The television was talking to me..

Over 70% of toys have microchips, according to this article in the NYTimes (requires reg), and get this:

"In the same vein, Mattel and Warner Brothers Animation have teamed up to produce a series of Batman toys - a hand-held communicator, action figure and Batmobile - that will use a wireless technology called video-encoded invisible light to respond to minute pixel changes embedded in a new animated television series.

Jim Wagner, senior vice president for marketing at Mattel, said the wireless signals would be undetectable to viewers, but not to the Mattel toys made to sense and respond to them. The Batmobile, for instance, the most expensive of the interactive toys at $52, can be prompted to turn on its lights, deploy its fins and make sounds as if its motor is running, all by receiving signals from the television screen."

Yikes.