Combat Creatures Battling Spider Toy Robot with Remote Control - 6 Legged Robotics with "Advanced All-Terrain Handling"
I was looking at getting one of these for the boys (me really) before Christmas but in the end decided they (I) had too much coming their way (bought too many OzBargains) so never got one.
Glad I waited as $50 seems a bargain.
Direct Link (I hope): http://catalogues.target.com.au/offer/entertainment-robots/c…
Amazon's Price is $70 USD: http://www.amazon.com/Combat-Creatures-Controllable-Disc-Fir…
Product Website: http://www.combatcreatures.com/
I bought one for a "test drive" - the blue one with darts - and would say $50 is a good price. Its well constructed, not indestructible but any means but pretty sturdy. Target website says 3+ but product box says 6+ and my 5 y.o. has no problems controlling it. Needless to say both boys (5 and 7) loved it "It's so awesome!". It moves in the direction the head is pointing and you can turn the head. Occasionally the head moves when it walks so it changes direction which is slightly annoying but not a deal breaker issue. Has two modes - "Training": move around, trample stuff and shoot; and "Battle": when they battle each other knocking off armour and can take three hits to the head and then shuts down - sounds fun!
The darts range varies but is pretty crap overall. You can buy different "weapon systems" so can upgrade (weapon systems/heads interchangeable) and I hope the disc versions (red ones) have better range. Still fine for knocking over "Galactic Heroes" and the wife said it hurt when I shot her in the leg - such a cry baby … I also tested with a similar sized nerf dart and the range greatly improved (nerf dart 2mm longer than those supplied - but otherwise the same).
There are three different models and I now have the other two on hold at target. The boys are in for a surprise when their birthdays come round - so is the cat when she turns up later tonight - Mwahahahah …
Deal painfully written with "Shaped Internet" so please excuse mistakes.
My son has two of these (Stryder and Doom Razor) They are pretty good. Well made, good battery life and noisy enough to scare the crap outta the dog. I'd recommend steering clear of the disc firing one though, the discs do not fire hard enough to actually knock the armour off or activate the 'headshot' function. You can however buy 'upgrades' for these, extra weapons, heads etc. Also regarding what the OP said about the head turning being annoying, that is just what happens when your thumb slips off to the side whilst controlling it. If you push up directly then it will stay on a straight course. It takes some practice.