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The World's Ugliest Gadgets
The only thing uglier than 2-XL, a 1978 toy "robot" that quizzed kids with robo-clichés in a cartoonish voice, is the denim robot throw-pillow this writer made for his junior-high-school home economics class (hey, it was required). With its too-small eyes and grody brown plastic exterior, 2XL got off easy in an age when robot design was at a gaudy, low point (case in point: the cheesy chrome Cylons on the original Battlestar Galactica). The real crime was that this cheap plastic device purported to be a "robot," but actually turned out to be nothing more than a glorified 8-track player, leading to the disillusionment in hyped technology for many a '70s-era toddler.
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Comments
12
Subscribe to commentsjennaAug 13th 2008 12:43PM
hey this is th ulgyest thing i havre seen
SeanAug 21st 2008 1:55PM
I had the white version from the '90s. Rather than being a glorified 8-track player, it was a glorified cassette player! I guess it was supposed to look sort of sassy since it looked like it had its "hands" on its "hips".
Pelicula CortaSep 19th 2008 2:46AM
EWWW! I remember this thing. I was totally unimpressed by it (and a little creeped out), so I hit the 'rents up for a TOBOR that Xmas instead. TOBOR was way cooler, it actually had a remote and would move reasonably speedily forwards and backwards, picking up stuff. It was the only thing going until what I really wanted finally came out... a remote=controllled R2. Wow this takes me back! A banner year for me in gadgetland. The same holiday I passed over this hideous monster, I got a Merlin, a Battlestar Galactica handheld game (exactly like the LED football game), a Cylon action figure (hello!...rip off!), and a "space station" that you fired a light gun at, blowing it up (actually it just upset the little plastic rockets and knocked 'em off their platform). Oh!! and the best toy! A star cruiser (StarBird?!) ship that had full sound effects, lights, and a gun turret/escape pod at the aft. And the engine whine was the best... the sound would pitch higher or lower, with greater or lesser intensity, as you tilted it up or down for its "flight". Not your intent, but hanks for the memories, Switched!
TonyAug 25th 2008 11:59PM
Oh man! I used to have one of these when I was a kid and once we figured out he could play any 8-track tape, we would put in our Bill Cosby "Why Is There Air?" album and laugh our heads off! :D
DavidOct 21st 2008 1:25AM
My brother had one and He used to chase me around the house with it.
DonelleMay 24th 2007 10:34PM
Hey! It may be ugly but, at the time it was one of the coolest toys ever. I had one at 4 or 5 years old and it would hold my attention for hours.
KathrynMay 24th 2007 10:43PM
This would scare me.
KIMMay 24th 2007 11:19PM
I HAD ONE WHEN I WAS 7-8 AND I STILL HAVE IT AND IT STILL WORKS!!!!
LisaMay 25th 2007 12:47AM
I still have it and all the tapes too! This was one of the coolest toys because it plays 8 Tracks! Still works after all this time!
PaydayMay 25th 2007 1:29AM
I saw this at a thrift store but never knew what it was.
Star Buck Naked MoonMay 25th 2007 2:30AM
Dont dis Battlestar Gallactica. It was a great show
CrysMay 26th 2007 1:14AM
I loved my 2xl when I had it. It was so much fun and I learned a lot. The greatest thing about it was, when I was finished with my quiz game, I would take the tape out and put in my favorite Donny Osmond 8 track tape :)
It was so great being a kid in the 70's and the 80's!!! I really believe that our toys rocked!