Entertainment

Kelsey McNeal/ABC

'Shark Tank's Toymail Is A Must-Have For Kids

by Zakiya Jamal

Every week on Shark Tank entrepreneurs bring their ideas and their products to the sharks in the tank (so to speak), in the hopes that any of the "sharks" will invest money in their idea. The current sharks are Barbara Corcoran, Daymond John, Mark Cuban, Kevin O'Leary, Robert Herjavec, and Lori Greiner, all of whom are titans of industry. On Friday's new episode, Gauri Nanda will present her product, Toymail, to them and many people may be wondering where they can buy the Shark Tank's Toymail for their own kids. But let's be honest, they're probably going to want to play with the product as well. (No judgements here!)

According to SharkTankBlog, Toymail is a "wifi enabled plush toy that can send and receive messages with an app enabled smart phone." Nanda hopes the toy, which is said to be like a modern-day walkie talkie, will change the way children are able to communicate. Nanda and co-creator Audry Hill started Toymail back in 2012, according to the site AllSharkTankProducts.com, and the toy allows kids and their parents to easily record and send messages anytime to each other. Therefore, rather than giving a kid a phone, you can simply give them a Toymail instead (and hopefully save your own phone from getting dropped or thrown across the room).

By connecting with the app, parents can easily send a message to the toy and vice-versa, keeping them in contact without the distraction a phone could bring to a child thanks to the world wide web. Additionally, because the toy makes it so that kids can only communicate with those who have the app and are connected to the toy, this avoids the possibility of them talking to strangers.

Kelsey McNeal/ABC

Toymail comes in the form of a shark, bat, or a dinosaur and comes in three different sizes, ranging from "Weensie" to "Talkie." The Talkie is the most complex of the bunch, with three different modes that allow parents and kids to: record in different voices, set reminders for kids, and give special incentives for kids to keep in touch throughout the day.

Sounds pretty great, right? And luckily, it comes at a pretty affordable price. The toys' prices range from $10 for a "Teensie" all the way up to $59.00 for a "Talkie" and can be purchased on the Toymail website or on Amazon (it's even available for one-day shipping for Prime members). You can see the toys in action and learn more about the product when Nanda appears on Shark Tank on Friday, Feb. 17 at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.