History of Toys

The device, resembling a talking book, took 3 years to develop and was introduced to the market in 1999. In 2001 (sales $160 million) and 2002 it was the best-selling toy in specialty stores. Sales in 2003 reached $680 million and were only eclipsed by sales of the book and cartridge add-ons. Leap Start is in red, Leap 1 is in orange, Leap 2 is in blue, and Leap 3 is in green.

LeapPad was developed by a team from Explore Technologies, Inc. acquired by Leapfrog in July 1998. It uses the same patented "NearTouch" technology developed for the Explore Technologies Odyssey Atlasphere. Investigation and development was started in December 1997.