Magnetix 70 Count - Primary Colors

by Magnetix

Product Features

• 70 COUNT PRIMARY COLORS
• Set includes enough pieces to make over 500 designs
• It's a toy that teaches and empowers kids of all ages
• Make learning tangible by using the pieces to create shapes that illustrate concepts in mathematics, physics and chemistry
• For ages 3 yrs. and up

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 1.8 x 7.6 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00009SZYU
• Item model number: 2812-6
• Our recommended age: 36 months - 8 years
• Manufacturer recommended age: 6 - 8 years
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #192,484 in Toys & Games (See Top 100 in Toys & Games)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Manufacturer's Notice

Additional serious injuries to children reported following the March 31, 2006 recall announcement of Magnetix Magnetic Building Sets have prompted the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Mega Brands America, Inc. (Mega Brands) (the new owner of Rose Art Industries, Inc.) to announce an expanded recall. In excess of 4 million units are involved. The recall includes all sets, except newer Magnetix sets sold since March 31, 2006, that are age-labeled 6+ and sets that contain the following caution label: CAUTION: Do not ingest or inhale magnets. Attraction of magnets in the body may cause serious injury and require immediate medical care.

Product Description

Magnetix is the toy that reaches and empowers kids! Use your imagination and create countless shapes for endless hours of fun with 70 pieces of magnetic rods and silver spheres set in bright primary colors.

See all Product Description

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Unique, interesting type of construction set, but one flaw, March 14, 2004

By 

Christopher Thomas "consumer" (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Durability:3.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Magnetix 70 Count - Primary Colors (Toy)

This toy consists of just two kinds of pieces: marble-sized ball bearings, and short plastic rods with magnets in their ends, which attach to the balls with a fairly strong attractive magnetic force. Using geometric and structural principles, you can assemble strong, rigid or flexible sculptures.

There is only one length of rod, which might seem to limit the kinds of shapes you can make, but one of the attractions of the toy is in discovering that very complex and beatiful shapes can be constructed from simple elements. For the educationally-minded, this stimulates thinking about geometry, spatial relationships and physical forces.

In addition to just connecting rods to balls, you can actually connect the _balls_ to each other, using the magnetic field that extends from attached rod(s) through the balls themselves. This lets you build interesting kinetic sculptures that swing and spin with almost no friction. The magnets in this set seem to be stronger than in similar sets from other manufacturers, which makes this kind of construction work even better.

There's little chance of actually breaking any of the pieces, but I gave this a lower durability rating for two reasons. First, the pieces are small and tend to roll away, so there's a definite possibility of losing parts of the toy over time. Second, the balls are just barely too small for rods to properly fit around them in standard geometric formations. For example, one should be able to fit six rods around a ball at 30-degree angles, but the sixth rod gets crowded out. This might be frustrating when you are putting together a shape that you know should fit, but just isn't coming together.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not just for older kids, October 10, 2004

By 

Alexa & Jordyn's Mom "Mom & Early childhood ... - See all my reviews

This review is from: Magnetix 70 Count - Primary Colors (Toy)

I have to say that I do not OWN this toy, but I was at a museum with my daughter and they had it out for children to play with. My daughter is 4 1/2 and LOVED it! She asked me to buy it for her and to be honest, I forgot all about it and happened to come across it just now on the computer. I will have to buy this for her. It says that the recommended age is 8-12, but I have to say that younger children can also have a blast with it. Though a 4-6 year old may not make complicated things out of the magnets or use it for building science projects, it is definitely a lot of fun to play with and easy enough, as well. Of course, it is not recommended for kids under 4 because of the marble balls...don't need them swallowing one! But for some science magnetic fun, it's worth the purchase at many ages!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun for ALL ages!!! Best gift idea of the year., October 2, 2005

By 

momoftwoplus (Tulsa, OK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Magnetix 70 Count - Primary Colors (Toy)

We bought these as a birthday gift for our son when he turned two. They were his absolute favorite gift, rivaling his new Fisher-Price GeoTrax set (and he's a train freak). He loves carrying around these heavy little marble-sized silver balls, and sticking the inch-long rods together. They are extremely, strongly magnetic. The polarized ends jump together - or push apart - and the balls jump onto the rods in strands of two or three. The balls are not magnetic, so they do have a tendency to get separated (and carried away) from the set, but the magnetic rods all stick together, so they won't be easy to lose. The more sets, or the larger set you have, the better. 35 pieces is not as much as you'd expect it to be, definitely get at least 70, and a storage box/jar/bag for them as well. We're storing ours (140 pcs) in a standard-size peanut butter (plastic) jar - the screw-on lid helps limit accessibility to little hands. The 35-piece set has 14 balls, five each of red/yellow/green rods, and six blue rods. The 70-piece set has 28 balls, ten each of yellow/green rods, and eleven each of red/blue rods. 70 pieces clump together in a wad about the size of a tennis ball; 140 about the size of a (melting? hehe) softball. My husband had to get a set of his own and loves playing with them as much as our son does. This is a GREAT GIFT idea for anyone, particularly a guy, of any age. Our son is good about not putting things like this in his mouth, but of course I keep a close eye on him while we have these out. I would not let age (if you're careful) deter from a very high recommendation!!! I would not trust a cheaper brand - these are very durable.