Review: WowWee BladeStar

Written on Mar 16, 2009 by Thomas S. and filed under Reviews, WowWee

The WowWee BladeStar is a remote controlled helicopter designed for manual or assisted flight indoors. The BladeStar uses special sensors to automatically detect ceilings, floors, and walls to fly around obstacles without much user input. Powered off an internal battery that recharges through the remote for quick bursts of flying fun, the BladeStar needs little maintenance on a day to day basis.

WowWee BladeStar Specs

• 12″ wing span
• Manual or auto-pilot modes
• 5 minute flight time
• Dog fight mode with another BladeStar
• Indoor flight only
• Ages 8+

How BladeStar Works

The BladeStar works similar to a spinning top with wings attached. It uses 2 blades and 2 fans mounted off of the main body which spin the toy until the blades get enough airflow to take off. Since the entire toy is always spinning it automatically balances itself for stable flight and can be manually flown around the room or put in an auto-mode for assisted flight.

In manual mode you control the height of the flying and have to steer the helicopter around obstacles like lamps, HDTVs, speakers, and other taller objects that might be in a room. In its assisted mode you set the speed (height) and it handles the flight path. Using your hands as a reflective surface you can kind of steer it around a room by placing them near the blades, or you can just let it fly by itself. In auto-mode you still have a manual override option to help it clear obstacles. In my testing I left it in auto mode most often since I could still control it, but didn’t have to be continually adjusting its path to prevent it from hitting something.

The helicopter is powered off of 6 AA batteries which are located in the remote. The helicopter has an internal battery which is recharged by plugging the toy into the remote through a supplied wire on the top of the controller. After 4 to 6 minutes of flight it shuts down and drops to the floor, needing a 15 minute recharge until it can fly again. For parents concerned about always buying new batteries, the BladeStar is still on its original set of batteries with no visual signs of slowing down yet. This includes 20-30 cycles over a couple of weeks.

Fun for Kids?

I think the BladeStar would be a great toy for older children under mild supervision. It’s recommended for 8+, which is probably about right. It is simple to control and recharge, but has a few safety concerns that might hurt someone if they don’t pay attention. The quickly spinning blades can be painful if hit by them and delicate surfaces can be damaged  if they are clipped by the BladeStar while in flight. The small plastic spinning fans are another concern, which are quite painful if nicked by one while they are spinning at full speed. I got hit by one in the hand while trying to recover it from the floor while it was still spinning, and a friend took one to the arm when it crashed near him. No blood or serious injury, but it’s enough to make you not want to do it again.

One of my biggest concerns was flying the BladeStar around my living room with a larger LCD HDTV. The LCD surface is soft plastic which could be easily scratched by one of the blades if it were hit. If kids were using it unattended it would be best if they were playing in a room without delicate or expensive items around them. It is designed for indoor use only, so a kid’s room, playroom or basement are the best suited areas for flight.

Kids handled the BladeStar well in terms of being able to control it. BladeStar is one of the easiest flight vehicles we’ve worked with and has more options than things like the fluttering Tinker Bell that WowWee also makes. 

Fun for Adults?

I loved using the BladeStar around my home, trying to fly under chairs without crashing, or just flying it around my kitchen as I prepared supper. I could just leave it on the charger, making it ready to fly at a moment’s notice. It doesn’t require much skill to operate and as long as you are in a room with hard surfaces, it can’t damage anything besides itself. BladeStar is definitely a success when it comes to adult play and is actually pretty compelling for a father/son activity. We don’t mean to be biased, I’m sure there are mothers and daughters who would love to play too!

Limitations

The mildly reinforced foam wings make this toy disposable after a number of crashes. Even though you can use your fingers to bend the front edge of the wings, they start to lose full steering control and proper lift. WowWee includes one extra set of wings, but doesn’t openly offer replacement sets for purchase. I was able to find some sets for sale on eBay, but it was one pair of wings going for half the price of the original purchase price. This leaves a helicopter with no other problems unusable after a number of crashes which are hard to avoid. I suppose if you only played in a large auditorium and never crashed this wouldn’t be a problem, but the reality is, after several dozen crashes, you might be done with BladeStar – at least until WowWee offers replacement parts more readily.

When WowWee says to not use the BladeStar outdoors they really mean it. I experimented with outdoor flight thinking it would stay at a reasonable height and not go too far before losing communications and dropping to the ground. I thought wrong. It was mildly windy on the day I took it outside and after it spun up and started to lift off the ground it just took off. The sunlight blocked the IR communication after 10-15 feet, keeping the blades at full speed as it got more than 100 feet into the air. As it got higher the wind took it and blasted it over into a neighbor’s backyard, 4 houses down. At its height it could have easily landed on someone’s roof or gotten stuck in a tree. That flight was my last outdoor test flight of the review. We know they say not to fly outside, but felt compelled to test anyway, just to be sure. WowWee’s right. 

Pros

• Easy to fly, even for children
• Safe with some supervision
• First set of batteries go a long way (30+ flights)

Cons

• Wings don’t last through many crashes
• Hard to find replacement parts

Bottom Line

The WowWee BladeStar is a cool helicopter at an affordable price. Right now it’s going for around 30 bucks, putting it into the range of a small gift for any occasion. It is very easy to control through the assistance of its auto flight mode, and it doesn’t take much time to recharge between uses. For a rainy day this toy is hard to beat; just make sure you have a large enough room so it doesn’t crash too often.

4 out of 5 stars

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