BlueOctopede - Answer Box Review

**CORRECTION, PLEASE READ**: So in this video, I mention that there is a book and tape set for the Answer Box, Let's Learn about Opposites, that doesn't exist. That is INCORRECT! There are a few people in the comments now who have told me that they have it or know someone who does. I guess I was just really unlucky when I was looking for that book and tape set? Or didn't look in the right place for it? Anyway, just to correct my statement on that, Let's Learn About Opposites, DOES indeed exist! Sorry!!
The Answer Box: Teddy Ruxpin's... ANSWER... to the market for educational toys!! Press the button and the Answer Box will answer you!
Hope y'all enjoy!
Special thanks to archive.org for the commercials and images used in this video.
Images and video, including commercials and segments of commercials, are NOT copyrighted me, BlueOctopede, and are being used within Fair Use Rights as they are being used for review purposes.

[@amberruxpin]

Teddy's voice is incredibly angelic ♡♡♡

[@batter8178]

Your such a kind caring youtuber thank you for coming back you deserve way much more subs

[@blueoctopede]

Aw, thank you!!

[@batter8178]

@@blueoctopede no problem😁

[@enzonolastname1181]

The push the button song sounds so familiar to some other song I listen to back in first grade before I even knew about teddy ruxpin

[@glenngoble4697]

I like the jingle! I think it's cute!

[@Sigma0283]

Great memories from my childhood. I had the Answer Box when I was a little boy. I still have my Teddy Ruxpin doll and it’s currently in storage.

[@AnniChu]

Awesome video!! Personally I really like the answer box! I have a little sister in preschool who loves Teddy Ruxpin like I do, so I let her try out the answer box once (with my supervision and help of course) and she LOVED it! She was amazed to see Teddy respond to what button she pushed! Yes it does fall a little flat but to a preschooler it definitely does the job!

[@Ms3queen]

Yeah, preschool kids are easy to please. Give them some bright colors, high contrast patterns, comforting rounded edges, and a simple game, and they’re set.

[@Bandinthesky]

Got my first WOW teddy today! He's a gen 1 teddy and i'm super excited about him!

[@blueoctopede]

Congratulations! The first gen bears are the best. The build quality is MUCH higher than on the 2nd and 3rd gen ones!

[@notbazman]

@@blueoctopede i seem to have more problems with my first gen teddy more then my second i think its because the first gen teddys were in a rush to be made so the build quality is worse "my opinion" but i do prefer the 1st gen cassette player for better sound also how rare is the get down and roll tape???

[@atechchuck]

I always loved the ABC song from the answer box.

[@marvelousmelo5897]

Oh hey remember me it's me marvelous

[@atechchuck]

Marvelous Melo Yea your the one who lied to us and trolled the WoW fandom.

[@marvelousmelo5897]

@@atechchuck Sorry about that I mean it's good to meet each other again so I guess I'll see you around

[@electronicgore8646]

O! This is actually the first time I've heard exactly what the 2XL is , Surprised I never looked into it but it's really cool to hear your explanation. :> I honestly wish the answer box had come out before WOW's downward slope.. I'm glad theres people that appreciate the technology behind this sort of stuff,, it's all really fascinating.

[@toasTr0n]

I didn't expect such a technical video from you, Blue, but I loved learning about how this works! You continue to WOW me! (wah wah wahhh)

[@clipmarkscartoonandtvarchi7590]

6:55 german ad!

[@Heather-Br]

The technology for the box was crude as compared to something like 2XL but that jingle is so darn cute. I don't know why but I love that little song. It's comforting somehow! Go figure!!

[@Meowmeowmeow-vd7hi]

My heart literally sunk when you were saying how they were throwing away the toys 🥺

[@blueoctopede]

It's actually really bizarre when you think about it. Normally, when a company goes out of business it liquidates (sells off) all its remaining assets in a last-ditch effort to get as much money back as possible; that's how companies like Big Lots, Ollie's, and often Amazon too get their stock, and how they're able to sell it so cheaply. I don't think WoW crashed so hard that NOBODY wanted to buy their excess stock, but part of what killed the company was over-manufacturing so it is a possibility I guess.

[@glenngoble4697]

I didn't know this was a thing! I guess I have to learn more about Teddy Ruxpin! :-)

[@Ms3queen]

I think another key thing to remember here is that Teddy Ruxpin is more geared towards little tiny kids, and 2-XL is for kids that are a little bit bigger. Totally different market. Now, obviously, there are things that exist that appeal to both, and there are little kids who like big kid things and big kids who like little kid things, and there’s a whole spectrum of possibilities out there with spectrums inside that spectrum and it affects everything. But on average, little kids enjoy simple things, because they usually don’t have a grasp on complexity yet. Bright colors and high contrast patterns attract them, their focus is often fleeting, their motor skills are not well developed, round things make them feel safe, and they don’t know reality from fantasy usually. Bigger kids want more of a challenge, because they are starting to grasp complexity. They’re more observant of differences between objects, they can read and write and count, their motor skills are better, they usually feel less of a need to be comforted (though obviously they still need comfort but just less of it), they become more interested in pastel colors and more realistic things, and at some point they do understand better what’s reality and what’s fantasy.

