WowWee Robosapien Humanoid Toy Robot with Remote Control
by WowWee
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Our Price: $199.99 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $44.99 (click here) Category: Toy See more product details |
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Toys and Games Reviews of WowWee Robosapien Humanoid Toy Robot with Remote Control
Customer Review: "Daddy, can I PLEASE play with it now??"
Summary: 5 Stars
We have a son who just turned 10 and was adopted internationally a year and a half ago. Purchasing toys for him has been a real challenge due to his developmental issues...sometimes he is like a 15 year old and more often he is like a 4 year old who has to touch EVERYTHING and experience it. He had yet to settle on any real likes or dislikes, as everything is still exciting and new...and yet often ends up not played with after the first exploration of the product.
We just bought him this robot for his birthday, and "wowWee" did we find a winner!! We have 3 sons, aged 10, 9 and 5...as well as Daddy...all of whom were fascinated with this thing! This robot is incredibly articulated and quite an advanced toy, Something like this would have been several hundred dollars 5 years ago. It has "hips" like a human, allowing it to appear more lifelike in its movements. To the delight of all the boys (big ones included) it even burps and farts...yes...you read that right...what little boy wouldn't find this to be the most outstanding toy on the planet simply due to the simulated gas???
At first I figured this might end up like every other remote controlled toy, played with a few minutes then put aside for something more interactive. However, there is something captivating about it because it can do so many things and it is lifelike, yet not quite. The remote control is detailed and has many buttons, but within minutes all the boys figured it out. I think the longer term appeal comes from the ability to really make it do a lot of very different things, it doesn't just roll across the floor. It also has motion sensors which we have yet to get into in any depth but will be a kick to surprise someone with. Also, though some listed it is a negative, I feel the challenge in learning how to use the hands that grab to pick things up makes the toy more interesting and keeps the kids engaged as they master the skills of making it do what they want. It is not impossible, just requires more precise controlling to get the Robosapien to grab the cup that comes with it or pick up other items.
Unlike others, I paid only $[...] for it and felt that for the money it was actually built pretty solidly. Sure, it is plastic (isn't every toy these days?), but it is not flimsy nor super delicate, and for a toy that has this much in terms of moving parts I would expect it to be a bit more fragile than it is.
I was thanked at least 12 times for this toy, and although it was the only gift we bought our son for his birthday he said he didn't want anything else. Great product, would definitely repurchase...and just might have to get my hubby his own!
Customer Review: Great novelty but with limited staying power
Summary: 3 Stars
This was a Christmas present for my seven-year-old son. He loves Bionicle action figures and educational computer games, so I figured this would be right up his alley. While it was the center of attention for about 45 minutes on Christmas day, the novelty wore off quickly not just for my son but for the rest of my kids (ages three and six). I'm a big kid at heart and enjoy a good toy about as much as my own kids do, but this didn't hold my attention for long, either.
The problem is Robosapien just doesn't do very much. It comes with a remote control that lets you control its direction of travel, arm movements and sounds. The most interesting commands are the two preprogrammed routines that put the toy through its paces and highlight all of its functions. But after you've seen it dance around and belch a half dozen or so times, you come to realize you've seen it all and 'all' isn't much. The toy travels rather slowly when walking and turning, so there's little of the enjoyment that you get from commanding, say, a remote-controlled car. Its hands are not good at picking things up, either. Objects must be precisely located along the side of the Robosapien, and it has difficulty grasping most things unless they are of a particular shape. There's no artificial intelligence that you can put to the test here--this is just a remote-controlled humanoid robot. It can react to certain stimuli like sound, but it basically just does what you tell it via the remote.
Robosapien is an interesting novelty item and a fun toy to play with for a couple days. But its limited functions don't hold a child's attention for long. This was easily the most expensive gift my son got for Christmas, and it has sat in his room almost untouched since a few days after he received it. Much less expensive toys have done a better job of keeping him entertained. I think even kids older than my son will grow bored of it fairly quickly, especially if they have access to some of the more sophisticated computer games that offer far more interactivity. With better mobility and some semi-decent artificial intelligence, Robosapien could be a fantastic toy, but it will probably be several years at least before that level of technology will be found in affordable kids' toys. Sony does make such a toy (a robotic dog called AIBO), but it's big bucks.
Customer Review: Dreams of all things BIG!
