Meccanoid G15 KS - A box of empty promises

[@riverw4721]

Taran looks great in this video, and talks and acts far more confidently than when he first started appearing on camera.

[@TheGuardianReflex]

+Reid Wicks agreed, this is actually the first non linus or luke video I didn't find a little cringey or mildly grating to listen to in brandon's case (no offense to him).

[@bhskipper]

+Reid Wicks I agree his camera presence is amazing

[@SouradeepSengupta]

I agree. Taran should do more tech tips hosting

[@demigodVPS]

+Reid Wicks Looks like he gained some needed weight

[@mdome8584]

agreed!

[@SidharthSatheesh]

Taran is a natural presenter, I'd like to see him more often.

[@xXJasonMakiXx]

+Sidharth Satheesh we need a video from dennis

[@trevorc3063]

+Jason Maki Oh gawd

[@WuIzMe]

+Sidharth Satheesh Yep Classy AF, also seems to have high standards for his tech :p (not necessarily a bad thing)

[@Zigazagoon]

+Jason Maki He said on a Periscope that he'd be nervous about doing a video and that he's not really the acting guy he's more the behind the camera guy since he use to be a camera operator. But that being said he should definitely try doing a video about something he'd be really into and he'd probably get more confident the more he does it.

[@sangita6709]

+Sidharth Satheesh NAH!!

[@andyl4236]

Just finished building it with my 8 year old. Turned the thing on, tried out the different modes, got bored. We lost interest in about 45 minutes. Our sense of accomplishment quickly faded into feeling ripped off. If this crap keeps up, my kid is going to be more cynical than me by age 10. Knock it off! Matchbox, that goes for you too.

[@pepepepinazo9694]

I recommend you using Arduino!! It is far more professional

[@alexisguardado7771]

or legos

[@gager0615]

fuck off

[@NXTangl]

@@alexisguardado7771 ...no, the legos are actually good.

[@Ajokeiguess]

Honestly it’s still fun to take it apart and build something new too. I bought it just because of that even though I’m an adult.

[@randomfrankp]

Damn, good job Taran. You're already a better reviewer than I am...so I'm just going to quit KZbin now.

[@rashidsalim793]

+randomfrankp Get ready for the haters! But please don't quit youtube yet. I haven't had my fill of Room Tour project yet.Its only February!

[@iStewy]

ChrisDoesStuff Thats cute, thats why your channels nothing kid, you mad?

[@JPG126]

+StewartL925 Nice way to advertise yours... THE CYCLE

[@sadcatman1057]

Lmaoo

[@rareair3973]

+StewartL925 Right, sneakin those promos in like a fucking snake

[@Jonnycrs]

Is this really the same Taran who was being pranked by a wireless mouse/keyboard

[@Some_Awe]

+Sheheryar Waseem Impossible.

[@arnabbiswasalsodeep]

+Sheheryar Waseem "it was nvidia drivers" so i too think both taran are different.

[@Jonnycrs]

Arnab Biswas Them damn Nvidia drivers

[@fouzaialaa7962]

+Sheheryar Waseem yes its the same guy

[@TheGungunn101]

+Sheheryar Waseem You're not the only one who caught this, either. He sounds more presentable and looks a lot more photogenic.

[@vteckpwr]

Taran is actually PERFECT for these ruthlessly true reviews. Please do more.

[@DownyCat]

Well at least it's the same size as Linus

[@Sinom.]

shots have been fired

[@DasVERMiT]

+sinomsinom Just not by the Meccanoid. It can't grip the gun.

[@ArminMohamed]

+TheDownyCat Roast is in session...

[@pccalcio]

+TheDownyCat AHAHAHAHAHAH !!!

[@MrPryor94]

+TheDownyCat Watch out Linus might hire you just to fire you!,

[@lukem2848]

You could say Tarran was quite Mecc-annoyed about this product.

[@timetogetcancer7866]

I've mcfallen

[@soejrd24978]

praise qotsa

[@thomaster8870]

Turns out it was Mecca-not and all the nuts and bolts will drive you mecca-nuts. Oh suck, I fuck at this.

[@timetogetcancer7866]

+Thomaster “Wechsler” шлепанцы 10/10

[@lukem2848]

+motersk313 YES! All hail Lord Homme

[@FIGHTTHECABLE]

Yep, every child knows C++ by the age of 4.

[@cpufreak101]

+FIGHTTHECABLE *disclaimer: these results were obtained by a study done in asia

[@FIGHTTHECABLE]

Justin Noker Note: sarcasm involved

[@cpufreak101]

FIGHTTHECABLE note: i know, couldn't resist a smart asian joke

[@sv8945]

lolz😹😹😹

[@ronettreker]

+FIGHTTHECABLE No one is expecting a child to know C++. But some kind of visual programming language like the one used in Lego Mindstorms would be great.

[@mali22]

Does anyone else feel sorry for the robot just helplessly standing there while Taran's talking about how disappointing it is? :(

[@MarioDragon]

+mali I fear the day when we start fighting for robot rights

[@Mr76Pontiac]

+MarioDragon If Skynet happens and the robots it builds are like this, we won't have a worry. They wouldn't be able to hold the guns.

