National Finger Football - Alabama

by:  Rev. James G.W. Fisher - Product Evaluation Specialist / Editor

Product Evaluation Summary Date:  05/19/2010

We've all played the game before, the football is a folded sheet of paper in the shape of a triangle. The field is a tabletop and the goal is to score a touchdown by flicking the football across the table until part of it hangs over the edge. Zelosport has now taken this concept to a whole new level.

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   Evaluation Summary - Category Ratings

	Critical Evaluation Information These icons represent important attributes with which this product / service is associated, contributes to, or encourages development of. Select any of the unique icons below to learn more about the specific attribute it represents.

	Trade Industry Sales Types Wholesale  Retail  Reseller  Online

	Safety / Quality Classifications

CE Marked	UL Approved	JPMA Certified
	(Not Applicable)	(Not Applicable)
ASTM Compliant	eco-Friendly	eco-Conscious

CPSIA Compliant	Independent Lab Tested	Independent Lab Name
Compliant	(Unconfirmed)	Materials Analytical Svcs, Inc Suwanee, GA
LeadSafe™ - Surface Coatings/Paint (Complies with 16 CFR 1303/CPSIA 101)	LeadSafe™ - Content / Substrates (Complies with CPSIA 101)	PhthalatesSafe™ (Complies with CPSIA 108)
(Not Applicable)		(Not Applicable)

BPASafe™ (Complies with CPSI EN71)	Soluble Heavy Metals (Complies with ASTM F963/CPSIA 106)	Mechanical/Physical (Complies with ASTM F963/CPSIA 106)
Flammability - Solids/Textiles (Complies with 16 CFR 1500.44/CFR 1610)	Labeling of Hazardous Art Materials (Complies with ASTM-4236/16 CFR 1500.14(b)(8) )	iWatchDog™ Approved (Complies with ICCS™ Certification Standards)

Manufactured In	Safety Hazard/Warnings
U.S.A.	WARNING: CHOKING HAZARD--Small parts Not for children under 3 yrs.

Think for but a moment, who hasn't played the game before? You know, the football is a folded sheet of paper in the shape of a triangle. The field is a table top, the goal is to score a touchdown by flicking the football across the table until part of it hangs over the edge. For some, it was accomplishing a field goal by having your opponent use their thumbs and forefingers to mimic a field goal structure.

Nearly everyone is familiar with the National Football teams, each team striving for the win of each game. Zelosport has now taken National Football and merged it with the finger football of yesteryear to create National Finger Football. You'll experience the excitement, challenges and big plays of the real game. Play with family and friends, day or night, rain or shine.

To take this one step further, just imagine having an accurate representation of a National Football field scaled down to fit on a table top, floor, or a variety of other places to play, and let the games begin!  In our evaluation we discovered that no matter who the players were with each game in our evaluation, everyone began on the same plane. As a matter of fact, some of the women who played beat their opponents (their husbands), who were jeering their wives how they would beat them with their great knowledge of football. You can just guess how these gents felt.

When it comes to playing this game, it's all in the fingers. Of course, your first thought would be to assume that it's based upon the thinking of the old school play, with a piece of paper folded into a triangular shape to represent a football. Well, Zelosport, the creator of this game, has initiated the evolution of the old school style of finger football.

With the Zelosport Finger Football, instead of the triangular shaped piece of paper to play with, you have what is referred to as a "slider" and a pair of dice. What's a slider? It's a simple yellow plastic ring with a shiny ball bearing centered in it. You must be thinking "OK, So..." Well, the slider and the dice are the key components of play with the game; the slider embodies the idea of the football, and the dice control moves and objectives in each play.

The slider and the dice are the key elements of the game that put every thing into play. The purpose of the slider has already been defined, so now let's focus briefly on the dice. The dice are used to determine multiple activities/decisions that occur. One of the two dice designates which field zone is in play. It also serves to designate whether the play will be a run or a pass. The second die designates which side of the field will be used (ie; middle, left, right, or end zone).

There is much more to the actual game play, but this is a product evaluation summary designed to give you a glimpse of primary features and link to the actual website of the manufacturer of the product. Additional details can be found in our Independent Evaluators' section to provide a more well-rounded view of what the game is all about.

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Independent Evaluator Reports - Their Own Perspective

Obtaining An Independent Perspective...

In this section we will cover the "National Finger Football - Alabama" game from the perspectives of qualified professionals in the specific field associated with the product being evaluated. To accomplish that task, we have called upon the assistance of two top industry professionals who know their stuff and have the credentials to prove it.

