PONG Themed Game Console - Dismantled for reference and curiosity
While Tandy Corporation became 'RadioShack Corporation' in the US, in Australia the brand subsidiary 'Tandy Australia' remained until closure in 2011 by then owner Woolworths.
During the 1980s Tandy Australia released many consumer electronics products to the Australian market rebadged as 'TANDY' and the consumer market was none the wiser. Some examples are the Omnibot robot series and the Armatron robotic arm both rebranded on the packaging and the units as TANDY.
It's unclear whether the Tandy TV Scoreboard is another of these items however it bears a striking resemblance to the Hanimex 666S and 666T in design and function; see last image below for comparison.
The Tandy TV Scoreboard is a very portable PONG clone that can be powered from either an external 9 Volt DC power supply or internally from six AA/UM3 batteries. For storage the unit is a combined piece while during use the player two paddle can be detached and ramains linked to the main component via a cable.
The main component combines the player one paddle, the battery bay, the speaker and the main circuit board.
As with most PONG clones the Tandy TV Scoreboard offers a number of PONG-like games and the ability to adjust the ball speed, bat size, angle (slice) and the option of automatic or manual serving.
The one thing that it desperately needs (as with many of the PONG clones that produce internal audio) is a volume control to turn down the eventually grating sounds. Even adhesive tape over the speaker vent can only do so much.
It's a very solid unit and visually looks more like a vintage piece of research or medical equipment than a game system.
CREDIT: Hanimiex 666 exampled from playerschoicegames.com
