I don’t usually do toy reviews, but the new 6 in 1 solar robot kit from Red5 is pretty cool. It’s a transformer (note the lower case t), it’s solar powered, and it’s a robot you can reliably build from a simple kit. Three solid features that make it well worth its (€)13 (~$21) price tag. There are no screws, and big easy instructions that anyone can follow. The 6 in 1 runs at full steam either in direct sunlight or under the glare of a light bulb, but you’re going to want to use the bulb so you can control the little bot and play with its different forms.

Solar power? Robots? It's the perfect toy!

There have been quite a few gizmo-oriented feeds out there going crazy over the 6 in 1, but I’m not sure it merits such excessive praise. I mean, it does make a cool boat, a neat spinning airplane, a car, and a puppy that’s on a kawaii overload. But it’s other two forms (a stationary airplane and a windmill) are so redundant I want to rename it a 4 in 1. It doesn’t have customizable paint jobs, nor a remote control, and you can’t make multiple kits battle or interact. It’s just a neat solar powered robot toy from a kit.

But that’s sort of a remarkable phrase in of itself. We have these two giants concepts that people are really hungry for: solar power and robotics, ideas that are supposedly going to revolutionize our world any day now. Right now you can order this toy and see those grand ideas in action on a smaller, simpler, and more personal scale. Who wouldn’t want to feed a little robot puppy the light from a 50 watt bulb and watch it dance around? It’s cute and it represents technological progress — killer.

Not sure if the kit is fit to adorn your office cubicle, or want to see if your niece will enjoy putting it together? Luckily some enthusiastic robophile made a video that shows all 6 forms of the robot and demonstrates their functions. Check it out below. Is the 6 in 1solar robot kit a revolutionary invention set to change the world? No. Is it in my shopping cart? Oh yes.