Let’s establish a couple of things before we start.
First, some who know me, would say I have a “Cranky Attitude” when it comes to spending donuts on TSTO Items. I would prefer to use the word, “Pragmatic.” The sound you hear is my five daughter’s eyes rolling from points across the country. They HATE it when I use the word “pragmatic,” because they know there is some “common sense wisdom” coming their way, when they are making a decision.
Second…and even more important, as I learned a LONG time ago when it comes to raising kids, or giving advice to people you don’t know, I ultimately have no control whatsoever over the outcome. You are ultimately going to do whatever you want, exercising your “Free Will” to “Pull the Donut Trigger,” or leave said donuts with the “safety on.” (for the record, you should always have the safety on when storing your donuts).
Now…TO THE TASK AT HAND!
Should You Buy The Soul Extraction Institute- Robo Burns/Doggie Smithers Combo??
Pffffffffttttttttttttttt!! Throw Pragmatism Out the Door!
I Love This Weird “Cross-Dimensional” Dress Stuff. In that, I love imagining what the future would look like. Yes. I loved “Ex Machina” and am stoked that it is on NetFlix Amazon Prime now…and I can watch my “future wife” lock up my future self in a closet and then run away into the “Real World” to leave a trail of broken hearts and broken bones behind her.
Too far? OK. Let me reel my intensity back a bit.
Here are the Details of the Combo
You Get a Very Strange and Interesting Building – The Soul Extraction Institute
You TWO Full Characters (they are full…not NPCs) – Robo Burns and Doggy Smithers
They are part of a New “Robots” collection of characters
This is a Limited Time Offer– It leaves the store at the end of Act I at Midnight August 30th – PDT
Pros
– Two Full Characters and Building at One Low Price
– Characters Come with Quest Line
– Characters Earn Update Currency
– Characters are Hilarious and Voiced
-Questline earns more Dark Matter (questline only, and 462
from questline)
Cons
– Building is HUGE (11×11)
-Outside the initial questline they do not help with the event
– These Weird Characters will be wandering around your Springfield forever (wait…is that a pro??)
PREMIUM BUYER – This combo is a ton of fun. It is a great value, and I bought it right away. As in BOOM! Done. It makes me laugh, and will continue to make me laugh for a long time, and you can’t place a price on that.
FREEMIUM BUYER– Again…I say Pull the Donut Trigger…especially if you are spending Bonuts (Bonus Donuts). This is one of those rare times when you are going to kick yourself if you miss this one (which I think you can do in the future, when we have robotic legs).
Final Note: The Institute lends itself to creative decoration. I placed my X-Ray Truck, and Beta Portal next to mine, with the random black hole hovering nearby. I wanted to make sure that the victim of the X-Ray truck had every possibility to “cross over,” after visiting the Institute.
Ultimately, It is Up to YOU! (Free Will and all of that). What do you think about this combo? Too weird? Not Weird enough? Or Just Right?
HappyOldGuy
Patric
From Alissa….
Here’s the quick stats:
Building: Soul Extraction Institute
Characters: Robo Burns & Doggy Smithers (FULL characters, not skins)
Price: 100 Donuts
Size: 11×11 (although this is in the post 😉 )
Earns: $200, 22xp
Conform-O-Meter: Obedience +20
And if you’re wondering my opinion on this combo….BUY IT! 100 donuts, 2 characters (not skins) PLUS a building…best deal I’ve seen!
Here’s a look at the tasks…
Robo Burns Permanent Tasks:
| Task | Length | Earns | Location |
| Recharge Power Cells | 1hr | $105, 26xp | Power Plant |
| Terminate Employee | 2hrs | $285, 67xp | Outside, Visual (Requires Homer) |
| Play with Puppy Dog Smithers | 4hrs | $520, 140xp | Outside,Visual (Requires Smithers) |
| Laugh at Mortals | 8hrs | $420, 150xp | Krusty Burger |
| Clean his Circuitry | 12hrs | $600, 150xp | Soul Extraction Institute |
| Create Weapons Grade Plutonium | 24hrs | $1,000, 225xp | Power Plant |
Doggy Smithers Permanent Tasks:
| Task | Length | Earns | Location |
| Power Doggy Nap | 1hr | $105, 26xp | Burns Manor |
| Play with Robo Burns | 4hrs | $520, 140xp | Outside/Visual |
| Scratch Virtual Fleas | 8hrs | $420, 150xp | Burns Manor |
| Bark at Nothing | 12hrs | $600, 150xp | Outside/Visual |
| Sniff Racing Dogs | 24hrs | $1,000, 225xp | Springfield Downs |
Double check that Ex Machina is on Netflix. It’s not on mine for some reason, just a few knock offs. Triple check your “spoiler” filter for movie plots. With spoilers, less is more. Good post, good recommendation.
