Merlin was one of the first hand-held games with a computer inside. Its leaflet calls it “a remarkably intelligent computer” that plays six games “of chance, strategy, memory, logic and skill” through light and sound.
Parker Brothers launched Merlin in America in 1978; this British edition, distributed by Palitoy, carries a 1979 copyright. It chats in what the leaflet calls “a unique vocabulary of 20 electronic sounds”, telling you when you’ve won, lost or tied.
Interesting facts
A rocket scientist’s toy. Merlin was dreamt up by Bob Doyle, a Harvard-trained astrophysicist who had worked with NASA on Skylab, together with his wife Holly and her brother Wendl Thomis. Parker Brothers unveiled it at the 1978 New York Toy Fair, priced at $24.95.
America’s top toy. At Christmas 1978 Merlin shared the cover of Newsweek with Milton Bradley’s Simon. In 1980 it was America’s best-selling toy or game, with 2.2 million sold that year, and lifetime sales passed five million.
A very British wizard. This Palitoy edition speaks the Queen’s English. America’s Tic-Tac-Toe becomes Three-in-a-row (“noughts and crosses” in the leaflet) and Mindbender becomes Secret Number. Master Merlin followed in 1982, and Milton Bradley revived the wizard in the 2000s.