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Post by kaylathehedgehog on Oct 12, 2011 20:49:59 GMT -7
Ah, okay then. It is the WoW version. I couldn't tell from the picture.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 19, 2011 11:40:56 GMT -7
Whoah. After nine days out of the less-warm storage space he had been in, my Teddy is almost completely working again!
His eyes work on their own now (though occasionally he will miss a blink or two), and his mouth also works when given a bit of encouragement. Neither did anything, before. This is the first time I've run him since the day I got him back - I wonder if he'll improve further? ;D
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Post by Deleted on Oct 19, 2011 12:00:22 GMT -7
I've had similar issues with Teddys and Grubbys in the past. The servos often stick due to lack of use. I have a Teddy that is still in his box, and I've only tested him once (he still has all his tags). Because he was never used, the servos for the eyes are stuck, so he doesn't always blink, but I've read online that with a bit of encouragement, as you say, they can eventually free themselves. I also have a Grubby new in his box and he works great, but his top jaw does not move. I'm wondering if I should "encourage" him or let him be for fear of damaging him further.
Good luck with your Teddy!
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Post by Deleted on Oct 19, 2011 12:20:40 GMT -7
Thanks!
Mine's a Teddy II, so I was kind of expecting him to remain (as Kayla puts it) a ventriloquist (I love that term!). After all, his single motor doesn't engage any of his face - just a set of belts and pulleys. Moving his features when he's off won't touch the motor - they will move freely and then spring back to their neutral positions when released (mouth closed, and eyes open).
I'm not sure whether I would encourage a new-in-box Teddy or Grubby, and I can understand why you'd be edgy about that, since there's always a risk of doing more harm than good.
As an aside, I've seen some videos by blueoctopede on YouTube where she demonstrates a more hands-on method of unsticking the motors with the toy partially deconstructed, but it's certainly not something I would do to one that's either a cherished friend, or a valuable collector's piece. It also looks like I won't need to use this on the Teddy I that I picked up on eBay (who has now arrived) - he appears to be "third generation", and his motors work perfectly (they move when he's powered on), it's just that he's a victim of the tape-player spring issues that affect the plastic tape player bears. I'm stalled with working on him because two of the casing screws stripped when I tried to open him - those surely aren't metal, they're more like putty!
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Post by kaylathehedgehog on Oct 20, 2011 8:06:10 GMT -7
Hee, glad you like my terminology.
I can occasionally get mine's mouth to move, but it's very slight (doesn't even look like a millimeter), and you can hear the poor servos whirring away trying to get it to move more.
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Post by tdickensheets on Oct 24, 2011 4:42:27 GMT -7
I had Worlds Of Wonder Inc., Yes! Ent., Backpack Toys Inc. Teddy Ruxpin.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 19, 2011 15:22:59 GMT -7
I now have a BackPack Toys Teddy Ruxpin, as well. You guys are such a bad influence... His bottom jaw is inert (he came to me this way - I've seen a video showing this "weak point" before), but partly because of this I'm amazed at his design. The way the top jaw continues working in spite of a "mouth injury" is clearly down to good design (and I think this animation looks fine anyway!), and the battery compartment design is incredibly thoughtful - I've never seen anything like it before, and I'm really very impressed. I'll consider this a lesson well-learned, as I like to design plush toys myself. I'm also interested to see that his animation system is different to the late-WoW Teddy II (and no doubt the Playskool Teddy II, as well). It seems to lock the mouth and eyes when he's in use, so that you can't move the parts when he's running. My one and only gripe is that the sound-quality isn't quite as good as my own Teddy (the one sitting on the left-hand side of the picture), which surprised me a little bit, as I had thought that the tapes would sound a little worse. That said, it is still very good, and I like the volume controls, as well - even at the loudest, it's more like a normal speaking volume. I snapped up the set of program cartridges being sold by Ty's Toybox, too, because they recently started shipping to the UK, and I can't wait to give those a listen at Christmas, which I'm putting them away for. It will certainly be strange to be opening brand new Teddy Ruxpin cartridges twenty years after I got my own Teddy and his cartridges. BackPack Teddy also confirms that the patches I found are seemingly from the original versions - they're identical the patch on the tunic of the large and small sized WoW models, as well as the Little Bopper and the Playskool version! It was absolutely magical to hear the revised version of The Airship, too, although I did miss hearing Come and Discover the World With Me at the end of it. I'm very, very happy indeed, and I'll be right there if they produce a Teddy V, too.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 20, 2011 18:32:46 GMT -7
Next to the WoW Teddy, the BP Toys version are my favorite. They capture the spirit of the original so well. I've never owned a Playskool, so I can't speak as to the nature of that model, but the BackPack Teddy seemed so much a tribute to the original WoW, from his appearance to the way he was packaged. I truly feel if the marketing had been a little stronger, he'd have been infinitely more successful. Still, I enjoy mine from time to time, though now that my WoW Teddy has been repaired I can once again enjoy him as I did when I was little.
