Okay... Radar Chief's story just reminded me about something that happened a few months back w/ my son's Scout toy. For those of you that have never heard/seen the Scout talking stuffed dog, it is programmable so it will say your child's name, favorite food, etc.
Anyway, one night I walked into my son's room and Scout was in the middle of the floor. I leaned over to give my son a kiss, (he's completely asleep), then the next thing I know I hear his Scout dog say, "Hi [my son's name]. Wanna play?". I barely heard it, (which is odd, because the volume is maxed), but I turned around and picked it up. I then placed it at my son's feet. I started to turn around to leave and it went off again. It was still really quiet and none of the lights were lit-up on it.
Puzzled by this, I picked it up and pressed the hand to make it play again. This time, the light turned on and it was at max volume. After doing that I knew that the batteries were fine and it wasn't malfunctioning because of low-batteries.
Needless to say, I ended up taking it out of my son's room and threw it in the linen closet.
That thing freaked me the hell out! Mainly because I knew that I didn't step on it when it was on the floor. I haven't witnessed it doing that again since then and I haven't changed out the batteries. Very bizarre. But not nearly as bizarre as a toy going off w/o batteries.
I would have thrown that damn thing in the fire, too!