MishM*A*S*H 42: Transogram M*A*S*H Board Game

I have written about a number of M*A*S*H licensed products including trading cards, board games, trivia games, action figures, and model kits. Most of those products were released in the late 1970s and early 1980s, so they featured the later cast from the series. The trading cards, for example, don’t include Henry, Trapper, Frank, or Radar since they were produced in 1982. There weren’t many licensed products in the first three seasons, so there are not many products featuring the early cast. There was one company that made a few M*A*S*H products in the early 1970s. Transogram made products for television series in the 1960s, and the company continued to produce items into the 1970s before it went bankrupt and the Transogram name was acquired. They produced a few M*A*S*H items including a medical set and a board game. In this week’s post, let’s look at the M*A*S*H game they produced and a product catalog that includes a few M*A*S*H items.

Board Game

Looking at the box, this game looks really fun! As a kid, I would have gravitated towards the cartoonish characters and the connection to M*A*S*H. Inside the box, there are several items for gameplay: the game board, a plastic helicopter (mine is missing the blade), a plastic Jeep with driver, the parts to make a medical tent (with stickers), character cut-outs to use as game pieces, and a die. You can choose to play as Hot Lips, Trapper, Hawkeye, or Radar. The characters kind of resemble their television counterparts, but I find it interesting that Hawkeye is shown with the hat that he only wore in the first season. I think that is evidence of how early planning for this game was started. The game also includes a set of 30 M*A*S*H cards that have various instructions that the player had to follow if drawn.

Looking at the game board, it looks similar to Monopoly, but it does not play like it. To win this game, you have to be the first player to reach the winner square with either the Jeep or helicopter. Either of those vehicles can be taken away from you by another player if they landed on the correct square or get a card that instructs them to take the Jeep or helicopter. In the 1980s, Milton Bradley released a M*A*S*H board game that is very similar to this game. The big difference is that, in the Milton Bradley game, you have to collect wounded patients and successfully get them to the end of the game. The included instructions not only provide the rules, but also advice for how to make the game play last longer or go take less time. I haven’t played this game because it appears to be unused, and I don’t want to risk messing it up since it is pretty rare.

Until I saw this game on eBay a few years ago, I had no idea that it existed. I have not seen many M*A*S*H objects that pre-date the 1979/1980 time frame. Having a M*A*S*H game or toy with the original cast is very rare. I suspect that the rarity of this game is caused by two factors. They likely didn’t make very many of these games because Transogram went bankrupt in the mid-1970s. There isn’t really any way to know how many were made before the company shut down. The other major factor is likely that the games that were sold were played with! Families that bought this game likely played it. Over the years, pieces would get lost and eventually, what was left of the game would be tossed. The pieces are not the highest quality, so I am sure it didn’t last long once someone started to play with it. Finding one in complete, and in unused condition was very rare, and I am glad I am able to document that this game exists.

Transogram Catalog

Another object that I have in the collection is a Transogram catalog from 1976. Based on the order form inside, this catalog appears to have been sent to retailers to order inventory for their stores. The company made a wide variety of games and toys, and there are several that had TV or movie tie-ins. There are two M*A*S*H items in the catalog. The board game, and a M*A*S*H Medikit. The kit came in a molded plastic case that looks like a medic’s bag. Inside, there were medical supplies that would have been needed in the field. Like the board game, it features the early cast which makes it rare and an item that M*A*S*H collectors to seek. I don’t have one of the medical kits, and I have only seen one sell in the last decade. I imagine, like the board game, most kids immediately opened the kit to play as their favorite M*A*S*H character, so it might be difficult finding a complete set.

Finding the game and catalog were important to me because they tell a forgotten story. Fox heavily licensed M*A*S*H in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but there are not many products available from the first three seasons of M*A*S*H. The two items sold by Transogram might be the only ones. As the show’s popularity grew, it made sense for Fox to capitalize on its success with toys, trading cards, books, and more. For fans of the early seasons, however, there isn’t much to collect beyond the DVD box sets. Transogram gives fans of Trapper, Henry, Frank, and the early cast something to add to their collection actually features their favorite characters. Sadly, Transogram didn’t last long after these products were released; otherwise, we might have gotten more early M*A*S*H licensed products to collect.