Archive for the 'Toys' Category

We heard just earlier this month that Pleo, the lovable dinosaur robot was going to be made available again thanks to Jetta buying out the rights for the bot from original maker Ugobe. But availability for the dino was questionable.

Now, it seems Pleo will be available in the U.S. thanks to Senario. There are still plenty of these bots in stock and ready to be purchased from a number of outlets. So, there you have it, folks. Pleo lives on for another day!

[robots.net]

Transformers toys for the masses can be found very easily and they are affordable for the most part. And since rich kids of all ages don’t want any part of such common toys, you can buy this Homage toy for $2,000 and have it custom built for you in about 3-4 weeks. If you can afford it.

The toy turns from a humanoid robot into a plane that appears to be full of knives. Nothing says wealth like buying a toy for $2,000 that will cut your fingers off.

[Bornrich]

They packed so much damn silliness into the new Transformers movie that it is getting horrible reviews. Had Transformer Wall-E made an appearance, the movie would have been saved. Wall-E makes everything better.

This is apparently a one of a kind knock-off toy from Japan, so sadly the Transformers movie still sucks. It could have been a whole different movie. I would have been happy with just the scene depicted above, of Wall-E forcing himself up the tailpipe of some poor truck.

[The Daily What]

How about from now on we only let Michael Bay play with these cheap toys from China and just pretend he’s directing. These $1 retro Transformers look more like GoBots and will provide far more excitement than the new movie.

They are interactive in the sense that you’ll experience real danger…Since they are likely made from cancer-causing paints and plastics.

[Gizmodo]

Behold pink Gundam, so pink and frilly looking that it makes giant Gundam cry and exclaim that girls have cooties. After that he had no comment. He began walking toward the ocean, where he will drown himself and gouge out his robot eyes.

No, the pink Gundam is an abomination. We wish we could un-see it, but sadly it’s burned in our retinas.

[Technabob]

Okay, this is probably the funniest thing I’ve ever read. We make it a habit here to promote all things robot here at Botropolis, but apparently Roger Ebert has a serious problem with the latest bot film, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.

Ebert called the film, “dumber than a box of staples,” and characterizes the bots as having “tiny little heads,” the only exception being “Starscream®, who is so ancient he has an aluminum beard.” Ouch! But it doesn’t stop there, in fact Ebert says the film is a “horrible experience of unbearable length, briefly punctuated by three or four amusing moments. One of these involves a dog-like robot humping the leg of the heroine. Such are the meager joys.” Brutal, man.

[The High Definite]

Pierre Bureau, the founder and CEO of Arimaz in Switzerland, recently showed off a demo of a prototype of a cute penguin robot that his company is planning to begin selling in September for $99. It’s called MyDeskFriend. The idea is that this Penguin is a small companion for your desk.

It comes with a docking station which is hooked up to the PC. You can interact with the robot in a variety of ways. It can follow your finger and will even detect the edges of the your desk so that it doesn’t fall off, thanks to 5 infrared sensors. It also has an accelerometer, so it knows when it’s being touched or shaken. The eyes will change color with it’s mood. If you shake it too much, it’s eyes will turn red. You can even connect it with your Facebook profile.

[Getrobo]

Check out this Bladez Terminator Salvation Chopper Skull. If you have ever wanted to see a Terminator head stuck to a chopper, this is for you. For $50 it features glowing LED lights in the eyes, sound effects from the film and a laser battle mode to fight other choppers in the Bladez range.

Depending on how loud this thing is, it might be fun to scare your friends at night as they see a set of glowing red eyes fly up to them.

[Likecool]

I’m sure you remember those little robots called bristlebots, right? They’re basically the head of toothbrushes connected to pager motors. But before they were pretty aimless, and now they’ve got some direction.

The bots are still the same, but now you can control them. In this version, the bot is instructed to turn around whenever it crosses the black line. Simple stuff, but it might make for amusement next weekend. Check out a video of these mini-bots in action after the jump.

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Buzz Lightyear Robot Toy from Gizmodo on Vimeo.

Adam over at Gizmodo checked out the new Buzz Lightyear robot toy. It will be selling this Fall for $130-$150. Looks like it features original Tim Allen voice work and is made very solid. But it’s one of those toys your kid will get tired of super fast.

Still, it’s just one more step on the way toward robot toys that actually are awesome.

[Gizmodo]