My kids have a bear and a monkey both from build a bear that you record a message on it and then put inside the toy. You do this when you want to gift it to someone special. My mom gave one to each of my kids with a recording of her voice telling them how special they are to her. The little box gets sewn inside the toy and to activate it (get it to talk) you have to squeeze the box.

There isn't a switch or a button per say, just a large panel on the entire side of the box that when pushed in activates the message. Even hugging the toy would get it to talk. Eventually the batteries have worn out and now theres no way of replacing the batteries (short of surgery) or taking the darn toys back to the store and having them serviced ... if they even do that at all. Anyway, the batteries lasted about 3 months before going out and frankly I simply don't have the desire of hearing my mothers voice at all hours of the day so I never had the desire to investigate how to replace the batteries. We also have a small Doug doll (the dog from the movie Up) that used to bark and a small hamster from the movie Bolt that used to say stuff and the batteries have also worn out.

That being said, we now have a few stuffed toys with strange little boxes inside that now do absolutely nothing. The kids have kept the toys of course because theyre special to them but I could see how someone else might think that the boxes are strange. Hallmark also sells items like stuffed toys and books that you can hide a recorded message in for a loved one ... I think you order them. Costco also sells some, or at least did, in a kit where you record your message into the box, send it in and they stuff a doll in the likeness of someone. These are all the same, no way to replace batteries unless you pull the toy apart.

So maybe it is a little odd that there is a strange box inside a toy but think about it this way ... if it's a recording device of some sort there must be a way for someone to upload the info from the box. Without an opening how do they do that? Spy gear is now typically digital and paired with computers so there should be a place for a cable to plug into so that the recordings can be uploaded to some sort of program. I just don't see how having a recording device sewn into a toy would be smart in my opinion if I were trying to record someone because I would have to unsew the toy each time I wanted to get the box out to be able to upload the recordings. Just my two cents.

PS: If it turns out that this is a recording device of some sort for audio you should know that according to federal law, only law enforcement may record audio in a covert manner.