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Toys

toys

Ringbo Robot, Because a Loved Child Should Never Hoof It

Why should we have to wait until we're senior citizens to enjoy the luxury of scooting the grocery store? The Ringbo Robot brings the fruits of limited mobility to our most precious, the children. Aimed at kids from 2-3 years old, the Ringobo can cruise for about an hour after charging overnight. That should be just long enough to keep them occupied while the poorer children in the neighborhood play football or, worse still, ride a bike. [Koreannovation via BBGadgets]

robot wars

Pleo Gets Thrashed at the Hands of a Battlebot

At Maker Faire 2008, a group of carnage-loving individuals pitted the 2007 Holiday Toy Darling Pleo against the heavy duty battle bot, Vicious Verdict, in a no holds barred competition. Needless to say, the sniff-n-grunt capability of the Pleo was no match for the blade-equipped bot, which turned Pleo into fillet meat. But the funniest part of the video (below) might be the background shrieks of little kids, who were forced to watch their Christmas present get shredded. Mean, perhaps, but undeniably funny. [DViCE via Tech Digest via Bot Junkie] More »

robots

WowWee Chatterbot Looks Like Robot Hell-Hound, Does Friendly Banter

Move over iBuddy and Availbot, the masters of robo-companionship toys have arrived on scene. This is a WowWee Chatterbot, a USB-powered desktop companion that reacts with some motion and a bit of chattering to "trigger" words typed into emails, IM, calendar entries and the like. It's not as smart as Robosapien, of course: basically it just spouts out jokes and bits of commentary. Because we all like hellish dogs with eerie eyes responding to our typing, don't we? The video reveals the toy in action. More »

led plane

LED Plane Is More Like An R/C Comet

Flying an R/C plane in the darkness of night can be a difficult proposition. That is, until you add 150 LED lights to the hollows of the plane's fuselage and wings. The creator tells us the brightest model consumes 75W of lighting electricity and is "painfully bright at night." Irreversible cornea damage has never been so much fun! To see a video of the plane in-flight, hit the jump.
More »

review

Lightning Review: The Plush Super Mario Star's Spiritual Effect

The Gadget: A plush star from Super Mario Brothers that plays the appropriate music when you touch it. Includes a goomba and a ? block. More »

r/c

First Person R/C Plane, Almost as Good as Actually Flying

The Pilot View FPV 2400 is a (wireless) camera system that can strap on any R/C plane and stream images to the pilot, who wears video goggles below. Range is about 1 kilometer over the 2.4Ghz spectrum, and the video quality from such systems really isn't so bad (hit the jump for an example clip). At $550, it's a commitment, and seemingly a tad risky to strap onto an even more expensive, properly-weighted R/C plane. More »

hulk

Hulk Smash Electronic Fists: 1-Minute Catfight and Review

Clearly super-hero season is full on at this point, and the product is already in stores. Hasbro sent us two pairs of $20 Hulk Smash electronic action-sensitive talking fists. These are different from the old ones because a) they're made by Hasbro, not Toy Biz b) are cloth, not foam and c) have one speaker, not two. We still have to wait a little over a month for the Hulk movie, though, provided Ed Norton doesn't chain himself to the outgoing prints to keep the world from seeing it. (Yep, that slow-mo comes from the beloved Casio EX-F1.) [Video by Nick McGlynn Hasbro]

record breaker

World's Tallest Lego Tower Reaches 100-Foot Mark

Once again, the record for the world's largest Lego tower has fallen. Last year, the Lego bricks towered 96 feet over Toronto. This year, in celebration of Lego's 50th anniversary, participants at Legoland in Windsor, UK built a tower resembling a Viking longboat mast that managed to hit the 100 foot mark using 500,000 bricks. Hitting the 100 foot mark is definitely a fitting way to celebrate the 50th anniversary—but I can't help but wonder how high they can go next year. [Metro and Daily Mail]


robots

Robo Vacuum, Because That Roomba Would Never Work Anyway

While a Roomba is a bit of a financial commitment, just $14.99 will score you a passable alternative. This Robo Vacuum lacks the automated finesse of iRobot's creation, but its handheld operation coupled with its rotund robot body will make it the most charming dust buster on the block. More »

usb

Optimus Prime USB Hub Speaks but Won't Stomp Across Your Desk

"I laugh in the face of your so-called transforming USB hub!" says the four-way Optimus Prime USB Hub, "because I, Optimus Prime, am a Transformers USB hub that... um... doesn't transform. Oh." What the 9-inch Autobot bust actually does do is flash its eye lights and shout out when you connect something to it. And in case that gets boring, you can turn the sound function off. Available August for $34.99. [BigBadToystore via Everything USB]

