This is great toy for both kids and adults. Together, my son and I have put together projects which mesh over 60 gears in both the horizontal and vertical planes. The gears mesh together very easily and come in ratios of 1 (8 teeth), 1.5 (12 teeth) and 2 (16 teeth). It is possible to create angled ramps of gears as well.

I can highly recommend this toy for the budding scientist, engineer, architect, or any child that enjoys Knex or Lego type constructions. Our 3 year old little girl like to get into building as well.

One caveat: you will soon find out that one set of Gizmos is not enough to build truly awesome sized projects. We have 3 sets so far and we find we will need a couple more to build ever greater!

Have fun!

44 of 44 found the following review helpful:

Fun and educational; should get more for money  Jan 04, 2004
By H. David Peirce "Zossima"
My 5 year old son has advanced rapidly in just two days of playing with this. He is describing and building complicated gear layouts that incorporate gears of different sizes and gears at different angles to one another. Very nice!

My main complaint is that the set should include more pieces. I cannot see more than two kids playing with the contents of this set, and even then I think there would be some fighting for scarce pieces.

PROS
* Durable pieces
* Well-designed pieces connect well and allow for excellent spinning action of the gears
* The type of toy that kids will play with for hours on end and go back to again and again

CONS
* Not enough pieces for the price; you can get hundreds of lego bricks for the same price
* What do the gears *move*? There is only one propeller included and no wheels or other items that gears might control. Instead, we just tend to move more gears, which is fine for a 5 year old but not for an 8 year old

PURCHASING RECOMMENDATION
This is fun and very educational. I will buy the additional sets and give this one as a gift to other kids. I do wish they put more pieces in it, but it still is worth buying.

58 of 63 found the following review helpful:

Good idea, poor execution  Oct 03, 2002
By fair_deal_guy "BB"
This is one of those toys that looks SO good in the store. Then, when you get it home and assembled, it fails to do the one thing it's supposed to...and ACK!...another disappointed child. This gear-based toy is based on a pretty simple idea--put the gears together in various patterns, turn the crank, and watch it go. Sounds simple, and it should be. But the set we bought was balky. Various colored gears were slightly different in size than others and, when combined in certain way, refused to turn. That became a major issue, since what smart kid is going to waste his time assembling a masterpiece only to have it fail to work 2 times out of 3? A real disappointment!

22 of 22 found the following review helpful:

A great add on  Nov 08, 2002
By apoem "apoem"
We have the original Gears! Set and love it. This is an add on that you can use to make bigger, better, more exciting things.

This inspires creativity, fun and imagination. It is more than a push the button type of toy to make some annoying noise. This encourages exploration of the world around you and more.

My husband and father (both engineers) love this toy and have a ball getting down on the floor playing with my son while he tries to put new contraptions together. This addition only makes it more fun.

If you are like and look for toys that inspire imagination, exploration, creativity. If you want toys that are not very loud and are easy to play with. If you want something that the whole family can enjoy. If you want a toy that is more than a push the button type of toy, this is the toy you might want.

My only complaint of sorts? I wish that there were books available for each add on set that is available similar to the book you can buy for the original Gears! set. And maybe there are books out there, but I haven't found them.

Enjoy.

26 of 28 found the following review helpful:

What a Great Toy!!!  Sep 20, 2001

When I buy toys for my son, I am never concerned with the age range specified on the packaging. Every kid is different, that is what I think. You have to give him/her a chance to try it out. I bought this gears set for my son because he had been playing with Lego blocks for a long time (about two months) and I didn't want him to think all the building blocks looked like that. I would like him to have more flexible thinking. About four or five weeks ago , I bought this gears set for him, and he was drawn to it right away. Originally he needed lots of help putting various parts together. Now, he, a 21-month-old toddler, requires little help from me and can construct different kind of simple structures, for example, a very tall tower fully decorated with gears standing on a base also fully assembled with gears, etc. Once he finishes building something, he likes to turn a few gears and see how everything works together. It seems to help him develope better hand-and-eye coordination. The most important thing I think a parent needs for his/her toddler to play with this toy is to be very patient in the beginning. It may take some time for a toddler to figure out how to assemble a gear onto other parts. In my son's case, it took him about two weeks, but once he figured it out, everything else came much more easily.

See all 15 customer reviews on Amazon.com