Xtractaurs Starter Kit

by Mattel

Product Features

• Unlock exciting battles online!
• Collect more figures to unlock new attack powers, with thousands of possible combinations
• Kids connect the included extraction gun to any PC or Mac
• Includes figure, extraction gun and installation CD
• Extract, Combine, & Fight Online with Xtractaurs!

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 2.6 x 9.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B0029LHXEO
• Item model number: P7218
• Manufacturer recommended age: 8 - 12 years
• Batteries: 3 AAA batteries required. (included)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #101,766 in Toys & Games (See Top 100 in Toys & Games)
• Average Customer Review: 2.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Xtractaurs Starter Kit: Evil Megavores are taking over the world! Its up to you to stop them with Xtractaurs -- the dinosaur figures that unlock exciting battles online! Kids connect the included extraction gun to any PC or Mac and insert it into the T-Rex figure to transfer the dinosaurs DNA online. Then combine strands with other Xtractaurs figures DNA to create powerful hybrid virtual dinosaurs! Send them into fierce online battles to fight the Megavores and save the world from destruction! You can also play puzzle, arcade and action games to make your Xtractaurs stronger. Collect more figures to unlock new attack powers, with thousands of possible combinations. Starter Kit includes figure, extraction gun and installation CD. Extract, Combine, & Fight Online with Xtractaurs!

Product Description

Fun online or offline. These are some of the coolest Dinosaurs. Collect all of them and play with them online. Must have Starter kit to make other Dinosaurs interactive online.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Full disclosure would have been nice, December 20, 2009

By 

Sarah B. Robbins - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Durability:3.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:3.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:3.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Xtractaurs Starter Kit (Toy)

We loved the idea of this toy and were really excited to open it and plug it all in. Our son learned about DNA just from the concept of it. However, what they don't tell you on the packaging is that the online game is only free for 3 days. So after paying quite a bit for some plastic dinosaurs and a fancy extractor-like USB device you still have to pay an online monthly fee to actually play with the toy.

I'm certainly glad I didn't give this as a gift to someone else's child thereby committing them to the online fee as well.

There are plenty of toys out there with online games which are free (or at least wrapped into the price of the toy). Poor product.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Waste of Money, December 28, 2009

By 

Timothy Tippie - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Durability:1.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:1.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:1.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Xtractaurs Starter Kit (Toy)

I'm going to break down my biggest problems with this toy.

Firstly, the extractor gun and dinosaurs are really just for show. What you are buying is an overpriced computer flash game. Out of the box you will get a toy dinosaur, an extractor gun, and a CD. You insert the CD into your computer and wait for the magic to happen. The only thing on the CD are drivers for the extractor gun and an autorun feature to open your web browser to the Xtractor website - that's it. Once there, you will be prompted to download the actual game.

This brings me to my second problem; right from the get go, the download would not work properly. After hours of troubleshooting and attempting to restart the download, it just worked... Simple as that.. It just worked.

Now for the installation. This is my third issue. As soon as I installed the software I was hit with over a dozen prompts from my firewall which was warning me that the new software was trying to initialize connections to the internet. I figured it was necessary since the xtractor gun had to eventually communicate to the Mattel website. However, the connections never stopped. While the program was running, I would get an alert from my firewall approximately every 10 minutes. Also to note, the game adds itself in your computer registry to auto start every time you turn on your machine. Basically, if you install this software, your computer will be initializing a connection to the internet every 10 minutes the entire time your computer is running until you finally uninstall the program.

Last issue: When we got the "toy" working and my son was able to create a user account for the website, we saw that he only had a 3 day trial membership. That membership is now expired. I tried following the directions to get the full membership which was just to purchase the Xtractor kit. The one I already bought. I was then taken to a link which was to download the software. The software I'd already downloaded. I'm sure the problem occurred sometime during my initial installation, however I tried reinstalling and had similar problems.

After about 3 hours of troubleshooting the issue, I have given up on the game. I have indepth knowledge of computers and advanced knowledge of computer security. I will never recommend this to anyone and have not even scratched the surface of how this application can compromise the security of your home network.

Buyer beware.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Son loves it., January 27, 2010

By 

W. Bailey - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Durability:4.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:3.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Xtractaurs Starter Kit (Toy)

My son loves this game and would play it for hours if we let him. He is saving his money to buy more dinosaurs. I don't know what technical issues other reviewers have had because we have not had any. My son's computer was running Vista and is now using Windows 7, no problem with either. Getting started he needed some assistance but he is a few years younger than what the game recommends.