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After being in circulation for roughly three years,
Cris Rose's resin "Sprog" designs have become classics within the Designer Toy industry; and we were all a little sad when Rose announced that his first (and most popular!) Sprogs — Renold, Rigel and Radcliffe — were being discontinued. Wait, was it discontinued or upgraded? Fresh off the manufacturing line, the previous Mk1 versions of these Sprogs have been seriously enhanced for their Mk2 release! Made roughly 60% larger overall in the upgrade, the Mk2 versions not only now have articulation at the neck but the price point will remain exactly the same! Click through to meet your new Sprogs!
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I suspect not everyone reading this is familiar with the fictional backstory Rose created for the Sprogs, as a whole and individually, so he kindly provided newly written segments to introduce and accompany the pictures of the new designs.
"Sprog" is a term given to a range of small household, commercial and light industrial robot assistants. Differences between the models are usually only due to their Personality Profile, something that was felt made them more relatable to by the humans they came into contact with. While all are programmed to achieve their tasks, differences in personality strongly affect how they go about doing this.
Renold, Rigel and Radcliffe are minor class maintenance robots, tasked with carrying out basic repairs and routine upkeep on a wide variety of systems. As general purpose robots go, they don't get much more general than this model of Sprog.
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Single mindedness comes easily to Renold, give him something to do and he won't even respond to orders until he's achieved it to his full satisfaction. Considered rather self-righteous by most, this no-nonsense unit is requisitioned by those sorts of companies that have their work schedules planned out months in advance. Uninterested in the acts of those around him, Renold can often be found optomising filing cupboards without permission or pushing other robots out of the way so the job can be done properly!
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Wide eyed and enthusiastic, Rigel is an inquisitive little chap that will explore everything if not given a task to achieve. Often distracted from his work, he is normally ordered by those looking for a friendly robot to work in a family environment. Great with pets and keen to help, Rigel can often be found under the dining table retying your shoelaces or in the garden checking your daisies for oil leaks.
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With a quiet and concerned demeanor, Radcliffe likes to creep around and keep out of the way of other robots. Working slowly and carefully, he is regularly chosen by those that like their robots to be fastidious, even if this means the task takes a little longer. Scared by loud noises (or small, unexpected ones) Radcliffe will often hide under furniture or behind units and refuse to come out until he deems it safe again.
Welcome to the new age of Sprog technology… Bigger, better, still the same price! Expect to see these $65 beauts initially released in very limited editions of classic copper and orange/yellow (Edition A) colorways, though there will also be some Mk1/Mk2 double-packs made that want to fully revel in the glory of progress.