[@blueoctopede]

Wow! That's an excellent explanation!

[@teddyruxpinchannel4906]

I have the Answer Box. I just unboxt it a few weeks ago.

[@ReminaProd]

"Let's Learn About Opposites" was actually released commercially, and I happen to own it for myself, along with it's book.

[@Lachlant1984]

I have the Let's Learn About Opposites book and cassette, actually, if you look on my KZbin channel, you'll see a video of my friend Trent playing with the answer box and I think the Let's Learn About Opposites tape was playing. BTW, I have a few VTech toys, I made a video of my Pre Computer 1000 Junior back in 2012 and the video is still on my channel. You need to remember that on the Teddy Ruxpin tapes, one channel is used for the audio track and one for the animation track, so there's technically no way to have alternative passages of speech for Teddy Ruxpin's answer box tapes, it's simply not possible, and this limitation applies to both sides of the cassette tape.

[@zo_eliabeth]

AHH PHILS VOICE IS THE CUTEST THING EVERRR!! but anyway, fangirling aside, the answer box looks pretty interesting, i might get one if i see it online for cheap lol, my little sister might use it.

[@PapaMario2004]

I have a 2 plastic tape playing teddies, a grubby, 2 mickeys, an ideal big bird, a mother goose, and a goofy

[@HardyGirl66]

I have Let's Learn About Opposites. I got the whole set including the Answer box in 1990 from a company that sold overpressing stock of toys, furniture and electronics. (I also got another Teddy, Grubby, Picture Show, books, tape and clothes from that same company). I've used the Answer Box w/ my pre-school class. They loved it!

[@monkeypoop2309]

4.26 was so nice

[@Abigblueworld]

Honestly I prefer the Answer Box over 2-XL. Why? Because 2-XL tapes *aren't* double sided, which can be very very annoying for new users!!! Also, you wouldn't need to buy much because you already have Ruxpin himself and his adaptor!

[@serenajohnson6281]

This doesn't sound like a blind-friendly toy. I wonder if it would have been possible to make it accessible if it were made earlier.

[@blueoctopede]

OH, that is an excellent point. I didn't even think about it until I saw your comment! Yeah, maybe if they'd been more considerate to people who were blind, or have other problems with their vision, they could've put braille on the images and on or near the buttons to make it work. I agree completely that it could've been more accessible if they'd made it earlier.

[@crazyrobotlady3391]

Don’t sell yourself short, dear. I am totally blind, and I figured out how to do this with my tiger 2XL. I don’t think this would be that different. As a matter of fact, I think these tapes had less questions than the tiger tapes so it should be even easier. If you listen to audio of the answer box it’s self, it produces different tunes for when you hit the right button that corresponds to the correct answer. Try to memorize the number for each button rather than being concerned about the colors in the pictures on the pages. All you would have to do is memorize what number button goes with which color. For example, button one corresponds to red, button to corresponds to yellow, button three corresponds to green, and button for corresponds to blue. Then, just memorize which of the four buttons you have to push to answer each of the questions. So let’s say question one was button for and question two was button one in question three was button three in question for was button too. There were several tapes that came out for the 1992 tiger 2XL that had to have these booklets with them in order to answer the questions correctly. I am not going to say that this is easy to do, but it is doable with a little time and a lot of memorizing. Each of those question tapes held about 25 questions a piece. If you could remember what number/Letter goes with the correct question, you can answer most of the questions right even without the booklet. There were a few exceptions, but it is possible to do.

[@reneeP99]

Very good point. But then you'd have to have braille books as well with the stories in them. I also remember seeing a video where a blind person played with this toy and tried to guess which buttons to press. (The answer box I mean) I think the 2XL would definitely be accessible, I don't see anything wrong with it.

[@crazyrobotlady3391]

Renee Patete yeah. Braille would help,but I don’t really think the words in the books would be that important. Maybe a tactile diagram of the picture with a Braille color label next to each window or chimney or whatever. They do make braille books with tactile pictures. They are amazingly good to. Braille printers have definitely come a long way. The pictures they produce nowadays are almost 3-D and are literally about a centimeter high in some cases. They would have to be made using thermoform paper though to put up with all the abuse from kids. I don’t picture a worlds of wonder going to that great extent for an activity book. LOL! It really is a shame though. The disabled should be taken more into account when designing stuff like this.

