But you can call me Brainy, because I am so smart.
Always unplug 2-XL when not in use. PRESS Q to return to the 2-XL Robots & Programs Index
Insert 8-Track here.		 PRESS A to learn about the Mego 8-Track 2-XL Programs
Insert 8-Track here.		 PRESS B to learn about the differences between the Mego 2-XL Type 1 and Type 2.
Insert 8-Track here. 		PRESS C to learn about the mythical Type 0.
Insert 8-Track here. 		THANK YOU for turning me on.

  • Press A to learn about the Mego 2-XL 8-Track Programs.

  • Press B to learn about the differences between the Mego 2-XL Type 1 & Type 2.

  • Press C to learn about the mythical Type 0.

Please push A, B, or C, Now.

To return to the 2-XL Robots & Programs Index, push the Question button.

You have selected A:
Mego 2-XL Types 1 & 2

The original 2-XL was manufactured by Mego Corporation from 1978 through 1981. Mego was one of the definitive toy companies of the 1970s. They're most famous for their line of 8" action figures, which covered super heroes (from both Marvel and DC) and television shows (such as Star Trek, Planet of the Apes, SWAT, and many more). Mego is also famous for being the first company to bring the Micronauts toys (called Microman in Japan) to America.

Many different companies before Mego absolutely hated the 2-XL concept! They felt that since it was an educational toy it would bomb, because kids only wanted action toys; since it would have to cost over $29.00, it would be too expensive to ever sell enough to be popular; and since it relied on seperate cartridges to work, parents would refuse to buy it because their kids would lose the tapes.

Finally, 2-XL found a home at Mego. Dr. Freeman designed and recorded all the programs that 2-XL would run on (thus giving 2-XL his distictive New York accented voice), while Mego designed the outer casing and look of 2-XL. (This is why 2-XL's mouth resembles a piece from the Micronauts Battle Cruiser toy!)

The programs worked by using an 8-Track tape. For anyone too young to remember 8-Track, it was a tape that looped and had four tracks you could choose from to listen to. Each track was in stereo, hence 4 tracks x 2 channels = 8-Track. But the Mego 2-XL didn't take advantage of the stereo part; it assigned each track to a button (Q was track 1, A was track 2, etc.) This way a 2-XL tape would have the same program recorded on all four tracks, with the changes only made in the parts of the tape where 2-XL would give you an answer. As the years went on Dr. Freeman got more and more ambitious with playing with these multiple tracks, to the point where 2-XL could have up to 3 different programs on the same tape.

In 1980, Mego made some design changes in 2-XL. The changes are purely cosmetic, but are signifigant enough that I refer to them as "Type 1" and "Type 2." (These designations are purely made up by me just for reference's sake. Technically speaking the Type 1 and Type 2 would both be considered the first 2-XL robot.) Each version seemed to have a production run of about 2 years, so neither one seems to be more common or rare than the other.


The Programs

This is a listing of all 2-XL Programs made from 1978 to 1981 to my knowledge. The listing is compiled from various promotional lists, as well as programs from my own collection that were not on the lists since they had been discontinued or removed from the lists in later years.

As an interesting side note, when it was learned that a program had been released with an incorrect answer, it would be changed to the correct answer for later production runs. This means there are definitely "variants" of some of these programs out there. Unfortunately, I have no idea how many times this happened or to which titles!

Some (but not all) of these programs came with activity booklets that worked with the programs, or cards to relabel the buttons with. By popular request, I will be adding complete scans of the little booklets, button relabeling cards and other accessories as this site develops. If you have a specific booklet you would like me to do next, feel free to e-mail me and I will try to do that one next!

Click on any highlighted title to view an image of the tape, more information about that program, and printable booklets or cards (as available).

UNPRODUCED PROGRAMS
UNCONFIRMED PROGRAMS
The following programs were listed on a promotional flier from 1979 (which can be found in the 2-XL IN PRINT section) as special programs being offered directly to schools. I haven't been able to confirm if these were ever made or not, and since some of the titles are variations of titles that were released later, I'm inclined to believe they weren't.

If you can confirm the existance of any of these, or have or know of any other 2-XL 8-Track tapes that aren't on this list, or know of any other tapes that had mutliple versions, please e-mail me! Thank you!

Differences between the Mego Type 1 and the Mego Type 2

Mego Type 1 and Type 2

About halfway through the Mego run, the design for 2-XL was slightly altered. 2-XL had been selling better than Mego had anticipated and they had to make new production molds to keep up with demand, so they tried to improve it in the process. These changes are so slight that if he'd been invented by Bill Gates instead of Michael Freeman he'd have been 2-XL Version 1.1. ^_^

Type 1: Exposed lightbulbs, solid unblinking light. Forehead light: flashing synchronous. Type 2: Covered eyes, blinking with speech. Forehead light: olid unblinking. The most notable change to the Mego 2-XL Type 2 was his eyes. They now had black plastic covers over them, as opposed to the Type 1's exposed lightbulbs (which also meant you could no longer stick Tri-Lex chips into his eyes, darn it). The lightbulbs behind the eyes were still red, but they now flashed in time with his speach. The louder you had the volume up on 2-XL, the brighter they would flash, and if you had the volume down to zero then they would go out completely. In addition, his forehead light was now a solid, unchanging light, as opposed to the blinking light of the Type 1.

Type 1: Hexagonal speaker. Type 2: Round speaker. Type 1: Hexagonal speaker. Type 2: Round speaker.
The shape of the speaker in the back also changed from a hexogonal pattern (Type 1, left) to a round pattern (Type 2, right), with wider spaces between the bars of the speaker. Note also that the Type 2 added an indented box around the manufacturing & patent information in the lower right hand corner.

Another minor change (not yet pictured) was the angle of the tail on the "Q" in the Question button. (As a side note: I recently discovered a Mego Type 1 with the Type 2's "Q," so this must have been an earlier, more gradual change.)

For some more radical differences, be sure to push button C and check out the mythical Type 0.


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