I wouldn't have written this page if Dream Jelly on YouTube didn't post a video on electronic pets featuring it. I haven't heard of this robot before, and it is very obscure. I do wonder what commands other than "Bark" it responds to, since there is no copy of the manual online.
The earliest electronic pets that could actually interact with you, which I knew of before hearing about this toy, were Phonetica One's electronic pets from the 80s that have voice recognition. However, it's not clear if Phonetica was able to fulfill any of their orders for the toys, or if the toys went unreleased. Phonetica's animatronic toys were supposed to have come out in 1987; this bot, however, seems to have been released in 1986.
Wrinkles — A Barking Panting Pet is an obscure robot dog by Playtime Products. Despite the box mentioning 1981 and 1984 where the copyright information is, the toy appears to be from 1986. Some words beneath the toy on its battery lid say: WRINKLES: © 1984, 1986 GANZ BROS. TOYS. LIC. BY UFS, INC
"Wrinkles" is actually the name of a toy franchise owned by Ganz Brothers. Plush toys, figures, and other types of merch were sold for the franchise.
Wrinkles resembles a brown hound dog with a wrinkly muzzle. The toy is a flocked, plastic figure with a pair of plastic eyes, a large, round, brown nose, and a pink tongue that sticks out. Its eyes have large, black pupils with a brown ring around them. The center of each eye appears to have a circular dent. The legs of the figure remind me of those that a teddy bear has (short and round!). The toy has speaker holes on its back.
The toy pants when you touch its head, barks, and moves its tongue. According to the box and manual, it also responds to voice commands. A video shows it bark when given the command, "Bark".
Above is a toy fair display by Harold Shull, featuring a Wrinkles toy with much darker fur and a red tongue. It's unknown if the toy was actually sold in this color variation.
A radio by Playtime Products was sold, featuring a figure of Wrinkles that reuses the same design as the electronic toy. The base of the toy says "© 1986", which seems to further support the assumption that the toy came out that year.
@toyextraordineire Wrinkles Dog (It’ll always be Puppies to me 🤭) from the 1980s . . . #wrinkles #electronictoy #wrinklesthedog #80snostalgia #80skidswillremember #toysofthe80s #80stoysarethebesttoys ♬ original sound - Toy ExtraordinEire
All images on here were archived from listings.