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Background

You've probably heard of Incubot Productions and their Nekobots Designer USB Drives. They've designed like old-school Japanese robots, but there's a special surprise when you pull them apart...a 2GB USB Drive. We'll be taking a look at a pair of the six Nekobot designs – Nekobot Blue 28 and Nekobot Stealth TG (a ThinkGeek.com Exclusive).

The following is the entertaining character story that's printed (in broken English) on the rear of the packaging:

The Hero Robots are die by evil Rat King of HELL. Professor Serious and theNekobots unleash the ancient program, birth explosion of a crazy: giant HELL God Cat Robot Nekosaur! Will he fighting for human or BLOWING US ALL TO HELL?!!!

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The Facts



Nekobots Designer USB Drives
Series: Nekobots Series 1
Manufacturer: Incubot
Artist: Alen Yen
Material: Soft rubber
Dimensions: 3.5” tall
Points of Articulation: 3 points (neck, arms)
Designs: Nekobot Blue 28; Nekobot Stealth TG
Accessories: 2GB of storage

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Packaging

The Nekobots are packaged in old-school styled Japanese mini boxes. There's a great in-action illustration of the characters on the front, with a turnaround illustration on the rear. Also on the back, there is a brief description about the line.

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Our Opinion

Over the past few years, we've really seen the price of flash storage drives drop. That's made it easier for toymakers to embed a USB drive in their products, without having to hike up the selling price.

Each Nekobot separates at the waist to reveal a USB dongle (that just sounds dirty). After plugging in the figure, the chest plate will light up – the Nekobot Blue 28 has a heart that glows red and the Nekobot Stealth TG has a skull that glows a reddish-yellow. There's a single file loaded one each flash drive, a “thank you” PDF file.

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I had initially thought these were simply static figures, but having three points of articulation is a great little addition. It makes the Nekobots seem more like action figures. The material is also pretty interesting. It has a soft, rubbery feel to it. Some of the features of the figure are the chest plate, the raised Japanese writing on the midsection, the raised ToyboxDX logo on the back and the little tail he's sporting.

To date, there have been six Nekobots released...although four of those designs have sold out. Blue 28 is the Nekobot leader and is done up in classic ToyboxDX colors, while the Stealth TG is a ThinkGeek.com Exclusive. Incubot also has (coming soon) a licensed Voltron USB drive that uses a body design similar to the Nekobot.

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OVERALL: Gone are the days of the ordinary flash storage drive. With art pieces like Mimobots and action figures such as the Nekobots, we're seeing more functional (and much more aesthetically pleasing) file storage solutions.

I like the retro Japanese robot styling of the Nekobot line. The glowing chest and articulation are just icing on the cake. I can see office workers around the globe picking these up to replace those *blah* ordinary flash drives. (The only issue they might have is that the Nekobots are only available in 2GB capacities).

You can pick one up at the following:

Incubot.com: Blue 28 - $29.99
ThinkGeek.com: Stealth - $39.99

Nekobots Grades

Figure Quality: 7/10
   Sculpt: 8/10
   Paint: 8/10
Accessories/Outfit: N/A
Packaging: 9/10
Durability: 9/10
Fun Factor: 9/10
Value: 9/10

Overall: 9.1/10

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