Customer Reviews

WowWee Roboreptile Robotic Reptile

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I picked up a Roboreptile last night (the cats were getting too complacent after all) and it's definitely a big improvement over the earlier Roboraptor (from what I've seen of that one).

I'm not sure how much long term entertainment one can get from one of these, but it's an interesting novelty item. When I was like five years old this would have been just the coolest thing though. Robophiles and younger kids will love them.

The one caveat I wanted to offer is that the Roboreptile does not work so hot on carpeted floors. His main locomotion technique is basically "shuffling" and this tends to fail on a soft surface. On any hard surface though he gets around pretty good.

So three out of five on this one I think.

Oh, and the cats took to him surprisingly well. Doesn't look/smell enough like anything that evolution has programmed them to be afraid of I guess :-)

One more thing: Getting him out of the box was a major pain. Apparently they're concerned about packs of them escaping and running amok devouring Barbies in the stores at night or something, since he's wired, taped, and screwed to the cardboard which is then glued into the outer box, so set aside a good 20-30 minutes for the unpacking process. And a philips screwdriver that's less than 1/4" in diameter and at least 3 inches long to unscrew him (and get the battery doors open).

G.

The roboreptile is about as capable as my old ers-110 aibo, but cost a lot less and is reptilian. Also a bit slower. By reptilian, I mean that it doesn't want to interact, it just wants to hunt, or guard. In themselves, these modes are worth the price of the toy.

It has 4 modes - roam, guard, remote control, and programmable. Remote control is OK, but quickly bores because the critter isn't fast. It lets you check what it can walk on/over.

Roboreptile has a program mode, which is the biggest change from roboraptor. (It's also a little faster when turning.) Stringing behaviors together, however, also quickly bores because the critter can't run. or fight

One little pleasure is hooding. It usually doesn't like being hooded and acts that way.

Roaming/hunting is when it wanders around and occasionally roars or snaps at the air. Interesting. Feeding is not that interesting because you just poke a button on the remote. Too tomagachi for me.

Guard is fun because it can spook the unwary.

Battery life is not impressive, use rechargeables.

After a while, time to take it apart. Type "roboreptile hack" into a search engine. Then dig in. It's easier than getting the critter out of the packaging. Now the real fun begins! I've met Tilden, the designer, and I suspect one of his goals was to flood the world with little motors, controllers, and sensors. Those are the building blocks of robotics. That and legos. Can the body plastic fit together another way? Can the tail be modified into a tentacle?

As alerted in many reviews, he has three major defects - 1) performance of walking on carpet and 2) unwrapping 3) battery

As for walking on carpet, his forward movement in fast speed and walking turn works well even on carpet. On the contrary rear movement, slow walking and stationary turns are almost impposible. I recommend fast walking and walking turn while playing on carpet. If you get bamboo or wooden stitched mat, lay it on the carpet and play roboreptile on it. His wakling performance will be greatly enhanced.

As for his second, unwrapping him from the box can be completed within 20 - 25 minutes with Philips screw driver, long nose wrench and cutter knife if you have an experience on another WOWEE robots. He is tied with four plastic-coated wires on his body and two bolts underneath his feet. So unwrapping is not pain so long as you can use your implements skillfully.

His major caveats lie in different characteristics:

First of all, it is too dangerous to leave him with kids under 5 years. The speed and amplitude of his head and tail movement is quite fast and large. Moreover, the sweeping motion of his legs doesn't give us a room to grasp him while walking. Beware potential pinch or strike on face!!! Make sure to let him played by adults or over fifteens. NEVER LET HIM UNATTENDED WITH KIDS WHILE WALKING!

The second caveat is his size and speed for indoor play - this may be subject opinion, but I feel he is so fast and long that we need enough space even in case of flat floor without carpet. Parking lot without car around or courtyard under fine weather is the best place to play him.

The third problem may be practical. It consumes 6 AA-sized batteries for his body working. However the batteries are easily run out. Use high durable batteries such as duracell/energizer or rechargeables. Low power batteries make the walking of roboreptile poor.


Another bothering is that you have to hold and fasten subduing helmet after putting it on. His furious head-banging while he gets tranquilized often throws it away. In addition, make sure to read manual before playing. It helps you to understand him better and let you escape from monotonous feeling with only 10-bottoned remote controller.

