Found a personal Grail, of sorts...

[MarkM2112]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to put this, but I found this in my local thrift for $3.63:

http://www.domainnamesanity.com/webumake/wwwsites/www.gameinhand.net/Gamepics/7%20Computer%20Perfection%20G.jpg

In case the picture doesn't work, it's "Computer Perfection" from the '70's, (designed by Ralph Baer) and I have been searching for it since then! This thing just epitomizes '70's pseudo-futuristic design! (It even has the battery door!) I have no idea how this works, or even if it DOES work. Anyone know where I can get instructions for this?

[Nez]

Wow! that looks bad ass I want one.

Umm... but what does it do?

I think its either a game or a food processor.

[Trevor Belmont]

Wow ... that reminds me of that game where you pressed the different colored buttons depending on when they would light up ... I think it was called Simon, maybe?

Wish I could help you out instruction-wise, but I have no idea. Either way, cool find!

[kirin jensen]

Totally cool. And, yeah, that's from the same era as Simon and Merlin.

I did a quick google search and the guy at the site www.handheldmuseum.com seems to have one plus instructions

[drwily008]

I remember "Perfection", it was a game where you wound up the timer and placed different shaped pieces into their appropriate slots. When the timer expired all of the pieces would pop out and go everywhere. The symbols on "computer perfection" look exactly like the various shapes of the pieces in the "analog" version of the game.

As a matter of fact I think I remember seeing that for sale in the board game section of Hills department store. However this would have been in the early to mid 1980's, not the 70's. Is there a date on it somewhere?

[Lady Jaye]

If you can't find the instructions and it was created by Ralph Baer, maybe you should ask him? You can find his contact info on his site:

www.ralphbaer.com

BTW, remember that today's batteries are slightly smaller than they used to be. You may have to use a piece of paper towel (or something like that) to nudge the batteries in place (it's a fact that I learned first hand when I got my Entex Defender handheld...).

Oh, and according to M. Baer's website, this was released somewhere between 1979 and 1981 (he has two other products listed for that time period).

[TheRedEye]

Nice find, but I can't help that Perfection would lose a lot of tension without the risk of little plastic pieces flying at your face.

[Lady Jaye]

Is it in any way related to the Perfection and Superfection games? I used to have Superfection (actually, maybe I still do, I oughta check at my parents' basement), and I always hated the noise it'd make when the timer would run out. Maybe it was worse because the pieces were bigger than the original Perfection (in Superfection, you assembled two halves to make a cube).

[FABombjoy]

I found one of these at an Antique mall last year, practically brand new in box for $20. I fell in love with it's overwhelming 70s-future look and couldn't resist buying it. Finding out that it's a Ralph Baer piece makes it that much better.

[MarkM2112]

Totally cool. And, yeah, that's from the same era as Simon and Merlin.

I did a quick google search and the guy at the site www.handheldmuseum.com seems to have one plus instructions

YES! Thank you very much! This site has a link for the instructions, (as well as a bunch of other handhelds) but it was hard to see at first, since the link was in a purple font on a black background... O_O

And to answer your question Sarah, Yes, it IS related to the Perfection and Superfection boardgames in the fact that it was released by the same company, (Lakeside) and that they are games that work against a timer. This was their early attempt to bring a board game into the "Electronic Age" so to speak...

Also, the battery size issue is moot, since it uses 2 - 9 volt batteries... (wow, does ANYTHING besides smoke detectors still use these?)

[GarrettCRW]

Also, the battery size issue is moot, since it uses 2 - 9 volt batteries... (wow, does ANYTHING besides smoke detectors still use these?)

Clock radios do, and the old Snappy external video capturing devices did.

[Crush Crawfish]

heh, was I the only one reminded of that play-doh dentist set by looking at that? Probably. :/ Anyways, awesome find!

[IGotTheDot]

Mine came with the Box and the instructions. I buff it every day.

[drwily008]

Is it in any way related to the Perfection and Superfection games? I used to have Superfection (actually, maybe I still do, I oughta check at my parents' basement), and I always hated the noise it'd make when the timer would run out. Maybe it was worse because the pieces were bigger than the original Perfection (in Superfection, you assembled two halves to make a cube).

Man, I HATED that noise. It felt like your heart was going to expolde! Of course I played it all the time! LOL

[Snapple]

Put the pieces into the slots.
Make the right selections.
But be quick. You're racing the clock.
"Pop!" Goes Perfection.


Anyway, that thing looks quite, quite spiffy. I had no idea the game board thing was derived from an old Ralph Baer design.