Have you ever loved a toy so much as a young child that your family gave you a nickname that stuck for the rest of your life? For me, that young love was Teddy Ruxpin, a toy that entered the market to great fanfare in 1985. Teddy Ruxpin was an animatronic bear that had a slot for cassette tapes in his back. Each cassette tape contained a story that went along with a book that Teddy would read to you. This was a hot toy in the mid-’80s. If your parents were able to get you one, it was a Big Deal.
Apparently, when I was but a wee little girl, I was obsessed with my Teddy Ruxpin. I would take it everywhere with me, to the point where my uncles started calling me Jenny Ruxpin. To be perfectly honest, I don’t even remember any of how that started. I only have a very vague memory of having Teddy at my uncle’s house during some family get together or another, but I don’t have any distinct memories of Teddy reading me stories or me getting upset about leaving him behind. I do remember him being pretty heavy and large — he was probably at least half, if not more, my size. He wasn’t exactly cuddly as he had so many parts inside him, but I must’ve really been into the fact that it felt like he was talking to me.
Teddy Ruxpin was so popular, that he got his own TV show – The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin. They made 65 episodes total, and maybe you could say it was really made to increase the toy sales rather than the other way around, but the toy sales were already so astronomical, they didn’t really need to do that. Again, only vague memories of this TV show, but I do know that I watched it.
Of course, as all things go with little kids, my love for Teddy faded, and he eventually went to sit in the closet. But that didn’t stop my uncles from calling me Jenny Ruxpin to this very day. I’ve embraced it, to be honest, as at least it’s a cute nickname and not something embarrassing.
What’s interesting, though, is that Teddy Ruxpin has made a resurgence today, though in an arguably much creepier-looking form. That’s not to say that he wasn’t slightly creepy the first time around, but have you seen this new one? I spotted one in the wild, and let’s just say it did not give me the warm fuzzies like the original. They gave him LCD eyes and touch sensors in his paws… and I’m sorry, but those LCD eyes? Eek.
Okay, let’s cleanse our eyes of that mess and take a look back at one of the original commercials for the way less shudder-inducing 1980s Teddy Ruxpin:
Were you into Teddy Ruxpin as a kid? If not, what were your favorite toys? Let us know in the comments!
- Teddy Ruxpin was created by Ken Forsse, who previously worked for Disney and was into animatronics.
- Teddy Ruxpin has been made by many different companies over the years, starting out with Worlds of Wonder, and most recently by Wicked Cool Toys.
- Worlds of Wonder sold 41,000 Teddy’s in the first 30 days after it was introduced, and it was the number one toy for multiple Christmas seasons.
- Shortly following his debut, Teddy Ruxpin was made the “Official Spokesbear for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children” in 1985.
- As of 2018, The Jim Henson Company partnered with Alchemy II to bring a new Teddy Ruxpin TV series to life, but as of this posting date in 2020, there’s no word on when this new Teddy Ruxpin TV series might see the light of day.
- Teddy Ruxpin was created by Ken Forsse, who previously worked for Disney and was into animatronics.
- Teddy Ruxpin has been made by many different companies over the years, starting out with Worlds of Wonder, and most recently by Wicked Cool Toys.
- Worlds of Wonder sold 41,000 Teddy’s in the first 30 days after it was introduced, and it was the number one toy for multiple Christmas seasons.
- Shortly following his debut, Teddy Ruxpin was made the “Official Spokesbear for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children” in 1985.
- As of 2018, The Jim Henson Company partnered with Alchemy II to bring a new Teddy Ruxpin TV series to life, but as of this posting date, no word on where that currently stands.