OF COURSE, HE IS THE BEST LIFE-LIKE CREATURE AMONG ALL WOWEE ROBOTS, AND MINI ROBOREPTILE IS THE BEST AMONG ALL WOWEE MINI VERSIONS!!!! IT'S UNDENIABLE!!!

Finally, I would like to point out that his original retail price is too expensive. Take the change of big sale such as X-mas or Thanksgiving. Above price is the main reason why I place 4 star on this item. Be sure to buy it within 50 bucks. That's well enough.

My son got his long awaited roboreptile and was disappointed by it. It can't even walk on carpet and barely can move forward even on a hard floor. It has 3 layers (sets) of commands but it doesn't seem to do much more than just one set of commands. Last, for the money, the robopet is much more fun to play with, costs less, and can move easily on any floor type.

This is the best toy I have ever seen. Roboreptile is cunning and ferocious, his personality is much like my mother-in-law, except when Roboreptile gets out of hand you can get him under control with the remote. (Now, if someone would make a remote that works on my mother-in-law, I would buy it immediately!) This animal is very much in tune with its environment. Christmas morning we unpacked Roboreptile, and he quickly dominated our living room, as he ferreted out food and roamed "his" territory.

This animal is very well constructed, and is a total blast. Right now we have hooded him, and he is calm. But once he is unhooded, he will be angry again. I recommend putting the batteries in the remote before you power up your roboreptile; that way you can get him under control if he gets out of hand.

Whoever designed this guy is a genius.

I am one of the adults in the household and I must say that I love ths animal! I was able to get one of these from the Customers Vote Promotion and was ready to play with it the day that I got it. I read the reviews and was afraid that he would not work properly on my carpet, but turns out he does exactly what he is supposed to do. He likes to attack any legs that he finds hanging around off of the couch or under a table.

***Caution*** His bites really can hurt (in a pinchy sort of way).

All in all great deal and great product. I can't wait until they come out with a V2 of this product. Hopefully in the future, they will make it so they can attack other WOW WEE products.

At first we thought Santa hadleft a defective product. Turns out Santa buys cheap batteries. Good batteries are a must with this toy. With the Dollar Tree batteries he wouldn't even walk. on carpet or otherwise. Only grunt and bite and swish his tail. After we put good batteries in, he does everything promised --even on carpet. We were getting ready to exchange him. Glad we tried new batteries. The remote and programming a little complicated for a 8 year old. But they soon learn. Nice toy, a bit overpriced. I suggest getting on sale.

I bought this for my grandson ( age 8 ). I think that his parents like it more than he does.

This was a gift for a 7 year old. It arrived in very protective packaging, which takes an adult to open. You need batteries for both the remote and the roboreptile. There are 3 levels of programing on the remote and easily understandable for a child that can read and is familiar with gaming controls. It's advanced programing can entertain teens as well. Great gift idea and affordable with Amazon!

Before Christmas, my wife called me from her cell while shopping at Toys R Us. She told me that she was looking at these remote control Roboreptiles for 100 bucks each (she called them Robo Raptors but I think that's actually a different thing...she did indeed mean the item that this review is about: The Roboreptile). I said to her, "Wait a minute," and I checked 'em out on Amazon, and Amazon had 'em for half of what Toys R Us was charging! Woo hoo. So I bought one for each of my sons.

They opened up their Roboreptiles first on Christmas morning, because they were the biggest boxes under the tree. And the Robos were the first toy that they played with after opening the rest of their gifts. They played with them for about 30 minutes.

And that is the last time that they played with them.

So as I was getting the boys ready for school this morning, I saw the Robos in the corner of their room. I went into their bathroom as they brushed their teeth and asked them, "So, are those Roboreptiles cool?" And they both said simultaneously, "Oh yeah!" So I said, "But I haven't seen you playing with them." And my oldest said, "We played with them right after we opened them on Christmas remember?" Um...yes...my point exactly.

The Robos are pretty cool at first glance/try, but we all quickly tired of them. They're hyped as "having a mind of their own" after setting them in one of the 3 or 4 auto-modes. But programming the things is not something that my preteen kids had the patience for, and--guilty as charged--I did not have the motivation to learn either.

Cool-at-first they may seem, I'd bet there are more kids loving and leaving their Robos than there are kids living happily ever after with them.

So proceed with caution.

They take 9 AA batteries. And you'd be well-advised to shop around. The price of the Robos on Amazon today as write is even less (a lot less) than I paid three weeks ago just before Christmas. So these might not be selling as well as the hype suggests.