Customer Reviews

Brian the Brain by Mega Brands

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

This guy is great. He's fun, full of information and trivia, and has an incredibly funny personality. The room guard and phone were my favorites. Using an MP3 player with him was great too!

Brian the Brain by Mega Brands
I brought this for my nine yr old grandson for Christmas. I saw it on one of those Today or Good Morning shows. He was advertized as a computer toy. But he can't do a lot of things and he gets answers wrong. And he is suppose to respond to my grandson voice. Not true, he responds to any noise and all you get is start up retoric. My grandson got extremely frustrated with it. Now it doesn't work at. We replaced all the batteries and pushed the "reset button while holding R down on the keybroad." Nothing. The scroll wheel didn't even work the first day(Christmas Day) In the instructions it says to throw away the box well my grandson thru it away and now I can't send it back for a refund. I wasted $80.00 on this thing. I called Mega Brands only to be told they were busy -leave your name and number and they will call you back. So far-nothing. Donot buy it! It's a ripoff.
My other grandson got a leap frog computer that cost a great deal less and it works great. My grandson says that Brian the Brain is no good. I will have to find something else for him to replace this thing.

Hi, This toy is for my 9 yr old daughter even though the toy personality is clearly a highly extroverted male. The toy understands 17 word commands and 27 listed passwords. It takes 7 batteries instead of the four listed in the specifications, with no electrical plug in. The speaker is "tinny", but certainly adequate. I believe the taped packaging was factory original and not reboxed. The package design is a marketers, and manufacturers, nightmare as the complicated design has to be held together by tape or, more visually appealing to the consumer, glue. There was one free screw in the box, but it looks like an extra. The toy appears to work fine, but the packaging makes one wonder if the toy assembly is as questionable as the packaging.

My son wanted this thing something terrible. got it and the keyboard would not work from day one. called manufacturer said toy is already discontinued, (probably due to construction). Manufacturer is also very, VERY hard to reach. don't get it because once you do its a crap shoot if it works and if it doesn't good luck getting help

This is a terrible toy! I wish it were possible to give it zero stars.
My son received it for a Christmas gift and frankly, we're disgusted with it. The quality of the toy is poor. The battery housing fell apart the first time we tried to put batteries in. With a little scotch tape, we got the thing working, and then the disappointment really began.

The speaker quality is poor, and the problem is worse considering that Brian uses two different voices - one for giving information and one for "chatting." When the informational voice is used, it's nearly impossible to understand what is being said. (So much for this piece of junk being educational). When Brian uses his "chatting" voice, it comes thru loud and clear. This is also unfortunate considering all Brian as to say are smart-mouthed and borderline abusive "jokes."

With all the concern these days about lead in childrens toys and the possible brain damage it can cause, I have to say that this dumb toy could do more to reduce your child's intelligence than any lead-laden toy could possibly manage. I think the only thing my child could learn from Brian the Brain is how to be a fresh-mouthed jerk.

I ordered "Brian the Brain" for my 7 year old. It arrived within 2 days of ordering! Unfortunately, it arrived a total mess. The box was smashed up and had obviously been opened and retaped poorly. The first thing I noticed when I removed Brian from the Amazon box was a rattling noise. Two screws were simply rolling around inside of his clear plastic head! The screws that hold his head together are proprietary and impossible to open, so I have no choice but to ship him back. I did get to try his Demo function, which was OK. His voice is hard to understand due to an inadequate speaker. Ugh!!! It seems clear that this company is selling refurbished products as new. While they might list the "refurb" part somewhere on Amazon, I have been unable to find it. Is that even legal?? Anyway, it seems like a neat product, and I plan to order another one. However, BEWARE. I am the second costumer to have a problem with the condition of the product upon arrival.

Brian the brain for the trash heap - do not buy this toy. It's a waste of money. We had had it about a year now and we never have been able to really use it. It does not understand the questions it's being asked. A waste of money - I will have to donate it or give it to someone who has the patience to deal with it's shortcomings.

This was the one big item my neice's daughter (age 8) wanted for Christmas. It was much cheaper here in the US than it was in England and as they came over for Christmas we ordered it.

The toy really is quite a remarkable piece of AI. Kimberly loved it. The facts it recites are quite remarkable but a bit advanced for this age group and the adults around found it to be quite repetative. How long the fascination will last I don't know.

Construction is all plastic. I suspect that a drop on a hard surface might result in shards of sharp plastic which concerns me a little.

Battery life seemed pretty good and the speach is quite clear.

I'd like to see more variation in it's responses but overall I'd say Brian was a big hit. Being able to hook it up to an MP3 or CD player for a color organ effect was a nice touch but I wish they had included the cord to go between the two (stereo miniplug to stereo miniplug).

We bought this for our 6 year old grandson for Christmas. He is a very inquisitive child that has a big thirst for knowledge, so when we saw Brian the Brain we thought it would be a great idea. When Christmas morning arrived and he opened the toy, he couldn't put it down. This is the most mesmerizing toy I think any of our grandkids have seen. Right away Brian broke the ice with our grandson with his sense of humor and up to date way of speaking so that todays children understand him and feel comfortable with him. Within minutes our grandson was quoting facts to us and trying to get all of us involved.
I think anyone that is looking for the perfect educational toy for any child age 5-13 should invest in Brian because you won't be let down.

My daughter really wanted this toy. I should have paid more attention to the reviews. The idea seemed great. My experience boils down to 2 problems: 1. The toy is defective and doesn't recognize or respond to any spoken commands or requests. 2. Brian's personality is obnoxious and bossy. Lets teach a child by insulting them seems to be Brian's main teaching method. "I can't understand you. Do you have marbles in your mouth"?..."You don't seem to understand this, maybe you need a nap? (something like that). I don't even want a replacement. Brian's lame!