Thames & Kosmos Hero Robot: Educational Technology Kit with Instruction Manual & Accessories

If I could this zero stars I would. Took hours and hours to complete. A child cannot do this alone. Then after hours of work, it doesn’t even work. Parts do not align and one part was broken. Please do not waste your time or money.

It’s a total waste of time. The parts take well over hours to assemble and the screws do not secure right. I assembled and disassembled and reassembled for the piece of cr@ p not to work properly. Do t waste your time buying this, it’s worthless.

This was a incredible robot that was extremely fun it is very lose in the legs but it worked out great. Just make sure to read the instruction throughout the entire process because I made that mistake and had to take apart the whole thing. Amazing product would buy for kids and I would again.

Agree with all of the other reviews before me. Took literally hours for my eight year old ( mixed with my wife and I) to put together. The screws are absolutely terrible. Pieces just fall apart and break. After we finally finished, it didn’t move. Just grinding gear noises. Son was devastated. Literal trash.

This toy is junk. It's cheap and pieces break easily.

DO NOT BUY!! I almost lost my mind trying to build this for my son! Kept screwing and unscrewing bolts for hours!!! Doesn’t work!!

My 11 yo son who loves robotics and building projects was so excited to receive this. But after 2 days of nonstop building, rebuilding, and tinkering, he still can’t get it to operate smoothly. Many of the pieces didn’t quite fit together the way they were meant to resulting in choppy gear-grinding movement rather than a robot that dances and walks as advertised.

Took 7 hours for my 11 year old to put together and then it didn’t work

Took 4 hours for an adult to assemble. Breaks very easily. We did not see how much assembly was required in the description.

I got this for my nephew for christmas. He is in robotics class at school and he absolutely loved it. He was able to build it on his own, although it may be more difficult for someone who has less experience. It took him about 6 hours.

Do not buy this robot. The assembly required has absolutely no STEM value whatsoever, it’s really more of a tutorial on why manufacturing of toys like this has largely gone automated over the last decade. Once you spend the 3-5 hours required to assemble the robot, it doesn’t actually work. Tolerances on parts are such that the legs that are supposed to move just end up detaching instead. What seems like a cool toy just ends up in extreme frustration and disappointment.

Takes forever to put together. Not easy to pull apart. Definitely not for a 12 year old told. After all that time the gears get stuck. Checked the feet and all are correct so not sure what the problem would be. Would not recommend.

We spent hours and hours on this and even after meticulously disassembling and reassembling, it doesn’t work. The gears grind and don’t move the legs of the robot. It reacts and turns on, but we can’t get it to function as advertised. I really wish it wouldn’t have been sold on Target shelves. It was a huge disappointment and a major cause of frustration in our home for the past two days.

absolutely terrible! countless hours spent on building this with my 8yr old and it doesn't even work. took apart and spent more time on it and NOTHING!

This is the worst toy I think I have ever purchased. First, building it - it took about 3 hours for an adult to build. There is no way my 8 year old or even my 10 year old could build this toy. Thankfully, there is an instructional YouTube video which is very helpful. Second, many of the pieces do NOT stay in place. They are cheap plastic and do not stay attched as they should. Once I finally got it built, I actually had no hope that it would turn on, but to my surprise it did! However, as soon as it starts walking or dancing, at least one of the feet will detach making it immoble. We could not get it to follow any of the prompts, and after even slight movement, we heard the gears grinding. Do not buy this - save yourself the time, pain, and money, and buy your child something else. The holidays are coming, and I would hate for anyone to waste their precious time and money on this toy.

Don’t buy this unless you have an engineering degree or have taken apart and put back together a car engine.

don’t buy it unless you love building robots. it’s cool and all but we bought two, one for each of our kids 7 and 5 but building it was a pain. I broke a piece trying to get it out. Pieces keep falling off and the legs do not stay on. Wasted $100 on these robots that too us two separate days to build.

It follows you around based on sound. I'd recommend an intermediate builder for this

This robot is a great gift for older children. My four children between 8 and 15 years old had a great time putting together and setting up this robot. The directions are pretty simple to follow but it does take a bit of time and patience to setup. They have all had fun playing with it after we finished building it.

I was so excited to surprise my sons with the Hero Sound Sensing Robot. It looked like a fantastic STEM toy, promising hours of fun and learning. The recommended age range seemed appropriate, and I envisioned us all working together to build and then battle our robots. Unfortunately, our experience has been far from what I hoped for, and my initial excitement has turned into significant frustration. The problem lies in the complexity of the build. Despite the recommended ages, this robot is incredibly difficult to assemble, even for adults. The pieces are tiny and fiddly, requiring a level of dexterity and patience that my kids (and frankly, myself) just don't possess. My 8-year-old was completely overwhelmed by the instructions and the sheer number of small parts and quit before we even really began. My 12-year-old gave it a good try but also became frustrated with the intricate steps. Even my 15-year-old, who is generally quite good at these types of projects, struggled. He managed to get us to a certain point (as you can see in the photos), but even he had to stop due to other commitments. It's already taken significantly longer than the estimated build time, and we're not even close to being finished. This is definitely not a gift I would recommend giving to a child. It's simply too complicated. This feels more like something an adult hobbyist would purchase for themselves. I'm conflicted about how to rate this product. Since we haven't actually completed the robot and seen it in action, I can't speak to its functionality or battle performance. However, the frustrating and overly complex building process has completely overshadowed any potential fun. I can't give it a high score because, for us, it hasn't been an enjoyable experience. If you're considering buying this, be warned: this is a serious building project that requires a lot of patience and advanced fine motor skills. Unless you're an adult looking for a challenging build, I'd steer clear.