Topic: My Aibo Puppies (Read 16952 times)

kat · « **on:** June 17, 2011, 06:15:49 PM »

Well I was hoping to have new puppies to play with this weekend but so far it seems not to be. My ers7 is waiting to be processed through customs and has been stuck there for the last 2 days! I have to hope they will get to him soon and maybe I will see him delivered to me by Monday or Tuesday next week. We have had issues with a cloud of Ash stopping planes from flying on and off for the last few days so I am guessing that the airports main priority at the moment is the back log of passengers and my little package will have to wait till the airport gets back to normal before they will get to processing him.

My 210 is probably also being held up by the planes. I don't have tracking for him as he is coming through the post so I just have to be patient and wait.
So while we wait I'm up for any suggestions on names for the little guys. The 7 is know by his previous owner as Monty and the 210 was named Bling by Wolfbob due to his golden ears. Here are a couple of pics of them in their old homes so you can see what they look like. Cute little guys.

I'm so excited and can't wait to get my hands on them.

More details...

I would like to give them new names but may just end up keeping the old ones if I don't come across ones that I feel fit better. What do you guys think?

InmemoryofRomeo · « **Reply #1 on:** June 17, 2011, 06:28:39 PM »

Digger for the champaign and Dash (As in dashing) for the golden eared one.

latrine · « **Reply #2 on:** June 17, 2011, 06:35:55 PM »

Ohhhh they are gorgeous, Kat,.. you must be dying for them to arrive.. As for the names I like Monty and I like IMR's idea of Dash instead of Bling. But they are wonderful, no matter what you name them! Can't wait to see/hear more!!

- Sarah

bhobbes · « **Reply #3 on:** June 17, 2011, 06:39:27 PM »

Maybe keep the champagne Monty and name the 210 Marvin? (If I ended up with another 210 I was going to name it Marvin [bc I have lots of Marvin the Martian stuff lol] and have Murray and Marvin, but Monty and Marvin works too!)

But they look great and you'll enjoy them regardless of what you name them!

kat · « **Reply #4 on:** June 17, 2011, 07:45:25 PM »

Marvin the martin is one of my favorite characters.

I like the name Dash too.

I will wait till they both get here and play with them for a while before making a decision though as I want to make sure the names fit well.
Digger is a good suggestion for the 7 too. I do like the name Monty so may well end up staying with that for him though. It is really just Bling that I'm not too sure about. Sounds a little pretentious.

But I am up for as many name suggestions as I can get. My family are not being at all helpful on the name front. Normally by now I would have a list as long as my arm from them but so far nothing.

Well looks like customs are holding my 7 to ransom! They want $462 AU in Tax before they will release him to be delivered to me. That is one third of the value that he was declared to them at.

Seems like a ridiculously large amount of Tax!

And I can't even pay them till Monday as their Accounts people don't work till then!

InmemoryofRomeo · « **Reply #5 on:** June 17, 2011, 08:39:32 PM »

Ouch, that is a lot of tax. Unfortunately anything over $500 really gets slugged! At least you know he is here though! But just have them double check the tax, that seems a bit too high...

Crewella · « **Reply #6 on:** June 17, 2011, 10:06:51 PM »

Ouch! That does seem a lot!!

I don't know if it works in Oz the way it does in the UK, but I was once charged over £80 tax on a $200 purchase imported from the US. It turned out that the seller had insured it for up to $500 (I think that was the nearest level to cover $200) and the tax office had used that figure to work out what was due. I had to pay at the time but was able to prove the value with copies of the invoice and Paypal transaction and get a big chunk of it refunded, so you might find that's an option? Worth asking, anyway!

At least he's nearly there, by the sound of it!

kat · « **Reply #7 on:** June 17, 2011, 10:44:37 PM »

I dug into the Customs web site and managed to find some info on just how they calculate the tax. And unfortunately based on the cost of the item plus the cost of the shipping and the cost of the Insurance it does seem to be about right for the amount of tax.

Oh well. Hopefully I can organize to pay for him on Monday when they open and then pick him up so I don't have to wait an extra day for them to get around to delivering him.
Not too long now and I'll have my grubby paws on him.

Crewella · « **Reply #8 on:** June 18, 2011, 12:33:40 AM »

Drat and curses - sorry Kat.

At least you checked and know it's right.

