Building Set Reviews

I bought this for my kids (...) It came with a broken chute and was missing two black pieces. I exchanged it for another set, and the next one also had a broken chute piece. The little yellow plastic tab that attaches to the building grids just doesn't seem durable enough. The regular building pieces are extremely sturdy.

We love Rokenbok, and have not had any problems with any of the other sets, but this particular set seems jinxed and I cannot recommend it.

It took me several days to get this one working -- no matter what I used to power it, it just couldn't seem to lift itself.

After disassembling it a few times, I noticed that the housing wasn't holding the motor securely and this was apparently allowing the worm gear on the motor to slip off the gear next to it. To fix it, you just need to lay something on the motor before you put the housing back on -- I used a piece of tissue folded many times over. This will keep the motor firmly in place when it's trying to lift the elevator.

Ever since, it's worked flawlessly and my kids really enjoy it.

When I saw that the average rating was 4.5 stars I thought I'm the only one having problems with this thing. But when I read the other reviews everyone said they had problems with this. Our family loves Rokenbok and all the available options but I think this is one accessory to stay away from. It just doesn't work well and goes through batteries.

This product has provided hours of entertainment to my Kindergarteners and my first graders in the last two years. I can't believe how rough they can be with the toy and nothing breaks.

I bought this set for my son when he turned 4. He didn't attempt to play with it by himself until one day I got it out, sat on the floor with him and started building really neat stuff. When he saw what I had done and watched all the colors of gears turning round and round that was it, he loved it. This set has so many options; you can build 1,000 different things. We will have this set for a long time.

We received several gears, gears, gears sets at the same time, and found that the plain set ie Super set although initially fun looses excitement without some add ons. If I were to buy just one set I would start with the Under the Sea adventure set first, then add with the fantasy play park. The Undersea set has parts that move the gears in interesting ways from the standard set. It also comes with regular gears for building, although in limited number so the super set still helps extend the play.The motorized monstors sounded more intteresting than it was, but the parts when added to the Undersea adventure set was great fun! The gears are an interesting way of learning how things work. If your child is mechanically minded any of these sets will provide a wonderful new constructin opportunity. If your child hasn't been inclined towards let's say lego's etc.. This toy may provide some interest initially in being able to create a design that moves. However, construction with this set is more complicated than legos and for the less mechanically inclined child will still need paren'ts help beyond the age minimum's recommended.

This is a comment in response to the review from the "Toy Enthusiast in Belmont"; perhaps he should become a little less enthused about toys and more enthused about the english language. The definition of Geology is as follows:

ge·ol·o·gy ( P ) Pronunciation Key (j-l-j)
n. pl. ge·ol·o·gies
1. The scientific study of the origin, history, and structure of the earth.
2. The structure of a specific region of the earth's crust.
A book on geology.
3. The scientific study of the origin, history, and structure of the solid matter of a celestial body.

I'm interested in learning what significance this term has in reference to the Large Green Baseplate. Perhaps he should spend less time playing legos and get an education. I suggest a geometry class for starters (but that's just me......)

I was a bit disappointed with the quidditch practice LEGO set so I decided to buy this green baseplate and to buy two of the quidditch practice sets to make the ultimate quidditch pitch. I had a lot of fun and whatever you use this for it is sure to be a lot of fun

This baseplate makes it very easy for the kids to build their toys. No slipping all over the place and makes a lovely base to display the toys.

The ideas with this toy are great - the rock crusher, the battery operated conveyor belt and crane, but it has to be built from the bottom up, so once assembled, you have no chance of slotting any pieces back into place. You have to take the whole thing apart and start again. And as for all these three year olds who, according to their parents, are merrily building different construction sites to their own specifiation, don't believe it for a second. Rocket science couldn't be much more complicated than Imaginext stuff. Two tips. Build it on a surface where it doesn't need to be moved, and be prepared for 'Mom can you build this again' twenty times a day. Oh, and another thing - it's huge.

This product has major design flaws. It is made to be able to be changed in its configuration. The problem with this is that it falls apart easily, the pieces do not stay snapped together and it frustrates my four and a half year old when this happens. We have lots of Playmobil products and this is not the case for that product line. I refrain from buying anymore of this line of toys! Unless you like to constantly remake a layout for a smaller child I would wait until the child is 7-8 before even buying this product! By then, the set is to simplistic for children of this age group. I bet this design flaw is why this product has come in price so much since it was first introduced!

I gave this to a four year old relative for Christmas and he absolutely LOVED it! He loved playined with the crane especially. He has a large collection of Imaginext toys that he adores. This is a great set for kids who love building stuff and love trucks!

