Tiger 2-XL Robot (partially lost compact cassette tape edutainment games; 1992-1995): Difference between revisions

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(I have now digitized "Il Mondo di 2-XL". That tape is FOUND now.)
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|Die Welt des 2-XL
|Die Welt des 2-XL
|Pre-school Facts & Fantasies
|The World of 2-XL
|[http://2xlrobot.com/moreinfo/international.html<span style="color:orange;">'''Partially Found'''</span>]
|[http://2xlrobot.com/moreinfo/international.html<span style="color:orange;">'''Partially Found'''</span>]
|This was the German release of the ''World of 2-XL'', which seems to have been the introductory tape in all countries.
|This was the German release of the ''World of 2-XL'', which seems to have been the introductory tape in all countries.

Revision as of 17:45, 2 June 2020

Tiger Scholastic Series.jpg

An advertisement showing the Tiger 2-XL Robot with the Scholastic Series, some of the last tapes produced before it was discontinued.

Status: Partially Found

In 1992, toy company Tiger produced the Tiger 2-XL Robot, a children’s toy used the play trivia games and "Choose Your Own Adventure" games. It was an attempt at the modernization of the original 2-XL robot, which was produced by Mego in 1978. While the original robot stored the trivia questions and answers on 8-track tapes, the Tiger version used compact cassette tapes. This allowed the tapes to be recorded with four mono audio tracks in the same direction. This is different from normal compact cassette tapes, as two tracks would usually be recorded in stereo in one direction, while two more tracks would be recorded in stereo in the other direction. As the questions were asked, the player would select their answer by pressing one of the four buttons on the robot. This would switch the track, and the different tracks contained different responses for different answers. This allowed 2-XL to “respond” differently depending on the player’s answer.[1] The English versions of the tapes are the most well-known. As with the original 1978 Mego 2-XL, the English voice was provided by Dr. Michael J Freeman, the inventor of both 2-XL variants. The Tiger 2-XL was taken off the market in 1995.

Preservation

The compact cassettes that were used for the Tiger 2-XL can be easily erased with a permanent magnet. Additionally, as this toy was for young children, the tapes may not have been well-cared-for. Thankfully, compact cassette tape players are still being made, though they are uncommon. Proper preservation requires a stereo tape deck. However, recording is not intuitive due to all four tracks being recorded in the same direction. While two tracks will play normally from beginning to end, the other two will play in reverse from end to beginning. This will need to be fixed using an audio editor. Also, the tracks may become misaligned due to variations in tape speed. This will also require correction later.

Various Findings

Throughout October 2019, LMW user TropesAreDangerous uploaded the following eight tapes to the Internet Archive on the account TheManWithNoPlan: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Attack of the 100 Foot Teenagers, Jurassic Park: Chaos in Jurassic Park, Ripley's Believe It Or Not!: The Strange & True, Batman: The Sizzling Scheme, Are You Afraid of the Dark?: Tale of the Phantom Manor, Spider-Man: For King and Country, Star Trek - The Next Generation Blinded by the Light, Tales from the Cryptkeeper: If Wishes Were Hornets. In December 2019, the same user uploaded the following eight tapes to the Internet Archive: Careers & You - Scholastic Series, All Time Top Topics, Jurassic Facts, Monsters, Myths, & Dinosaurs, Say Hello to Famous Folks, Treasure Chest of Facts and Fun, Trivia Time, and World of Science. Additionally, in December 2019, eBay listings were discovered for Italian Tiger 2-XL tapes. These revealed ten previously unknown titles that were released in Italy.

On January 7th, 2020, TropesAreDangerous uploaded Incredible Sports Feats onto the Internet Archive. Between March 7th and March 29th, 2020, TropesAreDangerous uploaded 9 games onto the Internet Archive. Those games being Scholastic Series: Fun With Words, Scholastic Series: Geography and You, Scholastic Series: Safety First, Storymaker, Sports World, Stars & Planets, Oceans of Fun, X-Men: Deadly Games, and X-Men: Ghosts that Haunt Us.

