Customer Reviews

K'Nex: Rippin' Rocket Roller Coaster

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My children (ages 8 and 9) received this as a gift from their grandparents. We already have the Screamin' Serpent coaster set, but this one is so much more fun! It is tall (nearly as tall as I am) and it's so much fun to watch. The kids were almost able to assemble it by themselves, but it did take them quite a while. They got stuck in several spots, but I was able to coach them through it with no trouble. I highly recommend this "toy" for everybody in the family.

This set is AWESOME!!! It was so much fun to build, and a lot more fun to run. I really enjoyed this roller coaster.

This is an awesome toy to see on display at the store, or set up at someone else's house. Here's what you have to look forward to if you brave it on your own: around 69 pages of assembly instructions, some requiring very particular placement. After hours (and hours and hours, depending on how long you can go at a time) of assembly, you will have a three foot by seven foot by five foot high roller coaster. Turn it on and watch the car fly around the track. Ok, that was fun for 10 minutes (or longer, depending on age and availability of other entertainment), so now what do you do with it? Take it apart and spend another half dozen hours putting it together the next time you want to watch the coaster run around for 10 minutes? Leave it on permanent display (if you can spare the space)? Take it apart and put it in the closet never to be seen again?

As I said, a nice toy to look at, but the time investment required is NOT worth the payoff - there are better construction sets out there that allow for more creativity, take up less space, and do not require the investment of hours of time for minutes of fun. Your mileage may vary...

I got this toy for the holidays in 2003. I set it up in my basement. It took me a while to set up since I didn't work on it a lot. Making the frame is a bit annoying but once your done with it the rest is fun! I didn't think it would work but it works great! I don't have a tail with mine because my younger sister pulled it off, but I heard it just adds a effect and sometimes gets in the way. The loop-te-loop works great. Putting on the red track is fun and the yellow is also. This toy totally taught me determination. It's also a fun thing to do with parents or friends. I did the frame with my mom, but the rest I did by myself. I can't wait to build the Screamin' Serpant. This toy takes up quite a lot of space.

I got this toy for Christmas and I love it. There are 1,058 pieces, which sounds treacherous, but it's not. All of the pieces are put into bags of similar pieces and they are all easy to find. This is really fun to build. It took me a little more than 6 hours, but it was fun seeing the coaster develop in front of my eyes. But, the best part is playing with it when you are done building it. The car goes so fast that at some parts in the track, it is just a blur. I would reccomend this toy to anyone who loves somewhat of a challenge and loves building things. Believe me, its fun.

My two daughters (9 and 5) got this for Christmas and they love it. I assembled it in about 5 hours from start to finish and, I must admit, it was fun putting it together. I thought it might take a lot of tweaking before it ran properly, but it worked perfectly on the first try.

Assembly is straightforward and instructions are 95% color-coded pictures - text is only used for a few specific pointers. Pieces and instructions are both color-coded, so it would be virtually impossible to build this if you weren't able to distinguish the colors of the pieces in the manual. I was able to do so, but a few times I did have to hold the manual under a light to tell a blue rod or a green rod from a speckled-gray rod. I would expect that children much younger than the recommended age of 10 might have difficulty correctly reading the 3-D assembly diagrams without adult help. Also, there only seems to be about 4 extra pieces out of over 1,000 pieces total - many of the shapes/sizes have no extras at all - so you'll have to manage to follow those instructions precisely.

The thing that really sold me was that you can download plans for two addtional coasters from the KNEX website - so this kit can actually build three different coasters. I'm looking forward to building the other two when they've grown bored with the first one.

I rated it 4 stars for durability only because we haven't owned it long enough to vouch for long-term durability. None of the pieces seemed particularly flimsy and I'd expect it to last quite a while. I do think it would have been better if they'd provided a few extra pieces of every type so that you wouldn't be out of luck if one got broken or lost.

Overall, a great toy for any child old enough to follow the directions or for a younger child with adult help.

I love Knex and this is the best thing they have come up with next! It is MUCH better than that screamin Serpent Rollercoaster! I had a lot os fun building it! I recommened this rollercoaster to any knex OR lego lover!!!!!!!!!!

We were very lucky, we were in our local goodwillthrift store yesterday and found this toy for ONE DOLLAR! It was brand new, all bags still sealed inside the box, and the box even had a piece of christmas paper stuck to the back of it. I guess someone didn't want it!

My husband and five year old son are huge KNex fans, and my 9 year old daughter and I like playing with their end results!

It took my husband and son about an hour and a half to put the rippin rocket roller coaster together. It is fun to watch, it's about 5 inches shorter than me, so 5 feet tall, and the little car moves so fast and really does defy gravity!

I would suggest this toy to adults and children maybe 10 or older, or those that are extremely skilled with Knex and puzzles. This is NOT a beginners project though.

i love knex and i bought this and easily thought it waz better than the screamin srpant !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It takes about 6 hours to put together this roller coaster, and it's worth it. Once we completed it and we turned it on for the first time my three kids (6 yrs, 3.5 yrs, and 20 months) just started giggling because the coaster gets propelled through the launchers so quickly. When it takes off going straight up you can hardly see it.

After a week or so of using it intermittently -- perhaps about 20 minutes per day -- the car is slowing down noticeably (i.e. the batteries are wearing down) but it's still making it all the way around the track. I would guess in the next few days the batteries will need to be replaced.

If you like K'Nex or if you just like building things you'll really enjoy this roller coaster. It's fun to build and it's fun to watch when you're done. Clearly this isn't intended for little kids to build by themselves, but young kids can certainly help out on a lot of the assembly. Sorting all the pieces before assembly is also a great exercise for younger kids.