Robot Reviews

WowWee's RS Wrex the Dawg is a mischievous robotic pal and a real junkyard dog! Built from discarded mechanical and electrical parts, RS Wrex the Dawg™ is the ultimate loveable "Cross Wired" dog, despite a few loose nuts and bolts! 

           RS symbol identifies WowWee’s exclusive Robosapien products, which feature a unique fusion of technology and personality.  Each RS product incorporates the latest in robot technology, skillfully mixed with a dynamic and entertaining personality.  The WowWee Robotics [RS] symbol is a sign of quality, ensuring each customer of a unique and emotive robotic experience.

          He breaks down frequently on purpose.  Sometimes he acts like a cat, other times he insults them.  He farts better than any robot alive and threatens to tinkle on almost every object in your house!

Opening up the Box:

Opening up the plain white box, I was greeted with the Typical WowWee’s layout box.  The box was free from damage from drops which I really like to see.  This packaging wasn’t too badly littered with the plethora of metal twist ties keeping the contents safe from harm.  Wrex was also tied down to the box with a few screws on the bottom.  After a few minutes from un-twisting and actually cutting a few of the wires, Wrex the Dawg™ was freed from his “Mobile Dawg House”.

WowWee’s is trademarked with their tying up their goodies with metal tie wraps, and actually using screws to keep them safe.  The only WowWee item that wasn’t packaged like this was Rovio.  Not sure why they deviated from that.  I wish they would make it more “Kid friendly” box.  A child that is 8 years old could have a hard time trying to get the toy out. I had to cut a few of them myself!

Putting the batteries in the remote control and Wrex is a pretty easy task.  The Phillips screwdriver you used earlier to get Wrex out of the box will be handy here as well.  You will need a total of 3AAA’s (Remote Control), 2AA’s, and 4C batteries (Wrex). 

Box Contents:

You receive Wrex the Dawg™, a remote that resembles a dog tearing up the antenna, and an Owner’s Manual.

Owner’s Manual:

The Owner’s Manual covers how to insert the batteries, turning on the Dawg, AND when the Dawg decides to “Malfunction”, how to reset him.  If you don’t reset him, he won’t operate.  You will have to (eventually) reset him.  After all, this Dawg was an afterthought made up with spare parts in a Junk yard. I cover more about his “Malfunctioning” later on.

Features:

Wrex the Dawg™ has several modes you can choose from: Guard, Free Roam, Demonstration and         Program mode.

Guard Mode:  Once you select guard mode on the remote, Wrex will say “Yes Sir!” He will wait patiently for any intruders and will turn around occasionally to make sure they aren’t sneaking up on them.  If he detects any movement, he barks at the intruder!  When you take him out of Guard mode he will tell you that “Someone has been sniffing through your stuff and it wasn’t me”!

Off the Leash Mode: Turning the remote to off the leash puts Wrex in to autonomous Free Roam mode.  Once you select this mode he will say “Leash Off”.  In this mode he will explore your home making funny comments on his journey.  He will use his infrared sensors to keep from bumping into objects along the way.

Demo Mode:  Turning the remote to Demo Mode will show off his movements and his personalities.

Program Mode: By pressing the Program button you can perform a sequence of actions (Up to 80 steps).  If you enter new program steps when a program is already stored, the new program steps will be added to the previously stored program, up to 80 steps.  You can easily erase the program by pressing the Program button twice.

There is also a “Reprogramming Hatch” which you can enter codes that are listed in the Owner’s Manual to make Wrex act out different commands.  You will have to eventually reset Wrex after a malfunction, or when he breaks down.  I’m sure there are “Easter Eggs” which one can play around to see if you uncover some “undocumented” codes.

The Power switch is a 3-way.  You can turn it off ED (On), or ED (Off).ED stands for Edge Detection.  If you use Edge detection, some surfaces might trigger Wrex to think it’s an edge and not move.  If you play with Wrex away from stairs and play with Wrex on the floor, you could switch edge detection off to prevent “False” edges and Wrex will refuse to walk.

Remote Control:

The remote control looks like a chewed up, dog toy!  Bad Wrex!  The top Dial is the Mood Dial.  You can switch to the different moods by just turning to the respected icon (Happy, Angry, Crazy, Guard, and off the leash).  The button in the middle is the “Stop” button to stop what he’s doing.

There is a button to start the Program Mode, and another button to start the custom program you have created.  There are directional buttons where you can drive Wrex around your home.  There is a slide button where you can change the volume of Wrex.

The bottom dial is the “Trick dial”.  You can select different tricks by turning to the respected icon (Demo, Eat, and Tricks 1-6).  The middle button is to execute the selected “Trick”. The Owner’s Manual describes what trick he performs with the representing number and mood he is currently set at.

Video of Wrex starting up:

          I created a video of Wrex the Dawg starting up and performing some tricks to give you an idea how Wrex sounds.

Overall:

          Wrex the Dawg™ is ultimately going to put a smile on your face.  I didn’t find anything negative to say about Wrex the Dawg™.  Whether it’s the “Spare Parts” he’s made out of, or one of his humorous sayings, or impersonations he performs, he will get you giggling. Wrex navigates the environment pretty well.  For the price you spend, you get a quality toy from a leading toy maker that will keep people entertained.  You can’t go wrong if you are a collector of WowWee’s products, or want to find a toy that will entertain and get what you paid for.  It is designed for ages 8+.  There is no small parts per-se, but one could break off a part of the ear which could choke a child.

This review is in our forums section which can be viewed here as well: http://www.robotreviews.com/chat/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=12281