Hufflepuff? Slytherin? Ravenclaw? Gryffindor? Which house is the best fit for you? Let our Harry Potter Sorting Hat tell you--in a round about long winded sort of way.
Animated Kneeling Geist Girl is 2' high. Features a turning head that reveals a bloody skull with an evil laugh, moving jaw and flashing red eyes. Prop is motion and sound activated. Requires 4 AA batteries (not included).
Item # 13443. An M.D. with a history of finding patients D.O.A. 6 foot animated doctor with bloody scrubs.
The Alive Chimpanzee combines Hollywood special effects with advanced robotics technology in the most realistic simian this side of the jungle. He's a life size, highly detailed realistic bust. Animatronics enable him to duplicate the signature sounds and movements of a real chimp. His skin and hair, which were developed specifically for the Chimp, are amazingly life-like. His head, eyes, mouth, upper lip, eye lids and eye brows move just like his counterparts in the wild. And, his vocalizations are startlingly real. He's multi-sensory, highly communicative and interactive. An infrared vision system allows him to detect movement and track objects, and touch sensors in his chin, head and ears react to contact. Alive Chimpanzee responds to sharp sounds with his stereoscopic sound sensors. The nature of the Chimp's response to these stimuli will depend upon the mood that he's in - curious, fearful, happy or angry. Watch out if he's angry - he becomes a very frightening and very loud chimpanzee. He comes programmed with five modes: Direct control, programming, guard, demo and "Alive" mode. In the "Alive" mode, the Chimpanzee will interact autonomously with his environment, carefully watching, listening and responding to what is going on around him. The Alive Chimpanzee comes complete with an ergonomically designed controller. Requires one "9V" battery and 4 "D" batteries (not included). AC adapter not included. Measures 13" tall.
Doesn't everyone need an animatronic monkey bust? Well, okay, it's not a matter of need, but, you must admit it's cool. Even the phrase is cool. Wowwee Alive Chimpanzee is a programmable, lifelike chimpanzee head and shoulders that will bewilder your family, astound your friends and, most likely, frighten your pets.
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| Alive Mode allows you to interact naturally with the chimp through its six sensors |
Monkey Looks Good
It's so lifelike, in fact, that recent guests to my home did a double-take when seeing it on my dining room table. It has latex rubber skin that's colored, wrinkled, and speckled in very realistic way and has big, brown, bloodshot eyes. Its head and shoulders are covered in synthetic monkey fur. Fine gray whiskers jut out from its brow and chin. The only thing detracting from this realistic chimpanzee likeness are two little sensors plugged into its nostrils. More on that later.
Under the fur on its back is a little power switch. When powered up, the Wowwee Alive Chimp looks around the room, shakes his head in a very simian way, and gives up a chimp laugh. It is reminiscent of the automatons at Disneyworld, but with more modest whirs and clacks in place of the pneumatic hiss of the Disneybots.
See No Evil, Hear No Evil
There are three basic ways to interact with the Wowwee Alive Chimpanzee: alive, direct control, and program modes.
Sensors turn the chimp into a virtual pet that displays different moods: curious, happy, fearful, and angry |
In alive mode, the chimp reacts to stimulus received through sensors in and about the head. Infrared "vision" sensors in his nose detect movement, which make him track what's going on by moving his head and eyes. Microphone "hearing" sensors in his ears make him react similarly; a snap of your fingers on one side of his head will make him twitch in that direction. His hearing and vision is pretty limited to stimuli just inches away from his face, though, so don't expect him to greet you when you come through the door. There are also "touch" sensors under his chin and on top of his head.
These sensors turn the chimp into a virtual pet that displays different moods. His four programmed moods are curious (his default mood when he's first switched on), happy, fearful, and angry. You can elicit different moods with different actions. Petting the top of his head and/or rubbing under his chin will put him in a happy mood. Waving things in front of his face or making loud noises next to his ear will put him into a fearful or angry mood (for the record, I'm the same way). Unless your a primatologist, you'll likely find the distinction between his happy and angry moods to be subtle. He moves his eyes and face and makes chimp noises. Without arms and hands to fling, uh, food, his mood is not so immediately clear.
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| Direct Control Mode allows you to operate the chimp like a puppet |
Remote Control Puppeteering
Direct control mode lets you operate the monkey with the included remote control. Anyone who has played a video game system in the last 10 years will be instantly familiar with the remote's thumbstick design. Toggle buttons on the shoulders of the remote simplify the many different control elements into a simple design. For example, in one toggle position, the left thumbstick moves the jaw, and in the other position, it moves the eye lids. Control mode essentially turns the chimp into a puppet. The remote also has six buttons that, when used with the toggles, can go through preprogrammed animations of his moods.
The Wowwee Chimp can make a wide variety of gestures. His head can nod up and down and turn from side to side. His eyes can move similarly, and his eyelids can close and open. His mouth can close and open, but his lips don't move, which is a little disappointing. I'd be a lot more excited about the programming feature if I could teach him to lip sync to a Britney Spears song.
Program Mode permits the user to store a routine of the chimp's movements and sounds up to 20 steps long. This is easy and fun to do, though you can only store one program at a time. Setting the monkey into Guard mode will make him respond to stimulus by executing the program steps you've put in.
One consideration for the Wowwee Alive Chimpanzee is where in your home does he belong? I suggest on top of the piano. After all, as the Three Stooges taught us, music soothes the savage beast. --Porter B. Hall
* *3 AA batteries Not included
