Exploring Frogs (lost PC educational CD-ROM; 2001)

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Frog3.jpg

Back to school promo created by TEDCO toys advertising the 4D Frog, July 22nd, 2013.

Status: Lost


"Exploring Frogs" is an educational CD-ROM supposedly available for Windows, Mac-OS+, and Mac-OS[1][2] and COG LTD. created in the Clickteam 5.0.1-6[3] engine by COG LTD and Interactive For AllTM for Mighty Mindz Multimedia. This product was featured in an educational frog biology kit[4]

The creation of this piece of media is currently unknown but can be traced to (at the bare minimum) 2001[2][5], Using the date of when TEDCO Toys released the "4D Vision Frog" in approximately Aug 23, 2010[6], the date must for the release of the Exploring Frogs CD-ROM must be somewhere close.

The CD-ROM came inside of a box containing 4 clearish frog models[7] for advertising purposes. TEDCO Toys put 4 'previews' of what can be seen inside the CD-ROM[8]:

TEDCO Toys

TEDCO Toys is believed to be a reseller of the Mighty Mindz Multimedia product: Exploring Frogs,[9] inside of this product came the following:

  • 4 Toy Frogs
  • Educational CD-ROM

Interactive For AllTM, Mighty Mindz Multimedia, and COG LTD still has not been verified if the companies are still active, defunct, or exists.

On January 1st, 2024 it is believed the tedcotoys.com website was abandoned, when accessing the site after this date, an error message 403 "forbidden" error appears, this could be due to TEDCO selling the domain, or maybe has stopped paying it for said domain site.

Using the Wayback machine, tedcotoys.com appears to have been active since Jan 25, 1999, due to the symbols of "Work" and renovations happening at the site at that time, it is most likely that TEDCOTOYS.com started from Dec 1998 to Jan 1999.

Hunt

The hunt for the Exploring Frogs game would begin on November 19th, 2023 when a user on the official Discord server for the Lost Media Wiki, wembley (Bugboy), would share his experience of playing an early 2000s computer game about frogs. The user claimed the disk didn't work anymore but had an image of it.

"I played this early 2000s computer game as a kid but have never been able to locate any media from the actual gameplay despite knowing the name. My disc is damaged beyond use, unfortunately. But I have this photo of the disc. It is called Exploring Frogs."

The current status of the hunt is as follows: The game has not been played, the package has not been bought, and the game has been found in stores online including Amazon, Walmart etc. [10]

For now, no footage of the game has been found, though due to the nature of the current status, it will most likely not be long before footage of this piece lost media will be released, especially since Wembley Bug Boy (User who started the hunt) has confirmed that he has bought a copy of the game and is expecting shipment.

Image

  • CD for the game, uploaded by LMW Discord user, wembley (Bugboy).

    CD for the game, uploaded by LMW Discord user, wembley (Bugboy).

References

  1. ↑ Quote by package "Windows / Mac": https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/1177837533200142348/1193251243968184390/IMG-0459_1200x1600.png
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Referring to the logo seen on the disk shared by Wembley Bug Boy, the picture shows the logo of the Quicktime game engine, this photo was published on the LMW discord server, the following quote is from Wikipedia: "Version 5.0 was initially only released for Mac OS and Mac OS X on April 14, 2001, and version 5.0.1 followed shortly thereafter on April 23, 2001, supporting the classic Mac OS, Mac OS X, and Windows. Three more updates to QuickTime 5 (versions 5.0. 2, 5.0".
  3. ↑ Due to the fact that [1] and [2] confirm it was available on Mac-OS and Windows, the version must be 5.0.1 and above, as for the "6" it utilized the same logo as 5.
  4. ↑ COG LTD's logo being on the package for Tedco's "Exploring Frogs MINDZ" package, the package featuring a CD-ROM, and the fact that frog figurines came with the package was sufficient evidence to confirm that the game did infact come inside this package, more evidence being the fact it was available on Mac-OS and Windows (back of package) something that would be possible on versions of quicktime from 5.0.1, the logo featured on the disk image shown by Wembley bug boy being if version 5.0.0 to 6, not only that but Wembley bug boy confirmed that the box remembered him of the game.
  5. ↑ The back of the package has barely decipherable text near the bottom right that reads "SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS", it states Mac-OS 9.2 which released June 18th, 2001
  6. ↑ Youtube video released by Tedco Toys: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=320fAGYfodo&t=38s
  7. ↑ Quote by Wembley Bug Boy (Discord User) "My mom remembers the game, I asked her recently. She remembers that the disc came with a toy frog. I think it was clear and had organs inside of it, potentially" and the packaging itself: https://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/M689-EXPLORING-FROGS-MINDZ/4PMRNC5Z45GY.
  8. ↑ As seen in this image:https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/278331753016328193/1193252346352910569/image.png
  9. ↑ Due to the fact Mighty Mindz worked with COG LTD in the past making other CD-ROM's for educational purposes (eg: Human Biology, Planets) although Tedcotoys did take credit for creating the 4D Frog, which would make their craft'smanship and power possible to create products like Mighty Mindz, its a stretch to say Mighty Mindz made a product specifically for TEDCO.
  10. ↑ Links to said websites: https://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/M689-EXPLORING-FROGS-MINDZ/4PMRNC5Z45GY, https://www.workshopplus.com/products/frogs-bio-interactive, https://www.amazon.es/Mindz-Mighty-Multimedia-Cd-Learning/dp/B017CAQEZK, https://sayal.com/store4/prodetails.php?SKU=215981.
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