Stocking Stuffer: NASCAR Zipbot Race Set

I absolutely love the WowWee Animal Alive Cubs and Minis that we have in our house. And I knew that the robotic experts at WowWee also designed other uber-cool robots, like Wrex the Dog and RoboSapien. But, I didn’t know they made these little, simple cars called ZipBots.

NASCAR Zipbots come two cars in a set. The set my boys received had #88 (Dale Ernhardt Jr) and #14 (Tony Stewart). THe cars about an inch long and they run on bristles as opposed to wheels. They run on button cell batteries and they come with batteries installed, plus 2 extra batteries. You are going to need a super, small screw driver to open their battery case to change batteries. There is a tiny switch on the bottom of the car that you can use to turn the car on. Then the bristles vibrate and cause the car to run along the track.

My little ones had fun with it. They played on the track for a while and then I moved it to our train table, since the cars wouldn’t fall off that. You could even put them on the floor, but my dog was very intrigued by it, as it moved along like a bug driving a car. It was hilarious from my standpoint, and my husband’s too. After a day of hard play, the battery died in Dale Earnhardt Jr’s car. I guess that means Tony Stewart won!

When I first was going to play with these cars with my boys, I was nervous about how fast they would zip. But it’s not very quick – but just quick enough for a novelty item or a distraction at grandma’s. You can also get a set with #24 (Jeff Gordon) and #48 (Jimmie Johnson). It’s awesome that they come in a set, since you can race against friends and family members.

Here are the cars on their track. I liked them better on the train table, though.

Overall, this is a great gift for a NASCAR Enthusiast, as well as a stocking stuffers for car-lovers and little boys. A set only costs $9.99. You can get a single car for as low as $4.79 right now at Radio Shack!