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Dragon-i Toys is a merchandise company based in the United Kingdom[1] that has produced various toys based on the Talking Tom & Friends franchise.
Originally signing the licence with Outfit7 sometime around 2011, Dragon-i is mainly known for producing Talk-Back Animations (also known as Talk-Backs, Hero XLs,[2] XLs[3] or simply Animations), which are animatronic plush toys based upon the Talking Tom and Friends characters that are commonly advertised by their inclusion of app sounds. Their first line-up only featured the inclusion of Tom, Ben and later Gina. Due to the success of their products, Dragon-i has continued to renew their licence with Outfit7 yearly,[4][1] creating a new line up of toys until their most recent line up, a Talking Tom and Friends Minis set. Following that, Dragon-i has continued to reproduce old line ups under new packaging.
Line up[]
Talk Back Animations[]
2012[]
| Name | Image | Released | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Talking Tom Animation |  |
2012 | One of the three of the Original line up of toys, Talking Tom Animation uses Talking Tom Cat 2-based packaging which it shared with Talking Ben Animation in some retailers. Talking Tom Animation's main feature is replicating the Talking Tom Cat apps' repeating feature, where it can repeat what the user says to it after activating it by pressing the small red hand symbol on its hand. Other than that, the toy also borrows sounds from Talking Tom Cat and Talking Tom Cat 2, which it would play after the user touches either its forehead, right foot, or stomach. After 30 seconds of being active, the toy will deactivate. |
| Name | Image | Released | Summary |
| Talking Ben Animation |  |
2012 | One of the three of the original line up of toys, Talking Ben Animation uses Talking Ben the Dog-based packaging, though alternatively some releases shared the Talking Tom Cat 2 packaging with Talking Tom Animation. Talking Ben Animation's main feature is replicating Talking Ben the Dog's repeating feature, where it can repeat what the user says to it after activating it by pressing the small red hand symbol on its hand. Other than that, the toy also borrows sounds from Talking Ben the Dog and Talking Tom Cat 2, which it would play after the user touches either its forehead, right foot, or stomach. After 30 seconds of being active, the toy will deactivate. |
| Name | Image | Released | Summary |
| Talking Gina Animation |   |
2012 | One of the three of the original line up of toys, Talking Gina Animation is unique among the Talking Tom and Ben Animation toys. Released after Tom and Ben, but before the next line of toys, Talking Gina Animation features unique box art and box design for the toy to be able to fit inside. Talking Gina Animation's main feature is replicating Talking Gina the Giraffe's repeating feature, where it can repeat what the user says to it after activating it by pressing the small red hand symbol on its hand. Other than that, the toy also borrows sounds from Talking Gina the Giraffe, which it would play after the user touches either its forehead or stomach. After 30 seconds of being active, the toy will deactivate. |
2013[]
In 2013, Dragon-i released a new line of Talking Tom & Friends toys. Along with re-releasing Tom, Ben and Gina, this line includes additional characters; Ginger, Angela, Pierre and Santa.
