"Dave the Funky Shoulder Monkey" was a hugely successful toy designed by Nick Donaldson based on his previous shoulder monkey "Cheeky Monkey". It was released in 2010 by the English toy company Wow! Stuff and sold well in the UK, USA and Australia. In England it outsold Buzz Lightyear the year that Toy Story 3 came out!

The robotic monkey toy had a wireless controller allowing for 20 different behaviors to be triggered by the user. It had an elastic shoulder strap so the user could wear it on their shoulder but it could also be played with on a table. The toy is animated with four different motions (left arm, right arm, head nod and shake). These four motions were actuated using just two motors due to the innovative cam mechanism that Nick desgned. Full CAD and a working prototype were provided to aid in design and manufacture of the final toy.

The result was an inexpensive and highly animated robotic toy that was fun for young and old!

Dave represented a new class of interactive toys, wearable social robotics. The real fun of the monkey is that not only can you play with the monkey, you can also use it as a puppet to interact with other people and that never gets old! Nick should know, he's been to many parties, weddings and other social events with the monkey on his shoulder and has always got to meet everyone at the party...

Dave was launched to a huge reaction, being tipped as the top Christmas toy for 2010 by a number of sources inculding Hamleys. and sold out multiple locations... CNET love him, he developed quite the following and he was featured on The BBC. Even the Daily Telegraph is predicted he would sell out.

Dave in the Media:

• Dave the Funky Shoulder Monkey to be sell-out Christmas toy - The Daily Telegraph
• Dave the Funky Monkey toy set to top Christmas wish lists - The Daily Mirror
• Dave the Funky Shoulder Monkey: Robotic simian shenanigans

Variants

A custom version called 'Charlie the Capuchin Monkey' was available only at Toys'R'Us in the US. This variant had brown fur and a new sneezing motion.
Brookstone also sold a special version of Dave, although that version did not come with the shoulder strap.

Click on the thumbnails below for video:
 

V I D E O

Two Motor Prototype

NYC Toy Fair 2010

Official Toy Promo

TV Commercial

C L I P S