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Ugobe, Maker of Pleo, Files For Bankruptcy
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."
It's the second time they're going extinct!
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.
Please destroy your Geek card now. You are not worthy.
... who knows? World Dominance perhaps?
They are (were) really neat, really stupidly expensive toys targeted at the wrong demographic. Of course they were going to fail.
If they would have listened to me and put lasers in them
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
No, I remember reading about the Pleo robotic dinosaur, last year, I think. There was one review where the reviewers tortured it, and a /. article.
"Anyone who [rips a CD] is probably engaging in copyright infringement." - David O. Carson
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
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!
That was expected; it was predicted in Robotics Business Review last month. The price point was far too high.
WowWee's RoboReptile is almost as advanced, and has a price point around $90.
WowWee is a company to watch. They have a broad line of reasonably good robotic toys at modest price points. They even sell a fembot.
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.
That's a little harsh for a first-time offense.
I move that he must hand in his Geek card, but can apply for reinstatment at a later date provided that:
1. He has disassembled and reassembled a Cleo without referring to the documentation
2. He can recite the Wrath of Khan, the Princess Bride, and the Holy Grail from memory
3. He provides proof that he has lived in his mother's basement for at least 6 months prior to the date of the application.
Then we can vote on his reinstatement.
Seriously, though... What if he's a theoretical mathematics geek? Then he'd be like, 4 layers away from being required to know about this robot. Did you bother to think of that?!
"Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai