Think-a-Tron
"The machine that thinks like a man!"
By Euphrates



Did you know that Hasbro put a comptuer in homes in 1967, over 10 years before the 
Timex/Sinclair and the Commodore 64?  Well, its true!  


Meet the Think-A-Tron.  Just pop in two "D" batteries, pick a punched computer card that
has the multiple-choice question (A,B,C, T or F) that you want answered, feed it to the 
machine and push the button.  The computer starts whirring.  Wheels turn, lights flash and 
within seconds the correct answer appears on the screen!  Try getting an answer that 
fast on the Web!


The questions came two to a card and the cards covered a variety of subjects.  The set 
came with 150 cards, making 300 potential questions that the Think-A-Tron could answer.  
There was a little holder for each set of 50 cards.  You could also buy additional 
question packs that contained 50 cards/100 questions (all approved by The Book of 
Knowledge encyclopedia people) about a specific topic, like Sports and Games.


The Think-A-Tron is surpisingly affordable.  It retailed for around $10 in the sixties
and you can find them on sales and auction sites today for $30-$50.  They usually work 
but like most vintage battery-operated toys, the lid for the battery compartment had a 
tendency to get seperated from the set.  The cards, if not properly stored, would develop
curls, making it hard to fit them into the computer.












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