The classic Rock ‘Em, Sock ‘Em Robots toy was introduced in 1964 and was so popular it became something of a cultural phenomenon, and of course, spawned a horde of imitators. The toy featured two robots on a platform that resembled a boxing ring; each player would take control of one of the robots, using joysticks to throw punches at each other. The winner would be the one who succeeded in making the opposing robot’s head pop up. The toy was also available in the UK, where Marx had a subsidiary, and was marketed under the name Raving Bonkers.
An updated version was released by Marx in 1977, with more futuristic-looking robots. At present, Mattel holds the license to produce the toy; the company not only re-issued a new version of the toy in 2000, it also produced a line of related merchandise, including video games, action figures and even bobble-head dolls. More recently, a video game version of the toy was released by Oasys Mobile for cell phones.
