Customer Reviews

K'Nex Corkscrew Canyon

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This K'nex set is perfect for you if you are really into K'nex and a challenging building experience. The set includes instructions for two builds, but I chose to build Corkscrew Canyon instead of the alternate build of it. It was very exciting and challenging to build. The set has some fairly large pieces, but they are very easy to install on the set. There are not as many pieces as some larger K'nex sets - some of the pieces include track pieces, a funnel, motor, and cardboard decorations. The rest are the regular rods and connectors as other K'nex sets.

There are also three people on swimming tubes inculded to ride the set once completed. They can go down a series of three ramps into the funnel, and then ending with another ramp to the chain lift. Then they go up the lift and repeat the process over and over again.

The track pieces are very cool because they are blue with white streaks, making them looks like water splashes. Some people may think the set requires water to operate, but it does not. The electronic sounds are cool, too. They include various screams, laughters, and water sounds.

If you build the Corkscrew Canyon instead of the alternate build, there will be a good number of extra pieces once you complete the set, especially the clear blue tubes and orange tubes. Do not worry about that. The alternate build will include all if not most of those extra pieces.

I really enjoyed building Corkscrew Canyon. If you chose to buy this set, I hope you enjoy building it, too.

This one is defenatly beter than the Air Tower by far not very may knex parts but onces its done it looks really cool easpecially the Tolite Drop thats always Fun if your looking for a neat building toy this one is for you!

Our family was THRILLED with the operation of this toy...it was the most interesting toy (of Imaginext, K'nex, Hot Wheels) that we have constructed so far. We got this toy on markdown at a toy store, and concluded that it was the best deal we've EVER gotten.

Construction: My 8 year old son needed a little help to build this, which 10 year old sister was unable to provide (too hard to find the mistake, and she's not as good with spacial skills as little bro). Good spacial skills are required, so recommended for older kids and/or experienced builders.

Oversight: It took a little parent correction of complicated build (checking for firm clicking and good angles) and tweaking of ramp heights to get this working perfectly and feeling surprisingly stable. Instructions were fully detailed drawings of steps, fairly easy to follow, but a little difficult to tell the orange from the red (deducible by length).

Operation: The run of the three tubers is fascinating to watch (at least an hour...'til bedtime). There is only one ramp that has not quite enough slope to *always* get the tuber down, but he goes off by himself; occasional flips of tubers upright in the bottom pool before the lift are helpful but not required (25% of the time). Less than 10% of the time does a tuber flip cause the tuber to run off the ramp. We've had 2.5 hours operation without mishap (once we tightened the lift belt and lift sticks) so far, and are looking forward to trying the alternate build. We were very impressed with the engineering; particularly since we'd had to build our own machines from scratch for class assignments, and the kids know how hard it is to plan something that actually works.

Reliability: Cannot yet speak to reliability, as we haven't yet encountered a problem.

Missing parts: Unsure whether parts were missing, or whether kids just lost two rods when tearing open packages. We were able to find the same length and color rods in our other K'nex sets, and there are some "leftover"/replacement parts for most of the pieces--particularly the unique pieces.

I am 14 and I could do this very easily and it worked great I reccomend it to everyone

Assembly time: 3-4 hours (1 adult).

Time till broken: 45 mins (2 kids, ages 3 & 7).

The gear system that works with the motor for pulling the riders up to the top of the "Canyon" broke in less than one hour of what I would consider to be average non-abusive play. The chain flows around the two gears, but when a tiny bit of resistance is encountered, it gets stuck. There's not enough torque to overcome nominal resistance, even just to overcome the sprocket that is used to adjust which chute the rider goes down.

I think it's a great concept, great toy, but apparently more thought or "horsepower" needs to be built into the most important element of the product. Once this broke, the kids were completely disinterested in it. Not to mention seeing four hours of time down the "slide" just because the manufacturer didn't properly QA or engineer an $80 toy.

I also agree with the other reviewers who said that the riders often get stuck, fall off, tumble upside down and don't behave on "auto-pilot". However, this did engage the kids, and provided more laughter than anything else for it's 45 min fun filled life.

And yes, we tried fresh batteries, and the chain is on the right way ;).

I purchased this item as a Christmas gift. On the day after Christmas, I helped my son assemble this product. It worked flawlessly for the first day. The next day, I turned it on to show the boys' grandmother. Apparently, the steel ball "wheels" under the "riders" don't roll very well after initial use. The riders would be hoisted to the top, but would fail to slide onto one of the chutes. If they did make it onto a chute, they would sometimes fail to glide all the way to the bottom, or would fall off the chute. The failure rate went from 0% when first used to about 90% after the first day. I've purchased other K'nex items before and never had a problem.

I bought this toy for my son after we got K'NEX SCREAMIN' SERPENT Roller Coaster.

We were amazed with roller coaster (everything worked perfect)so we got Corkscrew Canyon. Although it has great instructions and looks amazing, guys riding the water slides keep falling or ending up upside down and the ride get stuck.

BUILT THIS WITH MY SON.TOY FALLS OVER WHEN HEAVY MACHANICAL PIECE IS SET ON TOP OF UNSTABLE BASE CAUSING MAJOR DESTRUCTION AND DESTROYING HOURS OF WORK. BAD DESIGN.ALSO WAS MISSING PIECES NEEDED TO FINISH.

Whoever these kids are that say it only took them 30 minutes to build obviously have either no concept of time or 5 other friends helping them build. Took me a good three hours and I was not slow in building it. Just like other KNEX toys once you build it you watch it--not much playing involved. Also I noticed that the tubers either would get stuck at the top or would turn upside down or flip off the sides so I suppose there is some involvement with it once it's built. I built this, the Pirate ship and the Sreamin' Serpent alll within the last few days. I'd rate this easier to build than the Pirate ship but takes more time.

Amazing toy!!! Sure it took me the whole day to build but it was worth it.Very fun toy