Christmas Ruined: Two of The Robot Arm Toys Broke!...
Christmas Ruined: Two of The Robot Arm Toys Broke!
I bought the Sharper Image robot arm for my son for Christmas. The first one I bought broke within the first day of use. The claw wouldn't open all the way. I contacted the company that owns the Sharper Image brand (MerchSource) and to their credit, they sent me a "new" one. When we opened the replacement product, I saw scuffs on the toy and some smudges. (Looks like maybe we got someone's return?) Because that might explain why the toy broke within the first 30 minutes of use - the arm would not lift anymore. In sum, this toy was an epic fail.
I also bought my son a Discovery rotating Space Projector (the Discovery brand is owned by MerchSource as well). It started making a really bad noise within the first 30 minutes (a number of Amazon reviewers noted the same issue with theirs).
Needless to say, MerchSource has some serious product design, manufacturing and quality control issues. Not sure how they'll stay in business putting out poor products like this. There is a silver lining though. My son asked me if he could smash the toy with a sledge hammer and I said yes. He spent over 15 minutes crushing it to smithereens. He had a blast and asked if we could get another one to smash. So I guess that was worth the price of the toy! I've attached pictures of the smashing of the toy.