[@crazyrobotlady3391]

Hi, Serena! Do you remember when you made this comment about the answer box not being accessible? Well, I have managed to make it semi accessible. I will record all seven books and show you how this is done. It may have taken me two years, but I have succeeded! Here is a link to my starter video. The others will be going up as I have time. Welcome to the Teddy Ruxpin Answer Box series, part one - how I modified the Answer Box kzbin.info/www/bejne/aZKkoKVqaNN7pNk

[@KTBF_Productions]

@BlueOctopede Ive got a major issue with my answer box that Im still clueless as to whats wrong. I plug it in, and the red light doesn't light up, but if i jiggle it, or pull it in and out it'll flicker. I dont know if its my teddy or the answer box itself. Thanks

[@NathanIsaacStudios]

Let’s learn about opposites is one of them, it’s just rare

[@Abigblueworld]

Yeah it is. My hunt for Let's learning for opposites!

[@tylernorris381]

Did anyone know that Teddy became so popular that they wanted or did do a live action of him

[@michaelamuchyova]

i noticed that the answer song as i call it is geting lower

[@pine_productions485]

I think "Let's Learn About Opposites" was released or something, because I have seen a couple on Ebay, I'm not sure though. Might be a rare one, although I thought that I had a harder time finding listings with the tape "Shapes Are Everywhere" than I had a hard time finding Let's Lean About Opposites". I don't have an answer box, but maybe one day I will get it for my collection

[@kirbyfan18yt]

Hey blue octopede can you please fix my 2nd gen teddy ruxpin his tape player stopped a few days ago and i did atempet to fix him but i didn't get him to work

[@FurbyRocker]

Why not try and fix him yourself? There are plenty of tutorials on how to fix one so why just use that as help? Im sure blue has other things to worry about then fixing ur teddy

[@kirbyfan18yt]

I tried but the parts that hold the servos are broken and i can not find the parts to fix it

[@FurbyRocker]

@@kirbyfan18yt have u tried 3d printing or clay?

[@GallaRM]

Hello! My Teddy Ruxpin will now animate to mp3 cassettes (Teddy will twitch to it every now and then.) But won't read or mute the right channel. I've tried troubleshooting like swapping the channels on the mp3. The tape has been modified so the switch to detect the kind of tape isn't pushed down. But Teddy just won't read or mute the right channel like he should.

[@blueoctopede]

I'm actually going through the same thing at the moment, and I'm wondering it might be a computer issue rather than an issue with Teddy. Out of curiosity, are you playing the mp3 from a computer, and if so, is it a computer with a dedicated headphone/speaker output plug, or a plug that can be used as microphone input or speaker/headphones output? The reason I ask is because the port on my computer is a combination microphone in/speaker out plug and I think it just isn't outputting the channels on the mp3 correctly.

[@marvelousmelo5897]

Because I think I see you in a group and it says your name and it has your profile

[@Lachlant1984]

Your explanation of the Tiger 2XL is close, but not quite correct. Track 1 is assigned to the left audio channel of side A, track 2 is assigned to the right channel of side A, not quite sure about tracks 3 and 4 though, you were pretty close. I still do have my Answer Box, but haven't used it in a long time, maybe not since 2013 or 2014.

[@blueoctopede]

Awesome, thanks for the correction on that!!

[@brianhebert6152]

So the Answer Box is just a mute button for a Teddy Ruxpin?

[@blueoctopede]

Yep

[@Abigblueworld]

Yes, and it is SO SO SO SOOOO COOl

[@toasTr0n]

Blue, I appreciate what you do so much. I want to give you money for a while, with no obligation for future content or projects. How do I do that? Patreon? PayPal?

[@blueoctopede]

WOW!!! Thank you! Unfortunately I don't have anything like that set up yet. If I decide in the future to do something like a Patreon (I'll probably do Patreon over PayPal tbh), I'll definitely make an announcement about it!

[@toasTr0n]

@@blueoctopede Ohhhkayyyy. But you don't have to be so deliberate about it. You could just accidentally post the email address you use for PayPal somewhere and I could start sending you money against your will. =)

[@lilziptie3547]

Just letting you know you pronounced Mego wrong

[@marvelousmelo5897]

Hey blue octopede do you have discord

[@blueoctopede]

Yes, I am on Discord

[@marvelousmelo5897]

@@blueoctopede I sent you a friend request

[@blueoctopede]

Sounds good! I'll accept it when I can. I don't really get on Discord much so sorry if it takes me a while to respond to that request!

[@marvelousmelo5897]

my username marvelous melo