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Ugobe, Maker of Pleo, Files For Bankruptcy

Posted by kdawson on from the move-to-idaho-and-look-what-happens dept.

AshboryBassPlayer writes "Ugobe has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy — i.e., not reorganization but liquidation. We first discussed the company's Pleo robotic dinosaur toy in 2006. According to the company, 100,000 Pleos were sold in 2008. CEO Caleb Chung is optimistic about the auction value of intellectual property that Ugobe holds. Pleo featured 14 servo joints, a camera, and an SD Card for storage. The final street prices were commonly between $275 and $350, much higher than an earlier hoped-for price point under $200."

5 of 79 comments (clear)

  1. Crap by mc1138 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'm not saying its not a cool idea, but really, all a kid wants is a dinosaur he can pick up, and then smash against other dinosaurs. Sometimes its possible to be too complex, and too expensive for parents.

    --
    The musings of just another geek and his junk.
    1. Re:Crap by MobyDisk · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I don't think this was meant for kids. They marketed this at conferences like GDC and CES, which target geeks. Probably the geeks would buy them, claiming it was for the kids. :-)

  2. Re:Am I the only one? by decipher_saint · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I've seen how this unfolds in software, I don't know about toys, but it usually goes somethnig like:

    10 Boss to Client: It will cost X and will make date Y!
    20 Boss to IT managers: We need it by Y!
    30 Developers work overtime
    40 Boss to IT managers: Keep costs down, we need to have it meet X by Y
    50 IT managers' head explodes from paradox overload
    60 "Rush job" turns into Poo, UAT date slips
    70 Spit and bailing twine fail in UAT
    80 Deadline Y whooshes by..
    90 PANIC MODE LOOP GOTO 10

    --
    crazy dynamite monkey
  3. What the world needs... by camperdave · · Score: 4, Insightful

    What the world needs right now is another Heathkit Hero style DIY robot kit, not a $200 "one trick pony" toy.

    --
    When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
  4. Kid tested? by SnarfQuest · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It's obvious that they never did any "kid testing" on their toy. If you give a kid a dinosour toy, he will do the obvious kid thing: Pick it up by the tail and repeatably bash it against his toy truck.

    $275 is too much to spend on a hammer, unless it's for government use.

    --
    Who would win this election: Andrew Weiner vs Andrew Weiner's weiner.