Voit 33-inch Tabletop Rod Hockey Game

To Whom It May Concern: I purchased a 2010 Voit 32 inch #60 Table Rod Hockey Game for my nephew this Christmas from Overstock.com. The game has many, many flaws and has been a grave disappointment to my nephew. It’s hard to believe that a game that costs anywhere between $*** and $*** can be manufactured so badly and be inferior in every respect to the Coleco and Munro Hockey games of the 60s and 70s that I owned or played on. I can’t fault Voit for outsourcing the production to a Chinese factory since that is standard operating procedure in the current market and keeps cost down. However, I can, and do, find fault with the unbelievably poor engineering, workmanship and instructional manual. The instructions are very poor and contain no step-by-step written information to supplement the basic visual diagrams. They are indecipherable, in fact, that they are useful to my wife who teaches technical writing at a university. She should be able to offer them as documentation of what not to do. There were also a few small parts missing—nothing that impacted play of the game--but another annoyance and demonstration of poor quality control. Would it impact the bottom line profitability of Voit to have the game manufacturer put in a few extra screws and washers? The most damning issue, though, is engineering/workmanship. There is no bracing for the defensemen on either team as there is for the forwards and center (center cross brace). This means that because of play or slop in the motion of the player rods that after 2 to 3 minutes of play the figures fall off the metal tabs and have to be remounted. All gears that affix to the rod periodically bind and the forward players long sticks frequently get stuck in the player’s track. While I don’t expect arcade-level quality for $*** I do expect something commensurate with the $20-$30 games of the past—particularly given the large amount of time-consuming assembly required (in the old games it was only required that a the figures be attached and, sometimes, a centrally located scoreboard).

Good Idea, Terrible Execution and Craftsmanship. The rods are plastic which flex, and it turn, make the hockey players stick go over the puck making play impossible. The images make it look like a great item, but the functionality is extremely disappointing. Playing deck is warped., but it sure looks good..unfortunately, looks don't entertain children.