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Issue Date: August 28, 2005
Born in 1985, still going strong
What do these three seemingly different pop-culture icons have in common with USA WEEKEND? They all started 20 years ago, too.
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Enter to win! Three lucky readers will win their choice of a 2005 Teddy Ruxpin doll, a 2005 Toshiba Satellite R15-S822 Tablet PC or two tickets to a 2006 Poison concert.
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By Bobbi Dempsey
Teddy Ruxpin, born in '85
Josh Isaacson will never forget when he first met his "friend" Teddy. "I was 2 years old when I received Teddy Ruxpin for Christmas. It was No. 1 on my Christmas list. I almost wore out his tape before the holidays were over." Teddy Ruxpin, the world's first talking animatronics toy, was created in 1985 and is now being relaunched. The original bear came with tapes and books. Teddy read the story -- his eyes and mouth moving as he went -- while kids would follow along. The new Teddy Ruxpin will use digital technology and feature new stories.
You can preorder a new model at teddyruxpin.com. Delivery is expected in October or November. Plus, 100 randomly chosen toys will be signed by original creator Ken Forsse.
Isaacson, who runs a popular Teddy Ruxpin fan site, will help launch the new version. He's not surprised by the plush toy's long-lived appeal. "I think a lot of people were initially drawn to Teddy because there was something a little bit magical about him," he says. "The slogan that was used, 'A friend for life comes to life,' really said it all."
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Poison, born in '85
Big hair was abundant in the '80s, driven in large part by so-called "hair bands." And glam-rock band Poison, credited with helping to start the hair-band era, invaded Los Angeles in 1985. Band members had a dedication to hair spray, lots of makeup and a huge supply of spandex.
After building a following on the L.A. club scene, Poison recorded its debut album, "Look What the Cat Dragged In," which spawned several hit singles. As a teen girl who loved to dance, Patty Stoffa was the band's target listener. "Poison songs were a major part of the soundtrack for our high school years. All of us girls would wear the big hair, sing along to their songs and watch the videos a million times. It was fun music -- and it didn't hurt that the guys in the band were cute," says Stoffa, who has seen Poison perform many times, including during the band's most recent tour in 2004.
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The laptop, born in '85
In 1985, the PC market for home users was still in its infancy, but company engineers at Toshiba thought there was a market for a "transportable computer." So the laptop development team created a machine they called the T1100.
When it launched, the T1100 featured a 4.77-MHz Intel 80C88 processor; one 3.5-inch, 720-kilobyte floppy disk drive for storage; and 512 kilobytes of random access memory. It weighed "just" 9 pounds -- a lightweight at the time. It featured an optional 14.4-kbps modem connection and Microsoft's MS-DOS operating system. The 1985 price for this groundbreaker? More than $4,000.
Pat Gilliland couldn't afford four grand for a computer, but he didn't mind spending $10 for a T1100 at a yard sale in 2001. "I was looking for a simple portable computer to use for word processing. It needed a good cleaning but worked perfectly."
What do people say when they spot his 20-year-old laptop? "Geeks and hackers think it's cool. Most other people are just amazed it still works."
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