One cool thing is that the trucks come apart, so kids can mix and match and be (somewhat) creative. It's a great toy that will keep kids busy for hours!

this set is really cool! it comes with ron and harry in muggle clothes and aragog! this set is neat because of the web trap you can spring on ron or harry! have fun!

Ok so it's not much of a forest. One tree. But I have adapted it, buying a set of 10 trees and 25 shrubs, building the model on a board 4x the size and placing all the greenery round it, I think I boast the best Forbidden Forest yet! The spider is amazing and can be combined with the tree cleverly to create a whomping Willow. And the main part is ingenious. A simple string to pull which tightens a loop around three webs, pulling them inwards and trapping whoevers inside. Great design. Great product.

I admit I do not love spiders. However, plastic spiders are okay. The plastic spider in this Lego set is pretty cool, and while it could have been better, it is fine for limiting the scare factor for younger children.

The challenge factor is limited in this relatively simple Lego set. It is relatively easy to build. However, I do like the opening in the tree for the owl, and the spider web trap that activates when pulling a secret drawer was a nice touch to what would otherwise be a dull Lego set.

The tiny spiders are printed on bricks, thus making them no easier to lose than a standard Lego and similarly no more fragile than a standard Lego.

While the big spider, which is about hand-sized, is not terribly scary, it also minimized a couple of aspects to keep the scare factor low. The fangs are a single piece with minimal movement. The abdomen moves independent of the rest of the body, which is realistic. The two back legs articulate forward and back allowing a limited range of posing. However, that is the extent of the realism, and the average child will learn more from a good article in an appropriate magazine than from this toy. The lack of realism in the spider and the toy's relative simplicity are the main reasons I rate the educational value as only 3 stars.

The toy is a Lego, with all the Lego durability and quality. I enjoy the web trap a lot, which changes what would have been a 3 star Lego set to a 5 star set in terms of fun. I wasn't quite sure why coins were added to the secret drawer that activates the web trap, but more is always better, and the coins can be used as an aid to create your own adventures.

This Lego isn't one of the better Harry Potter kits, but considering the importance of this scene in the second Harry Potter movie, it is an important kit if you plan to collect most of them. I do like the spider, in spite of its inaccuracy, and I like Legos with moving parts better than those without. The price could be the next bracket down for Legos considering what you get. Overall I'd rank this kit as a lower overall value compared to some others, especially in the Harry Potter series, but I'm glad we have it!

Gears was bought for my 4 year old nephew and he just loves it.
I would recommend this toy for education, imagination, and just plain fun!!!

I bought the Motorized Monsters set here (I don't see it listed now) based on fabulous reviews. I was very disappointed in the set and so was my 6 year old son. It is noisy, clunky and not at all the fun toy that we were expecting.

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.

This is not one of those toys that ends up in the back of the closet two days after a kid gets it. I got this set for Christmas, and played with it for months. In fact, I still play with it, even though I have had it for a year. Why is this toy so fun? The secret is the included CD-ROM which contains ten missions to download to your Spybot. Parents, if you are looking for a way to drag your kid from the computer, this is it. The downloadable missions make this toy a computer game without the computer. There is only one fault. In trying to keep with a spy theme, Lego included the instructions for assembly on the CD-ROM. If your computer won't run the CD, or if you don't even have a computer, you are stuck with a mess of Lego pieces. Lego should have at least included printed instructions, so if you can't get the software to work, you can at least have a cool robotic vehicle to drive around. Nevertheless, this is an excellent product, and I strongly suggest it for all ages.

The Lego Spybotics line is an easier and lower-priced introduction to robotics than the Lego Mindstorms series.

ABOUT SPYBOTICS PRODUCTS
Spybotics contains four robots (so far). Each is designed to be strong in only one or two of the categories of speed, strength, and agility. That means that the user will have to learn how to capitalize on the vehicles strengths in a competition with other Spybotics vehicles.
* Shadowstrike is a vehicle that scores high on speed and agility
* Gigamesh scores highest on strength, but low on other
* Technojaw is probably the most balanced, scoring quite high on speed but well on strength and agility
* Snaptrax scores high on agility and strength

COMPARISON TO MINDSTORMS
There are several key differences with Mindstorms:
* Mindstorms is far more programmable; there are even artificial intelligence algorithms available for Mindstorms so that the Mindstorms robot can learn
* Mindstorms has more components that can be controlled: The program doesn't just control wheels; it can control gears and infrared sensors, etc.
* Spybotics is like a smart remote control car, but not really a robot; it is also geared toward playing competitive games when a friend has another Spybotics vehicle
* Unlike Mindstorms, but like most other Lego kits, you can only bid 2-3 different vehicles with the Spybotics kit

Because of its greater programmability (you could actually write your own operating system for it), Mindstorms costs a lot more.

