Marelleo
Hardware
kids story box
SHOW HN2026
194points
51comments
#304of 4,366 in 2026
Top 7%of 2026 by points
How HN took it
MixedNo clear lean
10 positive, 8 neutral or asking, 4 mixed, 5 critical, out of 27 comments about the project. Thread score +0.21.
Docs: 3 for, 4 againstIdea: 2 for, 1 againstExecution: 1 for, 0 againstDesign: 1 for, 0 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Inspiring, fun open-source project
From 3 comments
This is incredible - I definitely wanted to do the same for my kid once he gets a bit older so I'm bookmarking this. I read through the whole thing and found it informative, LLM…
tanhle on HNThis is one of the most interesting projects I have seen on hn lately. Congratulations
mejutoco on HNFirst off - well done, this is amazing. Secondly, it's a fascinating read how you basically figured it out, one mistake at a time, like not connecting or fastening the battery…
armcat on HN
Objections
Post reads as LLM-written
From 4 comments
I agree with the commenters who were jarred by the heavy use of LLMisms -- the writing was genuinely painful to read. What a really fun project though! Props for seeing it…
corroclaro on HNThere are some ugly tell tale signs of AI writing here: No screen, no menu, no parent [...] You’re not buying a player, you’re buying a subscription [...] I particularly hate the…
Muhammad523 on HNThis seems like an interesting project but the Claude writing rubs me the wrong way. I couldn't finish it, unfortunately, but props for building it!
stavros on HNPlease don't use any LLM to write about your projects in the future.
Muhammad523 on HN
Problem is already solved by cheap custom Tonies or DIY RFID tags
From 1 comment
Awesome project if you wanted to build it. But the problem is invented - if you invested a fraction of the time to research, you would see that custom tonies sell for like $8 a…
erikon on HN
Requests
Share PCB schematics and enclosure CAD files
From 1 comment
Hey, nica project! Can you add the pcb schematics and the Fusion 360 source files for the enclosure? Thanks!
YakBizzarro on HN
Support USB-C power or AA batteries
From 2 comments
I'm planning something like this. I already have Home Assistant with Music Assistant working, so playing radio and music and audiobooks in rooms are already possible with my…
tvbusy on HNInspiring product, thank you for sharing. How easy it would be to convert it so it accepts normal AA batteries ?
NightPageReader on HN
Questions
How do kids pick stories, NFC or buttons?
From 1 comment
Love that it's open source, nice alternative to the closed boxes like Toniebox. How do the kids pick a story, NFC cards or buttons? And how long does the battery last on the ESP32?
wecideApps on HN
How long does the battery last?
From 1 comment
Love that it's open source, nice alternative to the closed boxes like Toniebox. How do the kids pick a story, NFC cards or buttons? And how long does the battery last on the ESP32?
wecideApps on HN
Alternatives named
Toniebox
From 2 comments
Wow thanks for the info about the toniebox reverse engineering! My kids got offer a toniebox this year, and when discovering the product I was so upset about this locked and…
rmnclmnt on HNLove that it's open source, nice alternative to the closed boxes like Toniebox. How do the kids pick a story, NFC cards or buttons? And how long does the battery last on the ESP32?
wecideApps on HN
TonUINO
From 1 comment
Nice work. Although I'd probably had used one of the newer esp32 from seeed Studio with integrated battery pads (unfortunately the BatteryPal from PNLabs is still in the making).…
sandreas on HN
ESPuino
From 1 comment
Another one worth a look is ESPuino (also a german project). Custom PCBs are still available for that one afaik. https://github.com/biologist79/ESPuino
flowingfocus on HN
Phoniebox
From 1 comment
Nice work. Although I'd probably had used one of the newer esp32 from seeed Studio with integrated battery pads (unfortunately the BatteryPal from PNLabs is still in the making).…
sandreas on HN
TeddyCloud
From 1 comment
Not mentioned in the last link is TeddyCloud (https://tonies-wiki.revvox.de/docs/tools/teddycloud/), which enables you do keep regular Tonie functionality and add your own…
MrBuddyCasino on HN