Throwback Toy Thursday: Merlin!

Shout-out to my brother, who still has custody of this classic late 70's toy we used to share when we were kids back in central Wisconsin. Anybody else have a Merlin too?

By today's standards, the technology involved in Merlin seems practically archaic. But back in the day, my brother and I pretty much considered Merlin to be a state-of-the-art device. This commercial below has more information, but I remember there being a memory-testing game, where you'd have to replicate the patterns Merlin would 'play' on its simple keyboard. You could also record a very basic melody, and of course, play a mean game of Tic Tac Toe or Blackjack 13. (Apparently, we weren't old enough -- or the technology wasn't developed enough -- to allow you to play to 21). Check it out: