One or two toys lived up to their manufacturer's claim of unbreakability, and a couple could not be opened without utter annihilation. Yet armed with a screw driver and pliers anyone can have a go at brain surgery, and soon enough most toys gave up their inner voice. Sometimes it hardly seemed a fair fight.
At the most basic level, circuit bending is simply prying open an object and massaging the circuit so that its sounds are "bent" in surprising new ways. Even a few minutes of playing can produce red-raw thumbs. Almost anything that emits an electronic signal can produce a sound: even the magnetic strip on your credit card can make beautiful music.
The next step was to experiment with the circuit to find and make new sounds, then wire them in place with alligator clips or soldered connections. The point-end of the soldering iron turned out the be rather hot.
