I know to anyone born after 1985, the idea of a talking bear must seem like the lamest thing in the world. However, I was eight years old at the time Worlds of Wonder put Teddy Ruxpin on the market, and to me he was easily the coolest thing ever. I don't remember his exact price (I think he was about $70), but only that he was expensive — which made me think I might not get a chance to ever own one.

Lucky for me, my parents noticed me drooling over the TV commercials and decided to save up some money and surprise me at Christmas that year. It was the only gift I got, but I thought it was ten times cooler in person. You could not only play his tapes and watch him talk, but you could play regular audio tapes in him, too, and use him as a radio. As a child, I thought this was the epitome of awesome.

Hit the break for more on this fuzzy throwback from the Eighties.

Wow, just looking at the box and the books makes me feel such nostalgia! I remember paging through them over and over (but first, of course, I ripped out the cassette tape that made Teddy talk and jammed it in as quickly as possible). And it was just as good as I imagined ... in fact, even better.