Gizmos and Gears

by Learning Resources

Product Features

• Contains 82 Pieces
• Winner of 10 Awards
• Advanced Construction, easy to Assemble

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 10.9 x 14.5 inches ; 2.6 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00000ISYC
• Item model number: LER9171
• Our recommended age: 7 - 13 years
• Manufacturer recommended age: 4 - 12 years
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #95,347 in Toys & Games (See Top 100 in Toys & Games)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)

Product Description

Editorial Review

Mix one 82-piece box of Gears! Gears! Gears! Gizmos with a handful of children and what do you get? A tableful of swirling, whirling, twisting, turning, cross-your-eyeballs thingamajigs! The Gizmos advanced set includes some unusual connectors, including a couple of comical 8-inch springs, some angled joints, and a working propeller--along with a generous helping of the basic stuff. With three sizes of meshing, stackable gears, and simple snap-together bases that can be arranged scores of ways, kids have the freedom to create all kinds of gyrating gadgets. Even with the outlandish decals and Day-Glo shades, Gears manages to teach budding builders an astonishing amount about how machines work. --Julie Ubben

Product Description

This wacky gears set really whirls and twirls beyond any kid's wildest dreams. Includes springs, spirals and propeller, plus small, medium and large gears and bases. Big 82-piece construction set can be used alone or combines with other sets for even more fun.

See all Product Description

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

82 of 84 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great toy for the growing mind, October 8, 2002

By 

J. Simone (Lake Worth, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Gizmos and Gears (Toy)

My son received his first set of Gears, Gears, Gears Gizmos when he was 5 years old, now being almost, 7 he has received more sets to add to the first one so he can create ever more complex and ingenious constructions. He sits down for hours trying to construct fanastic projects. The other day he came to me with a "satellite station" complete with rotating antenna!

This is great toy for both kids and adults. Together, my son and I have put together projects which mesh over 60 gears in both the horizontal and vertical planes. The gears mesh together very easily and come in ratios of 1 (8 teeth), 1.5 (12 teeth) and 2 (16 teeth). It is possible to create angled ramps of gears as well.

I can highly recommend this toy for the budding scientist, engineer, architect, or any child that enjoys Knex or Lego type constructions. Our 3 year old little girl like to get into building as well.

One caveat: you will soon find out that one set of Gizmos is not enough to build truly awesome sized projects. We have 3 sets so far and we find we will need a couple more to build ever greater!

Have fun!

44 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun and educational; should get more for money, January 4, 2004

By 

H. David Peirce "Zossima" (Houston, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Gizmos and Gears (Toy)

My 5 year old son has advanced rapidly in just two days of playing with this. He is describing and building complicated gear layouts that incorporate gears of different sizes and gears at different angles to one another. Very nice!

My main complaint is that the set should include more pieces. I cannot see more than two kids playing with the contents of this set, and even then I think there would be some fighting for scarce pieces.

PROS
* Durable pieces
* Well-designed pieces connect well and allow for excellent spinning action of the gears
* The type of toy that kids will play with for hours on end and go back to again and again

CONS
* Not enough pieces for the price; you can get hundreds of lego bricks for the same price
* What do the gears *move*? There is only one propeller included and no wheels or other items that gears might control. Instead, we just tend to move more gears, which is fine for a 5 year old but not for an 8 year old

PURCHASING RECOMMENDATION
This is fun and very educational. I will buy the additional sets and give this one as a gift to other kids. I do wish they put more pieces in it, but it still is worth buying.

58 of 63 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good idea, poor execution, October 3, 2002

By 

fair_deal_guy "BB" (Prior Lake, MN USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

= Durability:1.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:3.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:3.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Gizmos and Gears (Toy)

This is one of those toys that looks SO good in the store. Then, when you get it home and assembled, it fails to do the one thing it's supposed to...and ACK!...another disappointed child. This gear-based toy is based on a pretty simple idea--put the gears together in various patterns, turn the crank, and watch it go. Sounds simple, and it should be. But the set we bought was balky. Various colored gears were slightly different in size than others and, when combined in certain way, refused to turn. That became a major issue, since what smart kid is going to waste his time assembling a masterpiece only to have it fail to work 2 times out of 3? A real disappointment!