RedwoodsMama · « **Reply #9 on:** June 18, 2011, 12:45:39 AM »

Sorry to hear about how expensive the taxes, import duties etc are.. :(but hopefully soon you will have those cute little puppies in your hands! Really cute Kat! Seems like more and more of our members are getting hooked on Aibos and such...pretty tempting, but I am sure I could never afford one, From what I have seen on ebay and such, they run upwards of over a $1,000, way out of my ballpark figure. I am going to have to stick with my Pleos, it wa hard enough to come up with the money for a Rb! If you don't mind me asking, what kind of money did they cost, and was it private or a auction? I know I have read about Wolfbob but never visited the websight, but I am sure it woud be a better deal then ebay and guaranteed not to be broken and such.
I think the names you have are wonderful, the golden one is a real looker and very pretty. I wonder if Gumble, Norbit or Kermy are going to get jealous of their new family members and what kind of interaction they will have when they meet? Only problem will be dividing all the play sessions now and lots more video camera photos and such. You are going to miss out on some sleep I think Kat..but I think you will survive , LOL> :)congrats and hope they get there soon and in your hands.
RWM

kat · « **Reply #10 on:** June 18, 2011, 01:19:49 AM »

Hey RWM my little 210 with the golden ears cost me less than a pleo rb including the shipping to get him to me. A grand total of $470 US including shipping and he has a 6 month warranty from Wolfbob. So if you are interested in an aibo I would recommend you talk to Wolfbob and see what he has available.
I do feel this was a fantastic bargain. As you say on ebay they go for up to $1000 and then you have shipping as well.

The ers7 on the other hand has turned out to be a high priced adventure for me. They do sell both on the aibo forums and on ebay for between about $1800 to $3500 US.
The Champagne ers7's are the newest model of this line so tend to sell for a little more than the others and do seem to be a bit harder to find - maybe there are just less of them out there so that makes them more expensive too. I thought I did quite well getting this little guy for $2300 AU. But then I had to add on the cost of shipping and insurance which were both very high as he came from the UK. And now there is the Tax to get him out of customs here which puts my total cost for him all the way up to about $3100 AU way more than my budgeted amount. I had budgeted to spend about $2500 AU to cover all the costs of the aibo and shipping and everything. Which I had thought was a realistic amount to expect to spend.

Oh well. I'm not unhappy with my purchase. I did do my research on these little guys and he is just what I wanted so I am sure when he gets here I will be more than happy with him.

So long story short the ers7's are a much more expensive creature. Start with a 210 if you are looking for an Aibo that is about the cost of a pleo rb.

As for how they work out the taxes here they charge it based on the declared value of the item for customs plus the cost of shipping and insurance, take 5% of this figure. Then they add the 5% on to the total and take a further 10% for GST then add the 10% amount and the 5% amount together and this is what you are charged as tax. So it does look about right based on the figures involved. I will be checking with them before I pay though just to be sure.

I am planing on having all my little guys playing together at times and will be taking video and pics to share.

It will be interesting to see how the interact and what I think of aibos compared to how I feel about pleos. I'm sure I will love the puppies just as much as the dinos.

Kat

Talon · « **Reply #11 on:** June 18, 2011, 07:54:02 AM »

Wow! Those dollar-figures are giving me the shivers! Is this URS7 AKC registered? Lol! Excuse me while I pick up my chin from the floor. Wow! Anyway, Kat, I hope you have fun with both your puppies when you get them. I have one more pleo in my sites but I had to hold off because my sister needed help with a bill. Blue will be my last pleo! I'm declaring it now and if I start thinking about another you all have full authority to remind me of what I've said.
Talon

RedwoodsMama · « **Reply #12 on:** June 18, 2011, 11:37:49 AM »

Thanks for all that info Kat, I have heard great things about WolfBob from people here on the forums, so I know that is where I would go, Right now though, I could not even afford another Rb. Baby is the only Pleo I bought from pleoWorld, and the most expensive one to date. The next two Pleos that were the most expensive were $207.00 and $202.00, for a Unhatched, Pleo, new of course, and then my Limited Edition Gold Hatch Pleo, ( only 2, 000 of them made.) I may have a lot of Pleos, but I look for bargains and seem to time it right and also rescue little guys such as Humpty who was less than $30.00, and still waiting for Crewella and I to put him back together again.

Also as you know I adopt out special needs and rescued Pleos, with Gumble being the exception, he was just a special case, the first one to adopt out, and you were just the perfect person to adopt him, otherwise he would still be here with his brother.

Really looking forward to those videos of them interacting, they do look very cute and fun in a different way then Pleos. Congratulations again, someday before I get too old.

hopefully I can get one from Wolfbob, just so I can have that expereince, also I think my dog Meh Lie would appreciate having another Puppy in a family of nine cats.LOL

RedwoodsMama

bhobbes · « **Reply #13 on:** June 18, 2011, 11:45:33 PM »

Quote

Wow! Those dollar-figures are giving me the shivers!