United States Releases

As with the original Mego 2-XL, the U.S. release of the Tiger 2-XL is more well-documented than releases in other countries. Fan-sites have compiled a total of 44 U.S tapes that are known to have released. Four other tapes appeared on Later 2-XL boxes, but it is unknown whether they were produced. The Scholastic Series was released in 1994, as the last proper series of tapes for the system. However, a single tape, a Power Rangers tie-in, was released in 1995 shortly before Tiger discontinued the system.[2] Some of these tapes have made their way online through the Internet Archive. There is also a web-browser-based 2-XL simulator produced by Mouser of DonationCoder.com, which allows users to interact with a virtual 2-XL and play some of the tapes.[3]

Known International Releases

A small number of non-U.S. releases have been documented on 2-XL fan-sites. At least five tapes were released in Germany by the toy company, Joker. These releases are known from pictures of German packaging that were posted to a 2-XL fan-site. Audios clips from two of these tapes have also been uploaded online. At least four tapes were released in Italy by the company Gig, who rebranded many toys from around the world for the Italian market. Three of these tapes were found on a Gig promotional flier, which also contains blurry images of six tapes. The titles on these six items are not legible. An audio clip from one of these tapes has been uploaded online. At least five Spanish-language tapes are known to exist via a YouTube video by "Forever Toys", but it is unclear if this was a release in Spain, Mexico, or another country. At least one tape was known to have been released in France, but the distributor is unclear. All of these releases were based on existing U.S. releases from Tiger, but they were performed in their countries’ native languages. Finally, the Tiger 2-XL was released in the United Kingdom by toy company Tomy. These tapes, like the U.S. releases, were recorded in English by Michael J Freeman. However, at least one tape had noticeable differences from the U.S version. [4]

Obscure Releases

According to a 2-XL fan-site, there were a few other releases of the Tiger 2-XL. The fan-site lists Mexico, Spain, Russia, Japan, and makes mention of other countries in Latin America. [4] The Spanish-language tapes could possibly be from Spain, Mexico, or one of the miscellaneous Latin American countries. However, there are no known breakdowns of which Spanish-language tapes were released in which countries. A small audio clip of an unknown 2-XL tape from Japan has also appeared online, believed to be from a Tiger 2-XL release. No images of Tiger 2-XL tapes or tape lists from Russia or Japan have resurfaced, leaving those releases shrouded in mystery.

Title Status of Audio Year of Release Status of Workbooks
2-XLebrations! Existence Unconfirmed N/A N/A
African Safari Found 1992 N/A
All-Time Top Topics Found 1992 N/A
Amazing World Records Lost 1992 N/A
Are You Afraid of the Dark?: Tale of the Phantom Manor – Nickelodeon Found 1994 N/A
Batman: Carnival of Crime Found 1993 N/A
Batman: The Sizzling Scheme Found 1993 N/A
Careers & You - Scholastic Series Found 1994 N/A
Count on 2-XL (possibly released as “Count On It”) Existence Unconfirmed N/A N/A
Count On It – Scholastic Series Lost 1994 Found
Fascinating Facts Lost 1992 N/A
Food Facts and You Lost 1992 N/A
Friends From Far Away Existence Unconfirmed N/A N/A
Fun and Games Lost 1992 N/A
Fun With Words – Scholastic Series Found 1994 Found
Geography and You – Scholastic Series Found 1994 Found
Incredible Sports Feats Found 1992 N/A
Jurassic Facts Found 1993 N/A
Jurassic Park: Chaos in Jurassic Park Found 1994 N/A
Letter Perfect Lost 1993 Found
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Attack of the 100 Foot Teenagers Found 1995 N/A
Monsters, Myths, & Dinosaurs Found 1992 N/A
Music Maker Lost 1993 N/A
Nature & You – Scholastic Series Lost 1994 N/A
Oceans of Fun Found 1993 N/A
On the Go! Existence Unconfirmed N/A N/A
Pet Parade Lost 1993 N/A
Planet Earth Found 1992 N/A
Ripley’s Believe It Or Not!: The Strange & True Found 1992 N/A
Safety First - Scholastic Series Found 1994 N/A
Say Hello to Famous Folks Found 1992 N/A
Spider-Man: For King and Country Found 1994 N/A
Sports World Found 1992 N/A
Stars and Planets Found 1993 Found
Star Trek – The Next Generation: Blinded by the Light Found 1994 N/A
Storymaker Found 1992 N/A
Superman – The Man of Steel: A New Hero in Town Lost 1994 N/A
Superman – The Man of Steel: Mayhem in Metropolis Lost 1994 N/A
Surprise Package Lost 1992 N/A
Tales from the Cryptkeeper: If Wishes Were Hornets Found 1994 N/A
Treasure Chest of Facts and Fun Found 1992 N/A
Trivia Time Found 1992 N/A
Voyage to Outer Space Found 1992 N/A
World of 2-XL Found 1992 N/A
World of Animals Lost 1992 N/A
World of Science Found 1992 N/A
X-Men: Deadly Games Found 1994 N/A
X-Men: Ghosts That Haunt Us Found 1994 N/A

