Here lies probably the only major memorial to this most obscure of 1980's home computers. Part kid's toy, part graphics superstar, part unknown TI-99 clone, the Tomy was just another computer to fall under the wheels of the Commodore 64. And I should know, because my parents got me a Commodore 64 after we got the Tutor. Released in 1983, the Tutor was just unlucky enough to hit in the middle of the VIC-20 and 64 craze, despite its superior graphics and its fast, efficient speed. Based around the 16-bit Texas Instruments 9995 processor, it blew away the 99/4's in both speed and efficiency (but alas is largely incompatible), implementing the fine graphics of the TMS 9918ANL chip, its earlier relative, the TMS 9918A, powering the Coleco Adam, the Sord and, of course, the 99/4 series. It even had a built-in paint program, since the graphics were so good, plus lots of fabulous games.
I have no information on when the Tutor was discontinued or how many units were ultimately sold. Inquiries to the Tomy Corporation have been to date ignored. Presumably no one there knows that the computer even exists nowadays.
The Tomy Tutor (left) and Tomy Pyuuta (right) at Vintage Computer Festival 6.0.
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For what it's worth, the Tomy Tutor and applicable software,
peripherals and designs is ©1983 Tomy Corporation, Carson, California.
All rights reserved.
Send me some E-mail, because, doggone it, people like me.
(And my parents just thought the Tutor was just a harmless toy ...)