Teddy Ruxpin was one of the world’s first animatronic toys way back in 1985, complete with a motorized mouth and eyes. But the new Teddy Ruxpin really takes tech toys to the next level of creepy cuteness with full-color LCD eyes.
Earlier this year, Hasbro announced it was bringing back its weird, nostalgic fur beast (aka Furby) as a connected toy with LCD screens for eyes, and now anther iconic Hasbro toy is getting the same treatment but by a different company called Wicked Cool Toys. Teddy Ruxpin, the animatronic talking bear that was a best-selling toy in the late 80s, has been revived. It’s now a connected toy, too.
It’s softer than ever and comes with animated, anime-like LCD eyes. But unlike the original bear, which had a slot for cassettes loaded with over 60 now-classic stories, the new Teddy Ruxpin has a 4GB hard drive that stores 40 stories, including some of the original Teddy Ruxpin ones. The bear can can still speak and narrate stories, and it can even do sing-a-longs, but now children can also read along using a companion iPad app.
To skip stories, you press Teddy Ruxpin’s hand. To enter a sing-a-long mode, you press its foot. It is pretty simple update to a toy that was once considered a technological marvel, but Wicked Cool Toys is likely hoping the new Teddy Ruxpin is high-tech enough to attract today’s youngsters. There’s no word yet on pricing, and the company said it wont start selling the bear until 2017.
Watch the video below to see Teddy Ruxpin on display at the Dallas Toy Fair.
Sherri E. White
