If you’re under 30, this news might not hit your heartstrings the same way it’s hitting mine, but I am freaking the freak out because Teddy Ruxpin is making a comeback! The original Teddy Ruxpin was one of–if not the–first animatronic toys to hit the mass market. The mouth and eyes moved in coordination with the story on a cassette tape, so that that Teddy would “tell” the story himself. Now cassette tapes, boys and girls, were what music and audio were recorded on before CDs, but after LP Records. (We won’t go into where 8-track tapes fit into that timeline, but those are worth a Wiki search if you’re feeling interested.) One of the more impressive feats of the cassettes that were included with the original Ruxpin was that they included two tracks, a left and a right, and it was the right track that actually caused the eyes and mouth to move.
When Teddy Ruxpin makes his triumphant return in August of 2017, he most certainly won’t be relying on cassette tapes. Plenty of animatronic toys have come after Teddy, including but not limited to fad holiday hits like Tickle-Me Elmo, the Furby, and any number of robotic animal companions. The new Teddy Ruxpin will take that mantle and push it forward with its interactive app capabilities. The Youtube channel MommyandGracieShow got the very first look at the prototype for next year’s launch (above), and even to be this far out, the prototype is quite impressive. The new Teddy Ruxpin will replace the original’s motorized eyelids with entirely LCD eyes, capable of a range of expressions as well as emoji-like characters like hearts and snowflakes. A 4GB internal hard drive will hold the various stories that Ruxpin will tell, and with each file sized at roughtly 100MB each, that means 40 different stories. The figure will come pre-packaged with three stories immediately accessible, and the remaining stories will require interaction with the forthcoming companion app.
Details are still relatively scarce with the launch still more than 10 months away, but I feel safe assuming that the app will be available on devices that are at least two generations old when New Teddy launches. Now that smartphones and tablets are so ubiquitous in homes across the country, we can imagine that plenty of kids will get to experience Teddy Ruxpin’s magic in the 2017 holiday season thanks to Wicked Cool Toys. After the original Teddy Ruxpin launched, it became the top selling toy of both 1985 and 1986, and it will no doubt sell well with Gen Xers who have started their own families.
Did you have a Teddy Ruxpin when you were a kid? Do you plan on getting one for your own kids? Is this the first time you’ve ever heard of the talking bear? Let us know below!
Image: Youtube/MommyandGracieShow
