#roboweek 2-XL the 8-track playing “robot” from the 70’s

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Some of us were raised by these things…

2-XL was an educational toy in the shape of a robot that was introduced in 1978. 2-XL was the brainchild of Dr. Michael J. Freeman, who felt that toys should be both fun and educational. The toy was interactive, playing various tracks from a magnetic audio tape depending on the user’s actions. The toy was released in two different time periods. The 1978 release was produced by a toy company called Mego Corporation, and used 8-track tapes. It was brought back in 1992 by Tiger Electronics in a version that used cassette tapes rather than 8-Track.

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Beheaded, and blinking – a laptop bag version.

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2 Comments

  1. Hah, my parents just found one of these in a box full of stored junk and asked if I wanted it. (I laughed and said no)

    It really was a brilliant use of the 8 track technology. I’d love to see what sort of scripting tools they must have used to figure out what order to put the recorded statements into so that you had a coherent program as you pushed buttons to answer questions, which moved you from track to track.

  2. i need to install my 8 track in my jeep
    its just sitting in the shop doing nothing

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