Abstract

A real time conversational verbal interactive toy apparatus capable of providing a conversational type playback response to an interrogatory message from a removably insertable magnetic storage medium which comprises a plurality of coextensive multipurpose audio tracks contained in a housing includes parallel connected switch banks for directly selecting one of the tracks for reproducing the selected information stored thereon, such as a particular category, which may vary, of multiple choice response to the interrogatory message with the particular category of response being contained in the interrogatory message. Additional descriptive information on the answered interrogatory message may simultaneously be provided by selection of one track while the other selected tracks are capable of providing responsive messages to the next interrogatory message, with all of the tracks being spatially related in time along the length thereof. A single track movable playback head, movable to the track selected in accordance with the user's selection may be provided for such selected information reproduction. Removable indicia bearing templates corresponding to the various selectable purposes or multiple choice categories of the tracks are utilized on a robot-like housing for the toy in order to correctly designate the purposes of the switches in the switch banks with respect to a particular multitrack storage medium, which may be varied in accordance with the multitrack storage medium being employed at a given time.