third_generation

This was the last Teddy Ruxpin model made by Worlds of Wonder.
This Teddy has some major differences from the other two models.
For one it is the lightest model, and uses batteries more efficient. It's
upgraded circuit board contains many revisions including a better
Teddy/Grubby connection. The plastic tape player is nearly identical
to the second generation bear and the "spring" problem of the 2nd
generation bear continues. This bear has a hinged battery cover,
designed to prevent lose of the battery cover. As this was the last
model, this hinged battery cover is harder to find as it was produced
for a short period of time. Please note that a regular battery cover will
work fine for this bear so if you are unable to find a hinged one, an
older battery cover will work just fine. One problem with this battery
cover is that it has tabs (see below) sometimes making it difficult to
get the battery door to shut with the batteries in. Often you have to
reposition the batteries to clear these tabs. It also makes putting in
and taking out the batteries a little more difficult. This bear was
impossible for little child hands to get the batteries in and out without
breaking the battery cover, making it an adult task. The hinged
battery cover is easily detachable, in fact over time with wear, this
hinge wears down and the battery cover becomes loose anyway. If
you compare the mouth pieces of this bear to the 1st and 2nd
generation bear you can see they are quite different. With the 1st and
2nd generation bear, you have the illusion of being able to "look
down" Teddy's throat. As you can see the 3rd generation bear has
tabs at the back of the mouth pieces that prevent you from
seeing"down Teddy's throat. Generally these mouth pieces are not
interchangable with the 1st and 2nd generation bears without
substantial modification. As you can see, with this model, they did
away with the middle servo motor. The upper mouth is spring
connected to the lower mouth with the lower mouth being the only
part to contact the servo motor. This springs are hard to find and
many are rusty. If you should have a Teddy to repair whose spring
has come off, make sure you save the spring and send it along when
you get Teddy repaired. Along with the good features of the 2 servo
model (better battery life and less motor noise during animation) there
is a down side. As you can see they merely left the 3rd servo motor
out, making this Teddy vulnerable to facial frame break when the nose
and mouth pieces are pushed in, as when Teddys face is sat on or
when he is face down on a hard surface and pressure is applied to his
back. Bottom line, don't sit on or step on Teddy's head! Once the
facial frame breaks, Teddy's features will not work as they shift inside
and lose contact with the servo motors. There also is a least 2
versions of the servo motors used in Teddy and Grubby. The first
type was a gear/mesh driven servo and these were quite noisy. The
newer servos had a pulley type drive that was much quieter and less
prone to "lubricant leakage" which shorted out earlier servo models.
You will note that as these bears are repaired several times, since the
servo motors are interchangable, it is not unusual to find later servo
models in 1st generation bears. Sometimes Teddy restores do this to
try to quiet the motor noise of the earlier versions of Teddy.