Teddy Ruxpin Returns to Terrify a New Generation

Posted on 26/11/2018 by Shane McGlaun

I remember one Christmas all my brother wanted was a Teddy Ruxpin. I hated those things, they were super creepy bears with mechanical animatronic eyes that blinked. I was pretty sure it would eat my soul during the night. Teddy is back for a new generation, and at least this one appears to lack those horrific eyes.

This updated version has LCD eyes that will still blink but don’t look as maniacal as those of the original. They can actually display more than 40 animations. The new Teddy Ruxpin differs from the original in how it loads stories too. This one reads along with stories on an app as his mouth moves and its digital eyes blink. Its mouth is motorized, so don’t stick your fingers in there.

Teddy also has touch sensors in its paws for interacting with the robobear. The toy measures 14-inches tall, runs off four AA batteries, and is currently on sale for just $74 on Amazon.

If you want to be creeped out, check out this teardown of an original Ruxpin bear.

Teddy Ruxpin Gets Torn Down

Posted on 11/10/2016 by Conner Flynn

Dan and Lincoln Markham from the What’s Inside? channel like to cut things apart to see what their guts look like. This time, they decided to disassemble an original 1985 Teddy Ruxpin talking bear using knives and a sledgehammer to reveal the toy’s innards. What they found is creepier than you can possibly imagine.

It’s especially disturbing when Teddy’s skin is removed from his face. If that isn’t bad enough, the kid proceeds to immediately put Teddy’s skin over his own face. I’m not saying the kid is a serial killer or anything, but I’d watch my back around him. Teddy basically parades around in his skeleton scaring the hell out of everyone, and at one point their little sister is so traumatized that she ends up crying.

If you ever wanted to take Teddy Ruxpin apart before, you will be cured of that desire once and for all. Some things are better left alone.

[via Laughing Squid]

Build-A-Bear Goes Ghostbusters: Ghost-Bear-Sters

Posted on 10/06/2016 by Conner Flynn

Earlier this week was Sony’s Ghostbusters Day celebration, as the first film was released on June 8, 1984. So naturally Build-A-Bear Workshop unveiled a new Ghostbusters line to commemorate the occasion. It was only a matter of time. This line features Slimer, the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, and a Ghostbusters Bear. Bear fans are going to love these.

Slimer and the Ghostbusters bear will be available in stores and online, but the one everyone want, aka Stay Puft, is a web exclusive. You can pre-order any of the three online through June 12 with an official launch in the U.K., Canada, and the U.S. on June 23.

The 7″ Slimer is $12.50(USD), the 19″ Marshmallow Man can be customized with several accessories, including a sound chip for $7 which plays the theme, and a “marshmallow scent” for $3.50. Uh. Okay. That probably smells horrible. Other add-ons include a tan jumpsuit, Proton Pack, Ghostbusters theme song sound chip, Ghostbusters and Who Ya Gonna Call t-shirts, and that same Marshmallow scent. The Supernatural bear comes fully outfitted to bust ghosts for $56.50.

I ain’t ‘fraid of no bear!

[via Nerd Approved]

Yub Nub! Build Your Own Ewok at Build-A-Bear

Posted on 11/04/2016 by Conner Flynn

Ewoks. They are the bane of the Empire’s existence. These furry little creatures have been known to take on elite Imperial soldiers and win. They will crush you with logs, set traps and catch you – even poke you with a stick. And now you can design your own Ewok at Build-A-Bear.

That’s right. A new 16″ plush Wicket is now available on the Build-A-Bear website and he’ll be in stores in the US and UK next week. Imperial soldiers need not apply.

If you want an even cooler version, you can also buy a special Wicket the Ewok 6-in-1 sound chip so you can make him say Ewok stuff like this. If you love these little fur-balls, you’ll want to get yourself one.

[via Comic Book via Nerd Approved]

Figma Ted Action Figure Is Technically Not a Teddy Bear

Posted on 11/03/2016 by Lambert Varias

Seth MacFarlane’s foul-mouthed thunder buddy has turned into one of the more unusual action figures you’ll ever see. Max Factory’s Figma Ted is based on the character’s appearance in Ted 2. Not only does this toy have articulated eyebrows, it also comes with a beer bottle and a bong. None of Hot Toys’ 6.3 trillion Iron Man figures have any of those.

The figure also comes with smiling, laughing and upset mouths, as well as sitting and standing legs.

You can pre-order the Figma Ted action figure from Good Smile Company for around $28 (USD).

DIY Text-to-Speech Teddy Ruxpin: Creepy Ruxpin

Posted on 22/01/2016 by Lambert Varias

It may no longer be the cheapest chip on the block, but Next Thing Co.’s C.H.I.P. is still a pretty good computer. But in this case, it’s been used for a very bad mod. Next Thing Co.’s software and hardware developer Andrew Langley used it to extend a Teddy Ruxpin’s speech feature, allowing it to say anything you want. Like, “Hi kids! I’ll eat you as soon as you fall asleep”, or “Trump for President.”

