Monkgomery

Monkgomery
Type Puppet
Inventor Stephen Beck
Company Hasbro (1986–1993)
Country United States
Availability 1986–1993
Materials Polyester 100%
Slogan The Amazing Monkgomery Monkey Electronic Toy

Monkgomery is a puppet children's toy in the form of a talking monkey wearing a necktie, released by Hasbro in 1986.[1] The toy is 17" in height and sits at approximately 14" tall. The toy has two Velcro strips on his hands allowing him to be hung from objects.

History

Bingo Bear (Hasbro Item: 70501) and Monkgomery Monkey (Hasbro Item: 70502) were part of a Hasbro Softies product line called "Yakity Yaks".[1][2] Their debut in 1986 was not as highly received as that of Teddy Ruxpin, but toy sellers pointed to them as a less expensive alternative product for parents that could not afford Teddy Ruxpin. The puppets were also more durable than other toys on the market, since the puppets did not contain gears or movable parts. the absence of mechanical parts also made the puppets more cuddly for children.[3] Additional speech modules provided 200 new words (each came with a different outfit); Dr. Bingo and Space Bingo outfits for Bingo Bear were scheduled for release at the end of December 1986; a Safari Monkgomery kit for Monkgomery Monkey was scheduled to be released in January 1987.[3] The Hasbro dealer catalog also has a Monkgomery Monkey Clown Outfit and Rock Star Bingo Bear Outfit (Unknown if released). The toys sold for about $70 and the extra word module kits for $20.[3] A lot of these toys are still in working order today, if the batteries were not left in to corrode.

Mechanics and parts

The monkey has a hand hole in back to manipulate mouth movements which also contained a pressure sensitive switch on the top of the mouth and a solid mass at the bottom to engage the switch mechanism. The engagement would then trigger the electronic speech integrated circuit TMS5110ANL in action. The speech consisted of a set of 400 recorded words (100 phrases), in voice over format (performed by Bill Cochran), stored in Texas Instrument CM62060N2L, CM62059N2L, E7CL04N2L ICs. The words were then played out on an 8Ω, 0.25 Watt F.S.T F05702 mono speaker. The board also contained a nine pin edge connector for expansion modules which none have been verified in existence, just a blurb on the back of the box stating what it is for. These parts were built into a brown plastic box with a 4-AA Battery holder (batteries not included). The brown box was zipped inside the back of the monkey's back with two snaps for fastening inside and a removable eight pin connector cable for interactions with mouth switch, "tickle" sensors, right ear, right foot.

The toy has a removable yellow tie with red polka dots, monogrammed with "Monkgomery".

It was created by Hasbro to compete with Teddy Ruxpin before Hasbro bought Ruxpin, and Monkgomery's packaging draws deliberate comparison, describing him as "a unique and interactive, joke-telling, talking monkey with no on-off switches, no tapes to wear out or break and no solid state cartridges".

Monkgomery's vocabulary included jokes such as "Why did the monkey throw the clock out the window?", questions such as "What's your favorite part of the zoo?" and responses to the user, such as "Tell me more!". The range of phrases could be expanded with expansion modules, sold separately.

Hasbro Dealer Catalog

# Item
70502 Monkgomery Monkey
70513 Monkgomery Monkey Safari Outfit
70515 Monkgomery Monkey Clown Outfit

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Pollack, Andrew (1986-12-24). "This Isn't Just Another Talking Dog Story". New York Times.
  2. ↑ Gutman, Dan (August 1987). "Toys Leading the Field of Speech Synthesis". Mid-Cities Commodore Club (Dallas/Fort Worth) (Omaha). Retrieved 8 March 2015.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Hoban, Phoebe (8 Dec 1986). "Garrulous Gifts: The Talk of the Tots". New York Magazine (New York, NY). Retrieved 8 March 2015.

External links