Although we’ve still got a few months to go until Nintendo Labo is on store shelves, fans are already clamoring to have the toy in their hands. There will be two kits initially available for Labo, one for Project Giant Robot and one with a variety of minigames and Labo constructs.
If you head on over to Amazon, both of the kits have been made available for pre-order, so head on over if you want to ensure you get Labo on day one. The Variety Kit is going for $69.99, and the Robot Kit is going for $79.99; certainly not cheap, but this is arguably a milestone moment in Nintendo history. It'll be interesting to see which becomes more popular, as the Robot Kit is currently listed as a "Best Seller".
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What do you think? Will you be pre-ordering either? Which kit is more appealing to you?
If you still have any questions, be sure to check out our handy 16 of your questions about Nintendo Labo guide, which should clear things up for you.
Comments 66
*Just add water
I'm going to pass on this. It seems crazy expensive for a bit of tech demo software and some cardboard cutouts.
Now just need UK to get em up. Fishing baby!
I must prepare my money...
Some of the reactions to Labo remind me of the days before the Switch launched
Saw "for kids at heart" and knew Nintendo wouldn't disappoint! Looks like I'll have to get myself one
I feel like a fool for wanting this but maybe I could make a class project out of it for my students and come up with a decent lesson plan. After all, you can get the cardboard for cutouts for free.
I’m not even sure what came over me but I preordered it immediately.
There's also a customisation kit that will be available 20th April for $9.99.
https://labo.nintendo.com/kits/customization-set/
I think this is actually really cool. You have to accept foremost this is for kids. All of my friends kids either have or want a Switch, it reminds me of the NES when i was a kid. Nintendo sold it as a toy with R.O.B. This is like an amazing evolution of that. I personally want to see the giant robot kit in more depth. I always wondered what happened to that demo.
@SLIGEACH_EIRE I agree. $80 for something that is likely going to rip within the first year is ludicrous.
@Tsurii LEGO Technic in English. The ones with sensors that are programmable are under Mindstorms.
I'll pass
I must admit I'm tempted with the Robot kit purely to see what became of Project Giant Robot.
Need to see more of the includee software
The german site thinks I‘m looking for a perfume by the name of Labo. Reminds me of the time I was looking to preorder Splatoon 1‘s Special Edition and all I got was the movie Platoon. Probably gonna preorder at GameStop like always anyways. Doubt they‘ll be this sought after.
Ridiculously priced for 1 buck worth of cardboard and selling it for 80 bucks. Something kids will rip apart within days. :-/
I understand we need to be more environmental friendly and Nintendo is jumping on this bandwagon, but why not use recycled plastic or other recycled material? So it's actually long lasting.
Cardboard like this will just fall apart and rip too easily and at a price of 80 bucks... no thanks.
The hugely inflated price is the only predictable thing about Nintendo's latest innovation. I can see the 'magic' and appeal for trying this out with my children. However, I agree with what others have said raising concerns about the actual longevity of the software associated with the kits and the durability of the cardboard constructs themselves. If this was cheaper, £30-£40 I'd bite. At £70 I'm gonna need a lot of convincing from hands-on previews and reviews.
It's expensive, but kinda expected that. Still think it's a brilliant idea and if I had kids I'd be all over it, would love to do this as a little project on a rainy afternoon.
A lot of this depends on the software, which we have barely glimpsed.
It’s too early to judge these on price when we know nothing about the software. Provided there’s a decent amount of stuff to do with these cardboard contraptions I’m in and looking forward to playing with my daughter
@Jeronan it´s not the cardboard they are selling, it´s the whole R&D that´s behind the project.
I seriously think this could actually be HUGE!
And by God it's creative and finally puts that [not so] stupid [as it turns out] IR sensor to great use.
Wow, what a waste of trees!
No thanks.
@Lameborghini rightly or wrongly, that’s not necessarily how the wider public will see it. What will be interesting to see is if they try marketing the games without the physical cardboard, since they say they’ll release the templates for free anyway.
Why is the robot $10 more expensive when it appears to contain fewer components than the variety kit?
@Jeronan Yeah, you'd almost think Nintendo would bundle software in with the cardboard at those prices.
...
Got my Lisa Frank sticker set ready, let's do this.
Lol...
Out of everything I was looking forward to from Nintendo, this was the most unexpected. Screw online details, I'm set.
Eco-gaming! No more plastics. Switch, now with recyclable accessories!!!
@PhilKenSebben out of interest where did you get Lisa Frank stickers?
Queue the internet scalpers!! Kids stuff makes the most money on ebay
@Spennymoor Amazon. Only place I know of anymore with LF stuff.
I really want to but I know the next sets will be more interesting, even based on the trailer with hints at them
Unlike alot of other Nintendo products, Pre-orders are still open.
Seems like scalpers have skipped on this one
Only on the US, as usual...
