I’m working from memory. But from what I can recall the posts on the original boards were basically there to keep the card from sliding out from the tabs, which would cause it to fall off. Maybe in part as a stand off for the metal contact sheet. The later boards the card was pressed over larger posts as the attachment, which seems to be the deal with Grogu.
Ideally sure. But the operation board has never done this. It was designed to not require much if any glue, saving pennies per board.
But you didn’t. Starting in 1965.
The color pallet of the board is limited and clashy, essentially all shades of red and yellow. As we can see in the old photo this can cause the figure to fade into the background. And it can be a REAL beast for the color blind.
The anatomy and proportion of our guy there is off in an unpleasant way. With poor line work, and perfunctory shading (if any) that mostly draws the eye to his balls. Or where his balls should be.
The board itself is crowded, and difficult to read. And the fact that they had to label the holes with the associated pieces is a commonly cited ding against the game. Looking back knowing what it is you think it’s clear without those labels, but it isn’t. That’s why they’re there. And cramped and difficult to read.
The space is otherwise plain. It is just a man in a yellow field. Only the box identifies what it is, the name did not originally appear on the product itself. Nothing barring the box indicates a medical context. It is just a naked man, with strange things shoved into his body, with a horrified look on his face.
The electrical elements are all clearly visible, hanging out in their rickety glory. And as we can see from the “electro probe” are literally off the shelf electrical bits. There’s been no attempted to make those wired tweezers consistent with or referential to the rest of the design. They’re just there, as if picked up from Radio shack. The boards we had as kids you could literally see the threading on the light bulb, and easily pluck off the red rubber cover that was just pushed over it.
From what I recall the game is primarily considered a prime example of low cost manufacturing techniques and repackaging commodity parts. Significant for just how little it cost, how few steps were involved in it’s manufacture. It is a plastic shell with a metal sheet press fit under a card, and a couple of off the shelf, common electric toy components. Motor, batteries, light and the probe. Nothing novel in the way they’re assembled, the setup was borrowed wholesale from an already common toy. If you ever played one of those things where you have to lead the probe or ring through the maze, and it buzzes if you’ve touched the side, that’s what Operation is. The cheapest version of that you could make in 1965.
It was designed by an industrial design student or something, and if I’m remembering right it was mostly about reducing manufacturing steps, and novel methods of injection molding. Conceived of from the beginning as a very cheap novelty.
