Customer Reviews

Toysmith 4 M Soda Can Robug

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

 

 

2 of my 4 kids really enjoyed being a part of the building process. My 6-yr old son wandered off near the beginning, but my 4-yr old and 8-yr old were spellbound. It took less than 30 minutes to put it together. Then we spent 30 minutes watching it spin in circles on the floor. It doesn't have an extremely sturdy build and it is definitely not 11 pounds of shipping. It's a fun little toy, albeit kind of expensive. We like the one we have, but won't be getting another. The emphasis in the description on recycling is a little over the top...

I purchased this Soda Can 'Robug' for my niece who is 9 years old.

It's very simple, really. You build a sleeve to insert a soda can into. That sleeve has legs that are very similar to bent paper clips. It also has a motor attached that is similar to a video game controller's rumble feature. When turned on, the 'robug' vibrates enough to move the entire thing in circles (about half a Meter in diameter for me, but I doubt this is consistent across the product line). It only works if it's on a smooth, level surface.

That's it. Other than the shaking motor, there are no moving parts. No leg movement or anything like that. It does resemble a fly, and the motor makes a bzzzz noise that imagination could make like a bug, I suppose.

My niece either is polite and a gifted actress, or she was delighted by this thing. She assembled the entire thing with no trouble (then again, it's extremely simple, requiring a few screws to be screwed), and I thought it was fun watching her follow the instructions.

But it's not educational, it's not challenging, and it's not interesting when compared to all the little robot kits I grew up playing with.

Now, I don't think I was deceived or anything... but I wouldn't have bought it if I had paid more attention to the utter simplicity of this thing. I'm giving it 4 stars because it is well made, and I simple was disappointed this wasn't a different sort of product (that's my fault).

did you know not all pop cans are the same size? We discovered this when trying to put it together. the pieces that go around the can are made for a specific size can, and our first try didn't fit

Cute beginner robot for 6 year old and Dad to build.
It is always good to do a little recyling lesson with
something in which a child shows interest. Good Start.

I bought this product for my eleven year old brother. He and my dad had a great time putting it together. Once it was assembled (not too hard) the switch was flipped and the robot immediately buzzed itself across the table. Cute and fun to watch. I wouldn't say it created hours of amusement, but there was a sense of accomplishment and I don't feel that it will gather much dust before it's played with again.

The shipping and packaging was great. Getting a soda can is easy enough. The educational value is decent because the kids get to understand how to build things. I was personally very exsited to build it. Some of the screws were very hard to get in. I almost hurt myself because I had to use a lot of force on these very tiny screws to get it together. I soon as I was done I started to wonder if I did something wrong. It only had 3 legs! But look at the box carefully and you will notice that there are only 3 legs on this thing. No balance, if any at all! Oddly enough it came with 2 more legs but with no way to attach them.

If you can get it to balance, the vibrations from the motor will shimmy the object across the floor...very....very....slowly.

I bought this product for my 10-year-old grandson. He was very excited with putting it together. Unfortunately we could not secure the legs enough to hold the bug upright. I finally fashioned new legs with coat hanger wire.

It's easy to put together, but the legs aren't strong enough to support the weight of the batteries, can, and motor. They start to bend immediately and the bug tips over almost right away once it's turned on. The kiddo put a lot of work into putting this together and was really disappointed when the legs kept giving out.

We had a lot of fun putting the parts together, but this little bug is really loud! It moves by vibration, so it doesn't really move a whole lot.

For some time now, I've seen your Green Science products in catalogs, and have been interested in getting some of them to do with my son & daughter. So, it was with much excitement that we received the Soda Can Robug for my son's birthday last month. However, we were extremely disappointed with the quality of the product.

The experiment was an utter failure due to three main product deficiencies. First, all four of the wire solders were of very poor quality, and two pulled out despite gentle handling (one from the battery casing and one from the motor). Second, the motor casing was so tight around the motor that there was no room for the wires. When assembled, there was barely enough room for the wires to fit through two tiny spaces right in front of the wire connections. However, the wires were soldered pointing in the opposite direction of the casing openings. So, in order to fit the wires through the proper openings you have to bend the wires in the opposite direction which stressed the solders to the point of breaking. Lastly, the 3-legged design of the robug was extremely unstable, and it was difficult to get it to stand even with the power off.

Due to the wiring problems, we were unable to get the device to work, which was a complete disappointment to my son. I can fix the solders, but the instability of the unit makes me wonder if there's even a point. Before assembling the robug, I had hoped that it would be the first in a long line of Green Science experiments with my kids. However, after the incredibly poor quality and performance of this product, I won't be wasting my money. Perhaps I got a defective unit. I understand that not all solders can be perfect. But, the instability of the robug makes me believe that there's an inherent design flaw.

One last note on quality: My unit came with an extra screw and an extra leg. While I'd rather have more pieces than I need rather than less, this is another indicator that there might be a quality control issue regarding these products.