FurReal Friends Biscuit My Lovin' Robot Pup Toy Review

by Jawa Lunk | December 30, 2008 at 11:34 am

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Well Christmas has come once again, and with it the joy of new and exciting robotic toys!

For as long as I can remember, the robot toys have always been a big winner, even back in the early 70's when I was a young lad...oh the joy of opening up my Rock'em Sock'em robots!

OK, so technically, they weren't really robots, but they looked cool, and had buttons to push, and it was sooo sweet to knock your brothers block off without getting in trouble.

Each year it seems that the tech toys get sweeter and sweeter.

Last year, Hasbro came out with Butterscotch, a robotic horse that you (actually anyone under 60 lbs) could sit on, and with it's basic AI (artificial intelligence) it gave the appearance that your horse was really alive!

This year ushered in some new advanced AI toys from Hasbro, including the updated Butterscotch 2.0, which I noticed has a wider stance and a couple other new features, and S'mores, butterscotch's friend.

But the really neat tech toy that came out this year that my daughter wanted more than either of the horses was Biscuit, my lovin' pup.

Now, I am not a dog lover by any stretch of the means, mostly because I felt like I was already raised in a kennel because my parents bred show dogs as I was growing up, and I have already fed, watered and cleaned up more than my share for my lifetime.

But this Biscuit is a dog I can't help but love!

My daughter (youngest of my six children) has wanted a dog since she could talk, but between my allergies and less than amorous feelings for them, it wasn't going to happen.

But here is a dog that she can love, and play with that doesn't need papers, shots, de-worming, brushing, feeding, watering, or the daily walks so it can relieve it's bowels in your yard for you to step in at a later date.

First, here is the lowdown on what Hasbro claims the dog can do.

a) It comes with a brush and a bone (which i believe houses an RF chip to tell the dog when you have either one in close proximity).

b) Biscuit has 9 sensors, 7 touch sensors, 1 sound and 1 light.

c) Biscuit takes 6 D size batteries and has an on/off switch located on his stomach.

d) The voice commands are as follows along with the responses.

Sit ... He sits
Lie Down ... He lies down
Speak ... He randomly barks one of three different barks
Sit up and beg ... He has various ways of begging
Do you want a treat? ... sits up, or nods or whimpers, and moves his paws
Give me a paw ... Raises either left or right paw for you
Shake ... Raises either his left or right paw for you

As far as the movement goes, it is a little slow, but not agonizingly so.

As far as the "listening" capabilities go, Biscuit seems to understand about 90% of the time, which is far better than I assumed.

He does get confused if the child is speaking too quickly, or giving more than one command.

One feature I think is neat, if he is already doing what you ask him to do, he will respond by tilting his head and whimpering...typical dog response.

Another great feature, if you turn off the lights, after a few moments he will go to sleep mode, and not wake up until you clap twice (I guess that they added the clapper inside?) or turn on the light and someone waves their hand in front of his face.

All in all I give this toy an 8 out of 10, it would have received a 10 out of 10 if there were a few more commands and the movement was a little faster.

We got this one from Walmart, where it was originally $179, but recently went on sale just before Christmas for $99

Well worth the money.

It has only been six days since Christmas, but my daughter is still sitting with Biscuit, brushing him and watching TV with him.

One of the better tech toys I've purchased in a while.

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