[@johanndiaz8695]

So I'm guessing you joined the Railroad?

[@twowheelsonly5080]

Reminds me of my childhood

[@vitaliyd23]

+mali You just made my shitty day!

[@110110010]

FOUR HUNDRED BLOODY DOLLARS!? I'd rather pick up those headphones Linus just reviewed, thank you very much!

[@hydrochloricacid2146]

I'd rather pick up a 5820k or a 390x for that price. Seriously, 400$?!

[@Casualfield]

+Phoenix Wright I own a 5820k and it's great but I'd rather own an 6700k but I was dumb and skimped for the X99 over Z170 even though the price was equal. As for the 390x I cannot stand the fact that AMD cannot even make a decent driver let alone program to mange their cards. Radeon Software Crimson Edition is complete trash and even before that the drivers still failed. Nivida has it's problems too but at least the software opens when I want it to.

[@bomberharris9322]

+Phoenix Wright *6700k

[@uncledaydays]

+Josef Hornych Agreed HAHAHA

[@uncledaydays]

+Made Epic rekt

[@raptorjesus3894]

Now I wanna see someone get 2 of these, with 2 phones and make them fight

[@BroJKLol]

+Jayden Holzhauser Yes. This.... Channel Super Fun?

[@c0kosnuts2]

+Jayden Holzhauser "...let them fight"

[@ArtisChronicles]

+BroJK YES! YES! YES!

[@caedenv2575]

mine in dog mode fights feet if you get to close lol😊

[@fv2977]

CRIPPLE FIGHT!!!

[@Lutranereis]

There's nothing worse than a toy that's sold to be educational but doesn't actually teach anything.

[@UnivegaSuperSport]

+Lutranereis Yeah, genocide, child porn, cancer, animal abuse, mass-murder...all these are much less offensive than sub-par toys.

[@Lutranereis]

UnivegaSuperSport Your inability to recognize obvious exaggerations must cost you a lot of friends. I truly feel sorry for you.

[@UnivegaSuperSport]

No, it's the lack of personal hygiene that turns people off before they ever discover my personality shortcomings.

[@zachhickok2071]

+Lutranereis It teaches you not to blow 400 bucks on under 300 pieces of plastic and a bunch of nuts and bolts

[@Gamepak]

+Lutranereis actually i think its highly educational it screams to me dont buy this crap another lesson learnd and will save you cash to take ur kid to the zoo

[@SteamStax]

Woah did Linus hit puberty?

[@Flying--T]

bruh thats not linus

[@NicholasElliott]

LOL that's Taran not Linus

[@Octillerysnacker]

+Nicholas Elliott Its a joke you idiots XD

[@NicholasElliott]

Octillerysnacker We know we're messing :P

[@63JackBlack]

+Nicholas Elliott lol no you weren't

[@mrcokez1]

My uncle had a full metal meccano train, it looked awesome (brass, full metal prop, aluminum, etc) The G15ks is a farcry of what the real meccano used to produce before spin-masters came around.

[@KanoWhite53]

Lol it's not even hitting the piano keys in the Ad!

[@Dan-TechAndMusic]

+Kano Wins And the little tune they play is a way overused Apple GarageBand sample.

[@katharsis3283]

lol, also, hey mettaton, im promoting your brand!.

[@porkfreegaming5278]

yea lol!!!

[@TaranVH]

First

[@phillip.dustin]

+Taran Van Hemert ... lol

[@ivector6295]

+Taran Van Hemert **** U TARAN jk

[@MrDangerousshark]

+Taran Van Hemert good hosting.

[@GladwinGracias]

+Taran Van Hemert NO FAIR .

[@bjufrd3857]

+Taran Van Hemert Hehy ther hawtie

[@KareemThaKid]

$400?!!?!?! y not just get ur kid a motherboard, cpu, graphics card, ram, an SSD, some fans, a power supply, and a case that'll be more of a STEM educational kit than this

[@fairguinevere666]

kareemmaly Or the EV3, the newest Lego Technic robot, which is actually really good.

[@Rebasepoiss]

Lol, good timing, the EV3 video just came out on LTT :D

[@Bizarre-Daniel]

Just Another GAYmer. yeah its great

[@benhogervorst]

YEAH!!!

[@retrox684]

a pc would be better than this thing i own one

[@kevinsdb1]

Wow! Taran is a better presenter than Luke! Ohhhhhh shots fired :P

[@nalluxD]

+kevinsdb1 Luke in the upcoming Kickfarted video is epic. I think it's more to the content of the review than the presenter

[@warpatato]

+kevinsdb1 Probably because Taran was so into the topic of the video. He delivers it with such genuine enthusiasm towards the subject.

[@DaanM96NL]

+kevinsdb1 I honestly agree. I just get annoyed by the amount of times Luke says "super"... lol

[@cfhstyo]

+kevinsdb1 Slick just kinda sucks in general.

[@jctai100]

+kevinsdb1 i like Luke, but I really like pissed off Taran!

