Spin Master Air Hogs Vectron Wave

There is always that one toy or item that your child really wants for Christmas and that they will go on and on and on about! This year my son started early constantly telling me that he was definitely going to ask Father Christmas for the Air Hogs vectron wave toy which seems to on during every advert break in between the children’s TV shows from about August onwards! I was torn with this item simply because it looked much like it would be better on the advert than it would be in real life and it wasn’t a cheap item by any means. When I saw it selling on Smyths toys for £19.99 including free postage and packing I decided to purchase it for my son and hoped for the best.

==What is it?==

The air hogs vectron wave came packaged in an oddly shaped box which was a nightmare to wrap up for Christmas! On the front of the box there was a clear panel so you could see inside to the product which is basically a small disk around the size of a side plate and which has a plastic top with gaps spaced evenly around it. The idea of this product is that it works using infra red technology so that you control it using only your hands as it flies in the air it will hover over your hand and then rise again when you move your hand and such like. You are also told that you can use the product to play a form of catch with.

The air hogs vectron wave comes with a charging unit which requires six AA batteries which are not provided and on this charger unit there is a red cut off button which will stop the vectron wave from hovering should you need it to.

==Our experience==

My son was so excited when he saw that he had got the air hogs vectron wave for Christmas and was keen to have a go with it almost immediately but due to the fact that Christmas morning is always manic I managed to put him off until later on in the evening before we played with it. Unpacking the item from the box was simple and I was quite surprised at the size of the product and the charging unit because they are quite small really and the amount of packing used was ridiculous really. Also in the box were instructions on how to use the product but it is quite self explanatory really.

I have to say that I was immediately annoyed by the fact that the charging unit needed six AA batteries because it just seems so many and we all know that buying good batteries is not cheap at all. The actual vectron wave unit is charged via the charging unit so does not need any batteries thank goodness!

As I got the vectron wave ready to be played with I was surprised at how light it actually felt. Whilst I realise that the item is meant to hover in the air and so needs to be light I was shocked that it seemed to be basically made of a tough polystyrene which I thought would potentially break quite easily to be honest. There are some wires on the underside of the product which seem to be sellotaped on to it which seems a little odd but I guess they need to keep the weight down to a minimum.

For the first play you do need to charge the vectron wave up and this is done by lifting a little lid off the charging unit to release a wire which slots in the vectron wave unit near the on and off switch. You need to ensure you switch the vectron wave on to charge mode and then leave it for around half an hour to charge. You will know when it is charged as the colour of the light on the charger changes to let you know it is fully charged.

I was fully expecting that once the product had been charged for half an hour that it would be ready to go perhaps for the equivalent time but this is not the case at all with this product. I would say you get around ten to fifteen minutes of play as a maximum per charge which does seem quite ridiculous in my opinion.

My son was keen to have a play with the product and so he switched it on ready to go. Now I have to say here you need to allow the product to rise and then drop a little twice before you begin to play with it as advised by the manufacturers as otherwise the product may behave quite erratically. Once the product is ready to go you can put your hand underneath it and it will hover just above it which is something that my son thinks is really cool. You can also try and play catch with the product but my son and I have found this impossible as the vectron wave simply goes off on a mad do and ends up crashing in to a wall or the ceiling and then falling down on to the floor. My son does like to play with the product and will spend a couple of minutes just playing with it and allowing it to hover over his hand but he does soon get bored with it, especially when it needs charging again and so as I initially feared he doesn’t really play with it much at all! We have had the product obviously since Christmas day and it hasn’t been played with much at all, perhaps five times, and already the six batteries in the charger need replacing as well so I can see this toy soon ending up at the bottom of his toy box and just brought out every now and then.

What is a shame with this product is the fact that despite following the instructions to let the vectron wave settle in the air before you place you hand under it, it can still behave very erratically and so we lost it behind the Christmas tree after it had flown in to it and spun around like mad in there, it has hit the ceiling or walls many times and spun out of control too. Whilst you do have the stop button on the charger the vectron wave spins out of control so quickly that you don’t have the time to stop it before it hits the wall or the ground which I fear will cause it to break eventually.

I cannot recommend that anyone would pay £20.00 or more for this toy because it just isn’t worth it at all. Clearly the manufacturers have some clever people working for their advertising team because the ad does draw children in and make them want the product but it is just over priced in my opinion. If this cost £10.00 I would say give it a go because it does offer short bursts of fun and all of my son’s friends have been impressed with the item and think it is really cool but I think the novelty of it soon wears off sadly.

Should you be interested the product is selling on amazon for £28.00 but I would say don’t purchase it.

Thank you for reading my review!