#439 AMIGO / MATTEL – UNO (FIRST GERMAN EDITION) (1986)

Uno is probably the most popular and most sold “modern” card/board game. Almost every child knows how to play and has been copied or versioned hundreds of times. Some time ago I found this Uno game at a flea market and I bought it since it is the first German edition. Not because it is valuable, but because it is curious. I already had a modern version, and it was nice to compare the style of the cars from that version 1986 to the current version from Mattel.

 

 

 

The instructions include a nice promo in which you can buy a t-shirt, that today would be completely “in” for its retro style.

  

 

The game was created in 1971 by Merle Robbins, and it is a special version of another traditional game named Mau Mau (which is played with normal poker cards). Robbins and family made a first release of 5,000 games which were sold at his own barbershop in Reading, OH as well as in local stores. Later sold the rights to a businessman from Joliet, IL for 50,000 dollars plus royalties of 10 cents of a dollar for each game sold.

That man created International Games Inc. to market the game and the rest is history. The game has been sold over 220 million times since its creation. Now it is also available as App…

FACTS AND FIGURES

• Name: UNO
• Year: 1971 (Game) / 1986 (First German Edition)
• Company: Amigo (Germany) / Mattel (U.S.A.)