[@devilmikey00]

God damn even lego would do a double take on that pricing and they are expensive as fuck. 400 bucks for a cheap plastic robot, some hobby shop motors and lame programmable commands?

[@glebspercuks7606]

Lego Mindstorms is so much better and cheaper than this.

[@bensthingsthoughts]

+devilmikey00 Yep this is pretty sad, my buckets full of meccano from my childhood must be very disappointed to see what they have become nowadays...

[@FearTheRelicFighter]

+Gļebs Perčuks And that shit is actually used in engineering courses. I used it a few times to learn the basics of robotic programming.

[@nerd1000ify]

I suppose you could buy them second hand and gut them for the (apparently fairly sophisticated) microcontroller and servos. Then build a robot that's actually good.

[@lancelindlelee7256]

That's actually a good idea. If you can adapt the mounting points, you can maybe use the LIM function in the Vex IQ

[@NotTheStinkyCheese]

An Arduino/Genuino kit costs 60$ ... and it has a decent servo motor + a really good tutorial on programming the thing. Or you could buy something like the Lego Mindstorm ev3 and have this from day 1 without any hacking.

[@billbergen9169]

Build a autonomous drone or plane.

[@mattsoup4121]

Meccano (or Erector, whatever) was one of my favorite building sets growing up. It was harder to use than Lego, sure, but it had a certain feel to it that made you feel more accomplished when you built something. The joy of building something that had instructions in the kit, then saying screw it and changing everything, was never ending. This piece of sh!t shows how companies don't care about what people want anymore, they just want to sell flashy, gimmicky bullsh!t. Do you know how hard it is to find just a big bucket of Lego anymore? When I was a kid I got a bucket of 10,000 Legos for my birthday one year. I still play with them, there's infinite use for something like that. Now, after quite a bit of searching, the only way you can get a large amount of Lego (comparable to my huge bucket) today is to buy individual pieces in bulk. It's all gimmicky kits that have one use parts. I hate the way building toys have gone.

[@mattsoup4121]

+Mattsoup By the way, kick@ss review Taran. I couldn't have said it better.

[@crashTestGuru]

+Mattsoup right? so hard to find a bunch of lego pieces nowadays! All I want is a big big bucket of Lego Technic parts so I can go crazy and build stuff. I realize I can buy the mindstorm set but thats so overpriced!

[@MrTechrics]

No dissasemble? Short Circuit Refrence! :)

[@cpufreak101]

+MrTechrics i got it aswell

[@xcanofwoopass]

Number Five is ALIVE!!

[@DarrenBoxhall]

Great movies!!

[@julianruggiero9701]

I was genuinely surprised when you finished going through the "Programming" aspects of the thing. I grew up with Lego Mindstorms NXT and absolutely loved it. It taught me logic and really gave me an understanding of how the hardware supported the software - both being very versatile in nature. This thing seems like a shiny piece of junk.

[@yasgamer]

NXT was the best when placed into time context

[@rafamacamp]

W T F Even a box with shape holes is more educational than this.

[@AlphaCore_]

+Rafael Magalhães Damn, couldn't agree more.

[@imatlastheyote]

Troof

[@peggydelanghe7868]

Jerks you're all jerks

[@krogan52]

I think this kit is definitely educational. Having to decipher diagrams and developing the dexterity needed to use small nuts and bolts are good lessons. If the child grows to do any mechanical job they will need these skills. Whether it is fun or not depends a lot on the child. When I was young I took pride and enjoyment in figuring out things others couldn't. I would be determined to complete certain tasks no matter how tedious. This seems like a toy that would have worked for me. At least for the building, I would probably have lost interest soon after completion. My son on the other hand, lacks determination, and leans toward frustration. He would not complete the build and it would fall to me, just so he could play with it for ten minutes. I see your point with this toy, but it suffers the same fate as a lot of educational toys. They're not really toys to begin with, the part that is educational is not fun. It is like anything that tries to be "multiple purpose", it does none of them well.

[@grahampage2933]

I played with Meccano sets as a kid and thought they were great. I still design models now, sixty years on (some on KZbin). It is timeless. As you said, it is quality, modular and endlessly reusable, always inviting the next creation. Once you have all the parts, it is an entirely cost-free hobby too which can't be bad.

[@ZeEnderCrew]

Only Taran and Linus pls.

[@ZeEnderCrew]

Luke just sounds weird... And the other guy... Just... No.

[@Diablos199]

+Bun Linus for software and peripherals, Luke for hardware and diy projects, Taran for robotics and nerdy stuff and Brandon for camera gear and video tips. Everyone makes videos about stuff they know and do best! Even though i prefer some of them over others their roles cant be exchanged. If you care about technology as a whole u should like them all.

[@slice102]

+Alex Paf Actually, Edzel is the one who makes videos for peripherals.

[@Diablos199]

Michael Rahmani at least 90% of the monitors, keyboards, headsets etc are reviewed by linus. Sorry

[@241wright]

+Michael Rahmani Edzel does mice, some mice.

[@BOOMProductionsVIDs]

10/10 review gj man?!

