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[Bezzer]

Hi guys,

I'm going to get a Pleo & have look at the same seller on ebay as others have used. There based in Hongkong as you probably know, my only concern is the charges i might face when he reaches the British shores!

If anyone in the Uk has brought off the same seller could you please shed some light on what Import Tax you payed etc... if any.

Once i know this i will be ready to order. Its for my sons birthday, I just hope he likes it

Thanks.

[Crewella]

Hi Bezzer. welcome to the forum!

There are a few people on here that have bought from that seller on Ebay, but I'm not sure if anyone from the UK has.

If it helps, I'm estimating you'd pay about £30 = it should just be the VAT as import duty doesn't really get incurred much under £200.

I hope your son likes it too! 

[hannahg]

how old is the kid? hope he has nice clean hands! i dont let my 8 year old or her friends touch pleo at all, or if i do it's VERY nervously!

[latrine]

Welcome to the forum!  I gave my nieces and nephews, ages 11-5 a ugobe Pleo just like that one for Christmas and they loved it.. even the 5 year old was very careful and loving with it.. they still love playing with 'Scaler' as they named him, and love to come over and play with my herd of Pleos
Best of luck!!

- Sarah

[kat]

If it is the $199 pleo with free shipping from ebay I have bought one and it is great.  He was my fourth pleo so I new just what to expect and I was very happy with both the product and the shipping time to get it to me.  I am in Australia though so can't comment on what you might get charged by customs. 
I also have two kids age 11 and 13 who love all my pleos and play with them on a regular basis.  My nieces and nephews ranging in age from 5 to 15 also like them and not one child who has played with my guys has ever done anything that would make me concerned.  These little guys give off such a feeling of "life" that you can't help but be gentle with them when you interact.  So I would happily recommend them to you for your son.

[Bezzer]

Thank you all for your relpy's 

My son turns 5  this birthday & everytime i ask him what he would like he says a dinosaur. So i thought this might be more than he ever expected.

I know that you need to look after them, but i cant see him throwing is round the house etc. He is very gentle with the toys & animals he already has.

I'm hoping he'll be amazed by it & even think it could possibly be real lol! & that he grows attached to it & he plays with it all the time.

But this risk with kids is that he might take one look & think "right what else have i got for my birthday then"

I dont really mind if he gets it abit grubby, because it would be a sign that he's played with it & it was worth the money.

[kat]

It might be worth investing in some clothes for the pleo - most people put a cape or shirt of some sort on their pleos to help protect the skin from wear and tear from all the patting and attention.   

[Bezzer]

It might be worth investing in some clothes for the pleo - most people put a cape or shirt of some sort on their pleos to help protect the skin from wear and tear from all the patting and attention.   

Yes i think this might be a good idea 

I've herd that the skin wears off with after stroking & patting. Where is the best place to get these accessories?

Also I just read about a injured pleo being fed salt? nothing amazes me with Pleos anymore. how does the salt help? & is this for all Pleos or just the RB ones?

Many Thanks

[InmemoryofRomeo]

Small dog clothes fit Pleo's or there are some stores here on the forums that make special clothes

Only the RB's have salt, medicine, sugar cane, chili etc etc etc They all do different things. Coffee perks them up, sugar makes them happy, chili makes them warm and so on

[Bezzer]

Thanks.

Just to update I've purchased on from the UK brand new with 2 batteries.

Now waiting for it to arrive, I dont think i'll be able to wait till my sons birthday before getting it out the box to see what its like. Does this make me a bad parent? lol

Now off to purchase some clothing for it so the skins covered from grubby mits 

[kat]

Congratulations on your pleo purchase!  And no it doesn't make you a bad parent!  You will be able to demonstrate all the cool bits to him if you have played with it first.   There are lots of lovely clothing you can purchase here on the forums.  Just look in the stores tab at the top of this page.  Otherwise like IMR says some small dog clothes will fit. 
Have fun    My most favorite thing about my pleos is rubbing them under the chin - they will coo and stretch into the rub and if you rub for long enough they will sing.  It is the cutest thing ever.

