Author Topic: Dice Game question from the 4-digit days  (Read 3313 times)

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Offline ssetta

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Dice Game question from the 4-digit days
« on: January 13, 2021, 06:25:56 PM »
It seems like on all the episodes I've watched on pluto from 1982, most of the cars offered are priced at least $6000. And as everyone knows, there are never any numbers higher than 6 in the price of a car in Dice Game. So this makes me wonder if back in those days, the first number was always a gimme. Though I think I did see a very early playing where they DID have numbers higher than 6. When did they stop having numbers higher than 6? Because in the episodes I've watched, it seems like even if a 5 is rolled on the first digit, it would be best to choose higher, because I don't think you could buy cars priced at $4000 by then.

Offline JhayPrice

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Re: Dice Game question from the 4-digit days
« Reply #1 on: January 13, 2021, 06:39:05 PM »
The FAQ page states: "Until sometime in the second half of Season 5, prices in Dice Game could (and did) contain 0s and numbers higher than 6; obviously, this made the game ridiculously hard to win. The original rules were still in place on January 31, 1977, but were gone by June 29."

Offline actual_retail_tice

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Re: Dice Game question from the 4-digit days
« Reply #2 on: January 13, 2021, 08:31:54 PM »
Ssetta, I think you are right. As far as I can tell, all the cars were $6,000 and above by that point. Therefore, if you didn't roll a 6 on the first number, the right answer was higher. I'm sure the timing of Deluxe Dice Game's debut (a little later on in 1983) had everything to do with that fact.

1980 was probably the last year you might roll a 5 and go lower on the first digit in Dice Game.

Offline Tpirfan1995mr

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Re: Dice Game question from the 4-digit days
« Reply #3 on: January 13, 2021, 08:44:51 PM »
Hope to see the last 3 playings of 4 dight dice game with Bob having white hair

Offline SteveGavazzi

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Re: Dice Game question from the 4-digit days
« Reply #4 on: January 13, 2021, 09:01:30 PM »
Hope to see the last 3 playings of 4 dight dice game with Bob having white hair

Okay, you're done.  That's got nothing to do with this thread.
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Offline Briguy

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Re: Dice Game question from the 4-digit days
« Reply #5 on: January 14, 2021, 02:14:24 PM »
Footnote to the question at hand: Just a guess, but a fairly safe guess might be Season 13 (or early Season 14). The last cars that still were under $7,000 at this point were the Chevrolet Chevette/Pontiac 1000, and maybe the base model Ford Escort/Mercury Lynx (both only if they had few options) and Mazda GLC (again, bare-bonesed).

By about 1986, even the bargain-priced econocars were going for around $7,000 minimum, certainly more than $6,666 (the top possible price allowed in the 4-digit game), so they switched to a five-digit-only game (floor price being $11,111) around that time.

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Offline pannoni1

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Re: Dice Game question from the 4-digit days
« Reply #6 on: January 14, 2021, 02:51:52 PM »
Today, we're running into a similar situation where you probably should always go higher with a 5 if the ARP beings with a 1. The Nissan Versa, one of the cheapest cars currently on the market, as seen on today's playing of Let 'Em Roll and last week's Hole In One, was in the high $15K range. But many econocars are now stickering in the $17-$19K range as of this season like the Kia Rio, Honda Fit, and even a Chevy Spark. I'll bet in a season or two, there won't be any more sub-$16,666 cars remaining, so Dice Game will almost exclusively be played for cars in the $21-$26K range.

Keep in mind that as of Season 11, there were no more sub-$6,000 cars ever offered, the cheapest being a Chevette in a playing of Double Prices that was $60XX. Seasons 8 and 9 had a high inflation rate compared to other seasons due to the second OPEC gas shock, so its not surprising that 1980 was approximately the last time that rolling a 5 would have required a decision.

In addition, the hundreds digit also had some pricing logic to it during the last few years of the four-digit format, where going higher on a 4 was usually wise (unless if it was a stripped Chevette).
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Offline MSTieScott

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Re: Dice Game question from the 4-digit days
« Reply #7 on: January 14, 2021, 04:13:36 PM »
By about 1986, even the bargain-priced econocars were going for around $7,000 minimum, certainly more than $6,666 (the top possible price allowed in the 4-digit game), so they switched to a five-digit-only game (floor price being $11,111) around that time.

According to the timeline, the last four-digit car was offered in Dice Game in an episode taped in late 1987. Which tracks with Classic Concentration, a show that offered a $5,685 Yugo GV in late 1987 and a $5,966 Subaru Justy and a $6,302 Ford Festiva in the first half of 1988.
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Offline Briguy

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Re: Dice Game question from the 4-digit days
« Reply #8 on: January 14, 2021, 04:32:02 PM »
According to the timeline, the last four-digit car was offered in Dice Game in an episode taped in late 1987. Which tracks with Classic Concentration, a show that offered a $5,685 Yugo GV in late 1987 and a $5,966 Subaru Justy and a $6,302 Ford Festiva in the first half of 1988.

So probably the last four-digit car in Dice Game would have been one of those two cars: either a Ford Festiva or Subaru Justy, both of them assuming options on them. (I am assuming there were few if any options added to the Justy that was won on Classic Concentration, and also no Yugos ever offered on Price.)

Brian

Offline actual_retail_tice

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Re: Dice Game question from the 4-digit days
« Reply #9 on: January 16, 2021, 04:42:22 PM »
One thing I´ve noticed about Dice Game in this era is that at the end of the game, Bob always revealed the numbers in the price in order, saved for the ones the contestant had already gotten right.
At some point, he changed to starting with the gimmies (numbers where the contestant had rolled 1 or 6) before revealing the ones that could be wrong. Anybody got a guess for when this change happened?

Offline MSTieScott

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Re: Dice Game question from the 4-digit days
« Reply #10 on: January 16, 2021, 08:22:56 PM »
He revealed the gimmes first in 4743D (aired January 5, 1983), so it was either around that time or he was inconsistent in how he did it around that time.
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