By Andrew Liszewski
Alphie II was another one of those 80’s toys I never owned, but it still brings back fond memories of my childhood. It was a robot-looking learning toy that used index cards and a series of buttons to teach math, colors and other basic skills, with a healthy mix of robotic sound effects thrown in for good measure. Now those of you who owned an Alphie II might have assumed he died a slow death buried in the back of your closet, but it turns out he’s back! And slightly better than ever!
The new Alphie’s biggest upgrade is an LCD display where his light-up eyes used to be, providing him with a wider range of facial expressions instead of just the goofy grin of his predecessors. He’s also learned to talk, though the upgrades seem to stop there since he’s apparently still content to rely on buttons and index cards which teach everything from the alphabet to rhyming to animal names and countless other preschool-friendly lessons. He’ll be available sometime in the Fall for $39.99 and will come with 30 double-sided index cards which include over 350 questions and challenges.
