I remember in the 60's, there was a toy called 牙擦擦了哥, it could be a gift from the manufacturer of 固力果 百力滋. It is about 8 inches tall, plastic 了哥 shape.

It is a recorder pre-recorded with about 20-30 short audio messages in cantonese, each message is about 10 seconds.

How to play:
In front of a group of friends, speak out your question (one at a time).
And then pull the string on the toy. It will return a random answer in audio.

I've seen it once, and I believe pulling the string twice. As my sister has to return it to friends.

Did anyone remember this toy?
Did anyone know how it works?
Any battery required?

I remember this name, and I had seen this toy. (Another kid showed it to me, I think.) Unfortunately I don't think I had any chance to play with it.

Your de_script_ion that this toy had 20-30 pre-recorded audio message is really amazing. It must be really "hi-tech" at that time! How did it work in the pre-mp3 era? Cassette audio tapes is not good for random playing. Vinyl records? The size doesn't fit neither.

One possibility is that it used the holes/pin on a rotating drum to create the sound (similar to a music box). In this case it could be either operated by battery or manual winding. But such guess is a long shot at best.

Thanks Hudson for sharing.
All I remember is the silly answers played back by this toy and the whole family laugh our head off, something similar to the 8-ball but more 'high-tech' in the 60's.

8-ball info :-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8_ball
http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~ssanty/cgi-bin/eightball.cgi