AA/ DST Spotlight- Tribbles!

Item Name: Tribbles
Manufacturer: Diamond Select Toys



The Rundown: Not sure if you guys know this or not, but I really, REALLY like tribbles. If I spot a tribble, I'll buy it. I have big ones, little ones, homemade ones, and even one used on the episode "The Trouble With Tribbles". Tribbles are awesome. If I had a gerbil, I'd name it Tribblesaurus Rex. So when DST announced they'd be producing electronic tribbles, I was happy as tribble in a storage compartment full of space wheat.



The DST Tribble is available in 3 color varieties; There's the gray version, the tan version,...



...and this brown version. The fur looks closer to the "Deep Space Nine" style tribbles as opposed to the classic tribbles, which have a very distinct type of fur. I would have preferred something closer to TOS, but a tribble is a tribble, so I'll take what I can get. One thing I do really like is the size- As you can tell by the size of Kirk standing beside it, these tribbles are pretty beefy.



My biggest complaint on these is the velcro material used to keep the electronics housing inside it's, um, "belly"? The velcro isn't all that strong and the tribble has a tendency to open up, which looks a little strange. I do love the electronics though, so I guess it's worth dealing with the "split-belly" feature.

Oh, you want to know more about the electronics? Well, it's a good thing I made these videos then!



There are 2 settings for your tribble, which basically equate to happy or agitated. You'd use the happy setting in a situation like the one above where the tribble gets to meet a swell guy like Jim Kirk.



The second setting is for when the tribble enters a high stress situation, like running into one of those dastardly klingons. Tribbles hate klingons.

As evidenced in the videos, it takes a bit of a shake to get the features up and running. My tribbles were incredibly sensitive at first, and would start freaking out over the slightest jostle in the room. Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on your point of view), the batteries drained pretty quickly and their sensitivity to shakes decreased.



So overall, these tribbles are pretty cool. I like the electronic features and the size is nice. The original price point of $29.99 was way too steep for them, but after a few months of release DST dropped that to a much more reasonable MSRP of $14.99. Sure, that stung those of us who paid full price, but if you don't have these yet, they are definitely worth snagging at $15 bucks. The only better price than that would be free...



Oh, you want a free one? Well you are in luck because I just so happen to have an extra tribble that needs a home. Shoot me an e-mail with your name and zip code to potacontests@live.com and in about or week or so I'll draw a name and send this fuzzy ball of fun your way!

-James