Attack of the Test-Tube Alien!

Filed by: Darren on December 20, 2006 at 13:30
Filed In: Stuff

Update, Jan 2008: Over a year since I wrote this post, and I'm still getting fresh comments. Amazing...

If you've just arrived and are looking for help with a troublesome test-tube alien, please note:

I've got nothing whatsoever to do with the manufacturers. Their PR people just sent me one to 'review' over a year ago.
I can't help you if you've lost your registration number. Try contacting the manufacturers, 4kidz or www.alienadoptionworld.com. Same applies for any other miscellaneous alien behaviour questions.
If you're wondering what the flashing lights mean, see comment #2 (below).
If you've lost your 'sloog' alien food, don't panic, mine grew fine without using more than the first packet.

And now, on with my original post:

Stuck for that last-minute present for the sci-fi fan in your life? Try a Test Tube Alien for size...

I was sent one of these to birth and nurture by the UK marketing agency who represents the manufacturer, and have just spent a happy ten minutes following the instructions and sloshing it around in water.

Stage 1

The wee beastie arrives in some chunky plastic packaging. Careful with those scissors, kids!

Stage 2

Inside the pack there's a test-tube containing a weird, chalky coccoon-like object, three silver-foil packets of 'sloog' (alien food) a set of instructions (you'll need those...) and an alien registration card.

Stage 3

Pour in the water, and all sorts of interesting chemical reactions start to happen... all over the work-top. Er... time to re-locate to the sink. (Note: emergency anti-alien spray lurking in background in case things turn nasty.) But wait... is that something emerging through the murk..?

Stage 4

Yes! It lives! IT LIIIIVES! Well, it flashes, anyhow...

.
...although apart from that, it pretty much just sits there and looks at you [*]. Okay, so it's not quite a Wii, but what it lacks in interactivity it probably makes up for in geek-cred. And the whole fizzing coccoon thing is quite interesting, plus, it's probably science of some sort, which means it's educational and therefore good for you... right?

And hey, give it a couple of weeks of sloshing around in sloog and it'll grow up to be a bigger alien in a test-tube [*]. That is, if you remember to feed it. And if you make sure it gets enough light / dark (12 hours of each per day). And you can register it online as long as, unlike me, you manage to hold on to your alien registration card and not lose it amongst the clutter on your desk...

So there you go. Available from Amazon, although you'll probably have to leg it down to your nearest Toys-R-Us or Woolworths or somewhere if you want to get this particular weird gadget in for someone for Xmas.

[*] Update: 21.12 - Hey, the wee beastie is only 24 hours old and already it seems to be evolving... weird, scaly lumps and protruberances are appearing all over its torso, and it appears to be growing a tail... (memo to self and others: don't tip it upside-down to get a better look, the plastic stopper isn't quite water-tight... )

Filed on: December 20, 2006
Filed under: Stuff
Tagged with: Test-Tube-Aliens | toys |

Print this Item

Send by Email

Comments

50 Responses to 'Attack of the Test-Tube Alien!'

David Coleman on December 27th, 2006 8:18 am

Hi

Can you please tell me the instructions for feeding these - some over enthusiastic tidying by my girlfriend has seen the instructions vanishi!!!

Many thanks

David
Ariel on December 27th, 2006 11:07 am

Hi David - you need to keep an eye on the flashing lights mate. Green means it's got too much water - the level should be about halfway up the antennae - orange means not enough water, red means the level is just right. So you just need to top up the water occasionally, and add the other two packets of sloog as and when you feel like it, I guess.

Mine's only a week old and it's filled the tube already, so I guess I must be doing something right...
Chilli on May 4th, 2007 8:22 am

My son got one of these for his birthday. It is now 6 weeks old. The only thing is he lost the name card with the reg number on! Is there anyway he can register his alien so he can use the website?

TIA

Regards,

Chilli
Ariel on May 4th, 2007 8:27 am

Hi Chilli -

All I can really suggest is that you drop the manufacturers a line via the website and ask them if they can send over a new number (I'd offer to send you mine, but I've already registered the wee beastie, and besides, I've lost the card now myself...)

Hope that helps.
Chilli on May 4th, 2007 11:19 am

Ive been to the website but I can't find any contact details!

How is the code made up? Is it all numbers, or letters or a mixture of both?

