Does anybody remember this toy?

[Rooksie]

When I was a kid, I had a toy that basically was like a watch (I think?) which scanned the barcodes on items. In the codes that it scanned, it would find creatures, like fairies and mermaids etc. It also had some mini games on it, including a picture puzzle where you had to move the pieces into an image (I think it was the image of one of the creatures that were found?)

There was a girl's version and boy's version, from maybe around the mid 2000s? Naturally, I had the girl's version and loved that thing to bits.

But then I went and lost it...

I have no idea what that thing was called (I'm pretty sure it wasn't Scannerz, unless they had something similar to what I'm describing?). I've been pining for it ever since though, so if it rings any bells please end my suffering! It's been nearly 20 years now!!!

 

[Penguin-keeper]

Ooh, this sounds like an interesting quest! It sounds like a much smaller version of the 1990s Epoch/Tomy toy, Barcode Battler (which was sold with the laughable on-box subtitle "Commerce Conflict" ), though with that the creatures were never shown on-screen and it was entirely a game of numbers (the British press overhyped it as being superior to the Game Boy and Game Gear because it would help kids with maths - that didn't help its sales ).

I'm doing a bit of searching because I've never heard of this one, or of Skannerz, but it doesn't look like Skannerz ever came in a "for girls" version or a watch version, so I guess that you can rule that one out.

Do you remember anything else about it at all? I'd love to help out if possible.

EDIT: The closest thing that I've found so far seems to be Barbie Scanimals Pet Rescue - could it perhaps have been an offshoot of this? (It was produced by the same company as Skannerz - an electronic toy manufacturer called Radica.)

 

[Rooksie]

You know what, I actually think that might be it! Thank you so much!

I never would have thought it was a Barbie toy! And all these years I thought it was a watch (in my defense, like I said, it was a long time ago and I was VERY young)!

But the puzzle game matches up, and I remember the sheet that came with it with all the character sprites. It actually looks like a fun toy (a bit less gimmicky than I thought it would be)!

Shame nobody on the internet appears to be selling them...

Also, the big question: what the heck was the "boy's version" I remember seeing? Probably the aforementioned Scannerz...

 

[Penguin-keeper]

I think that your recollection of it stacked up extremely well considering how long ago you said that it was! I mean, I was a complete outsider to these particular toys, and I was able to find information based on your description.

I can easily see why you thought that it was a watch - the concept is perfect for one. I would've flipped for something like that when I was a kid, because I find this sort of thing interesting, and I've always loved watch gadgets.

As for the "boys' version", I'm going to have to agree that it must've been Skannerz - they were from the same company after all, and I can easily imagine the Argos catalogue, or similar, putting them both on the same page and pitching them as "for girls" and "for boys" versions.

 

[Eozeda]

Oh my gosh I remember Skannerz! I had two, a blue and a green, however I could rarely get them to work. Probably because I went to work on all the canned items in our pantry which have rounded labels instead of better-suited flat.  That was the first device i thought this thread was about, but I distinctly remembered them not being "girly" for whatever that even meant to me.