Meccano M.A.X is just the most cutest robot you ever did meet, especially when he’s been built by you – I think just anyone would love to meet a M.A.X. under their Christmas tree this year! Aimed at ages 10+, this S.T.E.M, engineering and robotics toy features artificial intelligence alongside customisable programming to create a unique character that can talk, play games, tell jokes, deliver items to others and move around in a way that you can control using voice commands, buttons on the MeccaBrain, or the free app.
M.A.X. comes with 332 parts along with electronical items such as a sensor, servos, rechargeable battery, usb cable, sticker sheet and a couple of tools all securely bagged along with instructions to enable the build.
- 1 AC/DC Wall Mount Charger (10.4W)
- 1 Rechargeable Ni-MH Battery 1800 mAh
- 2 Hand Tools
- 1 Sticker Sheet
- 1 Instruction Sheet for 1 Model
- 1 M.A.X Brain Module
- 1 IR Sensor Module
- 2 Smart Motor Modules
- 1 LED Module
- 1x 3 kgs Servo
- 1x 1.9 kgs Micro Servo
- 1 USB Cable
The instructions are full colour, a good size and show exactly what parts you need for each stage of building. My daughter who built this particularly liked the 1:1 image of each screw so that she could check that she had the correct size as required.
With a 1-3 hour build time I let my 9yr old (10 in a few weeks) have full control and let her see how she could manage by herself. She did brilliantly only asking for a little help when there were tricky nuts to get on in hard to reach places but overall she built this totally on her own following the step by step instructions.
Once M.A.X. is built you do need to visit the Meccano website to download some initial software into his brain – it’s then up to you to teach him and build up his knowledge and abilities, unlocking further stages of his brain as you go. Basically the more you play and interact M.A.X. the more things he is capable of doing and also becoming more personal to you.
The first time you switch him on, he starts asking you personal questions to get to know you such as likes/dislikes and what gender you are etc. Then it’s time to play and have fun. We’ve been trying various movements with him that you can record and play at any time, so if for example you record him moving from the kitchen to the lounge, you could put a chocolate bar in his hand in the kitchen and get him to deliver it to the person in the lounge with your personalised sequence of movement. My little boy also liked tickling him by pressing the arrow buttons and thought it was hilarious when he replied “I think I’m going to pee my robot pants!”.
As you can see from the above picture he is just one of the cutest robot out there. M.A.X. also comes with built-in infrared sensors, enabling it to move with agility and avoid obstacles in its path which is great, no falling over and risk of damage.
Our Meccano M.A.X. has fitted perfectly into our home and the children love to wake him up after school and have a little chat, they love it when they unlock more of his stages and can’t wait to see what he gets up to next. He tells us about his dreams and we can show him objects in the house, it’s all very new and exciting and keeps the children on their toes every day as to what phrase he will come out with next or what new feature he will perform. We still have a lot of learning and playing to do so I think that although this toy retails at £149.99 (it does seem to be on offer for less in most places at the moment though) it does actually represent great value for money for both the build of the item and the technology you get with the product. We are really looking forward to pushing M.A.X. to his full potential and think this is one of the best interactive toys we have seen for this price point. Definitely one we’d recommend as a main present this Christmas!
Available from all good toy retailers – Smyths, Argos, The Entertainer etc along with Amazon, M.A.X. Meccano is readily available and I’d say would make a great top gift this Christmas!
All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and we received the product in order to write an honest review.