Hmmm….just watched it last week. So maybe I have a different plan than you.
But…thanks. She is the breakout star of 2016.
I just checked Netflix, because I just watched it last week (or the week before?). It’s not on Netflix…apparently, I watched it on Amazon (it was a Prime selection, so no charge for me). Do you by any chance have an Amazon subscription? Perhaps that’s where you watched it, too!
(With my Roku and a cable subscription that includes just about all of the premium movie channels, it’s sometimes hard for me to remember where I’ve watched something, myself….)
WHOA…good catch. And yes…I have Amazon Prime, Apple TV, and three other streaming devices that I watch. I’ll correct this…as they all run together for me.
One of the future character in this event seems to look like her.
Since I just made a couple of hundred bonuts from the KEM glitch, I guess I deserve this combo. Plus they are from one of my favorite episodes. Now I wonder if they will give us Bobo?
I’ sutil hesitating about these 2, I want to buy in the Halloween event too
You’ve sold me!!!
I haven’t bought much of late so my donut stash has been growing, but I grabbed this one. A fun implementation of something memorable from a classic episode? Count me in!
Hey Cranky, nice to hear from you on this website (First time visiter)… Saw no news on your own 3 websites, kind of worrying something was wrong.
Nope. Just busy after the 9600 mile, 30-day trip. Watch for a flurry of activity next week. Lots to share…and shutting down Friends will include a number of my favorite posts from the last three years.
Just glad to hear you’re Okay and that ‘life currency’ got the upper hand. Wanted to thank you for all the work/time you spent in ‘friends’, always been a constant reader. Will donate to FOB tomorrow…
You Rock!
No worries. The journey continues…just on a more efficient path!
I bought this one as soon as I saw this post! I love the low price bundles like Vegas Wives and this one, super happy! originally assumed it was a skin (not fond of skins, usually). Looking forward to the other deals (Frink! at last!)
Frink has been one of my favorite characters since he became available. I often have him flying around my town… This is a great opportunity…and if you don’t already have him, the bundle is sweeeeet! (when it shows up)
I really regret missing that Vegas wives bundle lol
I’m going to pick this up as soon as I see my 598 donuts go to 600, I’m OCD like that lol
If you finish the Money Moutain, you get a skin that earns more money for Mr. Burns than this one.
That being said, it is nice to get a premium skin for Smithers.
They’re not skins…they’re two brand new characters! 😛
These aren’t skins. They’re full characters
This is not a skin for Mr. Burns. As the post indicates its a FULL character. Separate from Mr. Burns. So you’ll get two full characters…Robo Burns and Doggy Smithers. These are NOT skins for Burns or Smithers. You’ll be able to use them as their own characters in addition to using Burns and Skinner.
Swiftfoxmark2 – I’m running a little experiment. Please reply if you see this. (You can say anything you want in your reply…content didn’t matter.) Thanks! 🙂
Schrödinger’s cat, that is all Sandra 🙂
Hunch confirmed so far. Will run this experiment again with another poster to continue to test my hypothesis.
Not skins mate, these are separate characters
😃 🇬🇧
Did you hear yet? Did you hear? They aint skins. Did you know that? I hooe someone jnformed you, but if not heres another reply!
Thanks for the confirmation… It looked awesome on paper. I’ll pick it up ASAP.
The only downside to me is the outdoor tasks are the short ones. But I’ll survive.
Also you’re lucky I’ve seen Deus Ex or if be mad about your lack of spoiler alert!! J/k, anything that’s been out that long is fair game…
Uhm…plus…I hardly spoiled anything, as she doesn’t exactly lock him in a closet. Wait. I just spoiled it again for those of you who are fans of closets!
Bought them at once! They are must haves! Now if Robo Burns came with a Bobo task that would make things even better!
This is science event “Vegas wifes” and “wind lad / solar citizen” type of package.
A day one, too good deal no one should resist. So everybody is short on donuts for the rest of the stuff.
😀
I am assuming at this point that Frink’s return will be permanent. I shouldn’t worry about having to buy him right away, which I have been putting off. I want to spend my doughnuts on this as I still would have 124 afterwards.
Yes, but Frink’s return will probably have some kind of discount/rebate/bundle. After the event, he will be full price, and no “extras” most likely, so if you want him, you should try to get him when he shows up again.
All good points…they don’t call it a “bundle” for nothing…
i got these two as soon as I saw it and boy! am I glad I had enough donuts!!