He's a fantastic character in any form, and truly one of my best friends.
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Post by TRO Admin on Nov 21, 2011 20:56:17 GMT -7
Cyborg, Welcome to the forums! I'm sorry I'm so late in joining the cavalry in doing so... I don't know how I missed this post, despite the fact I haven't been here as much as I should lately. Also - I don't remember seeing an email. PM me your email address so I can search my inbox for it. It's always great to get new, enthusiastic members like yourself here. I'm looking forward to reading more from you. And I'm also glad that Kayla has another fellow TeddyII fan in her midst For some reason that was the one most of us missed. I have seen them and inspected them when I visited Ken, but never had one of my own (yet, anyway) I agree with Vincent that the BackPack Version/TeddyIV is the best runner up to the original. Once again - Welcome!
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Post by kaylathehedgehog on Nov 23, 2011 10:30:51 GMT -7
Well, I might have gotten a Teddy I instead of a Teddy II, but for some strange reason, I would run screaming in terror when my cousin would play with hers. Of course I was only about two or three years old at the time, so I suppose I wasn't used to a stuffed animal talking back to me. It also probably didn't help that he was almost as big as I was.
I was about five or six when I got my Teddy II. I love him to death, and if anyone wants to take him from me, they'll have to pry him from my cold dead hands.
It's funny how growing up will change your opinion on things.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 25, 2011 18:22:37 GMT -7
Cyborg, Welcome to the forums! I'm sorry I'm so late in joining the cavalry in doing so... I don't know how I missed this post, despite the fact I haven't been here as much as I should lately. Hehe, that's fine - it's not a problem. Thankyou for the welcome - I truly properly feel like I'm one of the family, now. (Not that I didn't before, that said, but if it's possible to feel that way more so, I do now. ) It was just a query about the Veritel court case - I made a thread about it not long after I joined (it's here), which I did when I realised that I had more stuff I wanted to talk about than just that! I'll drop you a PM after I finish writing this post, at any rate. Thanks! I've got plenty more to add, too. I went on vacation last week, and picked up an interesting little talker from France, who I'm about to go and post about in the Off-Topic section, for starters... Funnily enough, Teddy II's seem to be more common over here in the UK. The original model gained notoriety here for being *VERY* unreliable (though they still sold lots of them regardless), whilst Teddy II never got that stigma. It was easy to find working Teddy II's in the UK (both WoW and Playskool) many years later, but the same couldn't really be said of Teddy I, at least over here. Teddy II is so sadly overlooked in this regard. The WoW release, and I'm sure the Playskool one was well, was top quality, and every bit as good as the first model, in my opinion. (If not a little better, in my view - I actually prefer his design, and that's been quite an influence on me in and of itself. ) Thanks again! I'm glad to be here. ;D
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Post by kaylathehedgehog on Nov 26, 2011 11:24:47 GMT -7
Personally, I think the smaller size of Teddy II makes him the cutest design Teddy's had, but I'm probably a bit biased. ;D
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Post by Deleted on Nov 26, 2011 13:12:09 GMT -7
^ If you are, you're not the only one. ;D
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Post by kaylathehedgehog on Nov 27, 2011 7:16:03 GMT -7
Yay!
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