@Radbot42 you do realize that what is in the trailer show only things from the 2 kits ?
@ElGrego Things in the trailer not in packs 1 or 2:
The Camera
Gun
Steering Wheel and foot pedal (car?)
Floppy man
Swan VR something
Weird Blue thing at 2:03
Arm thing at 2:06
Leg thing at 2:07
Controller at 2:08
As I said we at least have a glimpse of what sets 3 and 4 and perhaps beyond might be.
It's a lot more expensive than I expected. I wouldn't want to be paying $100 AUD for these, unless it was $100 for everything.
The whole point of cardboard kits is you can make your own out of scrap...
My kids went nuts when they saw the trailer and watched it twice. I thought why not and ordered the variety kit.
Nintendo just keeps nailing their design concepts from core values, to idea, design, to execution, to marketing! Whether I end up buying one and playing with my niece and nephew or not, it's brings me joy simply knowing there exists such a company that lives out its laudable values as much as Nintendo does!
Hope they don't get sued for all of the potential paper cuts.
@jbatsolo have you ever had a cardboard paper cut? They are the absolute worst. USed to work nights stocking shelves, and handling all those boxes for 8 hours straight night after night really dries up your hands. When they are that dry the boxes can easily slice through a finger. So glad I don't do that anymore.
Pre-ordered the variety kit, fighting with myself on whether I should also preorder the other one... I did not have this problem yesterday
I was thinking $30 to $40 would be the price point for these. Cool enough to interest kids, but inexpensive enough to interest parents. No cartridge, just the materials and a download code would be fine at that price point.
This is definitely not marketed for me, pretty much for parents and kids only. I think it's kind of stupid, but I could see kids getting into it.
This feels like this will be one of those odd Nintendo products that will be largely forgotten years from now (not because it’s bad, just a case of time moving on) but, go for a lot of money on the Internet.
@Radbot42 I definitely have! Cardboard can be evil if you don't give it the proper respect! The only thing I've found worse is Formica countertop laminate. It's just as evil as a paper cut but burns like fire due to the formaldehyde used in its production.
@SLIGEACH_EIRE If there's anything Nintendo always gets right, it's their packaging.
#1 and #2 Best seller in the video game category at Amazon US right now and the Variety kit wasn't available for a long time after the announcement for some reason. Obviously it's a big spike for the announcement day, but still notable.
Preordered the robot one first. I'll snag two of the variety packs later.
This 41 year old senior underwriter of a private investment firm, with no kids, is getting the variety pack! What I love about the big N is the uncanny ability to bring me back to being a kid.
I think Nintendo has a giant hit on its hands with this idea...and the profit margins must be quite nice to boot.
I wonder if they will let other publishers join in with their own ideas?
@aaronsullivan
The robot hit #2 almost instantly after launch. I saw it last night.
Kellogg's sells a few boxes of Mario cereal and suddenly Nintendo thinks they are experts in cardboard. LOL!!
(With that said, I need that piano in my musical arsenal~)
@Agent721
I saw the best seller tag appear on it last night but didn't look up where. Was surprised to see it there this morning! Looks like they swapped places and the Variety one is #1 and Robot is #2. That's what I would have expected if they were both available at once... and now I'm wondering if waiting to make the Variety available until later was a marketing strategy. That's precision, if it was.
Also, have fun with that variety pack. People tinker with old cars, models, pirate ships in bottles, train sets, whatever at all ages. No shame in this.
I might be too big and old for the robot pack, though... just physically might not work... not just the toy but me.
I'm probably going to skip unless one of my sons pony up the money.
I also posted on another article on this site that I thought the price was too much. I have since changed my mind. Really, you're only paying about $10 more for the card board creations. That's not too bad. I think it's value will be 100% based on how much content the games include.
I pre-ordered the variety kit!
@nab1 I was thinking about the robot kit but decided against it since I just don't see that one being as interesting once the novelty wears off. I think it's more for kids, everything about it seems like it was designed with a 12 year old in mind, I know I would want it if i was that young.
@JayJ If it was cheaper I might have pre-ordered it out of impulse, but at that price I'll just try the first one with my daughter when it's released, and then maybe see if it's justifiable getting the robot kit as well.
@nab1 Smart move, especially since I can imagine the stuff in the variety kit will hold up better than the robot kit, which seems like it could be really easy to break considering the way you wear it.
UK pre orders up. Must have missed that. Variety pack ordered.
I have no interest in buying it, but what a great idea for kids and families. I feel like Nintendo is hitting the same stride they did during the 80s and 90s.
They need to bring R.O.B. back through Labo!
I will never pay more than $20 usd for cardboard boxes. I'll wait until it goes into walmart's clearance section.
Wow. I would never buy this. If you also gave me 100 dollars, I would think about have it at home.
I would not take this for free though...
Wouldn't get this even if I owned a Switch. It's just cardboard.
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