Barry B. Benson Review
What is it?
Barry is a remote control flying bee from the upcoming Dreamworks feature Bee Movie. Barry is the cousin of WowWee’s Dragonfly that’s featured on the front page’s featured product video player.
Does it work?
Well lets start with the instructions. They’re pretty straight forward and don’t require a lot of review before taking Barry for a spin. When you first open the box you have to charge Barry for about 20 min which is a bit of a bother but hey it’s a quick charge and will give you a chance to review the instructions and pick your flying area. So after Barry is charged I would recommend using the include tail ribbon. It slows down the flight speed and makes it easier to maneuver about. You’ll need plenty of room to fly Barry and lot of practice before you get the hang of flying him. The controller fits the hand pretty good but may be a little big for smaller children to handle.
Our first attempt was flying outdoors and was a bit of a challenge but the package warns you that Barry does best when the wind is clam. We had a hard time getting Barry to fly in one direction even after making some adjustments as suggested in the instructions. I have to add it was very windy and at times the wind took over and carried Barry out of range of the of the remote. We decided to pack it in and try indoors.
The second attempt was indoors and in an area that was about 16ft by 16ft. The ceilings are not that tall so flying was going to be low and fast. The second attempt was much better and I was able to get Barry to fly straight, turn left then right without any issue. The more we flew him the better the experience and the kids loved it.
Should I Buy it?
By all means I would recommend you snag Barry once he hits the stores. It’s going to be in November so unless you live in a really warm part of the country you won’t get a chance to fly him outside. I think Barry would make a great holiday gift and a great way to bring the movie experience home. Barry B Benson is a winner in my book and BJ Approved.
Some pictures of Barry.
December 31st, 2007 at 10:15 pm
I received this product from BJ around two weeks ago. I won it as part of a drawing, and the stipulation was that I had to write a review about it. No problem at all especially for free swag! Only I conveniently forgot the writing the review part and shamelessly proceeded to re-gift it as a Christmas Present to my 8 year old son. Okay, i’m horrible at waiting, and surprises(and a whole host of other things) so I gave it to him and my 12 year old daughter three days before Christmas.
When they saw how cute Barry was, I got a resounding “HOW COOOOL!!”. I turned him on and my daughter proceeded to work the remote and his little wings started flapping. We where in my den at the time, so I decided to launch him while she controlled him. He flew, not like an eagle or a real bee, or anything like that. He flew, more like a bomb. All of that flapping never seemed to get him anywhere but the floor post haste! It had to be something we where doing wrong. We read the instructions on the box, and tried switching him from expert to beginner figuring that would lessen the learning curve. Nope, still no real flight to speak of.
I removed myself from that exercise and continued to let the children test fly Barry. After about 15 minutes they came back and announced that Barry still wasn’t behaving properly and his battery was dead. With the help of my 15 year old they found where to re-charge him, in an attempt to begin round two. Still nothing but dive bombing. We couldn’t get him to stay airborne for more than a couple of seconds at a time.
A day or so later I contacted BJ so see if he had any words of wisdom. There HAD to be some small detail I was missing. BJ advised me to toss Barry up first with his wings in full flap. Nope, no dice. He went up, then quickly found his way back to my floor. We tried this a few times, then Barry’s batteries died. After the re-charge the kids tried him again. Ahh, progress. He off the ground for about 5 seconds and actually flew from one side of the den to the other. That’s about as good as it ever got, and as long as he ever flew. It all went downhill from there. Now, Barry won’t fly, nor will he re-charge.
Barry B. Benson Review - Winner Feedback | BJ the Lab Monkey Tech Reviews for Humans says:January 1st, 2008 at 12:15 am
[...] says: December 31st, 2007 at 10:15 pm eI received this product from BJ around two weeks ago. I won it as part of a drawing, and the [...]