March 12 2025
The toy has 4 main components—a large chicken in the front and 3 smaller ones attached at the back by magnets. The large chicken can "walk" forward after spinning the handle several rounds, with the small chickens "following" behind.
The head of the big chicken can be disassembled by removing a fastener. It consists of three parts: a face component with printed pictures, the front and back of the head, and a comb that is held in place by these parts.
The bottom part is where the "magic" happens: The wheels are designed to be off-centered, with each wheel having a different initial position. This allows the chicken to tilt left and right, mimicking a walking movement. After removing the wheels, the whole body separates into two parts. There's a front wheel without any balancing mechanism, and a magnet at the back serves as an attachment point for the little chickens. The gearbox sits in the middle, where the handle connects to an internal spring. This spring connects to several gears, which ultimately drive both wheels. When you spin the handle, it rotates and compresses the spring. Upon releasing the handle, the spring unwinds and powers the wheels, propelling the toy forward.
Is it sustainable? No, it is highly unsustainable. The toy is primarily made of plastic, which is not an environmentally friendly material. When disassembling it, we discovered it wasn't designed to be opened: we had to break the wheels completely to access the bottom half, and the spring had to be removed and released to open the gearbox. This design makes it impossible to reassemble or reuse the toy.
To improve the toy's interactivity and sustainability, here are our suggestions: