Mego 2-XL

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Mego 2-XL "The Robot with a Personality!" By Euphrates

There is nothing more delightful to today's collectors than toys and collectibles from the dawn of the computer-age. Toys from the late '70s and early '80s generally featured the corny computer font, occasionally a random chip, and plenty of blips, blinks and beeps to entertain. Remember Pong, the popular hand-held games by Coleco and Mattel, Simon or Blip?

In this spirt I am pleased to introduce 2-XL. This R2D2 look-alike from Mego was on toy shelves in 1978. He stood a foot tall and was adorned with the appropriate number of buttons and flashing lights. How did 2-XL entertain? First, pop in one of the many educational/entertainment 8-tracks made for 2-XL into his gut and put the unique answer overlay on 2-XL's buttons. Press the Question button and 2-L will start quzzing you on topics related to the topic of the tape. You will then be offered multiple-choice answers which you can answer using the three buttons on the front of the unit. After some hokey tweets and chirps, 2-XL tells you if your answer is correct or not and gives a little more information about the topic.

When you were finished learning about Astronomy or American Presidents, you could pop in a standard 8-track which 2-XL would dutifully play. A later version of the 2-XL was released by Tiger in 1992 that used cassette tapes.

If you are looking to pick one of these babies up to sit next to your Think-a-Tron and Commodore 64, make sure that the volume potentiometer is good, that X-2L has his AC adapter (he doesn't use batteries) and that he has all of his stickers. Also, like any tape-playing mechanisim, the X-2L's heads can get dirty and there is an alarming shortage of 8-track cleaning kits so it wouldn't hurt to play a few tapes on him before trying him out. You shouldn't have any problem finding a copy of Frampton Comes Alive for testing purposes.

Partial List of Tapes 50's and 60's Nostalgia Adult Games and Puzzles Amazing Sports Feats Amazing World Of The Small Animal World Astronomy/2-XL in Space Believe This or Not Bet Your Life Challenges of General Science Educational/Metric Excercise with X-2L Fairy Tale Quiz Games and Puzzles General Information II General Information Guiness Book of World Records Interviews with Great People from History Math and Number Games Monsters, Myths and Legends Pre-School Bed Time Stories Pre-School Facts and Fantasies Pyschoanalysis Robotstronomy Science Fiction Science Fiction II Sports Sports II Storyland: 2-XL & The Time Machine Strange, But Is It True? Super Heroes and Comic Books Calvacade Talking Calculator The Basic of ABC's Tid bits and Funny Facts Traffic & Bicycle Safety Tri-Lex TV and Movie Challenges US Presidents & American History Who Said It? Wonders of the World