German Releases

Title English Translation Status Description
Geschichten, die Noch Keiner Kent Stories That Nobody Knows Yet Lost This was the German release of the U.S. tape, Storymaker.
Das Galubt Kein Mensch That Does Not Believe Man Partially Found This was the German release of the U.S tape, Fascinating Facts.
Dinos, Monster und Gespenter Dinos, Monsters, and Ghosts Lost This appears to have been a German release of the U.S tape, Monsters, Myths, & Dinosaurs, although it curiously substitutes Ghosts for Myths.
Unser Planet Erde Our Planet Earth Lost This appears to have been a German release of the U.S tape, Planet Earth.
Die Welt des 2-XL The World of 2-XL Partially Found This was the German release of the World of 2-XL, which seems to have been the introductory tape in all countries.

Italian Releases

Title English Translation Status Description
Il Mondo di 2-XL The World of 2-XL Found This was the Italian release of the “World of 2-XL”, which seems to have been the introductory tape in all countries.
Nel Mondo Della Musica The World of Music Lost This appears to have been the Italian release of Music Maker.
Agenti Sergeti e Detective 2-XL Detective Lost The U.S. equivalents, if any, for this tape are unclear.
Viaggio Nello Spazio Space Travel Lost This appears to have been the Italian release of the Voyage to Outer Space.
Il Nostro, Planeta, La Natura, L'Ecologia Our Planet, Nature, Ecology Lost This was probably the Italian equivalent of the U.S "Planet Earth" tape.
Il Mondo Della Scienza The World of Science Lost This was probably the Italian equivalent of the U.S. World of Science tape.
Il Mondo Del Misterio The World of Mystery Lost The U.S. equivalents, if any, for this tape are unclear.
Il Mondo Degli Animali The World of Animals Lost This was likely the Italian equivalent of the U.S. World of Animals tape.
Il Mondo Dello Sport The World of Sports Lost This was likely the Italian equivalent of the U.S. Sports World tape.
Alla Scoperta Del Corpa Umano Discovering the Human Body Lost The U.S. equivalents, if any, for this tape are unclear.
Giochi Ed Indevinelli Games and Riddles Lost The U.S. equivalents, if any, for this tape are unclear.
Miti e Leggende Myths and Legends Lost The U.S. equivalents, if any, for this tape are unclear.
Le Cose piu strane ed Incredibili The Strangest and Most Incredible Things Lost The U.S. equivalents, if any, for this tape are unclear.
Viaggio Nella Storia Journey Through History Lost The U.S. equivalents, if any, for this tape are unclear.

Spanish-Language Releases (Country Uncertain)

Title English Translation Status Description
El Mundo de 2-XL The World of Music Partially Found This was the Spanish-language release of The World of 2-XL.
El Mundo de la Ciencia The World of Science Lost This was the Spanish-language release of World of Science.
Monstruos, Mitos, y Dinosaurios Monsters, Myths, and Dinosaurs Lost This was the Spanish-language release of Monsters, Myths, and Dinosaurs.
Unknown #1 Unknown Lost This appears to have been the Spanish-language release of Planet Earth, but the only images have the title obscured.
Unknown #2 Unknown Lost This appears to have been the Spanish-language release of Fascinating Facts, but the only images have the title obscured.

French Releases

Title English Translation Status Description
A la découverte de 2-XL The World of 2-XL Partially Found This was the French release of the World of 2-XL, which seems to have been the introductory tape in all countries.

Known U.K.-Modified English Releases

Title Status Description
Sports World Partially Found Differences have been documented with the wording of question #15 and the options on question #16.

Japanese Releases

Title Status Description
Unknown Partially Found This 27 second clip is believed to have come from a Tiger 2-XL tape released in Japan. However, no one has been able to identify the title.

Gallery

A U.S. commercial for the Tiger 2-XL (Courtesy of GeorgeVHS).

Video evidence of the Spanish-language Tiger 2-XL tapes (Courtesy of Forever Toys).

An Italian commercial for the Tiger 2-XL (Courtesy of Latte e Cartoni Time Machine).

A demonstration of the U.K. release of the 2-XL by Tomy (Courtesy of Robot Elixir).

References