At long last, Hasbro has cornered the market on multi level toys. By multi level I mean toys that interact with others from the same line. It’s a fantastic gimmick if it sells – and in this case it was a dog with fleas. My best guess is that the manufactures suggest retail price of $24.99 (some stores did try for a higher price) scared most consumers away. On the Epinions main page for the Comm Tech reader it is listed at $12.99 but this must be a mistake. I recently found them for $2.99 at a chain toy store – but if all else fails you can find them online for a higher price plus that pesky shipping and handling fee.

What Is It?

The Comm Tech reader works with the Star Wars Episode 1 talking figure line from Hasbro. The concept is simple – you take a Comm Tech chip (sold separate from the actual reader) and place it on the scanning area and hear one of three to four messages encoded on the chip. When we first broke this out of the box and used it we all found that there was no set area to place the chip. It’s hit or miss and most times you have to move the chip around to find the “sweet spot”. It isn’t all that loud and if the television is on chances are you’ll hear very little of what the chip has to say.

I was a little surprised at all the features the reader has. Firstly, there is an on button that gives you a little power up” sound when you press it. There is no off button but the unit does automatically shut off if there is no activity in 2 minutes. When this happens you head a “power down” sound that lets you know it is off. This is a great feature to have – because there is no “power light” to let you know if it is on or not – this can really save the life of the battery. There are four memory buttons that will store the different sounds but when you change the battery those sounds are lost. The cute thing is the conversation mode; some chips interact with other chips allowing a small “conversation”. Although limited it is fascinating to watch kids marvel when the characters interact with each other. To have a chip conversation you have to establish which chips with each other; most are listed on the backs of the packages but occasionally you will find a few hidden ones. Once you know which chips work with each other you lay down the first chip, let it scan and play then lay the second chip to hear what the character has to say to the first.

There are also two buttons on the reader that play two prerecorded sounds – the lightsaber and blaster sounds. These are permanent and cannot be recorded over. Included with the reader is a “collectors” chip. It has three sayings on it and unless you read the box – or are a Star Wars fanatic – you will have a tough time deciphering who is talking and what is being said. Jar Jar Binks blurts out “Oh, maxi big da Force”, Obi – Wan Kenobi says, “You will be a Jedi – I promise” and Qui-Gon Jinn says, “May the Force be with you”. There is also an explosion sound – which is the clearest of them all.

The Comm Tech reader also comes with two metal ball chains to keep the chips handy. There is a belt chip but unless you want to be the brunt of many joke I suggest you reserve this for Star Wars conventions. A nice feature – although I do curse up a storm when I come across it when I am in a hurry – is the battery slot. It is rather hard to remove for a child and once it is snapped ion place a small screw secures it in place. The Comm Tech reader works with a single 9-volt battery and can be a little hard to snap into place.

Based on price alone ($2.99) I had to buy a ton of these. Besides being great collector items I am not sure how long these will be available in the future. If the current one breaks I’ll have a few back ups – and a few for my own collection.

As I mentioned in previous reviews of the figures themselves, you do get Jedi Master Points (located on the UPC) for the purchase. Instead of the standard 10 points for figures you get 20 for the Comm Tech reader. Save up the points and redeem them for Hasbro products.

My kids absolutely love this – since the day I bought the first figure and the reader I have had to endure the constant barrage of Star Wars sounds. I was a little worried that the chips themselves would break but so far (three months and counting) none have been broken or damaged in any way – and trust me – my brood can be extremely hard on toys.

As always, thanks for the visit!

^V^ Freak ^V^

© 2003 Freak369


CommTech Figure reviews ...

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Recommended: Yes