Disparingly yours,

Chilli
Ariel on May 4th, 2007 11:48 am

Hi Chilli -

I've done a spot of Googling and found a different website: Alien Adoption World - if you head to the FAQ page, there's an email address for registration code enquiries down towards the bottom there - they might be able to assign you a new code...

Fingers crossed... :)
Chilli on May 4th, 2007 12:02 pm

Cheers for that just sent an email to them. Thanks for your help, I'll let you know how we get on.

I can see a glimmer of hope!

John.
Ariel on May 4th, 2007 12:09 pm

Hope it works out for you... :)
Chilli on May 4th, 2007 1:45 pm

Yes all is well in the alien world. A very nice lady called Collenn emailed a new code. Our alien is 32years old!!! oh yes and very healthy..

Thanks again

Chilli
Ariel on May 4th, 2007 1:47 pm

Excellent! Glad it all worked out okay... :)
kez on May 7th, 2007 7:45 pm

hi
i was just wondering if you think it will still grow without the last 2 sloog packets.. we kinda lost ours, but im thinking it will still grow on just water?
Ariel on May 8th, 2007 5:51 am

Hi Kez -

Well, I only put the one packet of sloog in at the start and the thing managed to grow to fill its test-tube in about three weeks. I suppose it could vary from alien to alien, but yeah, you should be okay...
Calguy on October 2nd, 2007 4:26 am

I fed it one packet a day for two days.When the light turns orange,does it mean its hungry?Please help me and tell me when to feed it.Can i buy more sloog packets? -calguy!!
Ariel on October 2nd, 2007 6:57 am

Hi Calguy - see comment #2 (above) for what the different flashing lights mean - orange means there isn't quite enough water in the tube... but if you fill it up too much you might get a red light, which is too much water... about halfway up the antennae is about right, if I remember right, but it has been months... :)

Don't worry about the sloog. Mine only got one packet right at the start and I didn't bother with the others and it seemed perfectly happy.
Calguy on October 2nd, 2007 10:38 pm

Yea but i dont understand because if fed it two times in two days and i have one sloog packet.Now it is 3 days old!If i run out of the last sloog packet,what do i do if its hungry and it isnt an adult?HELP!!!!!
Ariel on October 3rd, 2007 6:59 pm

Well, if it gets hungry enough it might wait until the dead hours of the night, break out of its test-tube and hunt you down so it can suck the fluid from your brain cavity instead...

Or, it'll just sit happily in its tube and do its thing. Seriously, I think the sloog is pretty optional.
Calguy on October 3rd, 2007 10:36 pm

So it wont die if i dont feed it sloog?so it is just a waste of packaging sloog with the alien package?Comment back Please =)
Ariel on October 4th, 2007 8:15 am

Probably. Possibly. Actually, I have no idea, not being the designer or the manufacturer or in any way connected with the thing beyond growing one for the hell of it about ten months ago.

My advice - try it and see what happens... if I don't see any more comments I'll assume I was wrong and a brain-fluid feeding-frenzy has ensued... ;)
Calguy on October 4th, 2007 10:45 pm

Thanks 4 ur help Ariel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!ur a life Saver!!!!=)
emorockerchick on November 10th, 2007 5:50 am

is there a way to register your alien with out buying the membership fee?
Darren on November 11th, 2007 1:35 pm

Sorry, no idea. Bit of searching on Google should turn up the info for you though.
Saint Jimmy on November 28th, 2007 12:51 am

Hi I was just wondering what Sloog is made out of.
Darren on November 28th, 2007 8:20 am

Crushed industrial diamond and sulphuric acid. Don't eat the stuff yourself, it'll burn right through...

No, sorry, only kidding. I really don't know mate. You'd have to ask the manufacturer :)
Armando on December 12th, 2007 3:33 pm

how to register the alien on the web,i write the key in register but it say eror write all ten dighi codes but not for the registration for lab.that is where is circle and over hem they are words like logon/register and other things please help.
Darren on December 12th, 2007 4:03 pm

Hi Armando - that's another question you'd have to ask the manufacturer.
Armando on December 13th, 2007 2:58 pm

can you tell me how i must read the signals from his head and how i must do that when i check his health or age,i always do that wrong and on that page say your alien have 344 years,how i can write that correct.
Sleggie on December 14th, 2007 12:46 am

Hii!!

i wanted to see on the internet what its age is, but i really dont understand how it works!
there is nothing happening to the alien when i tried, so i dont understand how you can fill in the information in the led boxes!!
Darren on December 14th, 2007 9:51 am

Well, perhaps some secrets just aren't meant to be revealed?

