Toy Chest: Omnibot 2000

When I was 11 the Omnibot 2000 was at the top of my holiday list (catalog description). It came with a remote control with a built-in microphone. It had a digital alarm clock and a cassette player that could play normal audio tapes, but you could also use it to record and play back programming commands. So you could program the robot to wheel itself up to Fido and freak him out by playing your voice remotely. Also important was the included beverage tray which would have been great for being served Tang at ankle-height. All of this nerdy awesomeness came at a hefty price. Sadly, costing $500 in 1985 put it solidly in the same category of attainability as an Apache attack helicopter, which I also wanted.
