Bring Back Teddy For the 10's Campaign

[TRO Admin]

Teddy Ruxpin has been around for 25 years and has now appeared in 3 different decades... (80's, 90's and 00's) in various incarnations. Without much room for argument, the past five years have been Teddy's most successful since his original run. As most of you know, although there has yet to be any official announcement, BackPack Toys has stopped producing Teddy and really haven't done much with the property since 2008. In addition, the DVDs are now out of print from MillCreek Entertainment.

On the TV series front, I believe we may have gotten all we will get. The DVD release seemed to be quite successful as all outlets are completely sold out. A BluRay release seems unlikely at this early date (even classic sitcoms are slow to come out on BluRay as of yet) and is even less likely as the DVD release is so recent.

I'm not sure focusing on any one type of merchandise/comeback is our best bet, as it was with the targeted campaign in the late 1990's that focused on the classic toy model and the TV series. I think our best bet is to push the character and the overwhelming loyalty of this fanbase. Especially in this tough economy, those will be the things that get the boys in suits turning their heads.

So I'm officially rolling out the Bring Back Teddy For The 10's Campaign. A page on the site is forthcoming. Letter writing, petitions, talking to your great uncle Frank who won the lottery a couple years back, anything.... we need to help keep Teddy going rather than let him get dusty again.

[Sylverwolfe]

That's sounds cool. I wouldn't mind getting my paws on one of the newer ones to be honest.

[TRO Admin]

Thank you. With all the demands of adult life, I haven't been able to get to regular updates of the site again as quickly as I was planning on... with the holidays coming up, Teddy Ruxpin related searches surge about 25%, so from middle-November to end of year may be our best time to strike and get as many followers as we can for this campaign.. so that is the latest deadline I'm going to accept from myself for this... sometime next week I will probably make a thread and start getting some ideas from you all. Glad you're on board Sylver!

[teddy4evr]

Teddy definetly needs to come back!! We want a fith version!!

[Deleted]

I agree. Teddy needs to return in a big way. And in a way that is available to everyone, not just people in the United States. Canada has been without Teddy Ruxpin for too long.

[teddy4evr]

People in other countries got Teddy, IDK about Canada, though.

[Deleted]

We did way back in 1985, plus the Playskool version. But, the Yes! and Backpack Teddy Ruxpins weren't available, at least not here in Ottawa. Then again, this city sucks when it comes to finding certain items.

[teddy4evr]

Yeah I know, I have a friend in Italy she has the same problem.

[Deleted]

It's like the people who market these products don't think to make sure they're available to countries like Canada and Italy, who are just as modern and developed as The United States. Oh well, luckily I was able to watch Teddy on tv and listen to the original and Playskool Teddy Ruxpins when I was a kid. And I can listen to the stories in the present too. Though I would like to hear the stories from the Backpack Teddy, so I can hear what they did to change the stories to fit with what the tv show and the animatronic movie showed.

[teddy4evr]

I really want a BackPack Teddy I'm not much of a fan of the cartoon, I'd like to hear what the story for it was like in an actuall toy. I haven't found a cheap one yet, though.

[Deleted]

The only place I can find one is on either Ebay or Amazon.com, and because Canada has it's own Amazon website, .com won't ship to Canada. Luckily, in the winter months, my grandparents are in Florida, so I can ask for one for Christmas. But, yeah, Teddy should be brought back in a big way, though, I'm not sure if a feature film is in order, unless it's a sequel to the original television show, or something similar to the animatronic movie. I can't bear to see Teddy Ruxpin get the reboot treatment as other franchises have over the last decade or so.

[teddy4evr]

Yeah, I also think that they should bring back the animatronic movie(Same footage, just remastered). Also, they should have Grubby come back. Yep, eBay is my source for all of my collection. It's hard for you to get a Teddy there too, because most Americans don't ship internationally(I think they are mean, Canada isn't across the ocean.

[Deleted]

Ooh, that would be nice. And not remastered in the way that, some old Science Fiction movies have had their special effects remastered either. Just have the image cleared up and some things touched up in the background. Though there's one shot that could benefit from being adjusted. It's a shot of the Hard to Find City, right before Teddy and the others enter the Pavillion, and the city is almost obscured by smoke (or fog), and it's night time. Obviously the night time part is okay, but get rid of the smoke/fog so we get a better shot of the city.

Just a thought. I mean, it would be nice to have certain shots cleaned up a bit. There's one more shot that I'd also love to see. A new shot of Tweeg's tower as Gimmick is explaining who Tweeg is and how he's never actually seen his neighbour/next door villain. Most of it is obscured by trees and bushes, but the angle looks like it's being shot from the centre of Gimmick's Valley, which as is shown in the books and the animated series, there aren't any trees from the point where Boggley Woods and Woodley Bog meet the valley.

I would also love to see a new version of Grubby. I don't even think that Playskool had a version of him. And technology is advanced enough that, there could be a Gimmick, Tweeg, L.B. and Wooly talking toys as well, just to round out the cast that appear the most in the Adventure series. I would also like to see new toys like the Airship, and figures that went with it.

[teddy4evr]

Playskool didn't have a version of him. Neither did Yes Enertainment, or BackPack. WoW actually had prototypes of all the characters you mention that were about to be made, but never did. The Airship was made as well, with all the figures, and it was actually produced(For a limited time at least). BackPack had made prototypes of two singing Teddy Ruxpins, that have the Christmas and Lullabyes tapes built-in to them. Their mouth and eyes move, and there nose lights up. The Lullabye version even quieted himself as the "story" ended. They were supposed to be the "Cheap alternative" to the BackPack Toys Teddy, but sadly, they weren't realeased, as far as I'm aware.

[Deleted]

Yeah, I knew the Airship and the figures had been released, because there was a picture of the Airship on the box for the Grundo playmat and the box for the original Teddy Ruxpin with "The Airship" book and tape set. I had the Tweeg figure, which I used on the playmat, but I think it was a lonely toy, because he didn't have anybody to cheat or steal from. Lol. But, it would be cool to have updated re-releases of the figures, playmat and Airship.

I'd read up on the fact that prototypes were made for the characters I mentioned. The reason I mentioned them is because they're the ones who appear the most in the Adventure series. Not so much the Animated series, because, Wooly doesn't appear once from "Escape From the Treacherous Mountain" until "The Faded Fobs", which is six episodes later.

I know that the talking toys and book & tape sets, are the mainstay of the Teddy Ruxpin product franchise, but other franchises like My Little Pony, The Care Bears, and Rainbow Brite all had revivals in whatever format they were originally made for, but also in their expanded product lines, so I think that Teddy deserves the same consideration.