History Franchise / LeapFrog

* {{Expy}}: Both VideoGame/JumpStart and [=LeapFrog=] feature (or, in [=JumpStart's=] case [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome featured]]) similar-looking fireflies[[note]]the [=JumpStart=] version's pre-2000-or-so incarnation doesn't look like [=LeapFrog=]'s Edison, but the post-2000 incarnation does[[/note]] named Edison who are best friends with frogs, and a cat named Casey. The question is, who's Expy-ing off whom?

* {{Catchphrase}}: "Time to change your batteries!" "Thanks for learning with Leap Frog. Bye-bye!"

* SuddenlyVoiced: [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-Zagging]] for Scout. He does not talk in his first appearance on the [=ClickStart=] educational computer, but the next toy that features him, the eponymously-titled ''My Pal Scout'', has him voiced. And then he does not talk when he made his animated [=DVD=] debut in the ''The Amazing Alphabet Amusement Park'' and ''Numbers Ahoy'' [=DVDs=], but said [=DVD=] has extras that are not part of the story where he ''sings''. And then, comes the Scout and Friends videos...

They are also well known for the ''[=LeapFrog=] Learning Friends'', characters originally created for materials to be used for products such as [=LeapPad=] learning systems, but has since been spun-off to be used in various other toys and even [[WesternAnimation/LeapFrog animated DVD releases]].

[=LeapFrog=] Enterprises is a toy and publishing company based in Emeryville, California, founded by former Cooley LLP attorney Michael Wood in 1995 after coming up with a way to aid in his son's reading lessons. The company specializes in educational toys and electronics. They are primarily known for the [=LeapPad=], an electronic talking book device, the Leapster - a handheld gaming console with the processing power that's about equivalent to a UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance, and the Fly Pentop computer, which somehow gained popularity in the business and computing world (the creator of the Fly left [=LeapFrog=] and created the Livescribe enhanced pens in 2009).

They are also well known for the ''[=LeapFrog=] Learning Friends'', characters originally created for materials to be used with the [=LeapPad=], but has since been spun-off to be used in various other toys and even [[WesternAnimation/LeapFrog animated DVD releases]].

* ChildrenVoicingChildren: Scout (and Violet, to an extent) were originally voiced by Charlie Ibsen, who was 9 years old when he started. The UK releases also played this straight. This however is averted with later Scout/Violet toys, as well as the DVDs.

* PutOnABus: Everyone that is not Leap, Tad, Lily or Edison when ''Let's Go To School'' was produced. Heck, shortly before that point, it seemed that the entire ''Learning Friends'' crew was put on the bus in favor of keeping only Scout and Violet around. Thank goodness they had the sense to at least let the core kids off the bus before it moved off. But for the rest of the characters, they were just gone like that and have never been mentioned since. Although some did re-appear in [=LeapPad=] books that were republished and reworked for the Tag, they have never been seen in any newer toys and new Tag titles, and are not in the [=DVDs=] since ''A Tad Of Christmas Cheer''.

** In 2014 it seems that Scout, Violet, Penny and Eli are put on the bus...

* PreciousPuppies: Dan and Dot (particularly the SpinoffBabies version of Dot), Scout and Violet, Buddy, Bella and the rest of the Pet Pals, and now Bailey.

* PreciousPuppies: Scout and Violet.

* {{Catchphrase}}: Time to change your batteries!

[[caption-width-right:240:Ahead.]]

* SuddenlyVoiced: [[ZigZaggingTrope Currently Zig-Zagging]] for Scout. He does not talk in his first appearance on the [=ClickStart=] educational computer, but the next toy that features him, the eponymously-titled ''My Pal Scout'', has him voiced. And then he does not talk when he made his animated [=DVD=] debut in the ''The Amazing Alphabet Amusement Park'' and ''Numbers Ahoy'' [=DVDs=], but said [=DVD=] has extras that are not part of the story where he ''sings''. And then, comes the Scout and Friends videos...
* PutOnABus[=/=]ChuckCunninghamSyndrome[=/=]RetGone: Everyone that is not Leap, Tad, Lily or Edison when ''Let's Go To School'' was produced. Heck, shortly before that point, it seemed that the entire ''Learning Friends'' crew was put on the bus in favor of keeping only Scout and Violet around. Thank goodness they had the sense to at least let the core kids off the bus before it moved off. But for the rest of the characters, they were just gone like that and have never been mentioned since. Although some did re-appear in [=LeapPad=] books that were republished and reworked for the Tag, they have never been seen in any newer toys and new Tag titles, and are not in the [=DVDs=] since ''A Tad Of Christmas Cheer''.

** Now (2014) it seems that Scout, Violet, Penny and Eli are put on the bus...

[=LeapFrog=] Enterprises is a toy and publishing company based in Emeryville, California, founded by former Cooley LLP attorney Michael Wood in 1995 after coming up with a way to aid in his son's reading lessons. The company specializes in educational toys and electronics. They are primarily known for the [=LeapPad=], an electronic talking book device, the Leapster - a handheld gaming console with the processing power that's about equivalent to a UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance, and the Fly Pentop computer, which somehow gained popularity in the business and computing world.

* RegionCoding: [=LeapFrog=] is the latest to join this madness. Especially egregious because not only do they have a monopoly over the app market, but IP blocking is as flawed as it comes (being prone to false positives and can be bypassed by the more desperate). And oh, they let you see apps available on other markets, just blocking you from buying the said app. Seeing highly desirable apps and videos but not being able to buy them is a painful tease...