Either that or the manufacturer just threw together a bit of online junk for a website that generates a meaningless random number...

You choose.
wayne on December 29th, 2007 2:14 pm

my son started one of these and the LED has gone off after 48 hours.

is it faulty?
Darren on January 3rd, 2008 9:01 pm

It could mean it's about 48 hours away from detonation. 50-50 chance, I reckon. If your house hasn't disappeared in a small nuclear fireball yet then you've probably gotten away with it. But I'd check with the manufacturer, just to be on the safe side...
HAYATO on January 5th, 2008 4:45 pm

When it repetedly flashes green is that good or bad
Darren on January 6th, 2008 8:44 pm

Let me see. It probably means it's on the verge of melt-down. The unstable isotope in the reactor core has probably just tripped a half-life alarm. Expect everything within a half-mile radius to be vapourised when it goes off (which will probably be as soon as your back is turned, knowing the way these things think).

Although if I were you, I'd double-check the instructions that came with the thing, just in case I'm remembering it wrong. It's been a while... or you could read comment #2, where you'll find an alternative explanation...
G30RG!3 on January 9th, 2008 5:53 pm

Anyone know the register number for takon?
Darren on January 9th, 2008 6:43 pm

Please see the update at the top of the post, or check comment #12 or so...
Katherine on January 9th, 2008 10:08 pm

Hi - a question. My daughter has been growing one for 2 weeks and suddenly today it is falshing fast green lights for no reason. The sensor on the antenna looks like it might have residue stuck on it - have tried rinsing it all out and starting again with clean water but still just flashing green. Is it dying and if so why??? Thanks for any help.
Darren on January 10th, 2008 8:05 am

Please see the update at the top of the post, or check comment #2...
Alien mama on January 10th, 2008 9:52 pm

Dear Chilli,
Can you kindly send me the e-mail address for registering TEKON my alien as I've lost the paperwork and mine is busting out of the tube,
Thanks Trainranger
Darren on January 11th, 2008 2:13 pm

Somehow, I doubt that Chilli is tracking this thread any more. It has been a year since they posted...

Please see the update at the top of the post, or check comment #12 or so for password instructions.
Priya on February 28th, 2008 9:10 am

How can I get my test tube alien out of its tube?
Darren on February 28th, 2008 9:16 am

What??? Good grief are you insane??? Do you have any idea what could happen if they escaped and were allowed to breed? The trans-dimensional tubular containment unit they're delivered in is the only thing that stands between humanity and complete disaster at the ~~hands~~ warty tentacles of an alien infestation of unimaginable proportions!!!

Then again, you could just saw the top off with a hacksaw to see what happens. But then the thing will probably dry up pretty quick, I reckon.
Priya on March 1st, 2008 11:53 am

Darren,who are you calling insane?
Priya on March 1st, 2008 11:55 am

Listen, Darren,My alien is a good one named Tatsuni! What is wrong if Tatsuni breeds?
Priya on March 1st, 2008 11:58 am

By the way,what is the point of sawing off the top? If my mother hears about that,she'll kill me!!!!
Darren on March 1st, 2008 1:39 pm

"...who are you calling insane?"

Well, I do apologise. Never intended to give offence, I'm sure... ;)
Darren on March 1st, 2008 1:40 pm

"What is wrong if Tatsuni breeds?"

...although if you've fallen for the 'Tatsuni is a good alien' propaganda, then maybe my previous question should stand..?
Darren on March 1st, 2008 1:41 pm

"...what is the point of sawing off the top? If my mother hears about that,she'll kill me!!!!"

Probably for the best. Leave well alone, eh? Wouldn't want to doom the whole human race before lunch, would we? ;)
halo on June 22nd, 2008 6:57 pm

darren stop with the dooming the humen rase ok its weird and their just plastic toys
ian on July 1st, 2008 5:34 pm

will my shako be ok if i place it in coma mode when noones home.does it like pause it for that reason or something?
Darren on July 3rd, 2008 7:16 am

Sorry Ian, I have no idea whatsoever (please see bullet #1 at the top of this post).
Darren on July 3rd, 2008 7:17 am

@Halo - You sure about that? Just plastic toys, are they? Well, okay then, if you say so...

;)