IIRC, Merlin has turned up in more than a couple low budget SF films as a prop. I have one that was bought for me in South America with Portuguese text on the buttons. There is a smaller modern update of Merlin I've seen in the past few years.
I still have this little beauty stashed away somewhere. Primitive by today's standards but pretty challenging to play. I think some of the sounds it made were used in one of the Rebel Assault games as an inside joke.