[Bezzer]

another question for you pros

With a UGOBE Pleo should i update the firmware before starting??

are the UGOBE's compatible with the PM-2 Frimware update?

[kat]

Yes they are compatible with the pm2 update.  I would leave him as is to start with though while you play with him and then just before you give him to your son update him.  The update will take him back to hatching so you son will be able to see him hatch.  It isn't a very long process to hatch a Ugobe pleo only takes about 15mins but it is super cute and your son will love it.

[Bezzer]

Yes they are compatible with the pm2 update.  I would leave him as is to start with though while you play with him and then just before you give him to your son update him.  The update will take him back to hatching so you son will be able to see him hatch.  It isn't a very long process to hatch a Ugobe pleo only takes about 15mins but it is super cute and your son will love it.

Cheers Kat, your being so much help.

Does the PM2 update have a big effect on the Pleo?

What are the major changes after updating?

Thanks again 

[kat]

To be honest for the normal everyday running of pleo after the initial growing up period that takes a few battery cycles and can have a few random noises and a lot of backwards walking, I haven't really noticed a lot of difference between the 1.1OS and the 2.0OS.  The 2.0 which is the update you are looking at, allows you to do a few more tricks with pleo which are very cute and worth upgrading for, It also adds a few more sounds for pleo but to be honest I haven't really noticed any and my guys have been running on this update for a few weeks now.  It also lessens the tendency for pleo to walk around in a large circle.  So on the update he will walk around in straight lines and explore a bit more randomly than on 1.1 where he will walk in a very large circle - unless of course he finds an obstacle in his way and then he will back up and turn to go around.
They do go through a bit of a teenage period with the update over the first few battery cycles as pleo "grows up".  The trick to minimizing this is to ensure you switch the pleo off using his on off button before his battery runs out and this will save his progress.  If you let him run until his battery is empty and he just stops by himself his progress might not be saved and the teenage stage will last a lot longer.  Some people didn't like the way pleo behaved in this teenage stage and so not too many of us here on the forums have pleos running on the upgrade as many of those who initially tried it didn't get past the teenage bit and downgraded back to 1.1.  I think you just have to look at this stage as pleo trying out his voice and sounds to see what he likes and can do - they do make a lot of random noises in the teenage stage - and they walk backwards a lot for the first few battery cycles.  This random behavior does settle down though and pleo will go back to behaving much the same as on the 1.1OS.
I am happy with the upgrade.  I like the play dead trick    Your son will too. So I recommend it.  But no need to rush into it.  Have a play with him for a while first.   

I hope this helps.

[Crewella]

It's pretty simple to tell which OS a Ugobe Pleo is running by the type if singing they do when rubbed under the chin.  If it sounds like a bit like a howl its running the older OS1 and if it's more tuneful and on different scales then it's running OS1.1, or try making him/her sit as in this thread:

http://bobthepleo.com/forums/index.php?topic=1948.0

Those who know tend to advise that you run the Pleo for a couple of weeks before upgrading to OS2 anyway, and as Kat says it's nice to experience one before trying the other so you really get to appreciate any differences.  You can still run the personalities on 1.1, and it's better to upgrade from 1 to 1.1 and then on to 2 after a while rather than directly anyway.

The various updates are available in the downloads section on here, and you can read some of the threads in the software section to get a feel for it.  Also, the OS2 update does go through a process similar to hatching, so you don't need to feel guilty that you've robbed your child of the experience if you run it before giving him - you do get another chance! 

Hope that helps! 

[Bezzer]

Thanks for all your help & advice.

He's currently traveling with Fedex i think he'll be arriving Monday. 

I think a cape is next on the list as i'd like to keep his skin protected.

[Crewella]

Hope he arrives safely as promised.  You can also buy small dog t-shirts which fit Pleos quite well and will protect the paint from wear, also some of the Build-a-Bear clothes will fit OK, I believe, though I always go for dog ones as they fit the chest and neck better. 

[shamair29]

get a collectible ugobe pleo from leadingwincorp on ebay at $199.49 USD.