[@BOOMProductionsVIDs]

Idk why there's a question mark

[@CDMAHTCDESIRE]

+PTG Productions i can see ron reading that with confused face..

[@nevillemadden1670]

So, Delete It !!! ... .. Click on the 3 little DOTSon the Right of the POST, Click on Edit, and the Text will appear in a Dialogue Box. just place the Curser after the ? and hit the Backspace Key, then Click Edit. All Fixed.

[@jordanf4251]

Taran should do more videos! I guess I am still new to the channel but it's nice too see more of the crew doing reviews and unboxing other than Luke and Linus. I might just have to buy a T-shirt!

[@thenerdyouknowabout]

Taran is love. Taran is life. All worship Taran.

[@sunpowerguru3993]

One positive thing about it... it's so short, it makes Linus look taller.

[@monkeywithocd]

I have an old Erector set I believe from around the early 60's I'm guessing. It was my dad's and I loved playing with it as a kid, despite it missing some parts, some of the few plastic pieces being broken as I recall, and of course the entire thing having that gross old metal smell that would get on your hands. But still, it has a motor you can plug into the wall and I had tons of fun coming up with things to build with it. Actually, I forget what I made with it, but when my elementary school had us make Valentine's day bags, for the last couple years I would make some sort of contraption for putting the valentines in. One was a catapult and the other was something made with my old Erector set IIRC.

[@CattoRayTube]

Heh, the two older sets you showed early in the video (the helicopter and the buggie) were the two I had as a kid! Though the buggie might have been a knock-off. I still remember assembling both though, and I was like three (that was the helicopter, with the help of my dad) and six at the time. I didn't change the designs much after, but the assembly was at least a little challenging in the case of the helicopter so I felt like we had achieved something when we finished.

[@LiveStyleGaming]

Taran has improved massively, more videos from him!

[@jimhormann4408]

I really would like to see more videos like this, I spent a couple years in high school learning ROBOTC for Vex robotics. Can't wait for the mind-storms review

[@FrequencyOfThought]

Dude you review the awesome nerdy shit I want to buy but you answer almost EVERYTHING that would take me hours to research. As a nerd, I like to look into products for HOURS before making any decisions

[@quincy8557]

I am guessing that the reason why this can be so negative is that meccano wont be a LTT sponsor

[@thefauvel7558]

No, it's just bad.

[@quincy8557]

CaesarGamer Many things they review are bad but they pull their punches to please their sponsors

[@thefauvel7558]

quincy8557 Never came across an unreliable review from their part. Can't say the same for game reviewers like JackFrags.

[@quincy8557]

CaesarGamer No this one was probably fair. Lots of other of their reviews are more like product infomercials because the supplier is either a sponsor or a huge company like Nvidia and they pull their punches. In the EK review when the radiator leaked they hushed it up like a non event and look what happened there, a massive recall

[@laurents1906]

well actually Linus said that once the sponsors didn't really how linus not really bias ther products by saying it's great, but by the time the sponsors said well honesty is better so they can improve it, so if you want to be sponsor in LMG you have to be ready when they slap you because of your bad products. sry my terrible eng

[@EddieFox]

I had the Meccano set that came in a wooden box with several layers (I didn't realise how blessed I was!!). If I had a £1 for every hour I played with that I would never needed to work in my life! Fantastic toy. Built cranes, robots, bridges - even my own gear box, Now, that is a toy! I really dis myself for letting that thing go - as kids do but over the years I have collected Meccano bits and pieces and even use it now for building prototypes. Every kid should have a Meccano kit. Not one those silly cars with about 15 pieces but a full set. Yep. I just got donated a GK15 from my grandson, fully assembled and after fixing a few faults it works perfectly. It's great. think I'll 'programme' it with few arty pieces and use it as a conversation piece for visitors (poor visitors! lol).

[@pseudocode6506]

Taran, you should do more videos, this was a negative but fair review and you covered it well.

[@TheClol7]

When I saw that Meccano had been brought out by Spin Master. My sides. XD

[@billymonkey111]

I saw these in Maplins in the UK last christmas. My immediate thought was "Some kid will see that on telly and pester for it, and some idiot will spend £300 and then be left with assembling it, and the kid will play with it twice and then it'll be a massive waste of space". I'm so glad I was right! My inner child lives on

[@Zizzily]

Thank goodness it's an RGB robot! 7:03

[@DVDplayerz]

Should I buy this...? 0:24 Terrible disappointment : so it's not a good disappointment? Bad box of empty promises : so it's a good normal box? Well noting bad I see here, time to go on Ebay.

[@exoneTV]

I remember that the best thing about Meccano was that you could build robust contraptions without getting metal sheets cut etc. I used it mainly as a framework to hold electronics and parts from other toys, which thanks to the bolts was surprisingly modular iirc. Grew up on Meccano and Lego, would be sad to see them go down like this.

[@hamzerpanzer]

I feel like Taran, Linus, and Luke should be the only ones making videos

[@bigshark1270]

It’s cool and I think it’s a good buy, but it just needs more features and needs Higher quality Parts.

