Customer Reviews

The Learning Journey Techno Gears Marble Mania Mega Construction Set

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I am amazed reading all these reviews. Many state it took hours to build and doubts as to whether an 8 year old could do it. I have this set plus another from this company in my school age classroom (5-12 years old, before/after school and summer camp). It took 4 of my students working together to build this set about an hour. I only had to step in to break up any arguments. The youngest engineers were 7. There was one 8 year old, and the oldest was 11. It is possible for children to do.

As for the educational aspect, it is great for logical thinking and scientific experimentation. Once children start building their own creations, and yes it is possible, they start exploring the science of "what if", as in "what if I move this piece higher" or "what if I change this angle". Of course parents and educators sometimes need to supply the terminology and maybe an idea or two to move things along.

Last on the educational theme, paired with other household or classroom objects this becomes a great way to introduce children to Rube Goldberg and making new inventions. Go ahead and Google him, I'll wait.

My point with this review is you cannot to sit back and be a spectator with any educational toy. It does require some parent involvement. If children get bored with this amazing toy, then it is the parent or educator's responsibility to step in and encourage new play and experimentation. Let's face it, any toy becomes boring if nothing new is introduced.

We bought this for our son for Christmas. Part 16 in this product is very weak and breaks when trying to install it. There are 20 part 16s in this product. I called Learning Journey to get replacements and they want to charge me .25 per piece even though this is a defective part problem. I would not recommend this product nor similar products by Learning Journey / Techno Gears. We had a similar situation with a Fisher Price toy and they replaced it no problem, no charge.

"I bought this complicated looking toy thinking it would be easier to put together than Legos... BooHoo. I had to actually help my child and be - gag - involved with his/her development, learning, and play... Waaa. Now my 7 year old isn't having any fun with this toy rated for 8+... Sob. I don't get the interweb thingy so I only have instructions for the model shown on the box... When I was a kid I hated Mousetrap!" Jeez, people! If this really was such a chore for you to put together, I'm surprised you actually bought it. There _are_ pictures on the box, and they don't make it look uncomplicated. The complexity is actually part of the draw for those of us who like this. SO... If you are someone who enjoys a puzzle and rewarding challenge, has good judgement about the play and assembly skills of your child, and wants to spend a bit of extra time together with your child(ren), then this is a toy for you. If you want an activity that slides out of the box ready for instant play and doesn't give anyone a headache, may I suggest Wood Blocks? You can even add marbles. "But wooden blocks are not sustainable..."

I bought this as an impulse buy from Costco and I wish I hadn't. On the first page of the instruction manual, you will be informed that it will take a MINIMUM of 4 to 6 hours for completion. You will not see this little bit of information anywhere on the box. Although the toy is suggested for kids 8+, I think very few 8 year olds will be able to put this together themselves.

If you're looking for something you can put together in an hour or less, this is NOT the toy for you.

My son and I spent 3 evenings putting this together. Has a lot of educational value if you only assist the child and resist temptation to put it together yourself.
After we put it together we sat back for 30 min and watched the marbles go up and down. What I liked about this is that you can create other structures from your imagination, use the instruction booklet or logon to their website for more designs so the fun really never ends.

This was a gift to all the kids. I knew my 12 and 8 yo.'s would love it. I didn't expect my mentally challenged niece to love it, too. With a little direction on the first page, she was able to understand the instructions on her own. She was the most fascinated with the building process. We built it as a family over two days. For the most part, the pieces are sturdy. There are some pieces that have tiny pegs on them. These are fragile, but once the kids figured it out by breaking one, they managed to keep it from happening again. There were extra pieces, so it wasn't a hindrance in any way. This toy is absolutely awesome. We are going on the website to find more designs. Can't wait to rebuild!

My son likes to build things, so I thought this would be good for him because he'd get to play with something after he built it. He's a super bright 7 1/2 yr old, and the box does say for ages 8 and up. However, had we waited until his next birthday to give this to him, His dad and I would have still had to put it together. It took us four hours to get it put together right. Now, even though it does work like it is supposed and is pretty neat, watching marbles go down a few plastic tubes and then slowly back up another plastic tube gets boring pretty fast. And only two of the several gears that come with it actually need to turn, the rest are just for looks. I wanted something my son could put together, play with, take down, and rebuild. We'll try again with a different kind of marble run. It would have been more helpful if the details mentioned that this is a "put together once toy". I'd recommed it for ages 11 or 12 and up.

If your kid likes to put stuff together (and is good doing it), then this is a great toy. My 6 year old put it together over the course of a couple of days. I helped a little, but he's pretty good with stuff like this. Attention to detail is an absolute must! Once it's built, then it's fun for awhile getting the balls to do their thing but it gets boring fast. Like Lego, this toy is about the journey - getting it built. But at least with this product, once it's built, at least you can play with it.

No 8 year old can possibly put this toy together. He or she would give up in frustration long before anything sensible is built. After you, the parent, manages to put it all together, the parts would not work as expected. Some pieces will be too long or too short, while others will not turn when they should. The instructions are a pain to follow. Safe your time and money, buy Lego blocks instead.

Two Christmases ago, I spent 9 hours trying to assemble it with my then 8 year old. He was very let down by this toy. We usually enjoy building together, but this one was MISERY! Once it was built, 9-10 hours later, my son enjoyed playing with it. BUT, he is the creative type that likes to re-engineer it to do something different with it. This toy DOES NOT COOPERATE LIKE THAT. The peices began cracking and we could never get it back to its original state. DO NOT WASTE your time and patience on this toy. Guess where it ended up not even 3 months later, the garbage.