Our professional and independent evaluators have formed their own opinions from extensive analysis and produced detailed, in-depth reports connected with their study and evaluation of the "National Finger Football - Alabama" game. The information to follow is comprised of excerpts from those same reports with some that have been paraphrased, and others that are in quotes verbatim, to encapsulate the primary points being conveyed in each report. This approach provides completely independent perspectives in the evaluation of the "National Finger Football - Alabama" game.

PRODUCT: Zelosport National Finger Football - Alabama TARGET AGE GROUP: 13 years+ MSRP: $29.95 USD APPLICABLE USE: Hybrid-Use™ for recreational activity in home, educational, community, or retirement facility

Professor of Psychology BA, MA, & Ph.D. - Educational Theory Specialist

""The Zelosport Finger Football game is a recreational game sired from the tabletop finger football made from a sheet of note paper folded into a triangle. At the same time, comparing this game to the one it is sired from is like comparing a bicycle to a Cadillac. Although a bicycle provides transportation, a Cadillac provides, transportation, comfort, a radio, and a shield from the weather.”

"With this game, recreational play is a default factor yet, it holds so much more in its functional use and benefit. It is vital to recognize that recreational play serves as a release mechanism, a release of physical/mental stress and contribution to many other needs of the body and mind. The Zelosport Finger Football game enables a player to gain that so essentially needed release, which in turn, results in personal betterment." 

"The 'slider' is a bit of a marvel in relation to sensory skills; it is the axis upon which each play of the game is hinged, thus there is extensive use of the hands throughout the game. By using the fingers with each play, you are creating a fluid concert of actions to accomplish a specific goal. These actions are congruent with each other while simultaneously affecting a vast variety of skills and senses within the body and mind."

"A strong point I found in my evaluation of the game is that there are two dice used as primary components in the design of the game. One of the dice has a unique purpose assigned that brings a more unique twist to the game play.

This trait comes from how the second die has what the instruction book refers to as a 'Choice' face on one of the sides of the die. If by unexpected chance this side is rolled, the entire roll by the player is ignored and the offensive player is granted the right to choose how he or she wants to run that particular play. Having this game element of unexpected chance with the die proliferates the level of cognitive and creative expression stimulation and improvement, whether the player is young, or of a more matured level of age."

Neuroscientist / Doctor of Behavioral Study, Ph.D.

""The Finger Football game provided an engaging recreational, educational, and skill developing agent for our staff to use in a limited duration clinical study of the benefit from use of the game."

"Every player will be incited to develop creative thought processes to classify their strategies to learn and adapt to the game with intent to win. This will assist a player in creating their own particular preferential learning process, which through the activity of the game, sharpens their focus, emotional and social development."

"In my own assessment of the Finger Football game, it was of the greatest interest to me, as well as my colleagues, how this game is so differentiated from others we have seen introduced to the market. In our clinical study we found that the game levels playing odds for all. At the same time, the game provides the essential catalyst to ensure a consistent level of active Play and response from all players in all testing age groups. Whether in wide range or closely segmented age groups, the results remained consistent with minimal fluctuation." "Participation in active Play with the Finger Football game carries after-effects which are dominant and useful primarily for participants ages 21-35 years. The level of personal skill improvement, including intellectual development gained from playing this game, reached well beyond our expectation."

A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR:

It is not the norm for additional input from our pub to be added to this section, but there is always room for exceptions to every rule, and this is one of them.

The reports on the National Finger Football - Alabama game, were quite detailed, in-depth, and with so much information, that they created an entirely new perspective for our team to consider in our evaluation process. In my selecting which quotes to use and paraphrase as needed, it was a task that proved to be quite challenging.

More simply put, the National Finger Football - Alabama game was quite divergent from the norm in concept. That divergent quality presented the game as a valuable asset in recreational game play.

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Consumer Hands-On Evaluation

Nothing is more powerful than hands-on experience by a consumer with a product when it is being evaluated. Based upon that fact, we put every single product submitted for evaluation at the mercy of consumers in both spontaneous and structured hands-on evaluation where anything goes. Shall we see how the "National Finger Football - Alabama" game was seen with consumers?

From a personal standpoint, I wish our readers could have seen the look on subway riders' faces, as well as the taxi driver, when we were riding the subway and using a taxi with a gang-load of games, toys, and baby products!