* {{Expy}}: Both VideoGame/JumpStart and LeapFrog feature (or, in [=JumpStart's=] case [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome featured]]) similar-looking fireflies[[note]]the [=JumpStart=] version's pre-2000-or-so incarnation doesn't look like LeapFrog's Edison, but the post-2000 incarnation does[[/note]] named Edison who are best friends with frogs, and a cat named Casey. The question is, who's Expy-ing off whom?

* RearrangeTheThemeTune: Many Modern Toys by LeapFrog use a rearranged version of the [=LeapPad=] Learning System start-up sound.
* RegionCoding: LeapFrog is the latest to join this madness. Especially egregious because not only do they have a monopoly over the app market, but IP blocking is as flawed as it comes (being prone to false positives and can be bypassed by the more desperate). And oh, they let you see apps available on other markets, just blocking you from buying the said app. Seeing highly desirable apps and videos but not being able to buy them is a painful tease...

* DummiedOut: A number of features present in commodity Android but not on the Epic, like the recent apps menu, lock screen and several others, are in the firmware all along, albeit with references to them being removed off [=SystemUI=] and Settings' resource files. They can however be [[https://huckleberrypie57.blogspot.com/2017/02/leapfrog-epic-part-1-hidden-lock-screen.html accessed]] through third-party utilities.

[=LeapFrog=] Enterprises is a toy and publishing company based in Emeryville, California. Founded by a Michael Wood in 1995. The company specializes in educational toys and electronics. They are primarily known for the [=LeapPad=], an electronic talking book device, the Leapster - a handheld gaming console with the processing power that's about equivalent to a UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance, and the Fly Pentop computer, which somehow gained popularity in the business and computing world.

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In February 2016, they revealed that they were nearing bankruptcy due to less than stellar sales, as kids moved away from physical learning toys to learning software on tablet devices, as well as inability to compete with their own [=LeapPad=] and Epic tablet devices[[note]]A number of factors came into play despite the Epic receiving critical acclaim from parenting groups - applications sold on [=LeapFrog=]'s in-house app store sell for way more than on Google Play and elsewhere as well as the requirement to buy gift cards to get credit to buy the apps if you don't live in the main 6 countries Leapfrog has a presence in, draconian region locking/restrictions keeping parents overseas from accessing certain services, apps or videos, and a watered-down hardware combined with lack of proper Bluetooth HID peripheral support contributed to the Epic's tepid reception in some circles. Also, it forces apps to run in the UK locale for those living in the "other" region, including forcing the UK keyboard- when the most recognizable keyboard in the world is the ''US'' one and that US English is clearer and more intelligible than it's UK counterpart[[/note]]. They were purchased by rival toy manufacturer [=VTech=] shortly after.

In February 2016, they revealed that they were nearing bankruptcy due to less than stellar sales, as kids moved away from physical learning toys to learning software on tablet devices, as well as inability to compete with their own [=LeapPad=] and Epic tablet devices[[note]]A number of factors came into play despite the Epic receiving critical acclaim from parenting groups - applications sold on [=LeapFrog=]'s in-house app store sell for way more than on Google Play and elsewhere, draconian region locking/restrictions keeping parents overseas from accessing certain services, and a watered-down hardware combined with lack of proper Bluetooth HID peripheral support contributed to the Epic's tepid reception in some circles.[[/note]]. They were purchased by rival toy manufacturer [=VTech=] shortly after.

In February 2016, they revealed that they were nearing bankruptcy due to less than stellar sales, as kids moved away from physical learning toys to learning software on tablet devices, as well as inability to compete with their own [=LeapPad=] and Epic tablet devices[[note]]A number of factors came into play despite the Epic receiving critical acclaim from parenting groups - applications sold on [=LeapFrog=]'s in-house app store sell for way more than on Google Play and elsewhere, draconian region locking/restrictions keeping parents overseas from accessing certain services, and a watered-down hardware combined with lack of proper HID peripheral support contributed to the Epic's tepid reception in some circles.[[/note]]. They were purchased by rival toy manufacturer [=VTech=] shortly after.

In February 2016, they revealed that they were nearing bankruptcy due to less than stellar sales, as kids moved away from physical learning toys to learning software on tablet devices, as well as inability to compete with their own [=LeapPad=] and Epic tablet devices[[note]]the actual reason is, their device's design was botched from the start- despite critical acclaim, the device had many glaring flaws. Lack of official Google Play support, draconian region locking and credit card restrictions on countries outside the US, UK, Australia and Canada, and a crippled Bluetooth stack that blocks the use of HID devices. Combine that with a terrible price mark-up of up to 200% in Asian countries and one can clearly see that they have a recipe for disaster in their hands, especially since one can easily get cheap no-brand Chinese-made tablets at a quarter of the price. And while one can install Amazon [=AppStore=] onto the device, Amazon themselves has been pretty idiotic since the launch of ''Amazon Underground'', blocking many programs from being sold outside the US despite the same program being sold on Google Play worldwide[[/note]]. They were purchased by rival toy manufacturer [=VTech=] shortly after.

* SpinOffBabies: The [=LeapFrog=] Baby line of products, which is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: toys and accessories for infants. It comes with baby-fied versions of the learning friends characters.

* HelloInsertNameHere: [=LeapFrog=] put out several toys that can be customized to say the owner's name. Some uses a cartridge programmer and flash cart that can be used to program the owner's name in, then inserted into certain toys. Others like the Scout and Violet My Pal plushes, [=LeapTop=] toy computers, and Story Time Pad toy tablets, can be programmed to say the owner's name via USB cable.
* MadLibsDialogue: The above-mentioned programmable toys can also be programmed to know the owner's favorite food/fruit, animal and color.