# Why does this toy start working on its own? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 19, 2003, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-toy-start-working-on-its-own/196173 "2003-08-19T10:15:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2003, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-toy-start-working-on-its-own/196173/1 "2003-08-19T10:15:55Z")
Mr. Rilch and I have one of those Simpsons “arenas”. You know, where you put the figures atop the electronic stumps; then you push the button and they “talk”. We have KrustyLu Studios, with Krusty, Homer and Sideshow Bob. It’s downstairs, and, as I said in another thread recently, because this office is a loft, I can hear pretty much everything that happens downstairs. Every once in a while, **when there’s no one downstairs** , I will hear “Well, if it isn’t my old nemisis, Bart Simpson!” or “Ohhh, I get it! [heh heh] I get jokes!” Doesn’t happen every night, but it happens. So what do you suppose is causing it? ---
**Author:** ![AbbySthrnAccent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@AbbySthrnAccent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AbbySthrnAccent)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2003, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-toy-start-working-on-its-own/196173/2 "2003-08-19T10:38:46Z")
It’s the Toy Story Effect. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![miamouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ad7895/32.png) [@miamouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miamouse)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2003, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-toy-start-working-on-its-own/196173/3 "2003-08-19T12:17:03Z")
Our kids toys do this all the time. It’s probably gotten wet, and the water is making the electrical connection. ---
**Author:** ![Optihut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/edb3f5/32.png) [@Optihut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Optihut)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2003, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-toy-start-working-on-its-own/196173/4 "2003-08-19T12:35:56Z")
It´s a talking Krusty doll? Does it have a switch that is currently set to “evil”? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![merge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9f8e36/32.png) [@merge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/merge)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2003, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-toy-start-working-on-its-own/196173/5 "2003-08-19T13:38:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Optihut \* > \*\*It´s a talking Krusty doll? Does it have a switch that is currently set to “evil”? 😉 \*\* lol… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![pestie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e5b9ba/32.png) [@pestie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pestie)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2003, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-toy-start-working-on-its-own/196173/6 "2003-08-19T16:00:13Z")
Does this happen during thunderstorms? I’ve actually witnessed toys being triggered by the electromagnetic pulse from a lightning bolt, even though the lightning wasn’t very close by. ---
**Author:** ![Inky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7feea3/32.png) [@Inky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inky_1)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2003, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-toy-start-working-on-its-own/196173/7 "2003-08-19T16:17:31Z")
I’m thinking Pestie’s right. I used to have a set of goofy little Japanese toys that used the same ‘smart chips’ that are in the Simpsons toys, and they were always getting triggered by stuff like the dimmer switch on my lamp and the mercury switch in my thermostat. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2003, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-toy-start-working-on-its-own/196173/8 "2003-08-19T23:03:47Z")
**Abby** : If that were the case, I should think they’d say something other than what they’re programmed to say. **miamouse** : It’s on a high shelf, so I don’t see how it can have gotten wet. No, we don’t have any leaks, either. **Optihut** : That’s the first thing I checked for ;). No switch at all. **pestie** : I live in LA; we don’t have electrical storms. This morning, it happened several times in succession, again when no one was in the room with it. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2003, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-toy-start-working-on-its-own/196173/9 "2003-08-20T00:06:15Z")
A few years ago in the middle of the night, I was awakened by the strangest sound. It was a combination growling/whining noise. The sound would happen at random times and lengths. I thought it might be some cats outside the bedroom window but I had never heard a cat sound like that. The noise finally woke my wife 10 minutes after it woke me and it scared her. I went to the window and listened. The noise was not outside. The sounds would last only a few seconds so it was stop and start in my search. I open a small drawer in my dresser and suddenly a cheap electronic game my wife had given to me sprung to life. RRRRRRHHHHHHRRRHHRH. The screen dimly lit then it went out. The power switch was still in the off position. I turned it on and the game sprung to life. I turned it off and it stayed on. I hit it, slapped it, and slammed it on the dresser, it continued to mock me with it’s cheap electronic engine sounds. I had to find a jewelers screwdriver to remove the battery in order to shut the thing up. I never did figure out why it turned itself on. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2003, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-toy-start-working-on-its-own/196173/10 "2003-08-20T03:38:23Z")
I saw that happen in “Close Encounters.” Maybe you have an alien infestation. Quick, Ma, the Flit! ---
**Author:** ![Trigonal\_Planar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/0ea827/32.png) [@Trigonal\_Planar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trigonal_Planar)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2003, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-toy-start-working-on-its-own/196173/11 "2003-08-20T05:23:58Z")
I just wanted to confirm that a stray electric field (such as would exist during a lightning strike) can indeed induce these toys to turn on. My tesla coil does it all the time 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dijon\_Warlock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9a28c/32.png) [@Dijon\_Warlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dijon_Warlock)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2003, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-toy-start-working-on-its-own/196173/12 "2003-08-20T09:47:03Z")
Poltergeists. ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2003, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-this-toy-start-working-on-its-own/196173/13 "2003-08-20T11:43:45Z")
i just want to add that my pda does that too.