Teddy Ruxpin

Pop in a cassette and watch his eyes and mouth move with the story. In 1985, a talking stuffed animal seemed like magic.

Put in a cassette, turn him on, and Teddy Ruxpin’s mouth and eyes moved as he read the story. For a stuffed animal, in the 1980s, that was a pretty impressive trick. Worlds of Wonder introduced Ken Forsse’s Teddy Ruxpin creation in 1985. The cassette player was built into Teddy’s back, and the special tapes carried the recorded story and the signals that controlled his facial movements. Books accompanied the story cassettes so kids could follow along while Teddy did the talking.

Changing the tape brought a new story and another adventure, which gave you a reason to collect more stories. Teddy didn’t listen, and couldn’t respond to questions, but watching his face move with the recording made him seem quite different from any other stuffed animals at the time. And, he supposedly wasn’t a bear at all - he was an Illiop, a creature from some of the stories he read (although I recall he was commonly called a “talking teddy bear”).

The original cassette-based Teddy Ruxpin is no longer made, but you can still find examples in secondhand and collector’s marketplaces. Check their condition carefully, though. Old cassettes and the mechanisms that move Teddy’s eyes and mouth can wear out.