Talkboy is a line of handheld voice recorder and sound novelty toys manufactured by Tiger Electronics in the 1990s. The brand began as a result of a promotional tie-in with the 1992 film Home Alone 2: Lost in New York; the most well-known product was the Deluxe Talkboy, a cassette recorder and player with a variable-speed voice changer that caused toy crazes over several holiday shopping seasons beginning in 1993.
The Talkboy was originally conceived as a prop for Home Alone 2 for the lead character Kevin MacCallister to use to outsmart adults. At the request of writer John Hughes and distributor 20th Century Fox, Tiger designed and built the prop. The company was given permission by the movie studio to sell a retail version of the toy, and it released two cassette recorders modeled after the film prop in 1992 and 1993, respectively. The original model did not have the voice changer of the film version and sold only moderately during the 1992 holiday shopping season. Tiger added the feature to the Deluxe model, which was released in April 1993. Following the release of Home Alone 2 on home video in July and a cross-promotion with Life cereal, interest in the toy spiked. Retailers had severely underestimated demand, and as a result the Deluxe Talkboy was one of the most highly sought-after toys during the 1993 holiday shopping season, selling out of stores across the United States. The product continued to be a best-seller in subsequent holiday shopping seasons. A pink version of the cassette recorder called Deluxe Talkgirl was released in 1995.
The success of the Talkboy cassette recorders spawned a product line of electronic sound novelty toys, including a phone, walkie talkies, and a radio. For subsequent recording devices, Tiger transitioned to digital technology, using solid-state storage and adding sound effects, beginning with Talkboy/Talkgirl F/X+ pens in 1995, which sold more than a million units in 45 days.
Origin as movie prop
The original Talkboy model was a cassette player and recorder that was conceived as a prop for the 1992 film Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. In the film, the main character Kevin McCallister (played by Macaulay Culkin) uses the Talkboy to outsmart adults; he successfully makes a reservation at the Plaza Hotel by slowing his voice down with the toy's variable-speed voice changer to pass himself off as an adult, and later he records incriminating statements by the burglars Marv and Harry.
Originally, writer John Hughes specified in his script only that a futuristic recording device would be needed; he and the film's distributor 20th Century Fox wanted something that was realistic yet appeared to be cutting edge. Nancy Overfield-Delmar, the vice president of marketing for 20th Century Fox licensing and merchandising, said: "It was important to John that Kevin not use something already out in the marketplace. Kevin has to be one step ahead of other kids."
Weeks before filming on Home Alone 2 was scheduled to begin, the toy-licensing deal for the film that Overfield was negotiating with Mattel fell through. Forced to find a last-minute replacement, she turned to toy licensee Tiger Electronics. Overfield knew the company's co-founder and executive vice president Roger Shiffman from a previous licensing deal for the cartoon Bobby's World. Shiffman was persuaded to sign a deal to produce Home Alone 2s toys, which also included "Monster Sap" spraying goo and a screaming backpack, with the promise of escalating royalty payments that would limit the risk to Tiger Electronics.
To design the as-yet-undeveloped recorder prop, Hughes and Shiffman met at Shiffman's office several times after 20th Century Fox made an introduction between the two. Hughes's original concept in the script was for Kevin "to have a gun", but Shiffman thought it was impractical since the character would need to travel with it through O'Hare International Airport in the movie. Shiffman told Hughes to let him work on the idea, and his team at Tiger subsequently built a prototype in three weeks. The ensuing design for the Talkboy featured a handle that would allow the device to slide onto a hand and a retracting microphone so it would look "more lifelike".