I was reading the November 21, 2005 issue of Time Magazine, they were featuring the best inventions of 2005.  I am not sure how Walkie Bits could be considered here but it certainly is an amusing toy.  After reading the article I immediately head to Takara Toys (the site is in Japanese, but I still managed to find my way around) and find the Walkie Bits dedicated site.  Talk about a useless piece of plastic… that I have to have!

Before we get really into this, I have to say that Takara Toys is the KING of totally useless technology.  If you have a look around their site, you will quickly realize that their slogan should be, “We create useless high tech toys for your entertainment.”

On to the toy.  Walkie Bits are little turtles.  They are slightly larger than the old wind up turtles that I used to get in my stocking as a kid.  Honestly they are just a high tech version of the old wind up toy.  They are powered by a watch battery and scoot along your desk similarly to the old wind up toy, however they have a few new tricks.  The Walkie Bit activities can be selected by clicking the shell a certain number of times.  Walk mode, (press the shell once in off mode) it will walk around your desk at random speeds.  Rhythm mode, (press the shell 1 time in walk mode) it will accept a rhythm input of up to 15 clicks, then it will walk to the same rhythm.  Race mode, (press the shell 2 times in off mode) when you do this with a few Walkie Bits at the same time, they all sound like they are revving up, then they start to race.  It isn’t important that they all start at exactly the same time as the pattern in which they walk is random.  I have included a small video of 2 Walkie Bits racing in my gallery .  Sing mode, (press the shell 3 times in off mode) they will sing, I am not sure how many songs they have or if they all sing the same thing, but it sounds like a ringtone on an old cellphone.  To turn the Walkie Bit off you press and hold the shell for 3 seconds.

So why do I have to have one?  It is an over-engineered wind up toy that makes noise.  It is a display of “we are so smart that we can make something high tech, totally useless”.   But it makes me smile every time I watch it walk across the desk.  Part of my problem is that I have an obsession with toys.  The more high tech, the smaller they are, the more I want them.  I could certainly get by with my day to day life without having one, but I want to have an entire fleet of them crawling across my desk.  On eBay I can get one for about $15 including shipping, so I am certainly not going to be able to afford a fleet, but I think I can shell out enough turtle feed for at least 2 of them so I can have a decent turtle race.

Now that they have been in Time, they are sure to be a big hit in the US and I would venture to say that a few knock-off’s should be arriving on the scene as well.  Just like the mini-rc car craze, we are sure to see these for sale in little mall kiosks with other equally useless toys.  Walkie Bits, here to amuse children (young and old), possibly annoy parents, and sure to be confiscated by teachers.

Do you have a totally useless but cool toy or gadget that you would like me to review?  Feel free to contact me !