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Poo-Chi

Poo-Chi
Poo-Chi
Poo-Chi
Manufacturer Sega Toys
Inventor Samuel James Lloyd
Matt Lucas
Year of creation April 1, 2000; 16 years ago (2000-04-01)
Price 3,980 yen (Japan)
$24.99 United States
Type Robot dog

Poo-Chi (or Poochi, Poochie), one of the first generations of robopet toys, is a robot dog designed by Samuel James Lloyd and Matt Lucas, manufactured by Sega Toys, and distributed by Tiger Toys. Poo-Chi was released in 2000 and discontinued in 2002.

Sega Toys' Poo-Chi hit markets on 1 April 2000, with Hasbro's Tiger Electronics distributing the toy in all countries other than Japan and Korea. Retailing at a price of 3,980 yen (then the equivalent of $38 USD) in Japan and $24.99 in the United States, the toy offered significantly cheaper competition to the AIBO's prices of up to 250,000 yen (then $2,400 USD). At the time, Hasbro's sales in their leading Furby line were slowing since its initial release in 1998 and sales of Star Wars branded merchandise was in decline. The Poo-Chi's release was a success, selling over 10 million units worldwide over the span of 8 months since its initial debut.

Special editions of the Poo-Chi soon sprouted, such as the 102 Dalmatians holiday release of three Poo-Chis resembling the characters Domino, Little Dipper, and Oddball. In addition to special editions, an upgraded version, the Super Poo-Chi, and differing breeds of the Poo-Chi were released (all of which could communicate together), along with spin-offs such as the Meow-Chi and the Chirpy-Chi. Miniature versions were featured as toys in the McDonald's Happy Meal.

Poo-Chi stopped selling in 2002, having been replaced by FurReal Friends.

The original Poo-Chi had a gray body with ears, tail, and leg joints of either purple, blue, pink or green colour. With four legs allowing the toy to stand up or lie down, it utilized a red LED display as eyes to show emotion.

The Christmas Special Edition Poo-Chi was offered for a limited time, coloured red and white with snowflake designs throughout the body, ears, with an interactive bone included in its seasonal box. The toy had its list of songs updated to include Christmas music. The Christmas Special Edition was only available in a handful of countries and retailed for 2–3 months, making it the rarest and most collectible of the genre with collectors realizing in excess of $300 USD for boxed Christmas Poo-Chi units.


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