Popito Jr.
He might be Poo-Chi inspired, but Teamforce deserves credit for giving Popito more interactive features than Poo-Chi, a unique design, and for releasing blue and pink translucent versions of the toy. There is a translucent yellow Poo-Chi, but it never got released.
Popito Jr. is an interactive robot dog by Teamforce. It was sold as 'My Pet Dog Max' (愛犬マックス) by Tsukuda Original in Japan, 'Goobby' by an unknown company, 'Micro Pup' by another unknown company, and 'Cyber Pup Jr.' by Thunder Electronics. A website that was owned by Topix had it listed as 'Robo Pup' on their website. An Italian distribution of the toy exists under the name 'Super Fido', but the company that sold Super Fido is unknown.
Other versions of Popito Jr. not mentioned in this list will be introduced later on this page.
Popito Jr. requires four AA batteries.
According to Tskukuda Original's website, the Japanese release was to occur on the 6th of August, 2000, and it retailed at 4980 yen. topixonline.com had Robo Pup listed for $29.95.
Appearance
I'm not good at describing these dogs... In contrast to Poo-Chi's, parts such as Popito's head, ears, legs and body are more rounded and aren't as blocky. Popito has a pair of hanging ears, a tail with a little sphere at its tip and a ring around it, and a black, translucent visor on his face. He has a speaker area on his chest with three gaping lines, and he has a small button below his tail, used for 'guard dog' mode. He also has a red tongue in his mouth.
Colors
Teamforce's website mentions Popito comes in the following color schemes (typos from the website included):
- Silver
- Imac Pink
- Imac Light Blue
- White Pearl with black dot
- White pear with pink dot
Max comes in all these color schemes, as well as a few more, including:
- Silver with peach(?) ears and tail
- Silver with blue ears and tail
- Silver with pink ears and tail
- What appears to be a gold version (not completely sure)
Goobby is only known to come in the silver with blue ears and tail color scheme, and what seems to be a silver with red ears and tail color scheme. But, I did find a photo from a seller of Goobby that shows a gold Goobby with red ears, so I can't tell if the boxed one is actually a gold one in weird lighting.
Super Fido is only known to have been available in the silver and blue color scheme, while Robo Pup is only known to have been available in silver, white with black dots, translucent blue, and translucent pink.
Cyber Pup Jr. is only confirmed to have been available in silver. I did find a listing for a second-hand robot dog with pink spots but I don't know for sure if this was Cyber Pup or Popito Jr. I could be misremembering, but I think the listing referred to it as a Cyber Pup.
Functions
Popito can be pet by pressing the button on his head, he can react to sound, and he can react to sudden changes in light (e.g. covering his face and then uncovering it). He can walk forwards and backwards, move his tail and ears, and his mouth can open and close. He can respond when you feed him, by pressing his tongue sensor, and his eyes can change to three types of expressions: happiness, sadness, or anger.
When he's sad, the top and middle lines in his visor will glow, when happy, the lower lines in his eyes will light up, and when angry, the top two lines in his visor will glow. Popito's eyes glow red.
Popito has four modes, including a walking mode, room guard mode, singing mode, and normal mode. To switch between modes, hold down the button on his head for 3-6 seconds to enter mode selection. Normal mode is indicated by two glowing lines, singing mode is indicated by the glower bottom and middle lines, and walking mode is indicated when the top, bottom, and middle lines in Popito's visor glow. The manual mentions to "Pull the left ear right up" before selecting a mode by pressing the head button. I'm not fully sure what's meant by this. He can grow from his puppy stage into a mature dog, after playing with him for 15-20 minutes. Popito can play games and sing.
I don't know if Max and Popito have any slight differences with their program, but Max can sing over 10 different tunes. He can not only talk to and sing with another Max, but he can also fight with another Max.
Gallery
Popito Jr.
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Pet Dog Max
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Goobby
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Micro Pup
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Robo Pup
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Super Fido
This is a screenshot from a YouTube video by grintly, showing the toy.
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Trivia
The name of the girl from Max's commercial is Anna Hachimine (鉢嶺杏奈).
- Popito Jr. may have been sold by Haier in China, considering they did sell Cyber Popito in China under another name, but this is not confirmed.
- Apparently, there may have been a carry bag for Max which was officially sold by Tsukuda Original. The product name was claimed to be "愛犬マックス おでかけバッグ" (Pet Dog Max Odekake Bag)
Videos
Links
- A Topix website listing Robo Pup
- Webpage with a photo of Goobby's box
- Tsukuda Original's page on Max
- Teamforce product page