toys

Wall-E Robot Toy In Action

We just saw the Wall-E toy in action, and it's a pretty interesting toy (although not $190 worth of interesting). The best features include fully articulating tank treads, 10 motors, audio and vision sensors, remote control by both joystick and touchpad, individual shutters on each eye, and collision detection. Wall-E also has a "follow me" mode that'll allow a Wall-E to stick to a kid or dog and track it around the house. (We would have tried it out, but it was far too noisy and crowded at Maker Faire for Wall-E to track anything or anyone reliably.) [Maker Faire and Wall-E]

gadgets

Neocube Is Better Than the Rubik's Cube Because There's No Right Answer

Rubik's Cubes are nice if you actually want to think, but how about for those times when you're just sitting there and you want something to fiddle with? The Neocube has 216 spherical neodymium magnets that connect and make a cube, a sphere, or any other obscene shape that springs to mind. Show me a man who doesn't like playing with magnets and I'll show you a man I don't much care for. All yours for just $34.95. Bonus video after the jump. More »

toys

Ultimate Wall-E Robot Being Brought to Life by Disney, Thinkway Toys

Disney is teaming up with Thinkway Toys to make Wall-E into a real robot. The toy, titled Ultimate Wall-E, will retail at a stonking $189.99 and will ship this summer. The robot will feature 10 motors for movement, remote control, programming mode and obstacle, sound and touch detection sensors for basic environment interactions. More »

toys

Super Mario Singing Star Gives You Immunity To Carpal Tunnel For 15 Second Intervals

The Super Mario invincibility doesn't really make a huge appearance in Super Mario Galaxy as far as we've seen, but this desk version should more than fill in. For $17.99 you get an unlimited amount of star power activated in tiny little segments every time you hit the button on its back. Will it get old fast? Definitely. Is it worth $17.99? That depends on how much you like shouting "It's a me!" to everyone who stops by at work. [Think Geek via Technabob via Geekalerts via Boing Boing]

nerf

Steampunk Nerf Rifle Lets You Get Victorian on Someone's Ass

Those of you who like steampunk, and the clarinet gun mod in particular, will love Professor Shagnasty's Model 101 Steampunk Nerf Assault Rifle. Looks amazing, and comes with "Halofex targeting device" or plasmatical ejector, manual and an "electron recharging stand." That is to say, a green light and a display stand... because this masterpiece is just a foam-dart firing toy after all. It's based on a Nerf Longshot and contains real vintage pieces, including 19th Century gas lamp parts vintage aircraft bits. It's a one-off, but it is for sale on Ebay— offers over $125 by the look of it, and closing tonight. [Ebay]

doctor who

The Master's Laser Screwdriver Turns Doctor Who into Doctor Pew Pew Pew

Doctor Who fans can now get their hands on the Master's laser screwdriver. Darth Vader to the Time Lord's Luke (father-son relationship aside), the Master's laser screwdriver is more powerful than Doctor Who's—well, that's what you'd think, wouldn't you? Although you can get a simultaneous blast from all three laser barrels, not to mention the Pew Pew Pew, it's not multi-talented like the Doctor's version. Can you write a list for the weekly shop with this version? No you can't. Those eight-and-a-half inches of pleasure (when extended) will set you back $18.99. [ThinkGeek]

dr who

The Dalek Voice Changing Helmet Will Exterminate Your Love Life

The popularity of the hideous Dalek Sec Hybrid Mask last year proved once again that Dr. Who fans are a loyal bunch. Soon, these fans will be able to strike fear/laughter in the hearts of their enemies once again by donning this dapper Dalek voice changing helmet. Naturally, you will be able to run around yelling "EXTERMINATE" with the classic cold, robotic tone—but you will also be able to play back recorded Dalek phrases or activate the exterminator sound. But before you get too excited, check out the image after the break to see how un-cool you will look wearing it. More »

star trek

Star Trek Medical Tricorder Goes Beep, Won't Diagnose Alien Disease

This replica medical tricorder from Star Trek TOS is hugely detailed and looks pretty much like the "real" thing. It even comes with the removable scanner thingy. Plus it's got light and sound effects built-in, so you won't have to hold it over alien flu victims and whisper "widdlyweep... widdlyweep..." Mind you, I'm pretty sure that's what Bones used to do anyway— he never seemed to know exactly what was wrong with people, did he? With one of these and a bit of carpentry to construct one of those beds with the heart-monitor thing that went "thum... thum...," you could reenact the Enterprise medical scene of your choosing. Available soon for $39.95. [Geekalerts]