Customer Reviews

Erector Motorized Racing Car & More - 643 pc Metal Construction Set

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

If you're reading this, odds are you grew up playing with an Erector set and you're now considering one for your child. The good news is they're still just as cool as they were when you had one. The materials have actually been improved. The straight peices are now completely flat, rather than the beveled sides they used to ship in the old sets. They're made of a more rigid metal as well. This allows for a little more flexability in what your kids can design and build. At first I thought the price was a little steep, but my 8 year old has easily gotten $100 worth of enjoyment out of this set. I actually ended up buying another set to ship to a relative for his upcoming birthday, so yes, you're getting what you pay for.

This toy is so cool. The day I got it I opened it up to find tons of pieces and instructions. I spent a lot of time just building the models that were in my head. This is sooo cool. If you buy this, you are NOT wasting you'r money.

My son loves to build things. He has a huge Lego collection but I thought it was time to take it up a notch to a more intricate construction set. After researching a number of construction sets, I decided on the good 'ol Erector set. I had one as a boy and my dad had one when he was little. I'm glad I went with the Special Edition because it comes with detailed instructions to build about 15 or 17 different structures. Many other Erector set kits only have one design, such as a race car or train. I'm not saying they wouldn't add educational value but once it's built, it's built. The whole point is to find a toy which can be used over and over again. The Special Edition does just that. My 9-year old son loves it. In fact, my 7-year old daughter plays with it too and I'm happy about that. I think the eye-hand coordination, thought process to intrepret instructions, and the spatial thinking needed to understand how the parts go together benefits all who play with it. I'd like to see additional instructions offered so the fun can continue. Not sure what will happen after the last of the 17 kits is put together. Highly recommended.

The set itself seems to be good. However, what is not good is the beginning age listed on it. This was given to a very bright eight year old who has no trouble putting together lego sets with 700+ pieces by himself. He takes radios apart and puts them back together. But He had trouble following the directions on this erector set. He might enjoy it in a few years, but for now it did not provide him with what we had hoped.

Contrary to other reviews I've read, I am totally satisfied with this product. Even though it is not of the quality of older sets (what is today) it still entertains and trains young minds.

The set was received on time in perfect condition. Because of some of the reviews we had read concerning missing parts, we inventoried the contents and found everything as listed in the manual.

We anticipate many years of enjoyment as we enjoy our grandchildren getting the same enjoyment we received many many years ago.

My 17 year old LOVES this set. In the first week he made a working crane and then built a truck to set the crane on. He was able to follow the directions easily. Then he was able to quickly figure out ways to build his own creations. Well worth the money.

First...the "Motorized Racing Car & More" set is exactly the same as the "Special Edition" set. The simply changed the name, its the same 643 piece set.

Second, their is a problem with the motorized unit. The switch design on the battery pack is extremely poor. If the switch is not fully thrown to the left or right or fully in the center off, it will melt and be rendered useless. My son and I built the airplane model first(he's 6, took us a few hours together), and after 10 minutes of play the motor quit working(no, not 10 minutes of continuous running). Well, he hadn't quite thrown the switch fully, and after taking it apart the flaw was apparent. Its a proprietary double pole, double throw switch built on a PCB board. There isn't enough space between the board contacts. If the switch is in between positions, the contactor is shorting the positive and negative leads of the battery pack together on the board. This causes lots of heat, quickly heats the thin metal contactor, and in the process melts the switch handle. In my opinion it should recalled, I don't know if its possible to melt or rupture 4 AA batteries by shorting them, but they got really warm. I had to rig up a new submini DPDT switch as a replacement on the outside of the unit.

Otherwise....it's a great erector set. We built the crane after I fixed the battery pack. It's pretty awesome. It uses a 48:1 gear reduction(more like pulley reduction), on the motor and it can lift quite a bit of weight for a toy. Both the boom and the cable of the crane run off the motor, it's a pretty ingenious model I think. Crane also rotates on the base via a manually controlled wheel. Took him, with my help, most of a Saturday plus a couple hours of the following Sunday.

I grew up playing with the Erector sets of the 60s and 70s. As the other reviewer said, these new sets are an improvement. The models each take a few evenings to build (the pictured crane took my 7 year old and I three evenings to complete), but that is the beauty of the toy. It takes a while and it is a bit difficult to build the really cool stuff. What other toy teaches that lesson today?

I found the Erector Motorized Racing Car & More - 643 pc for $50 at Target. It is the identical item. I was very surprised that Amazon was so much more. I ended up returning it. Check your local store before paying more than $50 for this item.

This is a great item. My son spends hours building new things. This is his second erector set. He loves all the new things he can make. I love the case this one came with. It helps keep him organized.