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| Customer Reviews: | | Average Customer Review: ( 16 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
27 of 27 found the following review helpful:
 creative toy! Oct 04, 2005
By marly
"marly"
We purchased this for our 4 year old son, and have been very happy with the gear set. We have not had any of the problems mention in previous reviews about the structures not holding together. While I agree that this is not a toy a 4 year-old could complete on their own, it creates an excellent opportunity for a parent and child to work together on a project. My husband and son have spent many afternoons together constructing different designs using this gear set and the large bucket of gears (sold separately).
With so many video games and "solo" play type-toys on the market, I am glad to see that they are still making toys that a parent and child can do together.
24 of 24 found the following review helpful:
 Very Fun! but for ages 5 and up! Jul 18, 2005
By L. Carey
My son received this for Christmas when he was only 3, a bit too young for this set. It's complicated to put together and does fall apart easily, especially when little hands won't leave it alone. Now, my son is almost 5 and he is building all the things in the instruction booklet by himself, he LOVES this set, always has but hasn't been able to do it himself until now. The other things you can build seem to stay together better and he has gotten many hours of fun out of this set. I'd say don't get this until your child is at least 5 but a pretty good toy and great for learning to build and being creative with. He also builds his own creations.
28 of 30 found the following review helpful:
 Looks great, but doesn't work great! Feb 20, 2005
By jemom
"jemom"
My son got this for his 4th birthday. While the pieces snap together fairly easily, it is complicated - no way a 4 yr. old could do it. Even following the instructions step-by-step, I found the process confusing and time-consuming. Once I got it put together, it was fine as long as no one touched it or turned the motor on. It is not the most stable toy when assembled, so it seems to fall apart easily - at which point, it wasn't always immediately obvious how to put it back together without consulting the directions. When the motor is running, it's worse. The horses on the carousel are supposed to go up and down. In our case, just one horse not working properly causes the whole system to break apart - the gears jam and the pieces start to topple over - the carousel pops out of place, bringing the ferris wheel and roller coaster with it. I was shocked to see how expensive this item was - especially after the 1st few catastrophes the 1st week, my son rarely plays with it now. Definitely not worth it! The gear thing is cool, physics-wise, but I'm sticking with the simpler horizontal versions!
21 of 25 found the following review helpful:
Parental Assistance Not Optional Jan 20, 2006
By Katherine Berry
"Venomous Kate"
My 5-year-old son adores putting things together and taking them apart again. He's certainly more gifted in the latter skill, and I have the inoperable alarm clocks, dismantled scooter and non-working bicycle to prove it.
That said, I gave him this set for Christmas to foster his love of mechanical exploration. When I did, I had no idea that I'd be making a committment to playing with him every single time (Every. Single. Time.) he brought this set out.
There are too many pieces for children to sort before assembling -- so many, in fact, that younger kids may be overwhelmed and give up (and so might their parents). Assembling the pieces is not easy for small hands, which means a parent must help with that, too. In addition, putting the pieces together so they resemble the picture is a major task which means... yep, you guessed it: the parent is doing that as well.
Ultimately, to play with this toy a child must find a parent willing to spend 15-20 minutes assembling it while simultaneously trying to keep the child from wandering off to a more accessible, engaging toy in the meantime. Assuming you've got the patience, skills and time for that, your kid might enjoy playing with it once it's all ready to go. Of course, you'd better not stray too far because you'll have to put this thing back together over and over again when the pieces fall apart.
Frankly, my son got tired of it before I did and went off to figure out how to take apart the PS/2 console. Now the only one in the family interested in playing with it is our cat, and even he doesn't seem to be having much fun.
8 of 9 found the following review helpful:
Awesome set Feb 19, 2006
By Candice C. Rigdon
This set is as fun as it sounds. Great for my pre-school room and older children can make more challenging designs. Inventive and fun.
See all 16 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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