The first glorious wave of handheld electronic games kicked off in 1977 and 1978. With Electronic Football from Mattel, you dodged the little red dashes to move downfield and score. With Simon, you had to memorize and repeat the lighting sequence by pushing huge buttons. And right at the same time came Merlin from Parker Brothers.
It was six games in one! It was amazing! Actually, it was pretty cool. Tic Tac Toe seemed a bit pointless, but Magic Square and Mindbender were good games. With Music Machine, you could even write beepy songs.
These games formed an entirely new type of product. As with each new generation of technology, people need to learn how to use them.
For example, look at the buttons. Where buttons were usually hard plastic bits that popped out of the device, these were sunken flexible buttons, similar to those found on microwaves. Combining an unfamiliar product with unfamilar buttons forced Parker Brothers to include the following section on Proper Care in the game’s instruction manual.
Merlin is delicate. Don’t take it apart. And please, touch the buttons lightly, and only with your fingers. Be nice to Merlin!
These instructions reveal a level of innocence in those years. They weren’t phrased by lawyers in order to protect the company. They were phrased as advice. We were being introduced to a new way to interact with technology, a game in our hands. The pocket calculator had been around for about five years. The Sony Walkman was still a year away. We were taking baby steps toward all electronics, all the time.
These images came from my pal Tom at work. He’s had this Merlin and the instruction set since he was a kid. In fact, we sometimes use Merlin as an age litmus test. Generally, if you’re over 30, you know it’s Merlin. If you’re under 30, you guess that it’s a weird cell phone.
I had a Merlin, and I finally DID take it apart; it was somehow instructive to see how those magic buttons worked, somewhat like touch-sensitive calculators that brought two pieces of plastic together to close a contact printed on ?both? sides, but this was extra magic because of the glowing lights that seemed to be deep inside the button. It was just a visual effect, but taking it apart helped me understand that.
I really liked the form of Merlin, although it was slightly frustrating since it seemed to promise much more - a handset? It looked like it could do anything, but it was pretty damn boring after a while.
Merlin! Man, just the glance at your image and I’m right back there following the lights and sounds of my old Merlin. The Merlin buttons, if I recall, had a very satisfying “click” (and were also lights) even if they didn’t visually depress all that far. And looking at your image (I had _completely_ forgotten about ol’ Merlin), I’m struck by how much it looks like a telephone.
Nice post!
Simon was particularly satisfying in the hugeness of its buttons–that was when large buttons and flashing lights still signified “hi-tech” and sophisticated, kind of like the big IBM computer in “Desk Set” (one of the best librarian movies ever, but that’s another story). It felt very powerful to have to use your whole hand to press a button. And the fabulous primary colors and tinny tones! The “pocket Simon” that followed just couldn’t compare with the badass big one.
Oh yes, the Merlin. I remember playing with it for many hours in the department store. Oh, how I wished for it that christmas. But I never did get it. Thinking back, it is amazing how much joy Mattel managed to put into a game with a resolution of 3 by 3 pixels.
But for the Merlin’s sake it was probalby good that I never got it in a, urm, private surrounding, as I am sure I would have taken it apart at some point.
(On a side note, I just checked ebay, and they actually have a Merlin on sale. Let’s see if I be the lucky winner?)
Update: I won the auction, and now, with a mere 27 year’s delay - and thanks to you - I shall get a Merlin this very Xmas. Thanks!
Martin, that’s excellent! Congratulations and enjoy. And when you do take it apart, just be gentle so you can put it back together.
One of my fifth grade students was just talking about the Merlin she got last Christmas and how much she loved it! It was a blast from the past, it was me in fifth grade all over again! Boy, did I love my Merlin!
Merlin terrified me for years, because it reminded me of the dreaded Maximillian robot from The Black Hole… but the buttons weren’t a problem for me. I cut my teeth on similar buttons for the BigTrak.
[…] Merlin: Many delicate electronic parts • Maybe the coolest electronic games made in the 1980s? I wanted one very badly, but had to wait until xmas of 2006 to get one. My daughters also loved it […]
Merlin thr r many many delicate elctronic parts in da market i buyed one Rf module which is can cover 100 yards of distance one of my engineer jus done some slighter change in da trcks and again he changed it in default condition. it not workin .
electronic projects
[…] I had a similar “turn the lights out” game when we were growing up, but it was called Merlin. Now you can play this game on much prettier handheld […]
PLEASE EMAIL ME BACK AND TELL ME THE AC-ADAPTOR FOR MERLIN. THE KIDS HAVE ALL MOVED A WAY WITH GRANDBABYS OF THEIR OWN AND I GET MERLIN, BUT THEY NEVER LEFT ANY MANUAL OR AC- ADAPTOR SIZE . IT HAS NOTHING ON THE GAME IT’S SELF TO HELP ME. THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME AND HELP. I HAVE BEEN STARING AT THIS GAME FOR 23 YEARS AND FINELLY GOT A COMPUTOR TO BE ABLE TO SEARCH FOR WEB SIGHTS FOR HELP. AND PARKER BROTHERS HAVE NO PHONE NUBER LISTED ON THEIR WEB PAGE. THANKS AGAIN LYDA MORTON
I have a Mr. Merlin from 1978, still in perfect working condititons! I would just like to know if anyone knows how much it might be worth today maybe to a collector!
Thanks,
Kathy Smith
Merlin terrified my family
Great!
This might be a bit off topic but the nice thing about buying new electronics is they have a warranty. You are buying something that has moving parts or electricity going to it so it has the potential of breaking, there is nothing you can do but replace it, that does not mean the company that made the product sucks, it means the individual item sucked!
I usually describe Merlin by telling people that it looked like an old Battlestar Galactica prop, but now that I see it again, it looks even more Galactica than I remember. I traded mine back in 1980 for a Dungeons & Dragons set.
I have a Merlin, but have lost the instructions. Does anybody know where I can find these?
I remember when Merlin first came out. I pestered my parents relentlessly about getting one for Christmas. Well, it paid off because the got one for me. I was the envy of my friends. That is, until my curiosity got the better of me, and I ended up taking it apart. Never could get it back together. Oh well, live and learn.