OK, here's my confession.  I am a big fan of everyone's favorite furry little monster, Elmo.  Not only is he incredibly cute, but he's incredibly well marketed, and yes, innovative.

I had an Elmo TMX while it was completely unavailable (it was a gift).  It was probably one of the coolest toys I've ever seen.  And the envy factor from other friends (including adults!) was huge. Fisher Price's Elmo Premium lines have become the Apple of the toy market.  Buckets of hype drive incredible demand while low supplies drive incredible desire.

Last night, I came across a video of the new Elmo (see below) - featured at the NY Toy Show.  This Blows My Mind.  It's cute, it's cuddly, it has personality, and it is going to be all over popular media when it is released.  I don't want to know how much this is going to cost, all I can tell you is that the lines are going to be insane, and parents will be gladly emptying their wallets. 

On that note, my 7 month old son is going to be growing up with a different expectation of his toys.  I expected GIJoe to have accessories, and I expected his arms and legs to randomly pop off.  My son is going to expect his toys to have an active personality.  Elmo is bringing robotics to a new generation. 

Elmo is becoming everything that my good old Teddy Ruxpin should have become.

Check out the video below (many more videos here):

Now compare that to Teddy Ruxpin (video below)