We love robots around my house! If you don’t believe me, maybe you should check out the Radical Robot Birthday Party my son had last year, and the cool classroom robot treats we made to take to school.
So when the opportunity to review the brand new Mechatar robots came up, I had to jump on-board for my little robot lover.
What is a Mechatar? It is a brand new concept in robotic toys. It functions on a couple of levels. You can play with it as you would most any other robotic toy…
Someone {hearts} robots!
But it is also programmed to interact with other Mechatars, and to be able to plug into your computer for online play. It earns abilities on the computer that it downloads on to the actual robot. It’s a pretty ingenious idea, and I am interested to see what more they can do with this technology in the future.
My husband was out-of-town when our package arrived. I had planned to have him supervising the getting started phase, since I am not so technical or mechanical, but to my surprise, it was simple enough for my 7 year old to get going on his own. That, and he was riveted enough by the whole thing that he read the manual cover to cover. In no time, he has become quite an expert. In fact, I’m going to let him take it over from here…
So you can tell he is pretty enthusiastic about it! My 10 year old daughter also wanted to play the on-line game for quite a while the other day. And my 1 year old son is engrossed by the robot. I think the way Alpha (the Mechatar’s name) moves is pretty cool. BSB thinks it should be able to turn in more than one direction.
I see just a couple of cons. It seems like these would be much more fun if all of their friends had them as well–he really wants his dad to get one–because they are supposed to battle each other, and we haven’t really had the opportunity to experience that part yet. I also think it would be really cool if the online part involved them actually controlling the robot, rather than computer keys. I do think the concept of combining the live action with the computer interactive play is quite ingenious. The price point at $39.99 is quite reasonable for this kind of toy. But again, you’ll get the most out of it if you have access to more than one, so they could be pricey to collect. Overall, my son is loving both the practical and on-line play. This could be the “it” toy this Holiday Season!
Does someone in your house heart robots, too?
GIVEAWAY: One lucky reader will win their very own Mechatar (MSRP: $39.99) and maybe even have the opportunity to virtually battle my son’s Mechatar! Here’s what you need to do:
visit www.Mechatars.com {NOTE: In order to see theMechatar line up, you will need to click on “play now” then “register” but no information needs to be submitted}
Review the Mechatar lineup and pick which Mechatar you would most like to have in your household
Leave a comment here telling me which Mechatar you’d most like to win!
THAT’s it!
Wouldn’t this be an awesome Christmas present! My son actually said, he wanted to go around handing out Mechatar’s to kids who don’t have a lot of toys. *Sigh* World peace through on-line battle, right? If you don’t win (or don’t want to wait, you can go and get your own Mechatar right now at www.iloverobots.comat a discounted rate.
Use Coupon Code: MECHMOM valid for 10% off through 11/30/11
(we may be doing this to get his dad one for Christmas. Shhhh!)
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