[@StefanBacon]

Super great points. I was always frustrated by mecano as a kit but had mindstorms ris (original) and did a lot with it, and saved up money as a kid for the NXT. That was good too. Vex blows every other system out of the water though. It's both affordable and really adaptable to anything you want to build. Vex iq is not great compared to lego technic, but still very good if you can get past some of it's physical weaknesses. Bad instructions tend to be a vex thing too lol. Minibot and the vex iq arm flat out don't work if built as directed. (Trust me, I led a few vex regional wins in high school, so i know how to build a functional geartrain)

[@JarLoz]

Taran's confident swagger outshines Linus and Luke's worn-out presence. He should be doing more videos.

[@karlhvarregaardmose8121]

Agree with this on a deep level - sounds like me and Taran had very similar childhood hobby's. Gamemaker and lego fuel creativity and STEM, not this boring build-it-yourself robot-barbie

[@puzzlefighter8801]

I agree with this video in most ways, and Meccano is to blame for its failings (over priced, aimed at older kids). However, my five year old daughter received the smaller Meccano (merely G15 vs G15 KS) for Christmas. We don't spend five hour marathons trying to put it together. It's tough for her to hold the parts with her hands, line things up, and actually screw them in. So, that's what I am there for. I talk her through it when she needs me to, hold things so she can get at them, and piece them together, and ask her questions/teach her things as we go along. Sure, we find the process tedious at times, but when that happens, we stop. Overall, it's been great fun and she looks forward to putting together her "droid." The full price for these Meccano are ridiculous, but they are frequently on deep discount. I picked up 3 more G15s at Walmart yesterday for $40 each. If the product you reviewed was only $100, would that have changed your opinion?

[@TheNaz01]

might as well get a Gundam kit :)

[@chrisdrew1768]

for that price yoy can buy a mobile armor, or multiple PGs, what even is this thing

[@gager0615]

what the hell is that

[@PontiacBandit]

Quite franky, my 10 yr old self, wouldn't mind having to screw and bolt things together. I was always constantly taking apart things and rebuilding them even before I was 10. So being that I am much older, this doesn't seem that bad. You just need patience. And an imagination. And I would like to add that as an Electrical Engineer, this is absolutely not a "Box of Empty Promises".

[@bf67gaming14]

PontiacBandit same I want to be an technology person that works on the robots like this one

[@catherman6680]

BF67Gaming Foster There are no "robots like this one" in the real world. You see, in gown up land, you actually have to learn several programming languages and spend months to years on a WORKING DESIGN that can actually do something; rather than just look pretty.

[@PontiacBandit]

Livi Extacy Bro, you know exactly what he meant. Stop trying to bring him down. I myself know there are various programming involved. Because I have been there done that and STILL doing that. Just chill, we were all like him at one point. Give him a break.

[@punkisinthedetails1470]

Fuck yeah Pontiac Bandit. Imagination is the most important ability someone can have. And that is what is lacking in this review. Most kids would have about shit themselves if they got this back in the 70s 80s 90s. A robot that could move like that and copy your actions. Are you kidding me. Regular mecchano would bore the crap out of a lot of kids if they open the box and it looks like a giant pack of miniature road sign posts and screws. All robots are are motors and commands. High Five Pontiac Dude for nay saying the nay sayers.

[@kasimsuleymani1370]

One of the best reviews I've seen by someone who knows what they're talking about. Thanks for this and your other videos. As a child I spent many hours making stuff with the good old fashioned metal Meccano set.

[@yougoyah]

Meccanoid 2.0 is now out! Review time?

[@anupamamk4687]

Meccanoid 2.0 is an horrible piece of junk. Only the initial diagnostic test works after that it does not work and consumes 4 A size batteries just in 15 minutes.

[@tokekkk]

Is this Taran with AMD driver instead of Nvidia?

[@TheLp640fan]

I had a meccano RC car. I played with that thing for years. I made it into a Jeep, an FJcruiser, a Myers Manx and so much more. I wish I had more when I was a kid

[@RaySchrantz]

TARRIN's SOOOOOO RIGHT!!!!

[@Helltech]

Taran is getting so good at these. :D

[@thesteelrodent1796]

I got a small box of Czech knock-off meccano when I was a little kid near the end of the 80s, while Meccano was all but gone from the market. Although it was a knock-off brand everything was made from steel, fit together really well, and they had lots of different sets that could be combined to build massive things. Of course when I got it I was not old enough to really know what to do with it, and I've always been more into lego so never cared much for the metal kits. But this big robot guy reminds me of the disappointment the Lego Mindstorms kits have become. I have the RCX 2.0, which was great, albeit a bit lacking in usability. But since they moved onto the digital server motors the kits have become incredibly expensive, barely contain enough components to build anything interesting, and if you want the extra parts to build something equivalent to what you could do with the original sets, you basically need a bank loan to afford the extra motors and sensors the kit is missing

[@vjollila96]

just get the lego mindstorm

[@timetogetcancer7866]

Lego mindstorm master race

[@ian1064]

or edison

[@jesusblas5853]

Wall-E ? is that you?

[@rm9308]

No.