Prospect Park - Brooklyn, NY - We decided to try a more unique location this time, to perform spontaneous evaluations of products. When we say "spontaneous", we are talking spontaneous! This means no prior notice; just show up, set up, pack up and move on to the next location.

National Finger Football - Alabama was not at all like most of the products we brought to Prospect Park that day. Unlike the other products, National Finger Football - Alabama had been played by consumers at Universal Studios Orlando during Ed Expo, GAMA Trade Show in Las Vegas, the Westin Hotel in Long Beach, and many other places. It was simply amazing how versatile the game was, so easy to carry in its plastic tube, and able to be set up for play almost anywhere!

The number of locations and time for consumer hands-on evaluation and spontaneous consumer hands-on evaluation of National Finger Football - Alabama was beaten by only one other product (which will be featured next week). If a product is going to be inducted into The Toy Man® 2010 Product Guide, it must undergo a massive number of tests and evaluation procedures to see how it fares in the target market for which it has been designed. Due to the unusual design of this game, it takes a much longer period of time and number of evaluations to make it to the final group of products being considered for approval.

It was interesting how, no matter where we took the National Finger Football - Alabama game to have consumers give their feedback, the results were always the same. Whether people were sports fans or amusement park visitors, National Finger Football - Alabama captured attention, and people wanted to sit down and play the game. In the images below you, can see a straightforward view of the impact of Play with National Finger Football - Alabama at the 2010 GTS Show in Las Vegas.

At Prospect Park, our final evaluation destination, National Finger Football - Alabama was put on the grass to see if there would be any difference in interest. Surprisingly enough, the game actually had more attention drawn to it. According to many of the feedback forms we read, having National Finger Football - Alabama on the grass, separated from the rest of the products on our portable tables, drew their attention far greater. For others, it reminded them of a picnic event and they felt prompted to sit down, relax, and play the game

In our compilation of the consumer evaluation sheets from the GTS 2010 show and all other locations, we discovered that the National Finger Football - Alabama game was quite a popular, as well as an entertaining experience for our participants. A strong contribution to learning and skill development was gained from playing the game. The game established a solid and productive response with our spontaneous hands-on consumer evaluation participants and passed this section of our evaluation with very strong scores.

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A Sampling Of Our Many Evaluation Category Ratings

A small sampling of the individual category titles and rating scores from the complete product review itself for this product are featured here. The categories that have been selected to be featured in this product evaluation summary for public view, specify some of the primary points of how and why each specific rating score was reached.

• If a product is inducted, a product evaluation summary of the complete review is published for public view.
• When a score has been assigned to a category rating, it has been through a thorough validation process to ensure accuracy and no inflection of bias.
• If a product scores an overall category evaluation rating average of [2] Two Stars or lower from the complete review results, it fails the evaluation and is not inducted.
• Information for products that do not pass our evaluation is confidential and is shared only with the company submitting the product.
  

The Featured Category Ratings Sample for this Product Evaluation Summary are listed below.

DURABILITY: Rating Level - [4]

DURABILITY is not generally a primary focus to feature when it comes to most games, but the National Finger Football - Alabama game is undoubtedly not categorized as being among "most games." With this game, you have plastic rings, a foam football, a plastic ring with a ball bearing held in its center, and most important of all, the playing field.

The game was pushed through a more extensive series of evaluation tests for durability, even withstanding some gents emptying their stomachs onto the components of the game at Universal Studios Florida.

Even after the strong cleaning of all game components, it still demonstrated a level of durability well above average. The National Finger Football - Alabama game components are kept in a long, clear plastic tube when not in use. Although this serves well to protect the game components from damage, an above average score of [4] Stars was given in this category for DURABILITY.

EASE OF USE: Rating Level - [5]

Simplicity is the name of the game with the National Finger Football - Alabama game. With a simple, short learning curve, and easy setup and tear-down, this game was literally screaming how its simplicity draws reluctant players to participate.

A game structure designed to create a level playing field for all players, along with so many other features, contributed so strongly to ease of use. These facts were all taken into consideration in the final evaluation of the game. The National Finger Football - Alabama game makes an easy touchdown with a perfect score of [5] Stars in this category for EASE OF USE.

FUNFACTOR™: Rating Level - [5]

Could there possibly be a category so easy to determine and enjoy as this?  FunFactor™ was off the scales in measurement with the National Finger Football - Alabama game. 

