Spinmaster Hover Copter Wireless Flying Saucer (49 MHz)
by Spin Master
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Our Price: $60.00 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Toy See more product details |
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Toys and Games Reviews of Spinmaster Hover Copter Wireless Flying Saucer (49 MHz)
Customer Review: Unique and worth the price
Summary: 4 Stars
The fun factor for this toy is way up there.
I bought this Hover Copter toy for my 8 year old daughter
after seeing and using it at a relative's house.
Here are my thoughts:
Pros:
Fairly easy to use - one button remote control.
Rechargable battery charges in 15 minutes.
Can entertain a child (and adult) for hours.
Lightweight.
Moderate price for a R/C toy.
Cool looking flashing lights (especially at night).
Stays fairly close to operater, (as oppossed to a R/C airplane)
Cons:
Can easily get stuck up in a tree, or on a roof.
Very sensitive to winds.
No directional control.
Only last about 5 - 8 minutes for each battery charge.
Can eventually break upon hard landing(s), (Just like any other Flying R/C toy).
As some users in the previous post have mentioned that the Hover copter will eventually break after using it for a while, here is a tip.
You can prolong the life of this toy by learning how to make a (softer) landing. The rate of rise and decent of the Hover Copter can be modulated by (pulsating) the power as the craft starts to decend.
It is best not stop the power while the Hover copter is high up - it will come crashing down. Power needs to applied "on and off" repeatedly as the craft decends back towards the ground to "slow" the decent, and to prevent possible damage.
This Hover Copter can take lots of hard landings, but like any other flying R/C craft, it can be damaged.
(Flying R/C crafts need to be made out of extremely light materials, such as styrofoam, or balsa wood, to defeat the effects of gravity with light to moderate power. Plastic would be too heavy for this application.)
This is why anything that flies is vunerable.
Try crashing a R/C airplane a few times- it's finished!
Here is a possible remedy to crash damage:
After one of the crashes, the propeller would not spin, but you could still hear the motor spinning and whining.
If this happens to you, you can try the following:
With a small jewelry screwdriver, unscrew the (3) screws holding the prop assembly and remove it. They are in pretty tight, so you will need some concentrated power.
Do not unscrew the other screws.
You will see a small gear attached to the motor.
Take a small screwdriver and "pry up" the small gear very carefully. You should hear it "click" back in to place.
Re-install the prop assembly.
I recommend using the Hover Copter on a very "light wind" day, or, in a large room inside, (auditorium, gym, etc.)
If using in a windy situation, it will drift away fast, and, or tip over and come crashing down.
Considering the price, and fun you can get from using the Hover Copter, I feel it is well worth the price.
LJ
Customer Review: Not Like The Commercial--Not Even Close!
Summary: 2 Stars
Okay, for those of you who've seen the cool commercial featuring the kids gently maneuvering their Hover Copter around the living room, zipping under and around coffee tables and controlling its every move--throw those visions out of the window. Sad fact: the Hover Copter CANNOT be manuevered right to left/side to side.
PERFORMANCE: All it does is go up and down. Yep. That control gun/remote control is nothing more than a trigger to activate the Hover Copter's noisy little internal propeller, there's no directional control. I had all these dreams of directing it with the remote, spinning it around the living room and maneuvering it between objects--NOPE. Darn!
So, after we recovered from not being able to do much other than up n' down and uncontrolled flight around the room, I have to admit it IS fun just to go up and down. The lights are sorta neat, and once you get outside with unlimited headspace, it really takes off. Runs for less than five minutes on a full charge (and make sure to completely drain the charge by letting the propeller spin all the way down before you recharge).
CONSTRUCTION: Parents, imagine a cheap styrofoam cooler. Cut it up, and you have the Hover Copter--there's no way it would survive a horde of rampaging 10 year olds, so consider longevity. It's FUN, just not really controllable (except you get pretty darn good at controlling how far off the ground it hovers). All and all, while it's fun, I think this one would be one of those "Wait till the kid down the block gets one and go play with his/hers" type of toy.
Noise: almost annoying loud whirring in the house, not noticeable outside. Beware the thin plastic spinning propeller, it bounced off a table and caught our friend in the lip--teeny little slice, courtesy of the spinning propeller. It will definitely knock down items like candles, vases, etc., so use with caution.
Customer Review: You probably want to skip this one
Summary: 2 Stars
I feel obliged to warn anyone about to shell out the twenty bucks for this toy...you really might want to go for a remote controlled airplane instead. While the toy is unusual and does have a certain "wow" factor when you first bring it out with kids, there are some major design flaws here. The biggest problem is the propeller itself - unless you have it on a very clean surface expect it to get clogged right away (I mean within five minutes) with hair, pet fur, string, whatever, that will wrap around the propeller and keep it from working (cleaning this off of the propeller is also difficult, invest in a pair of fine-point scissors if you get this). Also be prepared to re-charge after only very short periods of use (to be fair, recharge time is only 15 minutes, but it only stays charged for frustratingly short periods of time). You also need a ton of wide open space for this toy, if the hover copter touches so much as a throw pillow it will flip over and crash. I work with autistic children and I'm willing to put up with most anything if I can find something to entertain them and keep them engaged, so I would probably buy this toy again despite all of the problems. If your Christmas shopping for your kid, though, I'd say look elsewhere or be prepared to stuff this one in the back of the closet by January.Customer Review: Don't bother.........it's a pain in the neck!
Summary: 1 Stars
Bought this for my grandson's birthday on Friday and we are returning it today a week later. #1: It flips over in the "slightest" breeze and crashes to the ground. #2: Can't control it unless you learn to pulsate the control button and even then, it's very difficult for an adult to do! #3: You spend too much time going in and out to charge the thing. #4: It crashed to the ground today, in the grass! and the blade just hums and it's finished, caput, that's all she wrote! Pain in the neck toy.
I thought this was the Copter that I saw demonstrated on QVC many, many times and they indeed do still sell it on their website. In the "live" demo on QVC, they don't seem to have a bit of a problem flying it. I noticed that the one they are selling has "5" blades and not "2" like on this one and I would think that would give the Copter more control. So, maybe that's the answer. But, I'm not willing to try the toy again after the frustration at $22.99 at K-Mart.
Great concept.........bad experience!
Customer Review: Piece of junk
Summary: 1 Stars
Well after about a dozen flights the antenna snapped so the hovercopter no longer got enough message from controller to lift off the ground. Being the handy guy I am, I sodered the antenna back in place and reassembled the toy. It flew perfectly, for about 7 more flights, and then the engine started cutting out completely after a second or two. This time it wasn't the antenna, and I have no idea what part of the cheap cicuit board inside this flimsy piece of foam went south this time. You know it would have been cool if it had at least survived one day's worth of play, but it didn't! The returns phone number, which is stuck all over the Hovercopter on stickers, was busy constantly, and when I got through they said I could return it, and they would send me a new one for $8.95 shipping and handling - Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice... Not bloody likely with this piece of junk!