Released by Coleco in 1986, My Friend Talking Toby was an electronic playmate for children that combined simple educational games with a digitized voice and synchronized facial expressions.
PLAYING AND LEARNING
Powered by four C-batteries, Talking Toby would introduce himself when turned on and then prompt one to four players to “show me a game, please.” The tabletop toy came with four double-sided Game Cards, each containing two games, one on each side. The cards were stored in a card carrying backpack attached to the device.
A game began when a card was inserted into the slot on the front of the unit.
Toby’s 8 games were a mix of rudimentary math or pattern recognition challenges with names such as What’s This? Show Me, and TobyMath. Game A8, Show-n-Go, the Talking Toby Board Game, was the most advanced of the set, combining a colourful gameboard, tokens, and spoken directives from Toby in a race from Start to Finish.
Regardless of the game selected, all were played using a shared set of 32 playing cards, featuring illustrations of people, animals, and shapes in varying sizes, colours, and number. Each game used the cards slightly differently, with Toby prompting players when to correctly reference and insert them to score points.
EXPANSION PACKS
Coleco shipped two expansion packs for Toby. Word and Letter Games offered five new spelling games and Animal Games came with six new games using special designed “mother and baby” animal cards.
COLLECTOR CONSIDERATIONS
Coleco ceased operations in 1988, resulting in a limited shelf life for My Friend Talking Toby. Today units are readily available on auction sites, often with their original accessories in tact. Collectors should take care, however, to ensure that the doll’s integrated electronics, now approaching 40 years old, are still functional before purchasing, as internal components can be prone to failure and are not easily repaired or replaced.
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