If you are going to play this game, you had best be ready for fun like you may not have enjoyed since you were a child.  The game moves fast and holds plenty of unexpected moments just waiting around the corner, serving as the latest triggers to make you laugh til' you feel silly.

The National Finger Football - Alabama game has put a whole new slant on fun that many of us might have forgotten many years ago, and moves in with a perfect score of [5] Stars in this category for FunFactor™.

MARKETABILITY: Rating Level - [5]

In reviewing all segments of our evaluation process on videotapes, the National Finger Football - Alabama game pulled the highest scores ever in almost all evaluation categories. The game ensures development of stronger social interaction with the players, as well as a strengthening of creative thought processes.

The game being modeled after a well recognized sport creates a familiarity with consumers. This, in addition to the theme being National football teams, drives the marketability level through the roof. To put the cherry on the cake, the clear plastic tube makes the game more easily stored and creates a small footprint for stores.  It also affords the buyer the opportunity to gain a glimpse of the actual product without needing to open the package.

The National Finger Football - Alabama game creates an exciting experience for a player to enjoy and has a price point that is quite competitive. The National Finger Football - Alabama game comes in the gates with a perfect score of [5] Stars in this category for MARKETABILITY.

RESPONSE LEVEL: Rating Level - [5]

The RESPONSE LEVEL with a player playing National Finger Football - Alabama game was well above average. According to the independent evaluators, the response levels identified and noted were not associated with the common visible response levels. The unknown response levels were more associated with skill development and many other factors.

The game is always in constant change, with the probability of duplication of Play occurring being greater than worth trying to calculate. This literally guarantees "unexpected chance" with each play. As was further pointed out, "[the game]...proliferates the level of cognitive and creative expression stimulation and improvement whether, the player is young or of a more matured level of age."

The game contributes substantially to response levels in ways we don't generally even consider. Based upon the independent evaluators' reports and what we gained from our video tapes, in-house / consumer hands-on evaluation, the National Finger Football - Alabama game swept the floor with a perfect score of [5] Stars in this category for RESPONSE LEVEL.

VISUAL APPEAL: Rating Level - [3]

The visual appeal for the National Finger Football - Alabama game was average.  The game is not designed to WOW players, rather it is designed more to provide a stimulation of strategy development and develop plenty of FunFactor™.

The packaging and all of the game components were great, yet once again, nothing to go WOW! over, unless you are a sports nut who can grasp the full value of the highly detailed and scaled-down playing field and playing components.

The game is magnificent in its level of visual appeal, with the contents of the game box matching perfectly, if not better. The National Finger Football - Alabama game rose to the challenge to meet our tough standards in this category and passed with an average score of [3] Stars in this evaluation category for VISUAL APPEAL.

EVALUATION RESULTS - From evaluation for induction into "The Toy Man® Product Guide"
Overall Rating:  5	Seal of Approval: Approved	eco-Recognition™ Seal: Not Eligible	Award of Excellence: Approved	eChoice™ Award: Selected

THE TOY MAN® SEAL OF APPROVAL "The first and original Seal of Approval... designed for product recognition and validation."
	Since 1971 "The Toy Man® Seal of Approval" has served as an emblem and standard for professional recognition of a product or online service having met the globally recognized evaluation standards of The Toy Man® Product Guide.   This emblem was first established in 1971 by the International Parenting Institute™. It is modeled after the "Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval®", an emblem of recognition for products which meet the globally recognized high standards set forth by the Good Housekeeping Institute®.

THE TOY MAN® PRODUCT GUIDE AWARDS "The globally recognized awards that are received by a limited few... and give a product the well earned recognition it deserves!"
	The products and online services which become recipients of "The Toy Man® Award of Excellence" acheived an evaluation category rating average of [5] Stars, the highest level of rating available on a 1-5 scale evaluation model.  The average is based upon the overall average from all applicable evaluation categories, not just the 6 evaluation categories featured in this summary.

"The Toy Man® Award serves as an emblem of recognition for products & online services that contribute substantially to positive skill growth and/or productivity.  ( This includes books, CD's, DVD's, consumer electronics & accessories, recreational games and equipment, home furnishings, juvenile, software, toys and specialty. ) This distinguished award is exclusive as well as unique, with the editor's signature which represents a product being selected as an . PLEASE NOTE: The eChoice™ Award images which were used from 1971-1984, 1984-2007, 2007-April 2010 have been retired. Although the former versions of the eChoice™ Award have been retired, they still remain valid.