Customer Reviews

Balancing Bird Center of Gravity Physics Toy 6.5 inch Wing Span [Toy]

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A great toy! I am 63 and I love it. An excellent study in "center of gravity." It sits on the nose of a Newfoundland Dog figurine in my living room.....I might share it with my grandchildren....but why should I? They don't share their toys with me

Got a few of these on my recent trip to the Philippines. They sell like a dollar there if you do the conversion. It comes with a black plastic pyramid stand. The bird itself is very colorful and you have several colors to choose from. Since there is really no moving parts, I consider this a pretty durable. Just don't make it fall on hard surface from a high place.
It is actually not a toy but an interesting curio piece. Certainly it has become a conversation piece at my office. It is an amazing scientific presentation about physics, center of gravity and so on. You can have it balance on its beak practically anywhere.

For starters, the balancing bird amazingly balances on almost anything because the beak is the bird's center of gravity. This just means that its the point on the bird where the total mass of the bird is said to act. If you look at the wings, you can see two counter weights. This is the problem on my bird. The counter weight on the right wing apparently moved a bit backward( since it moved closer to the COG {or the pivot in a physics term} less turning force is applied to that wing.) This means that less force acts on the right wing and the left wing hangs a bit lower. It still balances but not perfectly. I just explained all that so if it happens to you guys you'll have some idea what to do. You can shake the wing a bit until the weight is back in place where its supposed to be or wrap some tape around the opposite wing to stabilize. Sorry if I bored you with all my crappy explanations. Anyways have fun with this. (and if you kids ever get a science project on this type of topic you can just read this for a little understanding.)

-Josh

Yes, it does what it says. Plastic bird, my wife and kids played with it for a long time. My wife is a teacher and she uses this kind of stuff to keep the kids' hands occupied, and somehow that helps them focus on her lecture better.

We bought this for my step-daughter for a "Christmas in July" event. After she opened it and figured out what it was and how it worked, she said that she loved Santa Claus because he always knows exactly what she wants, even when she doesn't know that she wants it. LOL. She walked around balancing it on everything, from her nose to her toes! It was definitely money well spent.

I ordered 3 of these birds. When I received them two were cracked open and the weights had fallen out in the box. I was able to fix them but I had to buy some super glue and spend my valuable time fixing them. This company should improve how these are glued together or how they package them for shipping, But having said this, these are really neat, fun toys and after being fixed did exactly as the picture shows, love the product, but expect to do some repairing if you order this.

This is great and will balance on anything! Well worth the minimum cost. I received a different color than pictured (white with blue wings) but it is still attractive. Entertaining for all in the house (ages 7 +).

Everyone loves this toy, but the one we got was white with pale pink markings, which made it a lousy gift for my son's dorm room. I took a marker and colored it in and it looked okay, though not as good as the picture. After reading reviews that commented on how attractive the bird was, I didn't expect such an ugly color--it would never have sold in a store. However, it works as described and is a lot of fun to play with.

SO I looked at the picture and wow..it must be a really colorful bird. But, when I actually got it, guess what? it was pee yellow. It looked nothing like the glossy elegant picture. Its really bird that is being sold at $4.89 ( sold by westminster ). There is no scales on the bird at all.
I purposefully ordered $7.71 balancing bird to avoid pee-yellow color bird which others have mentioned in their review. But, I still received the same yellow colored bird.
This is misleading and I am surprised that after so many complaints and bad reviews amazon allows this. ;--(
I am trying to color the damn bird with highlighter now. I am not gonna go thru the process of returning the bird, but overall bad experience.
On plus side, it balances alright. So, if you want to buy the balancing bird, opt for $4.89 one, and be ready to receive a pee yellow color bird.

All of my kids (ages 4-15) have been very interested in the "mind boggling" physics behind this toy. It has opened a door to education without the kids really realizing it.