Everybody always seems to think that toys were better when *they* were a kid. My grandparents generation complained in the 70’s and 80’s that “toys today are all plastic junk, in my day everything was made out of razor-edged stamped metal, the toys would last forever, slice you open and give you tetanus,” and so on. And today some of my fellow Gen Xers – at least those paid to yap about such things – are constantly going on about how awesome toys were in the 80’s. But let’s face it: due to the further miniaturization of electronics, the ease of computer design and manufacture, and the willingness of at least some companies to make an extra effort… a lot of todays toys just blow previous generations right out of the water.
Witness this 1/12 scale remote control Batman Begins “Tumbler:”
Features:
App controlled cockpit door open & close
11 x Cockpit LED light-up function with sound effect
Adjustable 480p night vision camera, first person vision within mobile app
Path recording and replay function
Camera for photo snap and video recording
Voice intercom function
Remote-controlled spoiler’s movements
Driving mode app interface is made after the Tumbler driving board in the movie
Attack mode app interface imitates the driving board display during the Tumbler attack mode
App controllable Jet-Power mode to boost up speed by 30% with movie-like Red and Blue LED light and Jet-power sound effects
2100mAH Li-On battery for up to 1.5 Hours play time
25 x high power LED lights
approximately 600pcs of components
There is of course a downside to all this awesomeness. Two downsides, in fact.
1) The price: HK$4,980, which is over $600 US
2) If you actually let a child play with this, they’ll turn it into $600 worth of scrap inside of an hour.
Kids these days have access to toys in the form of RC quadcopters and the like that feature flight and sensor technologies that would have been silly James Bond stuff really not that long ago. In another generation, perhaps they’ll have toys that will present serious headaches to strategic arms limitation negotiators.