StikBot review

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StikBot is the world’s first social media sharing toy. What exactly does that mean? StikBots are posable figures that kids and adults can use to create stop motion videos that are then shared to sites like YouTube and Instagram. It’s a fun idea to get kids interested in film making, but are StikBots the way to do it? Let’s find out.

Note: Images can be clicked to view a larger size.

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StikBots can be purchased individually or in the Studio Pack like the one that was sent to me that includes a tripod for your smartphone and two StikBots.

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The StikBots are simple little jointed figures that come in a variety of colors and are made of plastic with suction cups on their hands and feet.

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Their body is held together with elastic cords that make the posing easy, but not real accurate. The suction cups work best on very slick surfaces like glass. They will stick on other smooth surfaces but tend to detach within a few seconds and fall over. So the slicker and shinier the surface, the better they will stick. This is important because the stop motion video depends on the figures staying in the same location with very slight movements.

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Using the free iOS or Android StikBot Studio app, you pose your StikBots and snap a picture. Then you move them very slightly and snap another picture. Move them again and snap another photo and on and on and on until you have created your full video. To avoid camera shake, you can use the volume control on your headphones to “snap” photos.

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The app’s interface is very simple. There’s a shutter button in the right corner (the red StikBot head) and a zoom slider.

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When you take an image, the viewfinder will change to show a ghost of the last image you snapped. This helps you see how much or little to repose the figure for the next image. The app then takes all the single photos and strings them together into one video. Because StikBots animate best at lower frame rates, the app is set to shoot at 10 frames per second, making it easy to know how long your video will be (60 frames = 6 seconds).

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When you’re done, you can add music or sound effects to different frames.

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You can then watch or share your videos.

See it in action

Wow, that one second video was totally epic wasn’t it?

StikBots are cute and the app is simple enough for even small children to use. But here’s the thing, you can create these types of videos with your existing toys and other posable figures like LEGO minifigs. Your existing toys might not have suction cups for feet, but I found the whole suction cup feature to be lacking because they only work best on surfaces like glass. There are other free apps out there that you can use to create stop motion videos. Heck, you can use the StikBot app since it’s free.

Final verdict: Cute, and promotes creativity, but I don’t think they are worth buying unless you want to collect the different colored StikBots for some weird reason.

Source: The sample for this review was provided by Zing Global Ltd. Please visit their site for more info and Amazon to order.

 

Product Information

Price:$4.99 and up for one StikBot, $9.99 for StikBot Studio Pack
Manufacturer:Zing Global Ltd.
Retailer:Amazon
Pros:
  • Promotes creativity
  • Helps kids learn about stop motion animation
Cons:
  • Suction cups don't stick very well or very long
  • Expensive for what you get

23 thoughts on “StikBot review”




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  2. I was thinking that your film score should have been that 70’s song “Kung Fu Fighting,” but you’d only hear “Oh, oh, oh…” before the film ended 😉

    I loved this review – it made me smile!

  3. So, how does it actually work. WHY no directions. What is the photo mode for? I have no way to put photos into a video. The animation mode is OK until you actually want to add sound and it won’t do it. And then it won’t playback any longer either. Not having a 4 year old handy I guess I’m too stupid for this. So my 8 year old is crying. Because she’s not 4 so she’s too stupid to use it too.

  4. Downloaded the stikbot app today to my tablet (android 5.0). Strangely, there’s no button for sharing the video. I can save it to my tablet but then I have to go into my file manager and locate it. From there I can share the video. Odd.
    Also, once I added one music track to it, I couldn’t change it. That one track stuck and wouldn’t go away. Couldn’t change it, couldn’t add sound effects. This app needs instructions beyond the “look what you can do” “tutorial” videos on youtube.

    1. Correction: even though they didn’t play within the stikbot app, everything I tried to add to the video was added to it after the first track. So, short video, and now every other sound is playing over a frozen image. App totally mangled the whole thing.

  5. Can you take parts off the stickbot and reattach it without modification or permanent damage? The official shows do it, and it might be a lot of money to do it.

    1. I had broke a Stikbot arm ( green translucent ) a few weeks ago and it was 3 pieces 1 half another half and the suction cup. The two half’s click together but aren’t secure. You fix it by inserting the suction cup in the area where you would place it in the half, then put super glue or any long time sticking glue on the edges of the other half ( not with the suction cup ) lastly connect the two half’s with the suction cup in between and let it dry for a while and it should be fixed with the damage being extremely hard to notice

  6. I have problem with the camara setting samsungtablet ,when i start stikbox and put every thing ready all works good ,but thani put on background screen the camera switch 90 degrease The back ground stay normal but the box and figure switch

  7. Hi, My daughter got this and has done a good video but when the sounds say 0.28 seconds she tries to add a new sound after the first has finished but it is stringing all the sounds together so the sounds dont make sense to her video? She has really sunk half the day into this video but now the sound wont separate she is getting very emotional and google has only your post at all. Their website says any problems email them and surprise surprise now we have bought the toy and no replies to emails 🙁 She is really into this so for her to get frustrated and give up because of a sound? Also she wants to add a voice recording but how can you when you cannot see where in the video the voice will appear? When we go to voice recording it just shows a black screen and for such a long video she cant remember how the story goes to say what she needs at the right time. Any replies would be greatfully appreciated.

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