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That's So '80s Entrepreneurs revive hit products of the past.

By Erika Kotite

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Remember MS-DOS and Madonna gloves? As the '80s passes into nostalgia heaven, some entrepreneurs are bringing back products that defined the era for a second chance.

A Bear Market
Once upon a time in the mid-1980s, a plush teddy bear with an audiocassette in his back caused a frenzy in toy stores. Teddy Ruxpin was the first interactive child's toy: His lips moved in time with stories that played on cassette. "He was a unique toy with a lot of play value," says Ed Hames, 45, president and founder of
BackPack Toys Inc. in Peterborough, New Hampshire. Unfortunately, Ruxpin's play value couldn't outlast the plummeting stock value of toy company Worlds of Wonder.

BackPack Toys is intent on bringing Teddy into the digital age, with a small, 1-by-2-inch cartridge and a sleeker physique for Teddy.

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