Remember the Talkboy Cassette Player and Recorder from Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992)?
Well you may or may not know (depending on how big a fan of the movie you are) that Kevin’s handy little sidekick wasn’t a real thing prior to the movie. It was conceived primarily as a prop for the film.
Tiger Electronics (the company that designed and built it) was given permission by the film studio to sell a retail version of the toy and they released two different models: The Talkboy in 1992 and the Deluxe Talkboy the following year (the Deluxe version added the voice-changing feature).
Retailers severely underestimated demand for the toy though, and as a result, stocks of it sold out fast, making finding one near impossible during the Christmas season of 1993.
A pink version called the Deluxe Talkgirl was later released in 1995.
The toy originally retailed for $29.99 (the equivalent of roughly $61.85 today), but if you’ve still got one rattling around in the loft somewhere they’re fetching up to $170 (£140) on eBay these days!
Did you have one of these? If so do you still have it?!
Let me know below.