts

    • Look-in
      Look-in
      Look-in - promoted as the "Junior TV Times" - was published every Thursday (eventually every Friday) between 1971 and 1994 and…
    • Major Matt Mason
      Major Matt Mason
      "Mattel’s Man in Space!" Space exploration was the dream of many a young mind in the late 1960s, and Major…
    • Captain Action
      Captain Action
      With a change of clothes and mask, Captain Action could alter his identity into some of the mightiest heroes on…
    • VS. Series Arcade Games
      VS. Series Arcade Games
      Stuck in the mire of the 1984 video game market crash, Nintendo knew it needed a hook to draw gamers…
    • Silly String
      Silly String
      No one knew what it was made of - in fact, people still don't know what it's made of! Certain…
    • Ant Farm
      Ant Farm
      In the mid-1950's, Milton Levine was enjoying Fourth of July festivities in Southern California's San Fernando Valley, when the ant…
    • Wasteland
      Wasteland
      The gameplay of Warlords (from Interplay) revealed the strong Dungeons & Dragons role-playing influence on the generation of game programmers…
    • Game & Watch
      Game & Watch
      The Game & Watch handheld electronic games were developed and manufactured by Nintendo and released from 1980 to 1991. The…

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email
    Previous ArticleBattleship
    Next Article Betta Bilda

    Comments are closed.

    Follow us
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Instagram
    You May Also Like
    • Cowboy G-Men
      1 9 5 2 (USA) 39 x 30 minute episodes This little-known and […]
    • Woodentops, The
      1 9 5 5 – 1 9 5 8 (UK) The Woodentops joined the line-up […]
    • Seals & Crofts
      Jim Seals and Dash Crofts formed their musical partnership in […]
    • Matt and Gerry Ltd
      1 9 7 5 (UK) 4 x 15 minute episodes Gerry Marsden (formerly of […]
    • Value for Money (1955)
      Young Chayley Broadbent (John Gregson) from Barfield, Yorkshire, […]
    • Magma
      French prog rock band Magma were assembled by seismic drummer […]
    Twitter Feed
    Please note


    Nostalgia Central covers the period 1950 to 1999 and contains some words and references which reflect the attitudes of those times and which may be considered culturally sensitive, offensive or inappropriate today.
    Popular Tags
    1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1975 1976 Action Figures Amicus Arcade games Australia Beach movies Beatles Blaxploitation Board games Britpop Canada Crime Disney Doo-Wop Elvis Presley Girl groups Glam Goth Hammer Heavy Metal Irwin Allen Labels Merseybeat Mod revival Motown New Romantic New Wave NWOBHM Oi! One-hit wonders Power Pop Pub rock Punk Radio Scotland Ska Soul music Sport Surf music
    Search Nostalgia Central
    Copyright © 1998, 2022 Nostalgia Central
    • About Nostalgia Central
    • Contact
    • FAQ

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.