littleBits Star Wars Droid Inventor Kit (680-0011)

I wanted to start by explaining how I found out about this toy. I noticed the Holiday Toy List for Amazon had just landed, and I sorted the products by “best selling”. To my surprise, the littleBits R2 D2 product shot up from the bottom of the page, right to the top. I’m not sure how Amazon treats featured items, but I would encourage you all to do the same when looking at products. Anyway, I went ahead and purchased the item (knowing nothing about it) assuming I could always return it if my son didn’t like it.A little bit about my son - He is part builder, part basher. Has enjoyed lego kits, but also enjoys playing call of duty with me, and shooting darts at his sister with his Nerf Gun. He is 11 years old, and shares an iPad 2 hand me down with his sister who is 8.Now about the kit:Pros:- The package is awesome, looks super premium and worth far more than $100- The SW music in the app is so cool, we had goosebumps- The app looks authentically Star Wars, and the instructions are 3D videos as opposed to old lego instruction booklets that I’m used to- The R2 D2 takes about an hour to make, and we did it as a family which was really fun.- We made some mistakes, and it was interesting seeing how my son and daughter came up with solutions to those mistakes- They were really proud once they had built the whole thing, and strangely started asking me questions about the drivetrain in my car, and how that relates to what they just built.- After you make the R2D2, there are “missions” that teach you how to break it down, build something different, leverage different sensors to make his head turn, force drive, fist bump, drawing etc that was super cool- The customization element was heaps of fun, we got a white sticker sheet that allowed us redesign our droid, once we had finished with the blue sticker version.Cons:- I would love to buy additional sensors, but Amazon doesn’t seem to sell them, and the app doesn’t appear to support it.- The stickers are a little difficult to put on- I would love more missions? Little Bits?- R2 D2 doesn’t travel that well so make sure you buy a carry case, or disassemble him if you go anywhereFinal VerdictThis kit has the kind of value or longevity as a $400 lego kit, but with so much more. I was genuinely impressed with how my kids were applying the things they learned in the build experience, to everyday things, all while having so much fun. They were explaining how a light switch, bluetooth, dc motor etc work in cars, houses and other items. My only regret is that there aren’t additional add ons or complete kits for us to purchase to keep their curiosity going. This product will sell out this year, I’d be snapping one up before it does.

My 7 yr old daughter loves math and Star Wars, so I thought this would be a great Christmas toy and STEM activity. It took her about an hour to build R2D2. The app software walks you through each step and is very easy to follow, but I could only download the app on my iPhone 7 which runs iOS 10, it was not compatible with her iPad 2 which runs iOS 9. This was problematic later when she wanted to play with the droid, as she always had to use my phone to do it.R2D2 has very cool sounds and even a drawing function, which she loved. It was easy to maneuver and interact with. It has several "missions" that you can do with the robot like an obstacle course. Though some missions you have to pay to unlock in the app, which I thought was annoying after I paid $100 for the robot.The shell of the robot is also very fragile. One piece or another would fall off daily, and I ended up having to help her snap it back together. Just carrying it from one room to another could cause it to fall apart. At first, I accepted it as part of the "I built my own robot" engineer experience, but by day 3 this was just annoying.Ultimately, after 2 weeks of using R2D2 maybe 30 mins a day, one of the motors failed and the droid would no longer move. I spent about an hour troubleshooting including reassembling the circuits, replacing the battery, and looking online at the customer support forums but got nowhere. Given that the robot has flimsy construction, the motor failed so quickly, and she could not operate it on her own with her iPad, I returned it and we got a cheaper, pre-built R2D2 robot.

Bought this after seeing it on the Today Show as a birthday present for my 8 year old son. Wow, let me tell you I can’t believe how much he loves this toy. He is usually always on his phone or computer and doesn’t talk much to us or his siblings, but when we got him this he wouldn’t stop showing off all the cool things he can make his droid do. At first I was worried it might be too difficult for him, he isn’t the best at math or sciences, but he took his time and followed along the videos in the app and was able to make his droid all by himself.  He has been playing with this when he gets home after school and loves scaring the dog with all the sounds the robot can make. If you are concerned that all the bits and parts of this kit would be scattered and lost all over the house, don’t worry they can reuse the box that it came with to keep bits inside, but I definitely wish there was a better storage option. Also I think there is a way to code the droid which sounds pretty great, but you have to download another separate app or something. I wish that it was just inside the original app so he doesn’t have to download so many different apps. I think I might get him another littlebits kit for christmas since he loves this one so much. Anyone have any suggestions? Overall, great toy, great buy definitely reccommend.

I bought this droid because my 10 yr old son is at home since his school is closed due to covid-19. I read the specs on the page and everything appeared to be ok. Shame on me for not reading the comments, because little did I know that the droid won't ever link to our Android phones, no matter how many different versions of Android phones we tried. My wife has an iPhone 6, and when she downloaded the app to try to pair devices her phone wouldn't even pick up the w32 device. Completely stumped since the packaging and instructions stated Download the App with Google Play or iPhone App Store, I read some of the comments and found this is a common issue with this droid. SHAME ON THE SELLERS FOR NOT BEING FORTHRIGHT ABOUT CONNECTIVITY/PHONE COMPATIBILITY AND SHAME ON LITTLEBITS FOR NOT CORRECTING THEIR PACKAGING TO REFLECT THE FACT NO ANDROIDS WILL WORK.

My two boys (14 and 12) were really excited to put this together- it was easy to assemble, using instructions on their ipods (which they loved). I think kids younger than mine could also handle this fairly independently. once together, they kept discovering things they could do with the robot - making it draw with a marker, recording sounds that upload to play from it, and running it through obstacle courses. They were so engaged there was no watching screens all evening! They both gave it a 5 star rating when I asked how much they liked it. I think they will have fun with it for a long time, and would recommend it.

4 year old son loves itDid the robot by himselfFollowed video instruction super easyTook him 3 hoursRobot is funny and cute and very versatileWorth it for little robot and Star Wars fans

I ordered this for my 8 yr old son for Christmas. It is his favourite toy and has been playing with it everyday since. There are so many combinations for him to create and do with the droid. It has been an amazing gift to see him use his skills to make the droid work and do what he wants it to do. It comes with circuits that can be hooked up in different orders to make the droid respond and move in different ways. He has already learned to add voice and sounds as well to his. I would definitely recommend this for any child interested in how things work and making them move. The app works great as well on his tablet. I was hoping for more coding but I think this is a great first option in learning how to make things move and work.

my 7 year old niece build it in her own. The instructions are very easy to follow. Now she wants to be a engineer. This product may have changed her career destiny.

I bought this for my five year old son and he loves it. After some initial help to get going, he can complete the missions on his own even though he cannot read very well - the instructions are very easy to follow. He hasn't tried the coding part yet - that appears to be a bit more complex than the coding apps he currently has. So, he has room to grow with this toy. I hope there are extra bits we can buy for it - he already wants to add more complex functionality. I had to explain to him that full-blown AI is still not readily available ;) The software didn't work on our older ipad - so a newer ios device is needed (I believe it requires at least ios ver 10).