[@zanderwow]

Bought this for my daughter when she was 8yrs old. I got it from Toys R Us before they went out of business. It was a on clearance for $110 because it had been returned. All sales final kinda deal. Well, after Christmas, we opened it up only to realize that the people who returned it combined ALL the nuts and bolts into a single zip lock bag🤦‍♂️. Since we couldn't return it, I spent a week sorting out the 1000 or so nuts/bolts. Needless to say, I was done with it after that. It went into our garage and was all but forgotten about until this year. My daughter, now 12 yrs old, decided she wanted to build her robot for her 7th grade science fair project. Over the course of about a week she has completed the meccanoid! One part was missing, and another similar part had a duplicate. They were not interchangeable. Thankfully I was able to fabricate a replacement out of some thin plywood. She had had some set backs but she has truly enjoyed building it. Our biggest complaints are #1 The battery life is terrible. And #2 the voice commands can be pretty aggravating. You definitely get tired of repeating yourself. However this has been a great learning experience for her as far as assembly goes and I am very proud of her as she did it all on her own! It was definitely worth the $110 we spent. But I would definitely not have paid the $400 retail on it!

[@joewell6435]

You said "you could learn C and C++ to do anything you want with the mechanoid but why would you want to?" if your a kid interested in STEM then why would you not want to? I agree that this is not a STEM product and that real programming is an afterthought but learning to program even with arduino has real STEM value.

[@joewell6435]

Do think the majority of vex robotics competition teams use drag and drop programming? No, though a lot of teams use easyC it's still mostly ROBOTC being used, and then there are the few that go even further and use PROS or conVEX.

[@eman660]

Learning c++ at 10 is not an easy task

[@joewell6435]

Thecrimsonchin905 but arduino makes it easy enough that I think a 10 year old could grasp the basic concepts, probably not know everything that there is to know I think a 10 year old could program an arduino. and it seems mechanoid uses the same software.

[@joewell6435]

And I was probably about ten when I started messing around with Lua.

[@-DeScruff]

+Joe Well Sure C++ is useful, and some kids will get it right away, but it isn't that great for some kid who likes robotics but has no idea of how logic of programing works. - Which Drag and Drop teaches. Also the kids are going to get frustrated that there isn't programming instructions/videos made for the mechanoid. Its why programs like Gamemaker are popular. You don't want to learn a months worth of material just to begin to play with your toy. You can get a character on screen moving around in less then 30 minutes.

[@Longshotsz]

fuck this im going to play with a IROBOT Vacuum.

[@Outfrost]

I had a Meccano kit once. Probably still have it somewhere. I had some fun putting together a racing car, but then my dog shat on the guidebook, noone really cared to find it online and the whole thing went... in a box, presumably. Wasn't the most fun DIY kit I remember playing with, but certainly had its value. It was metal and felt really solid, just a bit frustrating when you had to hold the nuts and they just kept turning with the screws. This thing right here... It ain't no match even for that experience.

[@jeffreyhen4508]

This is the same reason why I despise Megablocks and other Lego rip-offs.

[@djralo1]

Jeffrey Hen meccano is older then logos if anyone is a ripoff its legos

[@ender25ish]

dam teran, looking slick!

Wow! Why isn't Taran doing this more often? He nailed it! Great review with a great sense of humor! I loved it!

[@pranayasinha]

This vedio was to professional for me but I like it anyways... ☺☺☺

[@timetogetcancer7866]

How old are you??

[@pranayasinha]

+Ryan Ho older than you...

[@robotica34]

+pranaya sinha There's never "to professional".

[@timetogetcancer7866]

+pranaya sinha seriously tho how old are you

[@pranayasinha]

+Ryan Ho 14...years

[@AdamHaas]

He needs to review more products

[@GTXDash]

I had a Meccano truck and what was great about it is how much I could easily change the design and turn it into something different, like a tractor, crane or car. This Meccanoid looks like a real pain putting it together especially considering that the nuts and bolts are all different sizes. I don't remember the nuts and bolts being a problem with my Meccano truck.

[@kaimelis]

wow Taran killed it

[@AnthonyMcAfee]

Taran looks... different.

[@donvondondon5254]

+W3P0N yeah. right ?

[@AnthonyMcAfee]

+Edoni Mustafi can't quite put my finger on what it is...

[@donvondondon5254]

+W3P0N maybe he let go the wizardry

[@AnthonyMcAfee]

Edoni Mustafi Impossible.

[@donvondondon5254]

yeah i know . there is no way out of beeing a wizard - maybe he got abducted from aliens and now is a secret agent to destroy the world, seems more possible

[@zaftigbetty3031]

My partner is building ours for our four year old son. I bought this at Toys R' Us for $139.00. I think for $139 and being 4ft tall, its a great buy.... for a four year old and a dad with endless patience to put the thing together. The one thing our son wanted for Christmas was a "Big Robot". I think this will do enough to deliver on that request.

[@johnheater6697]

Just get Mindstorms instead. Jesus, this thing is bad.

[@fael097]

I prefer these videos where they trash stuff that is really shitty.

