"The more you PLAY with me the more I do! I will KEEP AMAZING you!" — Popito Jr.'s box (does this sound familiar? the original Furby has the same lines on its box)

Popito Jr.

He could 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 like a robot dog with a few of Furby's features (light sensor, sound sensor, feeding sensor and being able to communicate with another of its kind; it has other features Furby doesn't ofcourse).

Popito Jr. is an interactive robot dog that appears to have been created by Teamforce initially. It was sold as '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'. 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, 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 slots, 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):

Max comes in all these color schemes, as well as a few more, including:

Max has also been spotted with peach colored ears, but those dogs could just be ones that are meant to have pink ears which became discolored at some point?? I'm not sure, and I haven't seen one new in box before.

Judging from a website that was selling Goobby at some point, Goobby was apparently sold in silver with blue ears and what seems to be silver with red ears.

I can't even provide a source for this as I no longer have the link and don't know if the site is still up but, I did find a photo from someone who was apparently involved with selling Goobby and Venus Robot. They posted a photo that shows a gold one with red ears so I can't tell if the boxed one on the Angelfire website is actually a gold one in weird lighting, and they shared another photo of a silver one with blue ears (no box).

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, according to Topix's website.

Micro Pup is only confirmed to come in silver with dark blue plastic that has glitter.

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, and I could be misremembering, but I think the listing referred to it as a Cyber Pup, oddly??

Functions

Important: Most info in this section was taken from brief glimpses of Popito Jr.'s manual and some was taken from Max's box and an instruction sheet; I don't know if there are any slight differences in the way they work or if their programs are exactly the same, and I don't have a Popito Jr. to test some things.

Also, this robot has no off switch. Max's manual states you can power off the toy by pushing down the head button for 7-10 seconds. When left alone for 5-10 minutes, he will power off by himself, but he won't do this if he is in guard dog mode.

Popito Jr. 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 the lights in his visor can change expressions to show his mood, what mode he is in, or to let you know if he's full. He can also apparently get sick if you don't feed him.

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 Jr.'s expressions glow red.

Feeding and Sickness

The English in Popito Jr.'s manual is odd. It says the following about feeding him: "Usually he wants to eat 1 times per every 15 minutes. So when you feed Popito Jr., you should give him 5 feedings when he sound full and plays drinking sound If you do not feed him he will begin to get sick and angry. He will tell you that he is sick, he is not healthy. If you want him to get well, you need to give a minimum of 10-20 feedings and sometimes let him sleep for a while."

Sleep

If he's tired or no one plays with him for 6-10 minutes, he falls asleep. As said earlier, you can make him go to sleep by holding down the head button for a bit (Popito Jr.'s manual says 6-12 seconds, Max's manual says 7-10 seconds). To wake him up, press the button on his head. Apparently he shouldn't be woken up immediately after he falls asleep.

Modes

Popito has four modes, including a walking mode, room guard mode, singing mode, and normal mode.

Changing Modes

You need to hold down the button on Popito Jr.'s head for 3-6 seconds to enter mode selection. Normal mode is indicated by two glowing lines, singing mode is indicated by the glowing bottom and middle lines, and walking mode is indicated when the top, bottom, and middle lines in Popito's visor glow. When the expressions in his visor are changing, pull his left ear up, press the button on his head to select a mode, and then clap your hands to activate his sound sensor and change his play mode.

Apparently, if you want to exit mode selection you can push down the head button for 3-6 seconds again.

Normal Mode

Petting him in normal mode can make him happy. He can also sing in this mode. He responds when you clap your hands in front of him or cover his snout, and he can be fed.

Walking Mode

After selecting this mode, clap your hands for Popito to enter walking mode. He will walk forwards if you clap your hands or call him and walk backwards if you wave your hands infront of his snout, blocking his light sensor. Each time you try to get him to walk back or forth, first ensure Popito Jr. isn't moving, otherwise he might not respond to your actions.

Popito Jr.'s manual seems to claim he can also be set into walking mode if you get him to walk forwards thrice consecutively.

Room Guard Mode

Press the button beneath his tail. Apparently it should be pressed after you select it as a mode. He will bark for 20 seconds to confirm he is in this mode (according to Popito Jr.'s manual) and change his expression. When his sound or light sensor is activated by an intruder, he will bark.

Singing Mode

He will sing different songs (apparently more than 10, according to Max's manual). Two Popito Jr. robots can duet with each other, according to the manual. The manual oddly seems to contradict itself when talking about singing mode, though:

"Available for 2 Popito Jrs, face to face they will communicate, sing and dance together. When both are in the singing mode, the will sing a duet! (Pls note: You can activate one of the two dogs into singing mode only. DO NOT activate two dogs into the singing mode at the same time.) Once they make communication, they will begin to sing together."

Growth

He can grow from his puppy stage into a mature dog, after playing with him for 15-20 minutes, and apparently he will start barking differently as an adult dog.

Games

Idk if you could call these games. Popito Jr.'s manual calls them that...

Tug of War

Press and hold down his tongue for 3-5 seconds in normal mode and he will make angry sounds.

Say goodbye to your finger!

2 Feet Standing Up Side

You place him on his hind legs and then activate his light or sound sensor or press the button on his head.

"To watch Popito Jr. Play 2 feet up side game is a wonderful thing : Put him sit down 2 feet upside gently, then he'll move & play 2 feet standing up side game activated by clap hands, wave hand to cover light sensor or touching head sensor."

Design Patent

Da Shujuan (达淑娟) is credited for the design of the toy. An application for the design was made on the 11th of July, 2000 and it was registered on the 7th of March, 2001.

Gallery

Popito Jr.

Pet Dog Max

Goobby

Micro Pup

Cyber Pup, Jr.

Robo Pup

Super Fido

Listing photos from here.

Other Versions

Guo Kai

Popito's head on T-Cat's body, for some reason. The head looks slightly different, and this does not appear to be an interactive version of Popito. The company name shown on the box is also "GuoKai", without the space.

Walking Robot Dog

Looks identical to "Guo Kai". From the same company, too.

Keychains

Names I've seen include 'Robotic Pet' and 'Robotic Puppy'.

Robotic Pet was sold by Tack Cheung Corporation (barcode: 763061218264). Robotic Puppy was sold by Chia Tai Inc., Ltd. (barcode: 604535218260).

I've seen Robotic Pet in blue only so far, but I've seen Robotic Puppy in silver, pink, and blue colorways.

I also don't know if the maker of these keychains had permission to use Popito Jr.'s design or if they copied the design.

Extra Info (? - I'm not sure about some of the info here being true)

Videos


Links

Most images on this page were saved from listings that are no longer up.