LusiferSam
04-03-2005, 09:16 PM
Zipping right along (and have place to place) this week's vehicle is the Land Speeder, the Sonic Controlled Land Speeder (http://photos.sirstevesguide.com/showphoto.php?photo=8840&cat=3406&page=1). This J.C. Penney exclusive was available from 1978 to 1980 through their Christmas catalog. Much larger than the its standard counterpart the Sonic Controlled Land Speeder had to have one of the unique gimmicks to it, namely its sonic control. The R2 shaped clicker makes a loud click/crack sound that cause the direction of travel to change. The order is forward, right, backward, left, and forward again. There are no known variations to the vehicle or its box.
This could have be a cool toy, but there are a lot of down sides to it. The vehicle's larger size means that it carries four figures better, but it looks more bulkier than original (sports car vs SUV). It also lacks the cool suspension of the original, so you lose the floating effect. The theory behind how the toy is meant to work is a cool one, but in practice it does work. It's just to prone to malfunction. With better electronics and internal components it might have worked better. Kenner had a half baked and idea and got a half baked product.
One of the last item I bought the Sonic Controlled Land Speeder is an interesting toy, but a half baked one like I said. Of the half dozen times I've turned my on I only gotten it to "work" once. The drive wheel runs and it changes its direction fine, but just not on the floor. The one time it worked I had it going to the right, hit the cracker, and something when wrong. Hit a wall at the same time it was change direction. The whole thing is finicky and highly prone to malfunction. And its loud. Not just the cracker, but the vehicle itself. It sounds like the gears are eating themselves. I don't know if any one else's experience with it or just my.
This could have be a cool toy, but there are a lot of down sides to it. The vehicle's larger size means that it carries four figures better, but it looks more bulkier than original (sports car vs SUV). It also lacks the cool suspension of the original, so you lose the floating effect. The theory behind how the toy is meant to work is a cool one, but in practice it does work. It's just to prone to malfunction. With better electronics and internal components it might have worked better. Kenner had a half baked and idea and got a half baked product.
One of the last item I bought the Sonic Controlled Land Speeder is an interesting toy, but a half baked one like I said. Of the half dozen times I've turned my on I only gotten it to "work" once. The drive wheel runs and it changes its direction fine, but just not on the floor. The one time it worked I had it going to the right, hit the cracker, and something when wrong. Hit a wall at the same time it was change direction. The whole thing is finicky and highly prone to malfunction. And its loud. Not just the cracker, but the vehicle itself. It sounds like the gears are eating themselves. I don't know if any one else's experience with it or just my.