Paddle Rally Cross-Country Race

This Sixties race game from Whitman has a very unusual mechanism for determining how far a player can move. This is an 8" long blue plastic paddle, shaped like a rounded diamond with handle. A small red ball is attached to the end of the paddle by a 4" string. There are six holes in the paddle, five in an arc at the 4" limit of the string, and one in the center near the nose. Each player swings the paddle in an effort to get the ball through one of the holes. The easiest, in the center, is a move of 1. Values increase toward the edges, with 2 and 3 partway and 4 and 5 on the edges. The hole near the nose is worth two free turns. While the board box shows a map of the United States, the board itself is an abstract grid allowing orthogonal and diagonal moves. Black dots are obstacles that force a player to stop and then go around. Landing on a dot of your own color allows a free move in any direction. Landing on another player's color allows that player to move you one in a direction of his choice. First to cross the board wins.