Put simply, Andrew used C.H.I.P. to take over the speaker as well as the jaw and eye motors of a used Teddy Ruxpin. He then wrote a Python program that sets up a local web page where you can type text or search for and copy a tweet via your Twitter account. A free text-to-speech synthesizer called eSpeak then turns the text into a WAV file.

Aside from playing the resulting WAV file on the stuffed toy’s speaker, Andrew’s program analyzes the WAV file to time the jaws’ movement: “If the audio level is loud, the motors in the jaw will activate, opening the bear’s mouth. If it’s quiet, it will close. Mouth synchronization makes it magical.” Here’s the result:

Head to Make: or Hackster to read Andrew’s instructions. Happy Halloween in advance.

[via Make:]

Centaur Teddy Bear: Ride of Chucky

Posted on 27/11/2015 by Lambert Varias

I don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, but I want to publicly thank the German stuffed toy company Steiff for making the Teddytaur. I don’t know which portion of it is human but the sum of its parts is awesome.

Awwww. It looks like it just started a forest fire. This 12″ stuffed toy is not just part bear and part horse, it also has alpaca fur. Here’s another photo of Halloween’s new mascot, courtesy of eBay user etwas.besonderes:

Sadly Ebearstore says only 1,500 Teddytaurs were made back in 2007. They were expensive too – Ebearstore had it for $220 (USD), and in Steiff’s Japan store it was sold for about $410. I hope this rare creature inspires new tales, nightmares and Etsy knockoffs.

[via Geyser of Awesome]

Google’s Patent-pending Robotic Stuffed Animals: Cute or Creepy?

Posted on 25/05/2015 by John Thomas

I just saw a post on Time.com about a patent Google has filed for a high-tech Teddy Bear. (Hey, it had to happen sooner or later.) So I clicked on the link to read the patent application and what I found was pretty darn freaky.

At the bottom of the first page are line black and white line drawings of both a Teddy Bear and a stuffed bunny rabbit. The pair look, well, not like the friendliest kids’ toys I have ever seen (I’d describe the look in the bunny’s eyes as borderline demented). The drawings also show where motors, microphones, cameras and speakers would be mounted or inserted into the plush toys. So at first glance it looks like they’re probably going to dance, sing, talk and keep an eye on your kid.

But the abstract of the patent goes a bit deeper into exactly what Google is up to with these creations. It describes them as, “An anthropomorphic device, perhaps in the form factor of a doll or toy, may be configured to control one or more media devices.” It goes on to explain that when spoken to or gestured at, the toys will then cause a “media device to change state.” To me what that sounds like is that Google is developing a new remote control interface in the form of a baby toy, which seems pretty low on the list of things currently needed by most of mankind. There is, however, no reference in the document to whether or not the bear or bunny will be able to run to the fridge and get you a snack.

DiDi is an iPad-powered teddy bear for kids

Posted on 30/04/2014 by gene

As ordinary household appliances get more advanced, so are childrens' toys. Roam & Wander, the startup behind the TuTu toy, which launched a successful crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter, is...

Supertoy Talking Teddy Bear: Thunder Buddies for Life!

Posted on 29/07/2013 by Lambert Varias

Talking toys are nothing new, but most toys simply spout off pre-recorded sound bites. Not Supertoy Teddy. He’s a teddy bear that can actually hold a conversation, i.e. it will listen to what you say and respond accordingly. It’s like Siri, but in a stuffed toy.

supertoy talking teddy bear

Supertoy Robotics, the company behind Teddy, also made Jeannie, a voice-activated virtual assistant app for Android. In other words, these guys know a thing or two about natural language user interfaces.

I’m not sure if the toy in the video was actually working or if that exchange was staged. What I do know is that the Supertoy Teddy will work like Siri and Jeannie. And it sounds a whole lot like Ted. When you speak to it, it will connect to several servers that will decipher what you said and send back an appropriate reply. It will supposedly understand 30 languages out of the box. How will it do all of that? According to Supertoy Robotics’ response to backers, you’ll need to place a mobile device inside Teddy to make him work. The device will run Teddy’s app and will be the one to connect to the servers.

The video below, which shows Teddy’s innards, should give us a better idea of how the toy will perform in real life:

Hopefully Supertoy Robotics will give a no-frills demo of the final toy to clear up any confusion and show people what it can really do. But if you’re already sold, pledge about $64 (USD) on Kickstarter to get a Supertoy Teddy as a reward. I wonder if Teddy knows the Thunder Buddy Song.

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