This Forgotten 1975 ‘Jaws’ Game Has to Be Seen to Be Believed

The Game of Jaws from Ideal, produced to tie in with the 1975 release of Jaws, was one of those nerve-wracking games, similar to Operation, Perfection, Don’t Break the Ice, etc., where you had to use a skillful touch to both achieve something and prevent another thing from happening — and if you didn’t, the game would end quickly and surprisingly, perhaps startling some players.

In this case, players used a hook to slowly remove various objects from the mouth of a plastic great white shark, whose jaws were held open by rubber bands and kept open by the weight of the objects. As those items were removed by various players, one by one, and few remained, the shark’s jaws began to inch ever closer to shutting completely — before they ultimately snapped shut altogether on some poor player’s hook.