Speak & Spell, Teddy Ruxpin, and coverage

[lachlant1984]

Hi everyone, I wanted to run something past you all.  We all know how iconic and popular Teddy Ruxpin was in the 1980s and early 90s and how well known it was and still continues to be.  There's been a lot of coverage of new versions of Teddy Ruxpin when they have been released, particularly in 2016/2017 when WCT released the latest version of Teddy Ruxpin.  There was so much speculation and talk about it, there was also a good deal of tension and friction surrounding this new Teddy Ruxpin, mainly because of the design changes, and things didn't exactly improve.  

Many of you will also know how iconic and popular Speak & Spell was from the late 70s all the way through to the 90s, helped in some way by the release of ET.  Some may argue that Speak & Spell was more popular than Teddy Ruxpin, of course it was around for a good deal longer than Teddy.  But, how many of you know that Basic Fun released a new version of Speak & Spell last year.  I only found out purely by chance at Christmas time when searching for videos on Speak & Spell, there are i think only 2 or 3 videos about the new Speak & Spell on YouTube at the moment.  I did come across an article about it which I think was published by Engaget or one of those other technical publications that are out there.  Maybe I just don't look in the right places, but I had no idea of this product release and there didn't seem to be the same amount of publicity that surrounded the release of Teddy Ruxpin.  What do the rest of you think?  Can any of you say anything that disputes what I've said?  I like to hear some input on this issue.  

Thanks everyone.  

[sparkpikachu]

After a Google search, I've found a few articles about the new Speak And Spell. There isn't a lot of coverage, though. Most videos are older and the articles all report a similar experience to the toys we remember, with a clearer voice and LCD screen added. That's all I've found so far. I'll let you know if I find anything else.

[lachlant1984]

Jan 24, 2020 20:31:15 GMT -7 sparkpikachu said:

After a Google search, I've found a few articles about the new Speak And Spell. There isn't a lot of coverage, though. Most videos are older and the articles all report a similar experience to the toys we remember, with a clearer voice and LCD screen added. That's all I've found so far. I'll let you know if I find anything else.

I think you've found out pretty much all there is to find out, my best friend bought the new Speak & Spell recently and he's coming to my house in a few days, I hope he brings it with him because I want to have a play with it.  I never owned a Speak & Spell growing up, but I knew plenty of people who did, it's also worth noting that I found out about Speak & Spell in maybe 1989 or 1990 when I was 5 or 6, I didn't learn about Teddy Ruxpin until 1992 when I was 8.