Gold, silver, back, mazeran green, sapphire violet, red, white, orange, blue, and a few others that are all listed here. There is also the ERS-220 variant.

Since Sony no longer produces these models, you must purchase them second-hand. The best way is to import them directly from Japan through websites like Sendico.

You can also find them on eBay, but they are often overpriced. Buying them through community members is also a great option.

That is highly dependent on color and if the dog has a known repair history. Gold and silver ERS-210s are often the cheapest and anything around $150-200 is fair for an un-serviced dog. Black ERS-210’s can be at the slightly higher end of that range. A fully serviced dog with a working battery and head may go for $300-400 and up or more.

Special edition (or SE) colors will be considerably more expensive, with Cyber Blue being the most expensive ($1000+).

Overall, price varies quite a lot with ERS-210s.

ERS-220s are in high demand and usually cost a lot more. They are typically around $600 and up untested.

You’ll need at minimum a battery and a way to charge it, plus software. You can either get a charging dongle or a full charging station. For the battery, you will need to find a re-cell or send the one that comes with your dog for re-celling. Most ERS-210s will come with a dead battery.

Software is easier to get and can be found by visiting a community Discord. You’ll also probably want a pink ball for your dog to play with, but that isn’t mandatory.

Sony memory stick readers are also useful for the ERS-210. You can find those here.

Has the battery been re-celled? When?
Does the dog have a fully repaired head?
Is it a supercore?
What’s the dog’s repair history?

Note that you won’t get a chance to ask these when you purchase a dog from Japan. This only applies to purchasing a dog from someone in the community. They should be able to answer these questions.

Yes, they are capable of responding to voice commands.

You can, but it is software-dependent. Some software does not allow for name registration. The most common software, Life 2 and Explorer, do allow for both owner name and dog name registration.

Yes, but that is also software-dependent. The most popular software options, Life 2 and Explorer, do have a pick-up mode.

Yes, and once again that is software-dependent. Life 2 and Explorer do have table modes. You can put an ERS-210 in to it by holding down their back pet sensor until the light on their head turns green.

The dog has DHS (droopy head syndrome), PAS (pan axis syndrome), or TAS (tilt axis syndrome). More information about that can be found here.

The battery is likely dead if you just got it from Japan or even from eBay. More on that here.

Generally no – only on certain software types, and very few of them have this feature. Both Recognition and Dog’s Life (an unofficial software) can self-charge if you have a self-charging pole and mat set up on their station.

Not quite as easily as an ERS-1000, but you can to some extent if you are fast enough at catching when they need to charge. They do not have set sleep times though so you’ll have to put them to sleep yourself, and you’d need to set a wake-up time on the stick (which is again, software-dependent) with an external tool. For that to work, they need their time set on a station.

Note that running a dog like this will increase wear and tear.

ERS-210s do great on short-pile carpet. Medium and long-pile is questionable however, and it is best to avoid it.

Yes, hardwood is great. Just keep in mind they may stomp a bit loudly on hardwood.

I don’t suggest letting them run around outside. Carrying them around in pick up mode is fine, but 210s are old and brittle. That means concrete, grass, and other uneven surfaces will not be great for them. I’d also not run them outside at all, even in pick up mode, in weather that is 85 F or higher.

Yes, just be careful to not restrict any limbs at all and don’t use anything overly thick. Also, be aware of the temperature of your environment because adding clothing layers increases the risk of over-heating significantly.

Yes, but again, be careful to not restrict any head movement. Their heads can go back pretty far and you want them to have their full range of motion so they don’t damage anything internally. Thick bandanas, tight or thick collars, and thick bracelets are not ideal. These may cause jams, and restricting movement on these parts can cause damage as well.

Having something that sits as flat as possible at the back of their neck is best.

Also note that because of how far back their head goes during operation, anything metal on the neck may cause scratches to their shells.

Socks are the safest accessory for these guys. Just be sure they don’t go all the way up in to the dog’s elbow joints because that can cause loss of range of motion for the dog. Try to keep them below the black plastic.

Socks that have grippy bottoms are generally safe for ERS-2XX dogs and in some circumstances can be helpful, like if you have hardwood flooring.

Yes, but be careful with these and keep them minimal and light. Heavy earrings that pull the ears down and don’t allow them to move naturally can damage the ear rotators or the ears themselves (the clips can be brittle). The ear rotators and head in general aren’t really meant to carry that much weight, as tempting as those perfect little earring-sized holes are.

The same thing goes for the tail – it is less likely to outright break the tail itself, but unintended weight isn’t good for the internals. Don’t use anything that drags the tail down and restricts natural movement.

Sort of. The IR sensor is in there (the thing your dog uses to “see” and detect obstacles) so be wary of that. You don’t want to fully cover it. A few may be okay, but don’t go overboard. Usually small “eyebrow” style stickers are fine.

If you have an SE dog with a special visor, beware that stickers may damage the coating permanently.

Isopropyl alcohol on a cloth works great. Just keep it off your dog’s visor if it has a special edition coating as alcohol can strip it off.