Electronic Toys: Yay or Nay?

Love them or hate them, electronic toys are big and have been big for quite some time. And I have to say, unless one is a parent with highly enthusiastic kids who never seem to get enough of activating the electronic features, I don’t understand the hate. They stimulate creativity, give lonely kids something to talk to that will actually respond, and they’re just plain cute and cool.

Some of my earliest toys were electronic, including a hopping bunny, a walking, bleating sheep, and a teddy bear on a rocking horse. I spent many fun times playing with their features and finding them enchanting. I also enjoyed a roller-blading doll and a remote-control car.

It’s strange, but for all of my love of electronics, I have never owned a Furby. I certainly remember the Furby craze of the late 90s. I found them cute and not creepy, and yet I wasn’t compelled to ask for one. Hearing that there was no Off switch did concern me a little, enough so that they were never a serious consideration.

Over the years I have happily acquired a talking Road Runner, a talking Salem cat, a talking Twilight Sparkle, the classic talking Boba Fett figure with original voice, a talking E.T., and others, including plushies and figures and dolls. The majority of my purchases on QVC seem to be fun electronic toys they bring out for their Christmas sales. I bought dancing Snoopy and Woodstock a couple of years ago and just purchased the Flying Ace Snoopy over the weekend.

One of my most treasured electronic toys is the beautiful 32 inch Elsa made by Jakks Pacific for Frozen II. I had been disappointed that I hadn’t found anything I wanted to buy during QVC’s Christmas in July celebration, and then the final day I happened to be watching when Elsa debuted. I was enchanted. It was one of the most expensive purchases I’ve ever made, toy-wise, but I knew Elsa was coming home with me.

The day she arrived, it felt like Christmas morning from childhood. I sleepily brought her in and then set her up in my room in her box. I dreamed about it being Christmas with Elsa under the tree. When I woke up, I did a YouTube video to show her in-box and then did two more videos after deboxing. I delighted in activating her phrases and her “ice-making powers” via the blue lights in her hands. She sits on a small chair next to me while I type at the computer each day.

Of course, being a fan of all things Eevee, I also have electronic Eevees. I jumped at the chance to buy the My Partner Eevee figure, which is adorable and actually interacts with you when you talk to it. I still haven’t fully explored everything this sweetheart has to offer. The packaging boasts of 50+ reactions, and I’m pretty sure I haven’t heard that many!

The other talking Eevee I have is the Tomy plush My Friend Eevee. He is adorable and so soft. Unlike some of Tomy’s fare, touching him is like petting a powdered donut. (Not that anyone would want to pet a powdered donut, but just to illustrate the level of soft.) I enjoy both the English and the French voices and all the cute phrases. My only objection is the sad/disappointed sound he makes if you activate him and then don’t play his sounds for a minute or so. Way to make everyone feel guilty for disappointing an innocent animal, Tomy! Of course, that is no doubt the hook meant to keep kids playing for a long time. They don’t want to make Eevee sad!

I rather regret I do not have the sound box for the Build-a-Bear Eevee. But I have her tag and have considered taking it in someday and scanning it to get the sound box for her. I do have a sound for Leafeon, whom I had to purchase via the online bundle, but that is a story for another post.

I am just a big kid around electronic toys. My only real objection to them is how hard it is to open the battery boxes on the newer ones. I have an electronic penguin I have never been able to activate the features on, simply because no matter how hard I fight with it, the battery box will not open! I have also been unable to open Elsa’s, even after struggling with it for an hour. Thankfully, her demo batteries still work. (No, she is not on Demo mode.) It was a miracle I got the dancing Snoopy’s open. I get that they want to keep kids from getting out the screws, but it’s rather counterproductive to not even allow the adults to do so!