I think I've finally warmed up to the mechanical bear that lives in our house. It took me a while, but I think I have. At first I found him, well, a little on the creepy side. He seemed innocuous enough at first, but flip the switch in his backpack to "on" and he comes to life--ears and limbs moving, all to the not-so-subtle whirring and clicking of little gears and pulleys and servos and whatnot underneath his fuzzy hide. Kind of like the old Abraham Lincoln attraction at Disneyland (before they revamped him to be more Abe Lincoln-like), but on a smaller scale, and a bear. Did I mention that he talks, too? Grandpa got him for us, so we kind of had to keep him. And of course the kids love him. I suppose the main reason I find him creepy is exposure to too many Twilight Zone marathons as a kid. Remember Talky Tina? If you do, you know what I mean. If you don't, then I suppose I'll have to refer to Chucky, instead, but he lacks a certain subtlety that Talky Tina has, and of course, Telly Savalas. Anyhow, TJ Bearytales is here to stay, like him or not.
But, as I mentioned, he's grown on me lately. Sure, he's cuddly, but he's also heavy and tough for the kids to move around the house like all their other toys, so he tends to stay put. Actually, he's only cuddly on the surface, since right underneath that he's got all the mechanical gizmos that make him tick, kind of like the Terminator or the Gunslinger from Westworld. Hug him at your own risk. The best thing about him is that he's served as a ready-made subject for stories that our 3-year-old loves to hear. Forget buying the extra story cartridges; it's enough that TJ's just sitting there. Current offerings (from my wife and I—not available in stores), include TJ's Easter Egg Hunt, TJ's Pirate Party, and TJ Goes to Preschool. I've suggested TJ's Monster Truck Rally, TJ Goes to the Sausage Making Plant, and TJ at the Shooting Range, but somehow they get voted down as being, in a word, "strange". At least we can be all thankful that he's not his higher-priced counterpart, Teddy Ruxpin, who really creeps me out for some reason.
