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In
the early 1990's, Worlds of Wonder, Teddy Ruxpin's original
manufacturer, went bankrupt. The license was transfered to Playskool,
who briefly produced a smaller version of Teddy which used cartridges
instead of cassette tapes to make Teddy animate.
In 1996, Hasbro's license expired, and for about a year Teddy was
without a manufacturer for the first time. During the same time, Don
Kingsborough (the founder of Worlds of Wonder) was having some success
at the latest company he had created, Yes! Entertainment. Kingsborough
signed on for another round of Teddy, and in 1998 Yes! released a new
version of Teddy Ruxpin, this time he featured a red shirt and blue
pants instead of the classic Tunic, and went back to using cassette
tapes instead of cartridges to make Teddy talk.
The
new version had a few original WoW stories, with updated artwork,
released with it, and a few episodes of the TV series were also
re-released on VHS. The Yes! Teddy also had a "Video Pack" accessory
which plugged into a VCR.. with the Yes! VHS releases, Teddy would
commentate on what you were watching on TV.
Other
than that, the biggest accessory the Yes! version included was broken
promises. A "Computer Pack" was promised but never released, as was a
new TV series. Rumors of several other accessories turned out to be
just rumors, and Teddy quietly left the shelves again in 1999 after a
very short and unfortunately unsuccessful run.
This
is the only version of Teddy that I cannot reccomend purchasing.. and
if you do decide to purchase one from an online auction site, make sure
it is actually pictured as Teddy's that were never opened by the
original owners could have serious defects, some wouldn't even operate
correctly when fresh out of the box.
However,
with the re-release of Teddy from BackPack Toys, not purchasing one of
these should be a non-issue. The new version is of a much higher
quality and returns Teddy to his classic exterior look. In addition,
Ken Forsse has re-worked many of the original WoW book & tape
stories, and they have improved artwork and new voice
recordings. For those who may be considering buying a Yes!
Teddy instead of the new BackPack version because you have original WoW
cassette tapes you want to use, keep in mind the old cassette tapes are
not compatible with the Yes! Teddy.
The
Yes! Teddy did come with one cool accessory, a small "Beanie Baby"
Teddy (Beanie Babies were extremely popular at the time of the release)
came packaged with the talker and is the only accessory Yes! created
which was not already available (and in better quality) from Worlds of
Wonder.
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