Talkboy was a line of audio recorders for children created by Tiger Electronics. It was originally designed as a non-functional prop to be used in the 1992 comedy film Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, starring Macaulay Culkin. In the film, Kevin (Culkin) uses an audio recorder to play pranks on his family and escape from murderous thugs. This led to a massive letter-writing campaign from young fans of the movie who wanted their own recorders, but were frustrated that none existed.
Tiger took notice of the demand, and in 1993 released the Talkboy, which was an exact replica of the device Kevin used in the movie. It came with all the normal features of a tape recorder, including a headphone jack, but had the crucial and unique distinction of being able to replay audio at slower or faster speeds than the original recording. Most variable-speed players increased the tape speed by 50%, which made spoken words almost indecipherable. The Talkboy slowed down audio by about 76% and sped it up by up to 130%, comically adjusting the pitch while leaving the words easy to understand.
Sales of the Talkboy were enormous, boosted in part by its near-simultaneous release alongside the Home Alone 2 VHS edition. Tiger soon released the Deluxe Talkboy, a model that was almost indistinguishable from the original except for its headphone placement; however, the Deluxe was packaged with a special cassette tape that included audio from Home Alone 2. Subsequent models included the Talkboy FX Plus, a pen with recording capability, variable speed playback and six types of sound effects; the Shock Rocker, which allowed users to add backbeats and other musical effects to make original songs; and the Talkgirl line, consisting of pink versions of assorted Talkboy models.
Tiger was acquired by Hasbro in 1998, after which the Talkboy line was phased out to make room for newer toys like Furbies and the Bop-It line.
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