Domino Rally
Domino Rally (Also known as Domino Express) is a toy product manufactured by Pressman Toys in the late 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s and began being sold by Goliath Games in 2011.
It was originally named "Domino Track" and designed by Jason Carroll, a 16-year-old boy, assisted by his father. The design was submitted to American Idea Management (AIM). Due to lack of knowledge and finances of the original inventor, the idea was successfully patented by Universal Product Innovations, Inc. and was manufactured by Pressman Toys Inc. The original idea was robust, with well-designed interlocking track and high-quality solid dominoes, but to make the dominoes fall better, the dominoes have thinner plastic in the middle than on the outsides. Older sets had a hollow opening in each domino, making them fall very easily. New sets have dominoes with the plastic left in the middle so they stand much better than before.
Features
Different sets were produced, each consisting of several hundred multicolored plastic dominoes They were not solid rectangular prisms, but rather were hollowed out on one side. The injection molding process used to make them also tended to leave protrusions on the standing edge. As such, they tended to fall over easily, particularly when being set up on the stepped staircases and bridges that came with the set. Newer dominoes were made which left the plastic in the middle, resulting in the dominoes standing upright much better than before.
In addition to the aforementioned flaws, the snaps on the dominoes were very easily broken. When this occurred, the domino was unable to be used in the snap-in assemblies of the set, and thus was ruined for good. Replacements can be ordered in the instructions for the set, if possible.
Regular Stunts
- Bridge - Dominoes could be put over the bridge, and some could be put under it.
- Camel-back Bridge - A curved bridge.
- Domino Dealer - A small wheeled car that would drop dominoes automatically as it moved.
- Loop the Loop - Would send a domino round a 360 degree loop.
- Plane Launcher - When a domino would hit the launcher, it would send a card plane into the air.
- Power-tower Elevator - When a domino would hit the elevator, it would elevate it and knock all the other dominoes that were on it down.
- Rockets - When a domino hits this stunt, a marble would fall inside and set the rocket into the air.
- Pivot Dominoes - Dominoes that only fell in one direction on a pre-made circuit (Straight or Curved)
- Starburst - Set dominoes off in six different areas.
- Zig-Zag - When a Domino hit the marble on the top of the staircase on this stunt, the small ball inside would zig-zag down to the bottom, and then hit the dominoes underneath.
Sets
- Action Set - Focused on a marble run-like track, with dominoes and stunts in-between. It contained a 4-way tunnel, various card stunts (one of which having sounds) and a plane launcher.
- Basic Set - Contained a curve Pivot-Domino element, a camel-back bridge and a "Loop the Loop". which would send a domino round a 360 degree loop.
- Deluxe Set - Contained 3 and 5 curved and straight pivot tracks respectively, a zig-zag, a power-tower elevator, a bridge, a rocket and a starburst.
- Dino Roar Set - Focused on a large dinosaur. A large bolder would hit the mouth of the Dinosaur's head, which would continue on to hit the dominoes. It also contained a camel-back bridge (the Dinosaur's body), the Dinosaur's tail (which would send dominoes down 2 different paths) and 3 curved and straight pivot dominoes.
- Galaxy Explorer Set - Began with an elevated marble track, and also contained a 4-way element, a Zig-Zag and a Rocket.
- Intermediate Set - Featured a Zig-Zag, a Camelback Bridge, a Loop the Loop, a Power-tower Elevator and 2 sets of straight and curved Pivot Dominoes.
- Mad Lab Set - This set focused on making a tongue mixture in the scientist's mouth to set the dominoes off. It also featured a rolling eyeball and a brain and test tube that would make a fizzy mixture if the ingredients were applied into it.
- Mountain Bike Adventure Set - Featured a Mountain Bike stunt, the domino dealer and 1 straight pivot-dominoes piece.
- Neon Super Deluxe Set - Featured a power-tower elevator, a whirling Helicopter and a rocket launcher.
- Glow-in-the-Dark Ghost Ride Set - The set elements in the set would glow-in-the-dark in a green color. It contained a "Phantom Mine", which with a spinning top would send a mine cart to knock dominoes down, a guillotine, a hanging skeleton, a graveyard entrance, a ghost version of the Power-tower elevator and 2 robot movers.
- Pathmaker Set - Features the Domino Dealer, and also contained a Zig-Zag, a Bridge and a Plane.
- Spectacular Stunt Set - Focused on a stunt bike, which would run on a marble run-like track alongside a normal marble-run like track. This set also contained a larger zig-zag and a bridge.