Velcro fly catch!
Every now and then, comes along someone supremely indifferent to word and strategy games, who insists that if it’s not physical, it isn’t of any interest at all. ‘Sticky Mitts’ from Hamleys is a slicker version of a game we’ve seen at Indian stores for years. It retails at Rs.399. It’s well finished. The loud colour scheme slowly grows on you. And to ensure the product quality-price balance, it’s made in China.
Strap your palm onto one mitt. Fasten snugly with the velcro strap. Get your opponent to do the same. Now hurl the fuzzy (tennis-like) ball at the opponent. If the ball is caught in the mitt, its noisily peeled off and hurled back at you. Raise your mitt to catch. The ball sticks with a satisfying thwack, and if that was a hard throw, you’ll feel the impact on your palm, through the thin sheet of velcro, backing material, and the moulded plastic mitt.
Sticky Mitts allows all the excitement of a vigorous game of throw-and-catch, with an added velcro twist. For those not entirely adept at fielding skills on a cricket field, this is a Godsend! Catching is much easier with Sticky Mitts. Suddenly you have wider audience appeal, and I’ve experienced the most unexpectedly enthusiastic participation from the most unlikely, resulting in gaming sessions that leave all concerned wonderfully breathless and exhausted! The athletically inclined will enjoy the leaping catches, and mid-air ‘twist and peel and throw’ routines. Scoring is simple. A point for every fumbled catch by the opponent. Some prior agreement on boundaries is required to minimise the mayhem of a full blooded match!
To move into team mode, investment in a few more pairs of mitts is required. It’s well worth the investment. Sticky Mitts turned out to be a tremendous hit indoors (some broken vases, and marks on the walls), and outdoors (impossibly long and high throws). The game adapts marvelously into training / team building collateral, with teams lining up to aim for suitably captioned (and velcroed) sections of the target board. In this mode, it provides the excitement of darts, without the steel-tipped dangers!
— The author may be contacted at arup_kavan@yahoo.com
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