Teddy Ruxpin, the iconic talking bear, is making a return to toy store shelves. CNN Money had the story but neglected to say how high the rate of children’s nightmares would increase along with the toy’s release.
Teddy Ruxpin was released in 1985 and went on to become one of the most popular and best-selling toys of the decade. Ruxpin is a teddy bear that had a cassette player in his back, and special story tapes could be purchased. Ruxpin would blink and his mouth would move, seeming to read the story to enraptured children everywhere.
Teddy Ruxpin was also nightmare fuel to overimaginative children like me. Those cold, unfeeling eyes. The horrible mechanical sounds. The idea that he may be watching you right now. Talk about uncanny valley. And do not get me started on when his batteries began to die.
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Horrifying.
Nightmares aside, Teddy Ruxpin was an extremely popular toy that holds serious nostalgia for many children of the 80s and 90s. Many of those children are all grown up now have kids of their own, a market that Jeremy Padawer, president of Wicked Cool Toys, hopes to capitalize on.
“The kids who embraced him back then are 28 to 40 years old now,” Padawer said. “They have young kids who they’d want to introduce Teddy Ruxpin to… We felt the time was right to bring back this nostalgic toy but with the right technology to fit the time.”
The new Ruxpin will have an internal hard drive with ten stories preloaded and an option to download more. He will also have LCD eyes that can blink and transform into different images, like hearts, snowflakes, and stars. The bear will have easy to use controls installed in his hands and feet and will come with a companion app to help control it. No word on whether the app will do anything when Ruxpin lets himself out of the toy box and walks to the cutlery drawer at midnight.
Ruxpin will release in July 2017. It will retail for $99.
80s nostalgia is all the rage. Any other iconic toys or shows you want to see make a comeback? Let us know in the comments below.
