If you've got ten bucks burning a hole in your pocket (could happen), Senario LLC has a quick and quirky way to spend it: Zibits.

Touted as "collectibles," these little remote controlled matchbox toys are certainly novel, fun for a few minutes of retro robotic stylings zipping about the kitchen table, but collectible in the conventional sense only as yet more itty bitty plastic thingamabobs that collect at the bottom of the toy box with all the other wayward Happy Meal baubles that were similarly fun for a few minutes, only to reemerge when it's time to scavenge for stuff to put in the annual yard sale's 10 cent box o' misfit toys.

Well, perhaps that's not fair. With 12 different robots available and more to come (apparently), you could indeed stack the dozen little robo cuties on your bookshelf as a testament to your nerdhood, a tangible personification of your inability to spend $120 wisely. Go nuts.

The thing is, as toys, Zibits just don't do much. Sure, they look like they could wreak remote controlled havoc amongst an impromptu obstacle course of furniture and pets, what with the controller's disingenuous thumbstick suggesting you could actually drive the things any which way and all... but you can't.

Zibits only roll straight ahead or pivot on the spot, counterclockwise. The thumbstick only goes forward to set a Zibits to moving forward, backward to make it pirouette left. That means to turn right, you need to spin a 270 on the spot. There is some skill involved in doing that, but again, something only a nerd might want to brag about.

More bothersome still, Zibits aren't controlled by radio but infrared, which means you need to be near the Zibits at all times and always with a direct line of site between the bulb on the remote and the receiver on top of each Zibits' head. Should you break that line of site - as when it deeks down the hall or under a chair, the robotic knick-knack will just carry on with its last motion instruction. So not so much "remote controlled" as "remote cajoled."

So be it. They are fun to fiddle with for a while, as mentioned. Good for a few chuckles, some for the silliness, and some for the accidental loss of control and rogue peewee results, which might involve a tumble off the kitchen table - and they can handle the fall, surprisingly - or a bee-line for the dogs mouth.

Oh yeah, dog's love Zibits.