VTech Smart Start Learning Toy, Abandoned in Minnesota

VTech's Smart Start was a battery-powered learning toy marketed in the 1980s to teach preschool-age children colors, numbers, and basic letters through a simplified keyboard interface. The company, originally known as Video Technology and based in Hong Kong, built the line as part of its early expansion into educational electronics for children under six. Color-coded keys and a small LCD screen guided kids through matching games rather than true programming, positioning Smart Start below VTech's more advanced computer-style toys for older children. VTech later grew into one of the world's largest makers of electronic learning toys, though units like this one were commonly discarded once newer models took their place.

Photo taken in April 2009.