 3:00 PM on 11.21.2009 |
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I know to anyone born after 1985, the idea of a talking bear must seem like the lamest thing in the world. However, I was eight years old at the time Worlds of Wonder put Teddy Ruxpin on the market, and to me he was easily the coolest thing ever. I don't remember his exact price (I think he was about $70), but only that he was expensive — which made me think I might not get a chance to ever own one. Lucky for me, my parents noticed me drooling over the TV commercials and decided to save up some money and surprise me at Christmas that year. It was the only gift I got, but I thought it was ten times cooler in person. You could not only play his tapes and watch him talk, but you could play regular audio tapes in him, too, and use him as a radio. As a child, I thought this was the epitome of awesome. Hit the break for more on this fuzzy throwback from the Eighties. 
Wow, just looking at the box and the books makes me feel such nostalgia! I remember paging through them over and over (but first, of course, I ripped out the cassette tape that made Teddy talk and jammed it in as quickly as possible). And it was just as good as I imagined ... in fact, even better. Kind of creepy, isn't it? And yet at the time, I could recite the little "My name is Teddy Ruxpin ... can you and I be friends?" thing, like, pitch-perfectly. No wonder I didn't have too many friends back then. Anyway, Teddy went through quite a few incarnations, first being manufactured by Worlds of Wonder, then falling into Playskool's hands after they bankrupted. Playskool tried to use a cartridge system instead of cassette tapes to bring Teddy to life, but they were easily damaged so that didn't last too long. He was distributed by Yes! Entertainment afterward and eventually fell into the hands of BackPack Toys, and you can in fact buy a shiny new version of him from them now. It looks so happy and ... modern. Not that that's a bad thing, I guess. He uses digital cartridges now, too, and he's priced a little bit more moderately at $49.99. Wave of the future! Anyway, back in the day, Teddy had a friend named Grubby, who I also wanted (but did not get as one of these things was pricey enough as is). Crappy picture quality, but hey, there they are! I recollect Ted had a few other friends too: Fobs, Wooly Whatsit, Tweeg and L.B. Bounder. I never had any of those either. I guess my parents figured one expensive-ass talking bear was plenty enough to keep me amused. The unofficial Teddy Ruxpin FAQ advises that you can purchase one of the original Teddies mint in box for between $40-$100, but I've seen them at many a thrift store in my time, so if for some reason you want one just go hunting and I'll bet you'll bump into one. Can't promise you'll find a cassette to make him talk, but that's what eBay is for!
We're through with April, which means we celebrate its demise with another edition of DO WANT. Here, you'll see all of us at Tomopop want on our desks, shelves, etc.
This month, you can look forward to:
A goddess
A scout
A pop star
A glorious mustache
...and more! Hit the jump to find out what. Welcome back to the feature that lets you know how we want to spend our hard-earned ducats. That's right, it's the monthly DO WANT! Sorry we're a couple days late, as we had to prep for the usual April Fools shenanigans. ... Everybody has a favorite Batman rogue. Usually that favorite is along the lines of the Joker, Riddler, Harley Quinn, Two-Face, or Catwoman, although there's also the occasional Mr. Freeze fan. My choice might be a little less... When us Western folks think about figure scenes in the East, we tend to invariably end up thinking about two main places. The place where they all came from, Japan and probably the second-largest community in the area, Singap... Oh, it's the end of the month you say? Well, that can only mean one thing: it's time for DO WANT! This month, we have several editors agreeing on one particular figure, which hasn't happened in a while. Which one is it? Well,... Welcome back again to Custom Made Monday, our spotlight on things going on in the world of custom figures. This week's rundown is a little bit shorter than last week's, but it's also just as impressive. In part, that's becaus... Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! To show our appreciation for you taking time out of your day every day to come visit us, our editors got together and made a small gallery. We figure it would be impractical to mail out f... Ever look over your collections and think about what started it all in the first place? As collectors, we always treasure new and old things, but there is always a special place in our hearts for the first things we collect.
The header images may make it obvious, but hit the jump to see what figurine kick started many of our editors' collections. Today's my birthday, and as such, I figured today would be as good a day as any to announce the rebirth of Munn-day Morning Recap into a new, expanded feature — Custom Made Monday.
Custom Made Monday expands on what Mun... As it's the end of the month, it's time for DO WANT, where the Tomo editors let you know what we desperately desire. As it's been a couple of months since DO WANT has graced the front page, there's quite a bit of pressure to ...
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