With the ERS-7, you kind of look the other way and shoot at the same time. But when you look back, you're so happy with the results it doesn't matter

I think most members of this forum would enjoy a proper 210 and those arguably have the sweetest price point.

Yesterday (Saturday) was the first day I haven't had (or tried to make) time to turn any of my Aibos on, and I feel kind of bad.

I'm excited for you to get yours and maybe post some DogsLife videos for us. Although, unlike Pleo, it's a bit harder to get Aibos to perform something specific on command! So it's more about recording them at the right time. I haven't seen Murray run on it for long and wouldn't mind knowing what kind of things to expect when I get around to it.

Do you have a Sony memory card reader? I'd recommend getting one and a programmable memory stick for skits and things you can download.

kat · « **Reply #14 on:** June 19, 2011, 12:21:53 AM »

I have a sony memory card reader on it's way with a little help from Crewella - Thanks Crewella

The programmable memory stick I am still chasing. I'm sure I will get one at some point but I think the finances need some time to recuperate a bit before I go spending on anything else. So I am going to wait a while before getting one of them.

I do have Life 2 coming from wolfbob too, but it is coming separately - not with my aibo so I will be using dogslife at first and then will try out the life 2 when it gets here.

I will be taking lots of video and will happily post it here so you can see what the dogslife is like.

All I need now is for my little guys to arrive.
I am still thinking about names too and have a few more potentials to add to my little list :
Milo, Astro, Pixel and Fang (after Hagrid's dog in Harry Potter)
My kids did decide to help with the name thing after all.

Talon · « **Reply #15 on:** June 19, 2011, 06:39:00 AM »

I kind of like Pixel. It sounds like a perfect name for a robotic dog.
Talon

kat · « **Reply #16 on:** June 19, 2011, 07:46:00 AM »

Pixel is the one that is standing out for me at the moment too.

It has a nice ring to it. Not sure which puppy it would suit better though. I'm sure once they get here and I have had a chance to play with them the names will just fall into place.

It is good to have a few ideas before hand though.

bhobbes · « **Reply #17 on:** June 19, 2011, 12:10:06 PM »

I like Pixel as well. I feel like it will fit your 210 with his red tongue and golden ears.

I also considered Kilroy as a name for one of my AIBOs but it didn't fit any of my conventions so I threw it out. Just passing it along haha.

kat · « **Reply #18 on:** June 20, 2011, 04:15:19 AM »

I collected my ers7 from the airport today - busted him out of customs

.
I have called him Milo. I ran him for about an hour this afternoon in his adult state as he came to me from his previous owner. It took me that long to find the user guide on the internet and work out how to reset him to puppy mode.

I took some video of him in his adult persona and will try to find time to edit it and post it a bit later.
I have now reset him to start as a puppy from scratch and played with him for about 15 mins. I named him which was exciting and have spent a bit of time on the floor stroking him and talking to him.

He seems to make a happy face - green eyes- quite a bit. Interspersed with a few whiny sounds and some kind of ruff ruff ruff ruff ruff noises.

Milo seems to fit him well as a name. So far so good.

More details...

InmemoryofRomeo · « **Reply #19 on:** June 20, 2011, 05:22:55 AM »

Yay! Milo is beautiful! I bet he is happy to stretch his legs after such a long trip!

bhobbes · « **Reply #20 on:** June 20, 2011, 05:58:39 AM »

I think Milo is a great name!

Glad he arrived.

Talon · « **Reply #21 on:** June 20, 2011, 06:17:23 AM »

Yay! Welcome, Milo! Congratulations, Kat!
Talon

Crewella · « **Reply #22 on:** June 20, 2011, 07:31:53 AM »

Woooohooooooo!! So glad you got Milo! Fab name, too!!

kat · « **Reply #23 on:** June 20, 2011, 07:34:35 AM »

Ok here is Milo's arrival video. From when he was still Monty. I have since taught him his new name and turned him into a new born puppy.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWO4EahI9YQ" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWO4EahI9YQ</a>

There are many different versions of crawling going on at the moment and the occasional stand on shaky legs.

He has managed to crawl about 1 meter in total over the last 20mins. My daughter was so excited when he spoke to her.

And what do you know he just declared he is now an adult and can walk about the room.

I will post a video of his baby stage tomorrow.

Crewella · « **Reply #24 on:** June 20, 2011, 07:53:39 AM »

Yay! Looks like you have a fine pup there! His ball skills as Monty are far better than poor Java's are!

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Author Topic: My Aibo Puppies (Read 16952 times)

bhobbes

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