I bought this for my son's Christmas as a little extra present I thought he might like. Before this purchase he was forever emptying out his old piggy bank and counting his pennies the miserly little sod.
Now a little bit about my son, He is 7 and a half years old, and doesn't like spending his own money if he can help it (yup I've taught him well) Every time we go shopping he asks for something, I usually say of course you can have it….if you have enough money that is? This usually makes him think twice about wanting it!
So back to the Bank…..
I paid £19.99 for this from Argos and is also available from www.sciencemuseumstore.com for same price…It is still available in the new catalogue too from Argos.
Not only is this a bank but it is also a handy little alarm clock!
It takes 2 AA batteries which are inserted into the back of the robot, This is easily opened with a cross screwdriver, and easily closed again. You must press the reset button every time you change the batteries….I haven't had to do this yet.
There is an LCD display on the front of the robot's tummy which shows the date and time (once you have set it that is) This is easy to set up, There are 6 buttons around the display which will help you to do this.
This robot shaped savings bank is silver metallic coloured plastic, which is pretty hard wearing as this has already been dropped!
The robot's face has a little infrared movement sensor, which when activated will talk to you….saying things like "please save today" or " you have almost achieved your target, please add more!" "I am hungry, please fill me up" The only drawback is the robot speaks English with an American accent (no offence to our American cousins....it just doesn't sound quite right!) ….My son and daughter now run around repeating it, and it can drive you a bit loopy!!!
The eyes will flash blue when the robot speaks to you. The arms will also move as it speaks to you so it all seems rather realistic to a child.
The bit for dropping the coins in is on the top of the robots head, and amazingly the robot knows which coins are being dropped in…. please note this is a UK toy so will only recognise UK tender. My son received a few pound coins in his Christmas stocking and so he was able to start his saving off immediately after he had this out of the box. He popped one in and it said "one pound" wow brill he said…..so he was running about after he had popped all his own money in asking the relatives for any spare change for his bank!
Another super feature of this bank is it actually remembers all the coins you put in and tells you the balance after you have put some more money in, to get the balance you need to press the "balance" button which is situated around the LCD display,
There is also the option to set yourself a target, To do this you press the target button and then press the set button and then there is a blue navigational button below his tummy, this will help you to set the target, you then have to hold down the set button. This can be a bit hit and miss at times, but it does eventually work. My son wanted to save £20 and he has just reached the target and the robot has said "Well done, you have reached your target!"
There is also a withdraw button should you wish to take some of our money out, You simply press the button, use the navigation button to determine how much you are withdrawing and then press set to confirm….you do have to open the bank from the bottom to physically count out how much you are taking though so this is where good counting and knowledge of money is useful.
My summary ~~~~~~~~~~
I am glad I bought this bank as it encourages my son to save some money and also helps with his counting and his knowledge of monetary values. This is a brilliant gadget for children and adults alike.
Thanks for reading Michelle x
****Have given 4 stars because of the American voice and the fact you have to reset every time you change batteries!
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
A robot that talks, counts and tells the time. Whenever you come close to him he moves his ... more
arms, lights up and talks to you. He recognises and tabulates every coin you save. If you set a target the robot bank will keep track of the total amount saved a...
Postage & Packaging: £6.31 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Robo Bank Your personal bank manager, who recognises every coin you save in its bank! It ... more
talks, counts and tells the time too, but most important of all it will keep track of your withdrawals, but too many and it could try to stop you! Built in LCD ala...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Feb 8th, 2006
exceptional by (1%):
very helpful by (96%):
helpful by (3%):
