The Glade 4.0

So...I told one of my kids they couldn't have this for Christmas, but they could have it for their birthday. Any thoughts?



*Edit: Linky http://www.amazon.com/Star-Interactive-Astromech-Droid-Robot/dp/B001E95SQ2

Found a couple of used ones on ebay for about half price...

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"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

That's great...Lachlan would LOVE that...

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Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
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daughter has one. pretty lame imho

Could you elaborate?
My son has been wanting one for some time now. He thinks it will be his robot friend. Was your daughter disappointed, does she still play with it, etc? (wanna sell it? )

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"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

How old is your son?

I remember fondly of looking through Christmas Catalogs and watching commercials back between the ages of 5 - 8 and imagining what some of those toys would be like if I owned them. My imagination would run wild with unrealistic expectations (but seemed perfectly logical and realistic to my young brain). Toys could never live up to 80% of my expectations.

Part of this was just not enough information. The other part was trick marketing. Ever read the fine-print text on a commercial that disappears within .005 seconds? It's there specifically for kids like myself and to absolve themselves from false advertising... but what 7 year old reads that while engrossed in a commercial (if they can read and comprehend the disclaimer at all)?

Your son might have the same unrealistic expectations of this R2D2 robot, thinking that it is self-aware and can think and react in the same manner as the R2D2 in the movies. It's my understanding that while the toy can learn some cool stuff, it is more like a glorified furby or robot dog.


Edit: I am remembering tons of stuff that I had unrealistic expectations over. Quite a few of them were products advertised in the back of "Boys Life" magazine. X-Ray Specs, "Learn to Throw your Voice," "Build your own Hovercraft," etc. What utter disappointments. Not only did they take weeks and weeks to arrive (an eternity to an 8 year old), but they definitely did NOT work like I expected them to.

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Les Zombis et les Loups-Garous!

Yeah, good points Numbuk. My boy will be 8 in February.
He actually never saw a commercial for this, he just read the advertisement for it in the Sky catalogue on the plane to Oregon a few months ago. I'll have to have some more talks with him to determine what his expectations are I guess....if he takes after me at all, then there are probably a few unrealistic ones...he is lonely (no time during the week for play with other kids, or other kids around for him to play with) so maybe he is seeing this as a substitute for a real friend.
Oh and the throwing your voice thing...I checked out all the books on ventriloquism I could when I was a kid and never could figure out how to do it. Sure wanted to though. Did you ever have any luck?

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"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

Wow, my parents would never buy something that much money. Sorry but that seems like a big chunk of change for just a toy.

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"It's real, grew up in trife life, the times of white lines
The hype vice, murderous nighttimes and knife fights invite crimes" - Nasir Jones

It is indeed a lot of money, even if I find one on sale for half-price...which is why I started this thread. Hoping that someone who has had one or has had kids who have had one can shed light on the whole "just a toy" thing.
I've read mixed reviews. It may, or it may not, actually be worth the money.

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"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

What I mean is, regardless if the thing helped me study for homework as a kid, did the chores etc. it would still be too much money.

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"It's real, grew up in trife life, the times of white lines
The hype vice, murderous nighttimes and knife fights invite crimes" - Nasir Jones

Get him one of these R2D2's instead.

[youtube]fpVQ_BXZOHw[/youtube]

Then again, fighting over who gets to use it, could become an issue.

I'm sorry that your son is sad that he doesn't have a lot of friends. I can definitely see why something like this would be appealing when you are in that sort of situation.

I think your money would be better spent enrolling him in some sort of activity where he can make friends as well as be active. Something like Tae-Kwon-Do or something at a local youth center.

Hope things work out.


Edit: Oh, as for throwing my voice.... it was just a big pamphlet that had lots of stories but basically the gist of it was: "Clench your gut and talk through your teeth." Yeah, that works. Sure it does.

The X-Ray Specs were actually kind of cool. They obviously didn't see through people's clothing or see through walls (which is what I was hoping for). But if you held your hand up to a light, it created an illusion of seeing a shadow in your hand where your bones would be.

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Les Zombis et les Loups-Garous!