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[ Retro Scan of the Week ] Barbie and Hot Wheels PCs

February 8th, 2010 by Benj Edwards

Patriot Mattel Barbie PC Hot Wheels PC Ad - 2000“Computers designed with kids in mind.”

[ From Parenting, September 2000, p.73 ]

Discussion Topic of the Week: Would you ever buy a PC with a themed case? If so, what would be the theme?



This entry was posted on Monday, February 8th, 2010 at 3:36 pm and is filed under Computer History, Design, Regular Features, Retro Scan of the Week, Vintage Computing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

9 Responses to “[ Retro Scan of the Week ] Barbie and Hot Wheels PCs”

  1. Thomas Says:
    February 8th, 2010 at 4:06 pm

    That one’s easy for me: The Kiss Komputer!

    Or perhaps a modern PC in a retro outfit. Say, an Atari 1040 STE shell would be extremely attractive. I always loved the design of that one. Besides the midi ports, design was all it had against the Amiga.

  2. KrisK Says:
    February 8th, 2010 at 5:01 pm

    LOL several years ago Directron had pallets of those barbie PC’s for a hand full of change each. I think somewhere around $30. Both computers (being the same hardware) were famously horrible. Even Packard Bell’s could look down on them. hah

  3. Mister Death Says:
    February 8th, 2010 at 5:12 pm

    I remember wanting the hot wheels one so bad. I played the hell outta the game on the screen too.

  4. john Says:
    February 8th, 2010 at 9:10 pm

    Those computers are worth it only for one thing, they introduced children to the wonderful world of Myst.

  5. Jake Says:
    February 9th, 2010 at 9:56 am

    I might buy a Debian-themed computer. What game is that on the Hot Wheels computer screen? Looks mildly interesting 😉

  6. anon Says:
    February 12th, 2010 at 2:26 am

    I remember those. I really wanted to get one cheap to gut out and put a real motherboard into, but I think the cases are so small they used NTX form factor or something. They’re smaller cases than even the small HP Pavilions, which those at least attempted to be mATX.

  7. orsty3001 Says:
    February 15th, 2010 at 2:25 pm

    I used to have a box full of the Barbie mice. Sold a lot of them at the shop because of the little hippie flower they printed on them.

  8. idisjunction Says:
    February 18th, 2010 at 10:29 am

    @Jake

    I haven’t played it myself, but its probably “Hot Wheels: Crash!” The game came out around the same time these computers would have.

    http://www.mobygames.com/game/hot-wheels-crash

  9. Cody Says:
    February 7th, 2011 at 1:45 am

    Those look pretty damned awesome. Hmmm, I really love some franchises but I’d be hard pressed to imagine an inspiring design I’d like to get a PC made from. I do have a MacBook Pro though with a giant Iron Man sticker over the glowing Apple logo. That’s pretty cool!

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