Our kids are drowning in a sea of colored plastics, and while it may be the most versatile and practical of materials, there’s an undeniable retro charm to wooden toys. The WooBots are transformable wooden robots, carved from blocks of wood and held together with elastic. There are five vehicle designs, and each one can transform into a wee robot that stands between 15cm and 18cm tall.
The WooBots are the brainchild of Canadian-based firm, Bamloff, and they’re being pitched as a creative, durable toy for all ages. They are incredibly cute, and judging by the success of the WooBots on Kickstarter, we aren’t alone in thinking that. The project has reached $67,935 at the time of writing with a $10,000 goal.
Each WooBot is a clever combination of 15 to 20 laser-cut wooden blocks held together by elastic rope, which enables each joint to rotate 360 degrees. Kids can puzzle their way to completing the transformation from vehicle to robot, without fear of breaking anything. There are five different WooBots to choose from. The car is obviously based on the Volkswagen Beetle, there’s a classic truck cab, a warship that looks like an aircraft carrier, a chunky bus, and a jet fighter.
The project may have been inspired by the Transformers, but there’s no official tie-in with our friends from Cybertron. Each one of the WooBots is an original design, and they’re all hand assembled and fully tested before being sent out.
If you’re itching to get your hands on one, then it’s time to check out Kickstarter, where you can still snap up an individual WooBot for $20. That’s a decent discount on the future retail price of $30 each. Sadly, there’s no discount for bulk buys, but you can opt for two at $46, three for $68, four for $90, or the complete set of five for $100.
Bamloff is working on fulfilling the early orders already and prioritizing those intended to be Christmas gifts. If you do decide to order now, it would be prudent not to count on your WooBot arriving before the holidays.