PURCHASING RECOMMENDATION
I think this is a great product. If I was purchasing for an adult, though, I'd buy Mindstorms--which is used in college robotics classes. But, ANY OF THE SPYBOTICS PRODUCTS ARE A GREAT FIRST ROBOTICS EXPERIENCE FOR A CHILD.

Good product. Son put it together in one night and was fascinated by the electonics.

When I Started on this Ferris Wheel i had no idea how big it would realy be! it took me at least a hour and a half to comppleat this ferris wheel by my self "whith a lot of years under my belt". when it was done i did have some trouble with th emoter but it was fine. ADVICE- DO NOT connect the controller to the inside when building the swings, My Cuz did it and broke the peices becuse everytime u wanted to shut it off you would have to stop the ride with your hand.

I worked on this with my mom and my two sisters (9 and 5). It took me the whole day to finish it. When my mom and sisters took a break, I just kept going!. This toy was so fun i coulnd't stop. I was determined to finished. Finally I did and now i don't want to take it apart. I built the "Boom Ride". I had trouble with the motor because you need to do it a little diferently from the directions, and need to hold it in place for the first couple of tries. It's kindof hard to put the chairs together, but its alot of fun.

This is a great set of models to build. My 11 year old daughter worked on this for several hours with her cousins (12 and 16 year old boys). Once they were done, they took it apart and built it again. Several months later, the box was opened up and built again. This much more manageable to build than the large roller coaster set that takes a lot more perserverance.

My 2 year old son was first introduced to this toy at our Montessori class...he was hooked immediately!!! It was easy for him to figure out how to put the pieces together and attach the gears (he loved being able to do all of this himself as opposed to other gear toys where most of the building is already done for you) He sat and happily played with this fantastic toy for almost an hour before we had to leave. The learning possibilities of this toy are immmense as is the "fun value". With no "bells and whistles" this toy ranks very high on our list of toys due to the fact that our son has complete creative control...it's all up to him. All in all, it's a fantastic toy that we highly recomend.

My son received this toy for Christmas, and we gave one to our niece. The verdict is that it is almost, but not quite, perfect.

The toy is a set of interlocking squares of various colors that are perforated to hold a four-pronged hub that can support one of four sizes of gears. Everything is made of a durable plastic that has some flex to it. You can create systems of gears that spin around and even construct things like gearboxes. (The cover of the box--shown above--will give you a simple idea of what can be done.) There is a manual aimed at parents that helps them teach their child how gears work, too--a nice touch.

The quality of the toy is high: the colorful stickers for the gears are plastic coated, the injection-molded pieces are free from excess plastic, and the pieces fit together solidly. It's everything you would want from a European-made toy. (Quercetti, the manufacturer, is based in Italy and the toy is actually made there.)

It's a mesmerizing little toy and its variability is virtually endless. There are other kits in the Gear line that include such things as universal joints and 3-D parts, so it is highly expandable, even as your child ages.

My quibble? Our three year old niece adores the toy, but our three year old son only plays with it in fits. Truth be told, I play with it more than my son does. So as with anything, your mileage may vary.

It's nice that toys like this one are still being made. There's a lot of learning that can occur with it, too. Factor in the expandability and how can you go wrong?

Now if only I could get my son to join me more while I'm playing with it!

The base pieces of this toy are a bit stiff for my kids' little hands to put together. Also, the pegs that hold the gears onto the base are a bit tricky, but will build good fine motor skills if not discarded in frustration. I was just as entranced by this toy as they were as we played with it together for the first time. The brightly colored decals are trippy and fun. And learning that gears transfer energy they supply to move other gears of various sizes "on down the line" is... priceless. *grin*

My son Logan (7) says:
Its a great toy. It has a place for the pirates to sleep, shelter, etc. I use it with my other Imaignext sets for battles. It stays set up in my room for days! I recommend this toy!

The kids went CRAZY over this one! First the hole in the sand! HOW cool!! All the animals fit, the guys, treasure, or even just the swords and stuff! A great idea! We also like the Tiki hut roof and the log walls, sand floors are really cool and the palm tree rocks!

Our creative kids created two sand islands with the sets (Pirate ship added for more walls and floors, and the Nautical 'shipwreck' feel) and then made a big tree with the Lost Fortress... Know what they played? SURVIVOR!!! The tree is Tribal Council, "the tribe has spoken." LOL! Tooo fun!

Worthy of the price and lots of things to change this one into! Great idea!!!

My 3 year old loves his pirate island. There is a place for buried treasure, working canons (which are made not to cause injuries), fallen trees and lots of little accessories. Although he is not old enough, the island has the capability to be arranged and built in many different ways. Plenty of potential to grow into it for many years.