Zoomer Dino Indominus Rex

This toy has been so much fun! I purchased it prior to a Christmas party we were throwing for about 25 neighbors, the idea being that the neighborhood kids could enjoy it during the party but that it would ultimately go to my 7 yo grandson. Well, now I'm not going to give it to my grandson! We're keeping it so that all our family members and friends can enjoy it when they come visit us! If you get this toy, be sure to CHARGE THE DINOSAUR IN ADVANCE. I was fooled into thinking that the toy was totally battery-run because the box said, "requires 3 AA batteries" but the batteries are just for the remote control--you still have to charge the dinosaur up with computer wires. So it was a major disappointment to me to discover we couldn't use the toy starting halfway through the party when I planned to get it out. However, an hour after this unfortunate discovery the dinosaur was charged up enough so that my high-tech-savvy neighbor, Orin, a young man with 2 small boys of his own, had the dinosaur charging around the floor, roaring and snapping, and even rolling over like a puppy when you scratched its neck to pet it! Orin's poor wife--she had her coat on and was ready to leave with her now-cranky children when Orin and I finally got the dinosaur working (it didn't help that I had put the batteries into the remote control backwards). Orin's wife resigned herself to the situation, took off her coat, and sat down and waited for another 1/2 hour until Orin and the kids were done playing with the dinosaur.Ibdominus is an expensive toy but it was SO WORTH IT to us, more for its neighbor-bonding value in our particular situation (we've been hermits for years in our neighborhood for a decade who decided we wanted to get to know our neighbors better). We also had the discretionary income to afford a frivolous-but-fun toy at this point in our lives.This toy goes even beyond that. There are apparently ways that you can program it to do things, like go over to people sitting at your kitchen table and surprise them. But 'programming electronic dinosaurs' is beyond the capacity of my Getting-Old Brain. So I guess I'll have to go over to Orin's house so Orin and his toddler boys can help me program the dinosaur to do more fun things.My experience with this toy has been brief. I've only had it running a couple of hours. But one of Orin's toddlers picked the dinosaur up roughly by the neck and carried it around for awhile and the dinosaur survived. The plastic is pretty sturdy-feeling. I will, however, keep this toy away from our dogs.HOWEVER, my forever-advice to parents, grandparents, and everybody is 'Don't waste money on toys or children's clothes (which they may not even wear) or other non-essentials," because the money wasted on such gifts may be needed desperately for the children's college educations or other needs. I personally believe that financially speaking times will get harder for the younger folk over the coming years. As a little girl, I only got one doll a year. at Christmas time--and by the time the next Christmas rolled around, the rubber bands that held the doll's arms and legs together had broken so all I had left was a torso and a head. But that was okay with me, and I grew up just fine.

Zoomer Indominus Rex is a very nicely detailed second-generation Zoomer Dino. It looks fantastic in motion and at rest. The texture is pebbly, and all the bumps and spines make it look just like its movie counterpart. The roars and other sounds it makes are unique to this Zoomer Dino and quite ferocious. I kinda wish it didn't almost constantly make noise, but the sounds are varied enough that it hasn't gotten annoying.While the patrol and record features are really fun, I didn't feel this version of Zoomer Dino was quite as interactive as the original. You can get it to tail whip with your hand, but nothing else so far. No burping or farting either. This is probably to keep true to the I-Rex's personality from the movie, so I respect their choices here. This one is meant to be more realistic. I wish it responded more to your interactions somehow, but I suppose the I-Rex doesn't do tricks. It's still a fantastic robot and I enjoy watching it hunt around. You can direct its movements using the controller (it doesn't feel very precise but works better on carpet than hard floors), have it follow your hand a bit, and record a custom behavior that it can repeat on command.I have had both this and the Zoomer Dino Jester for a couple of weeks (the dinosaurs don't appear to sense each other). The I-Rex is an amazing collector's item and is more autonomous - it's fun to watch her terrorize your living space. Perfect if you are a fan of the movie or want a cool-looking R/C dino. But if you want the full Zoomer Dino experience, get the Zoomer Dino Jester. It also has the new patrol and record modes, and a larger repertoire of behaviors and interactive elements packed into a sillier personality. It gets the most replay in my house.

PROS:--- He attacks things.--- Nephew screamed and cheered and jumped up and down when he opened it. He had been asking for one since Christmas and he was happier than I'd ever seen him when he opened anything!--- You can control him yourself which is pretty neat.CONS:--- He has a really, really hard time standing up. I had assumed that since he has wheels on the feet he would be able to balance himself and be able to roll around and attack things. We had to constantly (every minute or so) pick him up and balance him again. He would always fall on his face or on his butt and just stay there and not be able to move when the wheels turned. Because of this making him virtually unusable the vast majority of the time I had to give it 3 out of 5 stars. The three stars are for the cool factor.

Take everything awesome about the Zoomer Dino, and add a nicer controller and the awesome looks of Indominus Rex from "Jurassic World," and you'll basically have this product.The Zoomer dino was a smash hit. It worked great, was awesome, and really looked cool roaming around the house. "Jurassic World" was also a smash hit...and I was pretty surprised to see this licensed version of the Zoomer Dino...but that didn't stop me from snatching it up as soon as it was available.The improvement to the controller is impressive to me. Simply changing the layout, to me, made it much more intuitive to use. It also looks more like an "RC" control than the previous version, which is nice as well.The Zoomer itself looks AMAZING. The detail on the body is absolutely fantastic.I've got this product sitting on a shelf with several other "Jurassic Park" items, and I feel that it completes the collection rather well...and in a VERY interesting and unique way.If you like Zoomer Dino, and like the "JP" movies, then you'll love this version of the Zoomer.