| Name | Image | Released | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Talking Tom Animation |   |
2013 | Returning from the original line up of toys, Talking Tom Animation's overall appearance has been slightly updated. Talking Tom Animation's main feature is replicating the Talking Tom Cat apps' repeating feature, where it can repeat what the user says to it after activating it by pressing the small red hand symbol on its hand. Other than that, the toy also borrows sounds from Talking Tom Cat and Talking Tom Cat 2, which it would play after the user touches either its forehead, right foot, or stomach. After 30 seconds of being active, the toy will deactivate. |
| Name | Image | Released | Summary |
| Talking Ben Animation |   |
2013 | Returning from the original line up of toys, Talking Ben Animation has been slightly updated to shrink the size of Ben's eyes. Talking Ben Animation's main feature is replicating Talking Ben the Dog's repeating feature, where it can repeat what the user says to it after activating it by pressing the small red hand symbol on its hand. Other than that, the toy also borrows sounds from Talking Ben the Dog and Talking Tom Cat 2, which it would play after the user touches either its forehead, right foot, or stomach. After 30 seconds of being active, the toy will deactivate. |
| Name | Image | Released | Summary |
| Talking Gina Animation |   |
2013 | Returning from the original line up of toys, Talking Gina Animation's box has been slightly updated to include the current Talking Gina logo at the time. Talking Gina Animation's main feature is replicating Talking Gina the Giraffe's repeating feature, where it can repeat what the user says to it after activating it by pressing the small red hand symbol on its hand. Other than that, the toy also borrows sounds from Talking Gina the Giraffe, which it would play after the user touches either its forehead or stomach. After 30 seconds of being active, the toy will deactivate. |
| Name | Image | Released | Summary |
| Talking Ginger Animation |   |
2013 | A new addition for the 2013 line, Talking Ginger Animation uses Talking Ginger-based packaging. Talking Ginger Animation's main feature is replicating Talking Ginger's repeating feature, where it can repeat what the user says to it after activating it by pressing the small red hand symbol on its hand. Other than that, the toy also borrows sounds from Talking Ginger, which it would play after the user touches either its forehead, right foot, or stomach. After 30 seconds of being active, the toy will deactivate. |
| Name | Image | Released | Summary |
| Talking Angela Animation |   |
2013 | A new addition for the 2013 line, Talking Angela Animation uses Tom's Love Letters-based packaging. Talking Angela Animation's main feature is replicating other Talking Friends games' repeating feature, where it can repeat what the user says to it after activating it by pressing the small red hand symbol on its hand. The toy borrows sounds from Tom's Love Letters and Tom Loves Angela, along with having unique sounds. The Talking Angela Animation will play these sounds after the user touches either its forehead, right foot, or stomach After 30 seconds of being active, the toy will deactivate. |
| Name | Image | Released | Summary |
| Talking Pierre Animation |   |
2013 | A new addition for the 2013 line, Talking Pierre Animation uses Talking Pierre the Parrot-based packaging. Talking Pierre Animation's main feature is replicating Talking Pierre the Parrot's repeating feature, although the toy lacks the games' sentence mixing. The toy repeats what the user says to it after activating it by pressing the small red hand symbol on its hand. Other than that, the toy also borrows sounds from Talking Pierre the Parrot, which it would play after the user touches either its forehead, right foot, or stomach. After 30 seconds of being active, the toy will deactivate. The toy is actually quite rare. Only having been produced for a few years before stopping being made. He rarely ever shows up online and if he does hes usally expensive. |
| Name | Image | Released | Summary |
| Talking Santa Animation |   |
2013 | A new addition for the 2013 line, Talking Santa Animation uses Talking Santa-based packaging. Talking Santa Animation's main feature is replicating Talking Santa's repeating feature, where it can repeat what the user says to it after activating it by pressing the small red hand symbol on its hand. Other than that, the toy also borrows sounds from Talking Santa, which it would play after the user touches either its forehead, right foot, or stomach. After 30 seconds of being active, the toy will deactivate. |
2014[]
In 2014, three lines of Talk-Back Animation toys were released by Dragon-i; Regular, Mini, and XL. These lines only featured Tom, Ben, Ginger, and Angela, and discontinue Gina, Pierre, and Santa. All three of these lines would be re-released in 2023, under new packaging, with Tom being redesigned in 2015.
2015[]
Tom's redesign appeared, making him look more like his modern design at the time. He is still common to find to this day. Other than that, nothing else changed about the 2014 designs.
| Name | Image | Released | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Talking Tom
Animation |
  |
2015 |
Talk-Back Animations[]
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Talk-Back Minis[]
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Talk-Back XLs[]
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2020[]
Around 2020, Dragon-i Toys released a line based off the Talking Tom and Friends Minis show, despite the series being cancelled since 2018. This line also excludes Ginger, whom previous lines had featured. The technology of these toys is borrowed from the Mini Talk-Backs featured in the 2014 line.
