Taking Arduino skills to the next level:
These are gifts for intermediate and advanced users to build projects and have fun.
Robots are a great way to explore Arduino capabilities and show off skills. These kits
are based on the robots that I built to demonstrate Arduino capabilities at Maker
Faire. There’s a 2WD model ($169.99) and a 4WD version ($194.99) for running over rough ground. Or you can just buy the book, Make an Arduino Powered Robot, $24.99, if you want to build one from scratch.
Arcbotics’ Hexy the Hexapod, $250, is a robot kit that is as cute as a six-legged, Arduino-powered open source creature can get.
If the Elev-8 quadcopter is too rich for your blood, check out the Holiday 2012 Gift Guide: Aerial Drones for a range of possibilities. http://blog.makezine.com/slideshow/aerial-drone-gift-guide/
Thanks Andrew. That budget tricopter looks like bags of fun for those that enjoy building from scratch. The link to the template does not work but the template can be found here: http://rcexplorer.se/projects/2010/03/the-tricopter-v1-and-v1-5/ (note that the tricopter in that link is based on the same template but uses different components).
2012 Holiday Gift Guide: Arduino