Summary: 5 Stars
In the true world of robotics excluding hollywood; our technology is that of a child or toddler and we have a long way to go in the area of robotics helping human kind. SONY; and HONDA are making incredible discoveries in the evolution of the robot and interaction with mankind. People have to separate hollywood bots to the real, miracle of the advances of robotics.
This ROBOSAPIEN ROBOT is by far, the most spectacular I have seen available to the public for a very fair price. I have bought less valuble robots that broke in a month or didn't do what they had promised in the first day of use. I imagine, they have named him ROBOSAPIEN: one because of its humanistic behaviors, comical fun, but also the cavemen talk is exactly where we are in the field of ROBOTS. This has been an incredibly intertaining and unique toy that gets laughs and all the neighborhood's attention when He is out having fun with the other kids. His crude behavior, is funny and not at all offensive; even to older groups. He is more amazing to watch.
There is complaint that he does not remember what you have programmed to do once you shut him off; but that is the learning part of it and to keep my son entertained. While he can belch or fart one day with a clap; the next day he will give you a dance or kung fu move when you clap. Extraordinarily and uniquely entertaining to all ages, he has more than exceeded my child's expectations, as he has dreamed and saved for him for over six months. He has not at all been disapointed and if you have a "techy" child; you know how bored they can become and before you know it they are taking them apart to see how all thier mechanisms robots. His motions are very fluid contrary to the other review, all I can say is either he had a defective unit or expected much too much in the area of robotics and doesn't know at all how far we have come, from RAD; commando bot; emiglio. This Robot is absolutely amazing!!
Customer Review: A Mother's Opinion
Summary: 3 Stars
This toy was given to my husband, but it quickly made its way into the heart of my 7-year-old. It's just as well. It caused barely a flicker of interest in my husband's eyes. My son played with it for about an hour. Once he had mastered the basic controls and seen Robosapien's whole routine, he shunted it aside for more versatile toys. Since then, its appearances have been for novelty value only. Whenever somebody who hasn't met Robosapien comes on the scene, it gets brought forward to do its schtick. It usually has an appreciative audience. Adult or child, almost everyone wants to fiddle with it for a little while until they, too, have figured out the controls and interest wanes.
I suspect this toy will have more appeal to kids (and grown-ups) who are into remote control in general--RC cars, helicopters, what have you. If you get a kick out of piloting things from a distance, then Robosapien may be a lot more fun to you. Karate chops and burps seem like window dressing to me, but one RC car seems as good as another to me, too. Those who delight in model nos. and features may find his bells and whistles more rewarding.
If you're thinking of buying this for a child and are unsure whether or not the child enjoys this kind of thing, you might want to test smaller. For instance, at this writing Wild Planet sells a Spy Rover Robot for $29.99 that lifts, carries and drops items and that can remotely record sounds. If something like that is fascinating, then Robosapien is likely to be as well.
Ours, I imagine, will stop being used altogether once all of our family and friends have taken it out for a drive.
Note Added June 30, 2005--My prediction was right. Robosapiens has not moved since February. He sits prominently in the corner, collecting dust.
Customer Review: Are you kidding?
Summary: 1 Stars
After reading many reviews and hoping for a fun, educational, intriguing toy that would inspire our little scientist right into the throes of delightful learning, we shelled out our hundred bucks and eagerly awaited the UPS guy with the familiar Amazon box.
Twenty bucks in batteries later (I'm not kidding, this thing takes more power than a hurricane generator), we rubbed our hands together like little kids, so eager were we to have a special pre-Christmas sneak preview.
Fast forward one hour, two screwdrivers, one cutting tool, and two very, very frustrated adults later....
And we finally got the umpteen million twisties, screws, and bolts undone - Robosapian was finally free! (Was this the educational part that we had just inadvertantly deprived our child from experiencing?) We deemed right then that we would never have bought this product had we known about the truly ridiculous amount of difficult-to-remove packaging. What - did they think Robosapian would free himself and do some dirty business on the side or something? :\
Packaging destroyed, batteries in, and here we gooooooo......
Um.
That's it?
Really, that's it?
A burp, a sixty second dance thingy, some unintelligable vocalizations, and a Weebles walk across the living room that freaked the cats out but didn't do much for the humans...oh and don't forget the imfamous Robosapian fart to top it all off.
Twenty bucks, maybe. But at nearly a hundred bucks, folks, trust me when I say, save your money (and disappointment/frustration). Besides, you can listen to your husband fart for free, and put the hundred dollars toward a science museum membership instead. ;}