2023[]
The updated box design for the 2014 line
In 2023, Dragon-i Toys re-released their 2014 line of Talk-Back Animations, including the main, Mini, and XL talk-backs, under new packaging using art from the official Talking Tom & Friends website.
Other[]
Toys with App Sounds[]
The Toys with App Sounds line
Around the time of the release of the Talk-Back Animation toys, Dragon-i also released a line up of Toys with App Sounds, which are alternative, cheaper toys that do not include the talk-back feature or sensors on the toys' body, instead simply making a sound when the red hand symbol on the toy is pressed.
The line includes Tom, Ben, Ginger, Angela, and Gina. While Ginger, Angela, and Gina only came in large size, Tom and Ben were released in three seperate sizes; S, M and L.[2] The Tom and Ben toys could also be purchased on the official Talking Tom and Friends Shop until its closure in late 2019.
Squeezers[]
The Squeezer line
Around the release of the Toys with App Sounds toys, Dragon-i also released a line of miniature toys called Squeezers. This line up only featured Tom and Ben, which would make app sounds upon being squeezed. After the release of Tom and Ben, this line up was not continued.
Key Rings[]
Strongly similar to the Squeezer toys, Dragon-i also released a line of Tom and Ben Key Rings in 2012 that could be purchased on the Talking Tom and Friends Shop. Also similar to the Squeezers, the toys would make app sounds upon being squeezed. Both toys costed $3.95 USD and could be purchased until the shop's closure in late 2019.
Canceled line[]
In 2013, a line of Talking Tom & Friends toys by Dragon-i was shown-off at a toy convention. This line not only promised to restock almost two-million exisiting toys, but the actual line of toys featured unreleased products such as a Talking Tom backpack and extra-large Tom. While Dragon-i would continue to restock their Talking Friends line until it was replaced in 2014, this additional line would never see a release.[5]
Availability[]
Dragon-i Toys' Talking Tom & Friends products main retailer was the official Talking Tom and Friends Shop (originally known as Talking Shop), which would sell all Talking Tom & Friends products the company produced until its closure in late 2019. That aside, most of their products would be sent out to various retailers across English and Russian territories, with the toys most frequently being sold in Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States.
A Talking Angela Animation in the unique Tesco box
A notable example of a retailer that sold Dragon-i's Talking Tom & Friends products is Tesco, which around 2013, offered its own unique packaging for the toys - blue box art that simply read "Talking Friends Animation" for all characters rather than them having their own unique art. That aside, other worldwide stores, such as Target or Walmart, can also be found officially offering the toys.
Trivia[]
- During the Superstars Hit Hollywood event in 2012, several Dragon-i Talking Friends products were sold alongside the Superstar toys at the mobile Talking Shop featured there.[6]
- In 2014, the official Talking Tom YouTube channel released several live-action shorts which use the Dragon-i Talk-Backs as the Talking Tom & Friends characters they are based on.
- The 2013 Dragon-i Talking Tom Animation Talk-Back was featured in an commercial promoting the retailer Smyths.
External links[]
- 2012 Talking Friends Talk-Back Animation commercial
- 2014 Talking Tom and Friends Talk-Back Animation commercial
- 2020 Talking Tom and Friends Minis Talk-Back commercial (Croatian)
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 https://kidscreen.com/2014/10/02/outfit7-renews-talking-tom-licensee/
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 http://web.archive.org/web/20160912131216/http://talkingfriends.com/collections/plush-toys
- ↑ https://www.facebook.com/TalkingTom/photos/a.199670036718092/562255133792912/?type=3
- ↑ https://kidscreen.com/2013/12/20/dragon-i-to-bring-more-talking-toys-to-kids-next-year/
- ↑ https://youtube.com/watch?v=sDG6CLXXR8A?s
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20130904224852/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAFLT9N6joI