OH TEDDY, YOU'RE SO FINE...

I'll admit it. When i was 5, i was spoiled rotten. Being the only little girl (or as i was so fittingly called, princess) in a sea of misbehaving boys definitely had it's ups. Shopping sprees with Uncle Billy, plenty of ooh's and ahh's at family affairs, and getting away punishment-free at all times of misbehavior.

Yea, you could say i had it made in the shade.

But the very best thing... the thing that took the cake was special delivery all the way from Whistler from my Uncle Robbie.

TEDDY RUXPIN.

This was like, the Rolls Royce of toys. A mouth that moved. A tape deck in it's back. Teddy Ruxpin was animatronic! And although at 5 years old i wasn't sure what the hell that meant (still not 100%) - i didn't care. All i knew was that this Bear was (somewhat) alive and he and i had (minimal) interaction and were forming a (potentially harmful in my later years) friendship.

Mr. Ruxpin and i painted the town every night! (and by town, i mean the confines of my house cuz i was 5) If Teddy's battery was dying, i was sluggish. If i had a rough day, Teddy would read me a story or sing me a song. We were like E.T. and Elliot, without the extravagant spaceships and flying bicycles.

Of course, like any other toy, it quickly got old. I had the attention span of a tennis ball in the 80's and still kind of do.

Soon after came Kid Sister, Pound Puppies, my Joey Macintyre action figurine, and Teddy became a thing of the past. I stopped taking him out of the closet, and he stopped playback. Eventually he became a canvas for crayon graffiti and once i broke off his lower jaw, it was pretty much over. How cruel children can be.

So this post is dedicated to all the forgotten toys of our youth that have been substituted in our (somewhat) adult years with alcohol, nice cars, holt renfrew charges on the credit card and twitter. We may sell you in garage sales, then google image you years later out of nostalgia... but we'll always care for you.

R.I.P. Theodore Ruxpin.

Friend, Hero & Bear.