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Walkie Bits

Ah, the first of this year's Christmas gifts has arrived. From China!

I saw these Walkie Bits on Time Magazine's list of the best inventions of 2005, and I knew they would make perfect gifts for some of the kids I happen to know. So I set out to find them. The trouble is that they don't sell them in the US yet.

Walkie Bits in caseOf course, the best solution to international trade boundaires is eBay. I ordered a handful of them and had them shipped by airmail from Hong Kong. (Is it weird that these toys are Japanese, but they originated in China?) I got a registered mail slip last week, and Nana has been bugging me about it ever since. So this afternoon, I went to pick them up.

Want to see a movie of it moving?

Isn't it cute?

Comments

Comment by Owen on .
Owen
http://asymptomatic.net/2005/11/29/594/walkie-bits#comment-4165
As soon as I figure out the Japanese manual, I should be able to teach it to chirp and move in predefined patterns, and some other interesting robotic tricks. At least, that's what I'm led to believe by other sites in English that talk about them. I could, of course, be totally misled. Wouldn't be the first time. :)
Comment by Kennedy Gitchel on .
Kennedy Gitchel
http://asymptomatic.net/2005/11/29/594/walkie-bits#comment-4194
There is a summary of the instructions for Walkie bits in the original Walkie bits press release (June 30, 2005) at this link. (Also other press releases for other recent interesting Takara products not yet available much outside of Japan.) -Kennedy Gitchel (Full disclosure: I work for Takara)