Inventor Of ‘Operation’ Can’t Afford An Operation

OK, if you were ever looking to define the word 'ironic'...look no further.

Chances are, you may have never heard of 77 year-old John Spinello, but you've all played, or at least heard of, the iconic board game he invented -- Operation. Well apparently Mr. Spinello is in serious need of oral surgery, but does not have the $25,000 required to pay for the surgery he needs.

Like many inventors, Spinello, could not afford to market his 1962 invention, so he sold the game to a toy company in 1964 for a paltry $500. Spinello invented the game while studying industrial design at the University of Illinois. One of his class projects was to create a toy. John designed a metal box whose lid was perforated with multiple holes and squiggly lines. When a metal scribe touched the top plate of the box and a plate just one quarter of an inch inside the box, it completed a circuit and sounded a buzzer.

Spinello's godfather was a top model-maker at Marvin Glass Associates which bought the rights to the game and offered Spinello a job.

MGA turned John’s idea into a game called “Death Valley” where the object of the game was to search in the holes and spaces in the board with a probe for water. Players had to avoid touching the sides of the openings otherwise it would set off a buzzer.

Mel Taft, Senior Vice President of Research and Development from Milton Bradley saw “Death Valley” at MGA and liked the idea. He took it back to Milton Bradley for in house development. Eventually, the game evolved into what we know and love today as Operation.

John Spinello never received another dime directly related to his invention. But what happened to John and his job promised by Marvin Glass? The job didn’t happen until some 10 years later – after Marvin Glass had passed away and Operation had become a big hit.

His friends have now started a Crowdrise page to help Spinello pay for his surgery. He claims isn't bitter about the fact he didn't make a lot of money off the game, but urge people to help him out. In addition to the crowdsourcing approach, Spinello will also donate the Operation prototype sometime in December.