Who remembers this classic toy from their childhood? Originally manufactured by MERIT in the early '50s, it had a good long run over the years, and, although I never owned one as a kid in the '60s, I always wanted one. It's original name was The Amazing MAGIC ROBOT, but RETRO-RANGE's version is called The Magical AMAZING ROBOT, but is practically identical to the first in every other way, even utilising the box art of one of the earlier editions.
The robot is bronze-coloured (or is it dark green?) in the current release, as opposed to the silver one I recall as a child, but Merit may also have used variant colours down the years, as they produced different editions of the game during its heyday. Anyway, it may have taken me 50 years to eventually get one of these classic items, but it was worth the measly fiver it cost me from a Glasgow 'bric-a-brac' shop.
If any cavortin' Crivs have any memories associated with this 'toy', feel free to reminisce to your heart's content in our 'amazing magical' comments section. (Incidentally, there was another version called The DALEK ORACLE by BELL TOYS, which did the exact same thing.) Bring the past back to life today, before tomorrow becomes yesterday. (H'mm, now doesn't that sound almost profound?!)
I never had this game either Kid but a friend did. I remember him bringing it to school (just before a holiday - think it was the summer break) and initially being amazed by it , but after playing the game (well asking questions) for about 10 mins I became pretty bored and quickly got the trick. I always loved the art on the box as well it is really cool and retro (60s / early 70s games box art is amazing ). I’ve seen a few of these in Glasgow and Hamilton charity shops for £10 so a fiver is a good price.
ReplyDeleteCharity shops are out of touch unless you mean a tenner for an original Merit one, PM, as you can buy the reissued one for about £7 or £8 brand new via Amazon. I'm not sure I ever paid much attention to the purpose of this 'toy' to be honest, it was just the nifty little robot that appealed to me. Having said that, however, I'm enthralled by the 'game', and have been trying to catch out my new wee robot chum in a wrong answer. So far, 'though, he really does seem to be 'infallible'.
ReplyDeleteYeah it was the original seena few of these Byres road charity shops get some really old games and comics in but chary a lot for them - - One charity shop in Hamilton had 5 Dandy annuals from 69 -74 (71 was missing) all but the 1974 annual in very poor condition ( ripped pages, drawn on, spines bashed etc) in for £7 each and they sold - good for charity but pretty pricey
ReplyDeleteIt was a shop down the wee lane off Byers Road (the one across from the comics shop) that I got mine, PM. As for charity shop workers, they think they're all experts just 'cos they've seen a couple of episodes of Antiques Roadshow. I've never yet spoken to one who has a bloody clue about the condition of an item being paramount in relation to price.
ReplyDeleteI had one ! Got it second hand at a jumble sale. He was missing his wand so we used a toothpick. Great fun. The only thing was the questions were out of date. But I liked it .
ReplyDeleteDid you get it in Britain or America, PS?
ReplyDeleteIn the U.K.!
DeleteJust out of interest, PS, what do they call jumble sales in the States?
ReplyDeleteSwap meet. You can find more junk here and by that I mean literal junk since something from the 50s is considered an antique here. But you can also find lots of really interesting bits of Americana such as bubble gum machines and juke boxes. 78 records. One big clue to the Magic robot being British is the children on the cover wear ties which look like school uniforms. In the US, most schools don't require uniforms.
DeleteI remember that well kid. Although it wasn't a toy that had stuck in my mind. I had forgotten about for nearly thirty years then noticed one at an antiques fair in the early nineties, where it was like a major memory emotion! "gosh I remember that" if you know what I mean. I am sure the circles the Robot turned on were mirrors?
ReplyDeleteTerence
The circle in the answers side was mirrored, T.
ReplyDeleteThe girl is actually wearing a school uniform, designed (probably) to subconsciously reinforce the educational aspect of the 'game'. If a church or scout troop hold an event to raise funds in America, does that also fall under the title of swap meet? Not a 'Bring & Buy' sale?
ReplyDeleteSwap meet is the general term. Pow wow for a meeting of Indian Tribes and they really do say that but only if it's organized by a real tribe.
ReplyDelete'Swap Meet' in Britain is used to describe collectors' fayres, where dealers pay to hire tables and customers usually have to pay to get in. There's not much swapping (except between dealers perhaps) as customers are there to fill gaps in their collection and that means parting with some cold hard cash. Whether it be diecast toy cars, football cards, etc., I'm not sure the term adequately covers the proceedings. (Okay, if I were to be pedantic, I suppose 'swap' could apply to the exchange of cash and goods.)
ReplyDelete