[@catherinekilgour2563]

My husband purchased this 'robot' for our three boys. It took a long time to get it put together. The instructions were terrible. The nuts and bolts fiddly. Once we finally finished it they were interested in it for about 10 minutes. Since then it has sat in the corner. Worst thing is we had an opportunity to buy a Lego Mindstorm recently and I think his experience with this put him off buying it as this promised so much and delivered so little. Thank you for giving an honest review, I'm only sorry we didn't see it before buying one.

[@1mxtp]

it's a digital cripple

[@utrak]

it's so much better with the wheelchair upgrade kit

[@joelsimpson7638]

the original mechano is BOSS but this new piece of crap is PATHETIC!!!!!!

[@katsudon5296]

And its plastic lol

[@timetogetcancer7866]

+KaTsuDON™ imagine paying for it when it's fully metal

[@sebimoe]

The body itself looks nice, I'd totally get it to program it with my own stuff, since it's arduino-based. This could be fun for a little longer. But the price tag is enormous.

[@kevinclark4503]

A little research into this product would have served you well. Meccano, the brand, has been needing a transitional platform to the 21st century and the Meccanoid is but the first step on Spinmasters hopeful revival. I understand VEX products are superior in the robotics arena but they aren't required to retain any compatibility restraints. The pieces a Meccanoid are made from aren't plastic for the reason you state but for weight considerations as the servos are required to lift the arms. I could go on refuting your opinions but it is clear that you had either an axe to bear or just wanted to be the 'nay-sayer' Free world but I'm not buying what you are selling...

[@FinnSmith]

+Kevin Clark finally someone who actually agrees with me

[@ilyakaryagin4754]

When I was a kid of 5 years old, I've had plastic construction kit with nuts and bolts - all like Meccano, but a little bigger in size, and made of plastic. It hadn't any 'robotic' things in it. It was cheap (around $10), and I've learn't from it MUCH more, than this Meccanoid can learn. Then i've got all metal Meccano soviet clone. I motorized it - made cranes, trucks, cars. No controllers - all by manual control - just switches and batteries. It didn't cost many more - around $30 and +$20 more for motors and reductors. With that i've made hundreds of different constructions and toys. And this is overpriced branded plastic one-two purpose thing.

[@Jimmeh_B]

+Kevin Clark BULLLLLLLLLL SHHHHITTT!! You still sucking up piss weak excuses from shithouse companies who, as the presenter said, like to buy up LONG STANDING companies with REAL WORTH and crush them through a quick money grab from consumers who are expecting more from such a reputable company??? weight considerations R O F L!!! SUCKER!

[@MZZenyl]

What this channel needs is more "Taran ranting about shitty products" episodes. :)

[@CafeenMan]

While I agree with most of your comments here, some of us actually find bolting things together fun and kind of relaxing. I actually prefer it as being more secure and unlikely to wear out after multiple assembly/disassembly cycles like pins with ears on them can.

[@FPSBlackRanger]

Taran you should really consider doing voiceovers or radio your voice is definitely one that you'd expect to hear :)

[@hikaru-live]

Meccano is not available in China but I used to have a similar kit, locally produced. It used the metal parts and was controlled by an Atmel 89C2051 microcontroller (yes, a much weaker chip than whatever Meccanoid is using here, as my kit runs only assembler but Meccanoid runs C++.) The programming interface, being based on either a flow chart (friendlier to kids) or a straight source code editor (more powerful, and as a kid I learned C and Visual Basic when I was 6-8 so assembler was not too difficult to learn) For this Meccanoid in particular, I found the following issues: 1) Plastic parts, no matter what mounting mechanism, is not mechanically strong enough to hold too many or too powerful motors. You need more motors to actually implement finger movement (which should be there as they have moveable fingers.) 2) A more powerful processor, like Raspberry Pi 2 or even pack an Intel Atom in there. This will not only allow more & better controls, some proper, safe connectivity and an actual AI. Better connectivity also allows controlling it over the cloud, both for remote access and complicated AI algorithms.

[@hikaru-live]

In fact, I would like to see a robotics kit that can accept a mini-ITX computer motherboard in there as the brains for the robot. The kit provides ATX-style power to the mini-ITX board and at least a USB connection to allow the computer to control the hardware, and if the kit also includes a screen (preferably touchscreen,) cameras and/or voice and audio, add the relevant cables (HDMI for video, USB for touch sensor and cameras, HDMI and/or 3.5mm audio output, and 3.5mm audio input.) With the computational power of a proper PC not only simple voice commands like this can be done, more complicated feats like full automation can also be implemented by the knowledgeable. If you managed to put your Xeon E3-1231v3 processor, 32GB of RAM and an R9 380X GPU in there you can run some pretty bad-ass voice recognition and computer vision (both can benefit from a good GPU and workstation-grade parallelization)

[@38911bytefree]

+陈北宗 8051 in asm is not THAT underpowered, but is far from speech recognition I guess. Its a TOY and kids are not keen into asm, C, C++ .... I have C64 for years and meet several persons that have a C64, no one programed the computer, just games. And C64 used BASIC ... Try pople to get into programming is not that easy and doesnt look entertaining to everyone. Some people today said that they are programers just because copy and paste arduino code from the web till they get something running plus it macro oriented programming, i.e. garbage programming.