Mee too!
Does Robo Burns only get the event currency on that first task that he prompts?
I’m assuming after that one off its back to normal currency after that?
Please confirm?
Your Aussie friend ✌🏻️
So far, every task in the questline is earning Update Currency…but, once the walkthrough tasks are done, yes…they appear to revert to regular currency payouts.
What do you mean by “update currency”? And what did someone else in the comments mean by “I find his cash/xp earning task offensive”? (Which one of them??)
I like these characters. They earn premium, they help with the event (although Doggy Smithers hasn’t been helping much so far), they are a great joke. What’s not to like?
I mean, Event Currency…as in some of the walkthrough tasks earn currency that can be used in this update.
And no…I agree with you. Not sure what is offensive…unless you find murder, or acting like a dog offensive.
Rachel was referring to the trope that gingers have no soul, and so she jokingly made the comment about being offended as a ginger.
I hadn’t that one before. No wonder I like redheads…
🙂
Hmm, I guess I missed that line. I was just looking through his task list and wondering what it was that she found offensive.
It was a joke… the building makes reference to rooting out gingers. She’s one…she was gracious…not really offended.
I bought the pair as soon as I saw they were available. Not only is it a great deal, I have a fondness for the characters because I have the same ones in my World of Springfield collection from Playmates Toys (the Future Burns set came with Smithers dressed as Bobo, too). I’m really happy they were added to TSTO.
Is Frink’s Lab missing from the store?
http://tstoaddicts.com/2016/08/17/the-case-of-the-missing-frink/
Yes 😃 🇬🇧
🐰 🎂
Robo-Burns needs a task with Bobo.
Yes he does. I hate when they tease something in the unlock message and it’s not an actual task.
I have been waiting for this SIB. Honestly I would probably have bought this combo anyway but with the Addicts stamp of approval I’ll be buying now rather than later.
Don’t buy it – as a ginger, I find its cash/XP earning task offensive. 🙁
I kid – it’s a great deal.
I was surprised and kind of shocked at the XP description of the Institute as well…But I guess even with you “gingers” making up less than 2% of the population, EA felt you were all fair game!
Some of my best friends are gingers. In fact my barber, the amazing Patrick Stutz is a ginger. I am going to see what he has to say about this grievous slight!! (after he is done cutting my hair). This being a political year, he may very well start his own political party!
Also these are stand alone characters and not skins for Burns/Smithers
OMG… The skeptic actually endorsed a Premium buy.
Time to look around for the 3 other signs of the SimpsPocalypse
OMG…EA finally released a great combo that makes me laugh, at a great price!!
As I said…I DO give EA their due when it is warranted. rEAlly I do! I just don’t “love” everything they do.
Hence the term, “pragmatic.”
They do their best. I think they are swell. And no, I’m not writing this just because they increased the Item Limit that now allows me to keep working on my monorail (which I love, by the way!)
The price isn’t mentioned in the article 😉
It’s mentioned in the bottom where I make notes…”100 donuts, 2 characters (not skins) PLUS a building…best deal I’ve seen!” 😉
Apologies! I was looking for it in the usual summary, which is now updated 🙂
🙂
Totally agree Robo Burns and Smithers are a must have combo, just to have them walking around trying to kill Homer, what’s not to like 👍🏻
I like this combo,buuut I cant buy it.Yes,I have 102 donuts,but there are some characters I want more.Anyway,thank you two for post.:-)
The only way that you will NOT be kicking yourself if you fail to purchase this (assuming that you have the donuts) is if you are a “one legged man.”
(Think ‘butt kicking contest’)
I think it is possible with a robotic leg, and hover rockets.
Thanks for the post! I spent my donuts on Grimey yesterday because I thought they were just skins.Not sure I would have gotten them anyway, I’m somehow not very excited about those two characters..
Also, I haven’t seen this mentioned before, but if you buy the Forgotten Grave during the event you get Grimey right away! There’s no quest to unlock him! Strangely enough he doesn’t have 1h and 8h tasks, the only quest I got was to make him “prepare defenses” for the event.
I noticed in others Springfields the building is blue and yellow. Mine is all blue? Explanation? Also, someone I visited had President Lisa and all the stuff from the entire event? Some cool stuff, how did they get it now? Thanks
Blue and yellow is when the building is animated.
Those that have Lisa, they’re hackers.
Frink’s Lab or this? Can’t decide…
You can’t buy Frink’s Lab at the moment… It’s supposed to be coming back with a future deal. Hopefully it becomes available before this one ends
I’m in the same boat. I will most likely have enough donuts for both, but am scared of missing a deal or a limited character now.