By the early 1970s the Marx Company had fallen on hard times. In 1972, Louis Marx sold his company to the Quaker Oats Company. Having largely ignored industry trends toward electronic toys, Quaker struggled to keep Marx going. In 1972, Marx attempted to capitalize on the success of "Pong" with a mechanical version called "T.V. Tennis." Contrary to its name, "T.V. Tennis" could not be played on a television. Instead, Marx designed the plastic game to resemble a TV without any electronic components except a battery-powered motor and a glowing light bulb that acted as a "tennis ball." Unfortunately for Marx, its mechanical "Pong" imitator was not a success. In 1976, Quaker sold its Marx division to a British conglomerate, who finally shutdown Marx and liquidated its assets in the early 1980s.