# Looking for an old 1980s educational toy **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 25, 2013, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-an-old-1980s-educational-toy/661854 "2013-06-25T06:41:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![GameHat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ed655f/32.png) [@GameHat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GameHat)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2013, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-an-old-1980s-educational-toy/661854/1 "2013-06-25T06:41:39Z")
Not to find or buy one necessarily, I just remember loving this thing and would like to look up its history online. It was an educational toy - I thought I remembered it being called “Maxx”, or “Maxxx”, or some other number of xs. Google-fu is failing me. It was kinda a kid-size little touch field, albeit circa mid-1980s. Not a touch-screen - it was pressure-sensitive, and had an attached stylus for pointing (and pressing, usually hard.) There were numerous interchangeable screen overlays (you’d put a plastic overlay sheet (which had pictures, words, etc) on, somehow key into the device which overlay was active, and then you’d go to work with the stylus. I remember it was kid-sized, red plastic frame, stylus had a white soft tip. Anyone else remember this? I’d love to find some info online about it. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2013, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-an-old-1980s-educational-toy/661854/2 "2013-06-25T07:42:08Z")
You might spend some time browsing in eBay. For example here is Educational Toys: > **[educational toy for sale | eBay](https://www.ebay.com/sch/Educational-/11731/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=educational%2Btoy)** > > Get the best deals for educational toy at eBay.com. We have a great online selection at the lowest prices with Fast & Free shipping on many items! ---
**Author:** ![Inter\_Alia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@Inter\_Alia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inter_Alia)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2013, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-an-old-1980s-educational-toy/661854/3 "2013-06-25T14:44:53Z")
Try looking at the 1980s VTech toys. They made a lot of educational/first computer stuff like that. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2013, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-an-old-1980s-educational-toy/661854/4 "2013-06-25T14:46:30Z")
OR you can buy an actual one for $19.95 plus $11.57 shipping: [http://www.ebay.com/itm/Learning-with-MAXX-1980s-Educational-System-with-12-Modules-/230987922349?pt=Educational\_Toys\_US&hash=item35c7f3fbad#ht\_887wt\_1170](http://www.ebay.com/itm/Learning-with-MAXX-1980s-Educational-System-with-12-Modules-/230987922349?pt=Educational_Toys_US&hash=item35c7f3fbad#ht_887wt_1170) ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2013, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-an-old-1980s-educational-toy/661854/5 "2013-06-25T16:16:05Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > plus $11.57 shipping Ouch. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2013, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-an-old-1980s-educational-toy/661854/6 "2013-06-26T02:43:33Z")
I thought you were talking about that one device that had various cartridges you could connect to it. And along with the cartidge was attached a book that looked more like a check book. The device would pull up a random number and you’d have to look up said number in the book that had a multiple choice question associated with it. Then you’d enter the answer in on the device and it would tell you if you got it right or not. What the heck was that thing called? ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2013, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-an-old-1980s-educational-toy/661854/7 "2013-06-26T02:47:57Z")
Eh, I just aswered my own question: [The Quiz Whiz](http://steveffisher.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/computer-whiz_4402.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![JWT\_Kottekoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ec8ea/32.png) [@JWT\_Kottekoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JWT_Kottekoe)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2013, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-an-old-1980s-educational-toy/661854/8 "2013-06-26T03:32:00Z")
I remember something similar that my kids played with. It did not look exactly like the Maxx pictured in the link above. I remember spending an embarrassingly long time trying to figure out how it knew which card was in use. I had various theories, but eventually I had a eureka moment. Each card had a start button that you had to select with the stylus. I finally noticed that the start button was positioned differently on each card. ---
**Author:** ![GameHat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ed655f/32.png) [@GameHat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GameHat)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2013, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-an-old-1980s-educational-toy/661854/9 "2013-06-26T03:56:44Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > OR you can buy an actual one for $19.95 plus $11.57 shipping: Thanks, this looks like the one! …except mine didn’t have that R2D2 head at the top. Maybe I wrecked it? But I think you found it. Also didn’t realize that ebay was still a thing, looks like there are a few other sellers. …God, that thing looks old. Guess I’m getting old at 32. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2013, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-an-old-1980s-educational-toy/661854/10 "2013-06-26T06:31:53Z")
I was trying to remember an educational toy from the 70s the other day. A friend of my sister had it, and I remember being completely transfixed by its little games. I was suddenly reminded of it the other week and spent an absurd amount of time trying to track it down. Unfortunately I didn’t find it, because I think I’m misremembering it. When I stumbled on an image of the earliest version of the [Speak and Spell](http://www.datamath.org/Speech/Images/SpeaknSpell78.jpg) from 1978 (which is the year in question, maybe 1979) with the raised buttons, it looked very close to what was tickling my brain - the colours, the pictograms on the game buttons, etc. But I recall it being handheld, narrow, almost calculator shape. I also don’t remember it having any talking feature, it was all maths and word games. I knew it wasn’t the [Merlin](http://www.retroland.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/merlin_650x300_a01_110304_e.jpg) that I was remembering. A different friend had one of those and I was quite familiar with its noughts-and-crosses type games. So I was stumped. But, unless there was a cheap knockoff of the _Speak and Spell_ that came in a different shape, I think I’m just confused and merging it and the _Merlin_ into one toy. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2013, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-an-old-1980s-educational-toy/661854/11 "2013-06-26T06:59:34Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I was trying to remember an educational toy from the 70s the other day. A friend of my sister had it, and I remember being completely transfixed by its little games. I was suddenly reminded of it the other week and spent an absurd amount of time trying to track it down. Unfortunately I didn’t find it, because I think I’m misremembering it. > > When I stumbled on an image of the earliest version of the [Speak and Spell](http://www.datamath.org/Speech/Images/SpeaknSpell78.jpg) from 1978 (which is the year in question, maybe 1979) with the raised buttons, it looked very close to what was tickling my brain - the colours, the pictograms on the game buttons, etc. But I recall it being handheld, narrow, almost calculator shape. I also don’t remember it having any talking feature, it was all maths and word games. > > I knew it wasn’t the [Merlin](http://www.retroland.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/merlin_650x300_a01_110304_e.jpg) that I was remembering. A different friend had one of those and I was quite familiar with its noughts-and-crosses type games. > > So I was stumped. But, unless there was a cheap knockoff of the _Speak and Spell_ that came in a different shape, I think I’m just confused and merging it and the _Merlin_ into one toy. You’re not talking about the [Little Professor](http://www.mrmartinweb.com/images/calculator/tilittleprof.jpg) are ya’? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2013, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-an-old-1980s-educational-toy/661854/12 "2013-06-26T08:41:06Z")
No. Not seen that before. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2013, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-an-old-1980s-educational-toy/661854/13 "2013-06-26T13:13:04Z")
We had a Quiz Whiz, a Merlin and a Little Professor when I was a kid. Thanks for the nostalgia blast! ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2013, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-an-old-1980s-educational-toy/661854/14 "2013-06-26T13:34:51Z")
> [@GameHat](#): > > Also didn’t realize that ebay was still a thing, eBay ranks at #196 on the Fortune 500 list of top companies. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2013, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-an-old-1980s-educational-toy/661854/15 "2013-06-26T13:46:28Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > You’re not talking about the [Little Professor](http://www.mrmartinweb.com/images/calculator/tilittleprof.jpg) are ya’? That was going to be my guess, too. Loved that thing!