Y is for Yak Bak

Full series and process: 90s TOYpography
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The 90’s were all about audio toys. First came the TalkBoy. The Talkboy actually originated as a fictional toy, costarring with Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. He uses his then-prop Talkboy toy to record his voice and slow its speed to change the pitch. Apparently it makes him sound adult enough to check into a hotel or something. Fans went so nuts for the Talkboy, that hundreds wrote letters begging for a full-scale release of the toy. Tiger Electronics abided and churned out a real working handheld version of the once-fake toy.

Then came the Yak Bak, the cooler sleeker cousin of the Talkboy. It was developed by Yes! Entertainment in 1994. The first version of the Yak Bak had only two buttons “Say” and “Play," and could only record 6 seconds of sound. It was the Vine of ’90s audio toys.

We also have Yak Bak to thank for one of the most annoying commercials in the history of the world, showing two siblings in a back and forth argument of “Is not!” and “Is too!” This was when the toy had the slogan of “Yak Bak gives you the last word!” Despite this terrible commercial, Yak Bak certainly got the last word, making $38 million sales in its first year.