DISCLOSURE: THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS, WHICH MEANS WE MAY RECEIVE A COMMISSION IF YOU CLICK A LINK AND PURCHASE SOMETHING. PLEASE CHECK OUT OUR DISCLOSURE POLICY FOR MORE DETAILS.
I’ve owned quite a few RC toys in my time on planet Earth – my first super cool RC toy was a remote control hovercraft purchased way back in 1989. The hovercraft I had before that was gas-powered, and not very remote control at all! (That was the late seventies or early eighties, when LED calculators were still the “in thing” for most.) Planes, helicopters, and UFO’s, if it moves about and has a remote chances are I’ve played with one. When I laid eyes on the Tyco Shell Shocker, I knew I was looking at something really different. In the box the Shell Shocker looks like an angry irradiated mutant hermit crab that just escaped from Fury 161, and out of the box it looks like a facehugger crossed with a transformer, or perhaps some new kind of military bot devised by alien crustaceans. He ain’t pretty, which means he’s gonna have to win your heart by how much fun he is to play with.
Packaging
New to this review: how cool is the box? How well is the product packaged? In the Shell Shocker’s case, the packaging is pretty sweet with the front view showing motion images of the product in action and making it appear like the Shell Shocker is going to jump out of the package and grab ya. Both the Shocker and the remote are securely strapped in with those twisty plastic wires most of you are familiar with, and it took me about 5 minutes to “release the beast!”
What’s in the Box?
One Shell Shocker Remote Control Toy, One Remote Control, and the Instruction Booklet. What’s NOT included is the Tyco Pro Flexpak Battery and Charger, which may come as a…drum roll please *SHOCK* for some of you. The Flexpak and Charger are sold separately and will cost you an additional $30. Before you flip out though, keep reading. After break-in the Flexpak battery takes 4 hours to charge and gave us a whopping 30 minutes of runtime, which is alot of playtime for an RC toy that goes as fast and does as much. (The manual says your battery time will vary – we ran ours for 30 minutes nonstop over heavy terrain, with many transformations.)
Make Sure You Get One of These Too!
What’s Good About It?
The best way to describe this toy to you is for you to see it in action:
See It In Action! GadgetMadness Music Video Demo: Tyco RC Shell Shocker Cyberbeast
OmegaMan and I took one fully-charged Shell Shocker to a nearby bumpy open field, and were both amazed at how fast, fun, and furious this unique RC toy is. Transformation is handled with a rocker switch underneath the remote, and movement is controlled by two rocker switches on top. Push both switches forward and off he goes! The Shell Shocker can also transform while moving which is pretty sweet to see. The plastic used for the outer shell is amazingly tough and resilient – this is not an indoor RC toy! On Christmas morning I highly expect to hear many screams from neighboring houses as shocked mothers exclaim: “JASON! Get your butt and that *&$^! mutant crab outside NOW!” The manual states that driving in water or snow is a bad idea, and while he will run just fine on cement the plastic on his shell gets a little marked up from doing so (which I fully expected.) There were a few times while in “Explore Mode” (shell fully turned outward) that he’d get propped up on one side, get stuck and just spin from the center. The easy way to get out of this is to transform into ball mode and then roll away! As I mentioned the area we tested in was very bumpy and rocky, and not once did we get permanently stuck. After about 30 minutes our cyberbeast stopped moving and his eyes started to blink, which meant his battery was exhausted.
What Could Be Improved?
As I mentioned in a previous article, the Shell Shocker is the coolest land-based RC toy I’ve played with since, well ever. I purchased this review unit myself, and once I got it home realized I misread the packaging – to me it seemed that you could purchase an extra battery pack if you wanted to, but it was not 100% crystal clear that I needed to buy one of these separately. Some people are going to be turned off when they realize that they need to purchase a $30 battery for a toy they already spent $60 for – trust me when I realized I had to go back to the store I was right there with ya. Once you get the battery charged and start playing though, all that frustration will disappear.
Charge Faster! Charge Faster!
Gadget Says: “Tyco Shell Shocker Is The Most Unique RC Toy of 2005!”
The Shell Shocker is not only the toughest, baddest, and most unique RC toy we’ve played with in 2005 – he’s also the most fun. Tyco has a real winner on their hands with the Shell Shocker! (Now all they need to do is embed an onboard computer, some A.I., and maybe a stun gun tail and the Shell Shocker could be one heck of an all-terrain battle bot!)
- See More Hi-Res Photos of the Tyco RC Shell Shocker
- See It In Action! GadgetMadness Music Video Demo: Tyco RC Shell Shocker Cyberbeast
- Buy Tyco Shell Shocker Radio Control 27 MHz NA :: Amazon.com
- Buy Tyco Shell Shocker Radio Control 49 MHz NA :: Amazon.com
- Buy Tyco Radio-Controlled Shell Shocker :: Walmart.com
- Buy Tyco Pro Flexpak Battery and Charger ::
Amazon.com
IMPORTANT! Shell Shocker does not come with his own special battery – he needs the Flexpak Pro to work.
Many thanks to Omegaman for running the camera and to Simple Nothing, whose “empty soul tastes like chicken.”
I just bought this Shell Shocker on 2/14/08. This is the first time I’ve seen or heard anything about this creature.I paid $15 for it with the battery and charger on clearance,so I thought I would give it a try.This is NOT an inside toy.This thing is fast and heavy and can do some damage.It performs pretty well outside,has alot of power.After reading reviews, most people paid $70 for it, then had to buy the battery for another $30.I would not pay $100 for this,but $15 total,if it breaks tomorrow,I still got my moneys worth.I bought this at TJ Maxx if your interested.
My sons shell shocker broke the first time he played with it. My son is not hard on his toys it just broke he was very up set.I would like to report this and mybe get a new one if I could get an email address.
where can i find a battery pack, besides online. i.ve tryed radio shack, toyrus and fries. i need help
I paid about $40 for the toy and battery. The toy broke on the second time out. One side opens and the other one doesn’t. Even at $40 it is too much to pay for a toy that doesn’t work. Does anyone know where to get help woth what the problem might be?