The jury is still out on whether Teddy Ruxpin, the robot/teddy bear of the 1980’s was cute or creepy, but now a brand new 21st century jury has the chance to make a decision of its own. That’s right, friends — the animatronic plush character is back, and those eyes … they’re just as big, bright, and potentially terrifying as ever. Only this time, they’re not made out of plastic — they’re LEDs that allow these eyes to flash hearts, stars, and snowflakes.
2016 looks to be the Year of Past Toys’ Return, especially when those toys gaze out through rather alarming peepers. The new and improved (by some standards) Teddy Ruxpin looks a lot like the original, but also shares a couple of features with the revamped Cabbage Patch Kid dolls that were released by Wicked Cool Toys in February. Those dolls also feature wide set eyes that glow just a little too eagerly.
In any case, the Teddy Ruxpin of 2016 has been updated to reflect the current times. Rather than a cassette player, the bear is outfitted with a 4GB hard drive. That translates to the ability to store some 40 stories, and Teddy comes with a companion app that lets kids read right alongside their animatronic buddy on an iPad or other Apple device.
Jeremy Padawer, co-president of Wicked Cool Toys, is certainly all about the new and improved toy, telling CNN Money, “Kids adored Teddy Ruxpin so much that he became a multi-billion dollar product in five years.” He added, “The kids who embraced him back then are 28 to 40 years old now. 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.”
So if you’re in the market for a toy that can potentially terrify as well as delight, you may want to check out Teddy Ruxpin, which is slated to debut at the price of $99.