Caption Contest: Giving the gift of green against our better judgement

Chris Shunk — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 20:01:00 EST

Filed under: Etc., Technology, Hatchback, Toys/Games, Electric

The move to electric-powered vehicles is still in its fledgling stages, but there are plenty of signs that the next few years will finally start ushering in battery-powered transportation for the masses. But there's one class of vehicle that has almost always been powered by batteries: R/C cars. Slap in a couple of 9-volt batteries and a slew of AA cells, and kids of all ages get to pretend they're Ken Block in the backyard until mom says it's time to clean up for supper.

Now that full-sized rides are finally "catching up" to their scaled-down counterparts, it appears that at least one toymaker, New Bright, has decided to take the next step: an R/C car that needs no batteries. It's called the Ecomobile, and it looks like a solar-powered freehand interpretation of a Smart ForTwo mated with a Toyota Prius. As you can see by its packaging, the Ecomobile takes great pride in the fact that it's ecopowered, economical and ecofriendly. It's even packaged in recyclable materials. It's $29.95. Al Gore can't stop smiling.

But how does it run? Well, you have to leave it out in the sun for one hour for every five minutes of play time. It's reportedly slow, too, and much like the EVs we've experienced in the real world, reviewers have said that the solar-powered toy doesn't quite run as long as its OEM-promised times state. Sound like fun? We don't think so either. So, in the spirit of the holidays, we've decided to come up with some of our favorite captions and/or headlines for this eco-tastic (or is that eco-tragic?) new toy. Here are some of our not-so-hilarious efforts:

You traded in your sports car for a Prius? Now you can limit your children's fun too!
The Ecomobile: Because your kids aren't teased enough already
The perfect toy for the kid who likes to wait to have fun
Now mom can't bitch about leaving toys in the backyard
Sweet! A toy that kids north of the Mason-Dixon line can't play with until May

As you can plainly see, we need your help. Head for the comments section and give us your best headlines for this not-so-fun-looking toy. You won't win anything for trying, but your efforts could help a misguided parent choose a different (and cooler) toy for their kid.

Caption Contest: Giving the gift of green against our better judgement originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 13 Dec 2009 20:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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VIDEO: Radio-controlled motorcycles take to the track

Jeremy Korzeniewski — Sat, 02 May 2009 11:35:00 EST

Filed under: Videos, Toys/Games, Motorcycle

Click above to watch video after the jump

Having grown up in the era of the Team Associated RC10, Tamiya Clod Buster and Team Losi JRX-2, we'll always have a soft spot for radio-controlled vehicles of all sorts. In fact, a few of the Autoblog staff still spend the occasional late-night tinkering on the kinds of small-scale projects that we couldn't afford to tackle in the real world. Therefore, we were naturally entranced by racing footage from Britain of some 1:5 scale RC motorcycles zipping around a makeshift race track.

The footage you see in the video was captured during the 2007 season, so you can bet that the action has only intensified since this was filmed. We only wish we were this adept racing with two wheels, be it on a real bike or with an RC controller grasped firmly in our digits.

[Source: British Radio Car Association via The Biker Gene]

Continue reading VIDEO: Radio-controlled motorcycles take to the track

VIDEO: Radio-controlled motorcycles take to the track originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 02 May 2009 11:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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