[@hikaru-live]

38911bytefree This is why I am suggesting putting a real computer, in its smallest form factor (mini-ITX), into a robot kit.

[@Killius]

+38911bytefree Most programmers like those ones aren't employed. Most programmers write guis with horrible code such as myself

[@BrendenJohnFilms]

Never seen you do a video before, so seeing this video of you for the first time with you hosting and presenting, I think you did an outstanding job in all ways that matters that doesn't matter. Hope you get to start doing more reports and videos, you seem to be a natural. Keep up the good work, love how your channel is growing @LinusTechTips. Hope we get to have Austin on more often too!

[@crazyrobotlady3391]

Dude, thank you. I am totally blind and thought about buying a robotics kit. I also thought it would be really cool to have a 4 foot tall robot. Listening to this review made me consider what I was smoking. I am looking for something taller than 24 inches, has some autonomy something a little more than just “go forward“ “Go backwards“, and won’t break my bank into 20 million pieces.

[@tedclayton6913]

I want to buy this for my son for Christmas , but when I tried ordering it, it was sold out. I settled for the meccasaur dinosaur. My son and I put the 715pc set together in around 7 1/2-8 hours over 2 days.

[@aussy1988]

I have no problem with the instructions, it was clear for me...and the robot is very cute! It was a great fun to assemble with my son! Very good quality parts, very high skilled engineering. I can recommend to any family, with a bit handskills....

[@ianarbery9601]

good video showing that you managed to build it, Meccano has gone down hill since 1977 when airfix had it and was losing sales when france took it over hopefully it will get better but I don't think so

[@vitchsstuff8026]

You are so right. Sat in the corner, unloved by both me and my kid. It did seem to attract spiders. They loved it. Webs everywhere. Well, now I have an Arduino, so time to take it apart and see if I can use my old metal Meccano and the Arduino and other bits to make something more interesting. Wish I'd seen this video before I bought it :(

[@thatdamLayZBumm]

I feel like this guy would be a great daily host for the channel. I enjoyed this video, because of him.

[@JamieClysdale]

Taran did a fantastic job. Keep it up and I look forward to seeing more videos from him.

[@HighOffLife4ILuvLife]

My son built 2 of these robots and he loved it. He had fun building it and programming it. He's 11 and didn't get stuck at all. Lol. He was entertained and ejoyed building it.

[@MattOGormanSmith]

You're not missing something but it is. When the (aging but enthusiastic) Meccano fans get hold of this they'll probably design upgrades like real walking legs and working hands. I'm personally delighted they've gone back to square nuts because decades ago I designed something that works like a cross between a wrench and a Pez dispenser, which combined with an electric screwdriver would make assembling Meccano/Erector much more fun.

[@kirkg1846]

You can 3d pint in plastic, pins connectors... also the kit is pretty Amazing and better than those used in University robotics training programs. It connects to blue tooth and has opensource compatability, heck I just found a clip where someone integrated nvidia nano collosion detection. Keep in mind the system has a smart phone cradle which means you can implement smart phone features after all kid play options are exasuted in the basic meccano meccanoid app. I had a great time building meccano with my 10yr old. The biggest issue perhaps was batteries which can be solved via a battery mod to a led acid battery that is rechargable and lasts longer than the D cells. Also be sure to disconnect the power connector when updating if you didn't do any updates before building.

[@epiego]

Bought this for my sons 9th birthday. We built it in all of five hours which honestly could have been 20. Who cares how long it takes to build something isn't that the fun of erector sets? Who complains how long it takes to build something with Legos? Anyways it went together fairly quickly a couple of nights and my son absolutely loves this toy. I mean its a robot! It talks to him, plays games and walks around, gives high fives and he can program it to move with his ipad. I looked at my wife as all three of my kids (ages 4,9,11) were listening to this robot tell stories and jokes.... and i said Wow its like we are in the future. This toy is RAD! I have never written a review about anything but I sometimes think there are a lot of people on the toy reviews that have alternative motives. And we bought it online for $175. Worth every dollar!

[@dabombinablemi6188]

Since its plastic and *not* branded as Junior Mecanno, its not true Mecanno. Also, its easier to program any of the Mindstorm versions (still remember working with V1 in grade 4-it was fun) Edit: BTW, you can use Mindstorms with Mecanno pieces-including old clockwork/steam/electrical/motor+gearbox parts (still couldn't make a automated sewing machine that worked though :( ).

[@CalebHawn]

Wow, that's shocking! I think you're right that it would just end up in the corner of all the kids' bedrooms who were spoiled enough to beg their parents for it. If they really wanted to promote programming it, they'd have some sort of intuitive app to let you snap movements into a line and then it runs the program so kids can learn the basics of logic programming, not just copying movements you set by click and dragging its arms. I can see how it could have had potential, but when a company is lazy by buying a previously amazing company and then milking money out of it by selling bad products with its logo on it, it's just depressing to see, and even more depressing when you're the victim who fell for it.