Very interesting! Anyways, I’m pretty shocked that the exclusive parts on Bricklink aren’t worth more. I guess they just aren’t desirable. Makes sense I suppose.

Nah, I want to play, then record.

Frog (I assume): "Kill...me..."

"Hulk build, then smash!"

Interesting that in this set all about movement they’ve not gone with a car or truck to represent it but what I can only assume is some sort of frog. A frog that’s sitting down and thus wouldn’t be moving…

Interesting concept.....

Record and play WELL.

@Worrissey said:
"A creator set having electronic pieces?

ONLY FOR 40 QUID?!?!? WHAT IS THIS MADNESS"

There's a good reason Lego was in massive financial trouble around 2003-2004.
Though Jackstone/4+ (the 2004 one) also likely contributed thanks to lots of big proprietary parts.

Transformers… frogs in disguise

Looks tired.

Ba dum tss!

@Binnekamp said:
"For those wondering why lego wasn't doing well financially... here's one of those sets that must have cost a lot and not gained all that much. This is from a whole sub-line of sets within the Creator Designer theme that was full of one-set electronic or specialized moving parts, the Inventor Set subtheme:
https://brickset.com/sets/subtheme-Inventor-Set

Btw the line itself is not bad. Like the rest of Creator thst year a lot of care and effort had gone into the amount, variety and quality of the alternate build models and the instructions for them are a journey full of wacky illustrations to go through.

Anyway, the grasshopper build looks a lot nicer than this 'large' build.
https://img.bricklink.com/ItemImage/SL/4095-1.png
That's probably why it was used on marketing more. Seeing the main image's hulking... thing (I used to think it was a teddy bear of sorts) on the box was weird after seeing the smaller models more in promo material. It doesn't look the most appealing IMHO."

That grasshopper must have seen a thing or two.. :D

I actually have this.
Built and tried all models at some point, then stuck with the wheeled robot until we left for Germany (because I considered it a "Johnny 5" of sorts).
As the instructions say, the green button activates three different modes, and the LEDs and modes change depending on how long you press it.
One LED: Simply executes the moves you recorded earlier.
Two LEDs: Executes the moves as recorded, then in reverse.
Three LEDs: Three repetitions of the moves you recorded.
So in the end, it was pretty sophisticated, I imagine a lot of work went into it.
I remember it being able to record fairly long sequences, and worked fairly well, though it wasn't that great at recording quick changes of rotation, like you would do with the drummer model. For example, instead of the "drumstick" going back up after hitting the drum, it would often continue downwards.
Overall though, a fun thing, and this certainly brought back memories. :)

EDIT: Oh yeah, reading the bottom of the instructions, there's also a "trigger port"/axle hole at the top of the motor box, which activates it when you turn an axle in it.
It was probably far too easy to turn, because just moving the wheeled robot would turn its head enough to trigger it.

EDIT 2: And another thing! It remembered recorded moves even after switching it off.

The included 196 page instructions for 12 models with only 345 pieces is a masterpiece in maximizing build potential. Just unsure why you would want to make various manual movements then have them repeated, instead of the usual battery box and motor as in the monkey 4094 which looks a lot more fun.
First time seen part 45360c01 corner gearbox, but if ratio 1:1 then not really a gearbox, whereas part 46220c01 Worm to 24 teeth gearbox that came with the monkey is far more useful considering worm gears didn't exist in 2003.

@ambr said:
" The included 196 page instructions for 12 models with only 345 pieces is a masterpiece in maximizing build potential. Just unsure why you would want to make various manual movements then have them repeated, instead of the usual battery box and motor as in the monkey 4094 which looks a lot more fun.
First time seen part 45360c01 corner gearbox, but if ratio 1:1 then not really a gearbox, whereas part 46220c01 Worm to 24 teeth gearbox that came with the monkey is far more useful considering worm gears didn't exist in 2003."

It’s a box, and it has gears inside. Right-angle drives were one of the earliest form of gearbox. Not all gearboxes change the speed of the output. Some just change the direction.

I read the instructions again out of boredom and actually learned an interesting technique. One of the builds, the card shuffling robot thingy (yes, there are some insanely creative things in there) uses the black pulley wheel tyres inside of the white 4x4 dishes. The result are very cool cartoon eyes that look like they have a black border around them. Very cool! I didn't know you could do that!

https://www.toysperiod.com/img/cache/b1/0x0/d4e4o5g414f4w5w5n4z5m44426a4k4l4y5v284u2e403u24423y2z3j4l4f4s2u204q2.jpg

Lets get funky