Dolly Flashback: Galoob’s Dozzzy

In late 1987, toy company Galoob released an interactive talking toy called Dozzzy.  Dozzzy came in two versions– one was a brown bear and one was a boy.  My brother received the boy version as a baby and cherished him through his youth.  My mom recently uncovered Dozzzy.  We were pretty sure he wasn’t going to work when we placed batteries in him, but to our surprise, Dozzzy started rambling on!  He’s not 100% functional, but he seems to work most of the time!

Dozzzy used a cassette deck to talk. When you pressed his hand, it would communicate with the cassette tape and Dozzzy would start talking.  Multiple tapes were available (at least 4), but I can’t find any evidence as to how many exactly where released.  This tapes ran 40 minutes and included stories and general chatter.  The thing that made Dozzzy stand apart from the rest was how he talked.  Unlike the Worlds of Wonder talking toys, Dozzzy‘s mouth would light up and make talking motions with the words on the tape.  His eyes would also light up.  This made for a great affect for night time because the child could interact with Dozzzy easily in the dark by pressing his hand and still see Dozzzy talking due to the light up elements in his face.

Dozzzy Talking

As far as hard facts about Dozzzy, there are very little to be found.  What we do know is this: Both versions of Dozzzy were only out for a year, at the most.  The reason is forever lost with the decision makers at Galoob, because no reason could be found on the internet when I searched.  Another mystery is the number of tapes available for Dozzzy.  We own 4 tapes for Dozzzy.  However, upon searching, I could find no ‘ultimate list’ of tapes produced.  We do know from catalogs that Dozzzy retailed for $49.99 when he came out in late 1987.  Kind of expensive for a kids toy, but think about if he were released now! I have a feeling he’d be much more expensive!

Dozzzy

Because Dozzzy was only out for a year, he is considered ultra rare and from what I can tell from the number of people looking for him online, highly sought after.  It seems many people have fond memories of this talking toy.  And why not?  It is a great, solid toy.  The tapes, too, are engaging.  And better yet, Dozzzy was mostly stuffed, so a child could literally hug him or go to sleep with Dozzzy next to him with very little worry.  (Think of trying to sleep next to a Teddy Ruxpin… Yikes!)  Dozzzy’s trademark expired in 1994.  Galoob ended up being purchased by Hasbro in 1998 after 44 years of toy making.

For those that would like to watch my Dolly Flashback, the video is below!

If you’d like to see Dozzzy in action, I’ve put together three videos. The first video is essentially an introduction to Dozzzy. ‘Storytime with Dozzzy’ is all about Dozzzy!  He recounts ‘The Princess and the Pea’ and ‘The Emperors New Clothes’.

 

Do you remember Dozzzy?  Why do you think the now 20 somethings have such fond memories of Dozzzy?  Why do you think Dozzzy had such a short run? Share your thoughts below!