Customer Reviews

Hasbro Playskool T.J. Bearytales Animated Plush Bear

5 star:		(46)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

One of the best toys I've seen in ages for young children. In a world where video games have taken over, this little fellow is a true joy. Right out of the box, my son was engaged by the story and could not stop playing with the bear. Although not cuddly, this toy seems to keep his attention and I had to go out to get a few more books. Great for independent play, he can read right along with TJ. The stories are simple and well written. Just perfect for his age. I have several nephews and nieces in the age range and I think this will make a great present for the holidays.

I'm one of those parents that gets excited about new toys for the kids. I was a bit skeptical of this toy. The price was mostly what put me off, not that it was too expensive, but I had already spent too much money on my kids for Christmas. The other reason I was skeptical was because I hadn't been able to listen to the bear, no display in the store or anything. I listened on the web, but that's not quite the same thing as listening to the actual toy. But, I went ahead and bought it.

First let me say, I read the review from the speech pathologist and I can't disagree more about this bears speech. He pronounces everything quite correctly!!

There are a few things I like about this bear.....

1. It changes it's voice through out the story, so when Mama bear is saying something it sounds like a different voice.
2. There's a dong and a pause when I need to turn the page on the book. Thank you for thinking of us Mom's not getting the page turned quickly enough.
3. There's a pause button!!! This comes in very handy when my daughter suddenly decides she needs to go potty.
4. There are interactive toys that come with some of the books. At first my daughter didn't know what to make of them, but once she saw the camera in action in the bears hands, she was completely enthralled by it.
5. The books are thin, but sturdy. Mind you, I won't let my daughter just make off with the books, she's still young enough to tear them if she put her mind to it. But, they are sturdy enough that if my 1 year old son bounded along, he wouldn't do much damage before I could rescue the book.
6. He's very animated, eyes move, ears move, arms are constantly moving. This doesn't seem to impress my daughter so much, but the movement really gets my sons attention and he will sit in on story time now too.


Couple of downsides to the bear, but they wouldn't prevent me from purchasing this toy all over again.

The bear I purchased came with a card board trunk that I could put the cartridges in. It has about enough room for the camera that came with it and a few cartridges. My only wish would be to buy a better trunk that had specific storage for the books, the cartridges and the interactive toys that come with the stories. I'm improvising right now, but would love something meant for this bear.

The bear has an activities mode and it sings and has some activities. We haven't gotten very far in to them, for some reason my kids are only interested in listening to him sing his songs and read the stories. Maybe that will change with time.

Lastly, I won't let my kids play with this bear unsupervised. I would be concerned about them being too rough with it and breaking it. I know how rough my kids are with toys and I don't know if this bear would hold up to it and at the price it cost, I don't want to test out the theory. It's a great toy for me to get out and sit with my kids and have story time with them!!

There is something magical about TJ Bearytales. We bought him for our son for this coming Christmas and wanted to let our 18-month-old try him out before putting him away until December. He was absolutely entranced! He would laugh hysterically whenever TJ says something silly and the rest of the time would just listen intently. My active little one rarely sits still long enough for me to read him a book, but TJ has no trouble keeping my son's attention. My husband and I are also quite attached to TJ as we've already learned all his songs and enjoy singing along with him, even after our son has gone to bed! We decided to pack TJ up for a long nap until Christmas, but we are ALL excited to see him again on Christmas morning! There are not enough toys like this on the market. The props that come with certain books are a great idea, too. One thing I will say is use caution buying this for a child under the recommended age. TJ is well made but the wires in his arms are quite small and I imagine would break easily if your child tries to carry him this way. His legs are poseable but he can't really stand up because he is rather heavy. His fur is super soft though and he is just adorable in person! Highly recommended for your little adventurers!!

I recently went looking for a special toy for my 4 year old. She has never really engaged with any of her other toys. She always wants to be right beside me all of the time. We enjoy our time together, but I was really looking for something that would help her in becomming more independant. TJ was just the ticket!!! She loves this toy. She listens to the stories and actually comprehends what they are teaching. She especially loves to go pick out new books to read. She is able to turn the pages and follow along with the story. I actually caught her moving her finger along with the words as TJ read the story. I like TJ myself because of the story behind the story. TJ gets a package from his grandfather for his birthday in the first story that is programmed into him (no cartridge required). After that, you are learning about the different adventures that they went on as well as some new thing that TJ can store in the memory box for himself. I highly recommend this for young children.

Our 3-year old "reads" along with TJ and loves every story. Easy to use, she can change stories by herself. Little brother thinks TJ is quite the comedian.
The more stories, the better: found myself singing "Safari, Safari..." on my way to work today!

I think the problem may be in a certain speech-language pathologist's hearing. Listen for yourself on this site. The bear enunciates better than my husband! (Sorry honey) He changes his voice as he reads the story, but neither my sister or I could detect this "speech impediment".
It's a cute toy and reminds me of a modern, cuter version of Teddy Ruxpin.

I, too, am not fond of modeling improper speech to children, for the sake of entertainment-which is a non-issue in this case. We are excited to give this to our niece this Christmas.

We bought this bear for our daughter's 4th b-day and she loves it. She sings along with the songs and you can hear her singing the birthday song that is built in without TJ having to be up and going.

Both my nieces were also very intersted in him so they are getting ones for their birthday as well, they are 1 and 2 years old.

I want to start by saying that I am a sucker for those animated toys, such as Furby and FurReal friends and am always buying them for my 4 year old daughter on her birthday or for Christmas. While shopping for this holiday, I saw this on the shelf and figured it was cute so I would give it a try. I thought $50 was a little steep, until my daughter started to play with it. Now I lament all the money I wasted on all those other "animated" toys. TJ Bearytales is truly animated. His eyes open and close, his ears wiggle, his mouth moves, and his arms are always gesturing. He reads each story with a very cute and clear voice. I absolutely did not hear any mispronunciation at all so I am guessing those problems must have been with earlier models. In the background, there are even sound effects pertaining to the story. He truly is absorbing to watch and my daughter loves it. I like that I can keep buying books for TJ so he will always stay fresh and new. TJ is a really neat toy and one of the few out there that actually seems to be worth the money. I think that if more people had known what a neat toy this was, it would have been THE toy to have this holiday season! I highly recommend TJ Bearytales.

I was skeptical about this bear holding my son's attention span for very long. TJ proved me wrong. He's completely adorable and very animated and his stories seem to come to life. Excellent purchase and well worth the money spent. Would recommend this toy to anyone. Also...there is no speech impediment!

My son got this for Christmas last year, he was 3 1/2 at the time. He was so intrigued by the talking bear, for a little while. Then, one day I went in his room and found TJ facing the wall so I turned him around. Next day, same thing. Then my son would ask me to put on a story, but demand I took him away as soon as the story was over. I must agree this bear can be a little creepy, but it still saves me from reading stories every night. Also, the animatronic motion makes a louder noise than I expected although I would still recommend it.