People have been speculating for a long time about how robots would finally enter into mainstream lives. Roomba aside, the answer might just be as toys. Now Disney Consumer Products has added some credence to that theory with a new line of robotic toys, created in partnership with Pixar Animation Studios, Thinkway Toys and WowWee. They'll debut at the upcoming Bay Area Maker Faire, interestingly enough! (Is DIY now short for Disney?) Details after the jump.
Inspiring the first toys to appear are WALL-E, animated star of Disney-Pixar's upcoming movie of the same name, and Tinker Bell, renowned fairy and Peter Pan companion.
We'll see Ultimate WALL-E (pictured, $189.99 list) sometime this summer. He'll have 10 motors for lots of movement possibilities; a remote control, for programming myriad movements and behaviors; and sensors that'll allow him to respond to his environment in numerous ways, including obstacle, sound, and touch detection. The The iDance WALL-E (also coming in summer, $24.99) sounds something like the Hasbro i-Dog; it's an MP3-player speaker that can move along to music.
As for the Tinker Bell toy (coming this fall, $39.99): She can fly! The toy will incorporate WowWee's FlyTech technology used first in the company's FlyTech Dragonfly; kids will direct her aviation with a "flower wand remote controller."
Look for all the new Disney robotic toys at disneyshopping.com and other toy retailers.
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April 30, 2008 2:33 PM
That's just what we need during an oil shortage, more plastic devices.....
has anyone ever considered how much oil we could save if we switched to something else, like wood?
:)
May 1, 2008 11:38 AM
So your answer is to cut down lots of trees and make millions of toys from them instead? Brilliant....
May 1, 2008 12:56 PM
Anyone who says that cutting down trees is destroying forests is retarded. Over 98% of all wood used comes from tree farms that were grown to be used as wood products. Saying that trees are endangered because of paper and wood products is like saying potatoes are endangered because we eat french fries.
May 1, 2008 4:44 PM
Postatoes are endangered?
(Two ways you could react to this, number one, the sterotypical american as seen by the rest of the world would say "Well I better get me some before they are all gone." And 2, the steriotypical sweedish enviromental hippy pothead (or is that dutch),"We have to put a fence and a row of land minbes around the last field of potatoes so no-one can ever have them, even to harvest them in a way that is sustanable.")
Take your pick.
BTW I love poutine. Just don't tewll me gravy is bad for the environment or I will smack you with a dead seal.
May 1, 2008 5:58 PM
It still costs us oil to tear down and transport the trees...
May 1, 2008 6:56 PM
Wall-E Looks a lot like a clunky Johnny 5
May 2, 2008 6:06 PM
How heavy do you think this item would be if it were made out of wood (to get the same strength). Don't for get that it is powered by batteries. How much more energy to move the extra weight.
May 7, 2008 4:44 AM
Hey Paul, I guess you've never seen a clearcut with your own two eyes.
The retarded thing is to actually believe that the majority of trees cut down come from farms. It's a simple idea, consumption > supply. Unfortunately it take a tree years to grow, and only seconds to be cut down.
May 9, 2008 7:48 PM
Anyone who calls someone "retarded" in an online forum is a nazi.