When I hear the brand-name Teksta, I immediately think of the cute robotic puppy and kitten that made them famous, but when Character got in touch to see if we'd like to review their latest robotic critter, it wasn't anything as cute and cuddly - it was the Teksta Robotics Scorpion! Eeek !
All three of the Madhouse kids squealed with delight when they laid eyes on it - it is a very large, striking, sleek and fairly realistic robotic creature - then they squealed with laughter as I started inserting batteries and its legs started wiggling like a huge spider and made me jump. It's almost too realistic and it made me shudder ! As did the number of batteries required - 4 x AA for the scorpion and 2 x AAA for the controller. Luckily we have rechargeable batteries, otherwise it could get expensive !
The controller can be used in two ways - either strapped on the back of your hand or just held in the palm of your hand. The first time you use it (and each time you switch the scorpion on), you need to push the big button in the centre of the controller to establish a connection with the scorpion, then you're ready to go.
After a bit of practice, we soon had him scuttling around the floor in all directions, making the dogs go loony ! It works really well on hard floors like parquet or lino but we also had a try on a big rug - it goes much more slowly but does still work.
You may notice in this picture and on the little video below that one of the scorpion's legs came off when I was putting in the batteries. It's easy enough to push back on but it did keep falling off again so in the end, we just left it off. I was ready to write this off as bad luck or me being clumsy, but I noticed that Eileen at ET Speaks From Home had the same problem. Hopefully this is a small design fault that they will be able to rectify easily.
Once the kids had had enough of making the scorpion scuttle around and bash into the table legs, we got out the target that it comes with. If you pull apart the scorpion's jaws then line it up with the target, it will close its pincers on it and drag it around the room. We've decided that we'll have to see what else it can pick up - kitchen roll tubes, cans of deodorant and teddy bears have all been earmarked as prospective targets for future playing !
You can have a look at our first experiences with the Teksta Scorpion here. I'd just like to apologise in advance for the state of the floor - Pierre was so impatient to play that he couldn't wait for me to throw the hoover around first !
If you buy two (or more) Teksta Scorpions, you could have even more fun with them, having races to the target and also epic battles. It would also avoid all the cries of "can I have a turn now?" if you have several children who all want ot play with it at the same time !
The Teksta Scorpion is suitable for children aged 5+, but it appeals way beyond that age, certainly into teens and even most adults can't resist having a play ! It's slightly creepy so it doesn't seem too babyish and it appeals to both sexes. We've been having great fun with it so I'm sure these will be lurking under lots of Christmas trees this year !
star rating : 4/5
RRP : £39.99
for more information : http://www.character-online.com/products/Teksta/Scorpion-Red/
Disclosure : We received the product in order to write an honest review.
I'm just finishing my review, we also found that the legs fall off, especially if it hits the furniture.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely a design fault then ! I'll link up to your review when it's live too xx
DeleteLooks cool. My son would like this :-)
ReplyDeleteLooks cool. My son would like this :-)
ReplyDeleteGreat review! I was looking for some toys to give as gifts to my two boys for Christmas. This could be a possibility.
ReplyDeleteI think we're all on the lookout for Christmas gifts already !
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