Customer Reviews

Matchbox Mega Rig Shark Adventure

5 star:		(64)
4 star:		(32)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

My six year old loves this ship! It comes apart to reassemble into dozens of new combinations, which both challenges his dexterity and sparks his imagination - he's a pretty sharp boat designer now. As with all the Mega Rig products, it's fairly durable (we've only had one small breakage in one of the other Mega Rig toys - and we have probably a hundred pieces). And it comes with a hungry shark! Who could ask for more?

My boys (ages 5 and 7) love the variety in the Mega Rig items each year. This is no exception. It is a pretty big set with lots of options for creating smaller boats. My younger son received it for his birthday, and he immediately created two smaller boats (to share with his brother and sister) along with the large section. They even combine the other Mega Rig sets to create different areas of their "world" on the living room rug.

The best feature for me is the fact that the shark has a slit on the underside. I can get my finger in there and poke out anything that the shark has "eaten", so nothing gets stuck there.

A previous reviewer gave this a very low rating simply because it includes a harpoon (so they assumed that the entire premise of the set suggests violence). THat's nonsense! All 3 of my children haven't even used the harpoon, they are so busy with other features of the set. It hasn't even occurred to them to kill sea creatures.

Bought this for my 6 year old boy and it was the clear winner from all of his BD gifts. He couldn't wait to start playing with it. It has a lot of variations to toy around with and he particularly enjoys having the shark eat the captain, which is foundly named Captain "Crunch".

So far, it's not fallen apart or been broken by rough play, so it may last a few weeks!

My son loves anything related to boats or water, so he likes the ship but he doesn't like it as much as I expected. The pieces don't snap in solidly. The boat lists to the side in water. We'll keep it as there aren't a lot of big ship options for the bath tub (and the box is basically destroyed upon removal) but it's not the best purchase ever. The Imaginext Pirate Ship was much better and seems much more durable.

I will buy this toy. When I found out the reason for the seemingly low review (shark lovers/PETA/etc) I decided to buy this. There is so much to get worked up about in this world, this is not one of those things. The other (mother) reviewer said that her kids love the toy and have never even bothered to use the harpoon. Kids love boats, kids love sharks, it looks like a rockin' fun toy. I wish all of you holier-than-thou bores would just keep your nose out of the toy section. PS...when I was growing up we played with guns. I don't own a gun and I have never shot anyone. How many of these kids are going on a whale killing expedition? Calm down and grow up.

My nephew, who is five, loves this toy! He gets bored pretty quickly with toys. But this is one of the few that he will play with over and over again. There are alot of interactive parts such as the hook and the claw which interacts with the shark. The boat can also be taken apart to be mixed and matched into a variety of configurations including the captain action figure. I think the interaction is the main reason that my nephew loves this toy. It is a very durable toy. My nephew is very rough with his toys and after two months of constant play, it still remains intact. He has also played with this toy during bath time on many occasions.

Two years ago, my son received the Matchbox Mega Rig Pirates Shipand he STILL loves playing with it! He also has the Mega Rig Matchbox Recycle Action Pack Building System He makes some pretty interesting combinations between the two, but I thought it was time to add to his Matchbox building set collection by getting him the Matchbox Mega Rig Shark Adventure Set.

The Matchbox building sets, if you don't already know, are incredibly versatile, and they are made to work together. So the parts from one set will also attach to the parts from another set. This means there are hundreds of combinations you can make from combining different parts of different sets, if you want to.

BUT, you don't have to have multiple Matchbox sets to have lasting fun! Just one Matchbox building set, like this Mega Rig Shark Adventure Set, can give your child literally MONTHS of fun. This set, like other Matchbox building sets, allows the child to use their imagination to make many different combinations of things.

I highly recommend keeping all the parts in a toy bin or container of some sort. Once they get mixed in with the general toy population, they can be hard to track down again. We had a pirate MIA for a month or two till we found him hiding in the Transformers bin. LOL. If you are going to get an additional Matchbox set besides this Shark Adventure one, I'd highly recommend the Pirate one. Matchbox Mega Rig Pirates Ship. It adds so much fun to the whole Shark theme that your child will enjoy it for even longer.

I should mention that the Matchbox building sets are incredibly well-made, and have held up really really well. We are talking about pretty heavy play over 2 years, with no problems whatsoever. The money is well spent when it comes to Matchbox because of their solid construction, and the endless combinations of vehicles, ships, etc. Like I said, months, or in our case, years, of play time.

Reading this over, gosh, I sound like an advertisement for it. But I'm just a plain old Mom in Ohio, telling you how impressed I am with these particular toys. Hope that helps someone.

First, let me start off by acknowledging all the negative reviews about the harpoon. Sigh. I have no intention of teaching my children to harpoon sea life. This is a toy. I guarantee that unless you are walking around with a harpoon shooting living things, your child will find another use for it. Let's not pigeonhole the imaginations of our children, mmm-kay? My little guy thought it was a "rescuer". He uses it to save the smaller ships when the shark takes a bite out of their boats. Moving on...whew.

This is a great toy. If you have a child that loves the water and sea creatures, you can't really go wrong. It is an inventive product and it is not a "bores quickly" type of toy. Matchbox took some time to ensure plenty of building options for the boat. It can also be easily incorporated in a water table, pool or shower/tub play. As all parents know, any toy that can actually go in the water is a homerun in the mind of a child. Does the toy float perfectly? No. Look at it, it's totally top heavy. Did I buy it for its buoyancy and ability to float without assistance? No. I bought it because it's an awesome ship with an awesome shark and my kids think that's, well, awesome.

So, if you are looking for a plastic ship that is less likely to shipwreck than the Titanic, this is not for you. If you are looking for a well conceptualized TOY, this one is pretty nifty. I think it would be best suited for ages 3 to 7, but, I can see some interest beyond that due to the multiple ship building options.

My kids love this thing! Funny, you never know with kids, but the mega rig shark set has outstripped all other forms of entertainment in our house. (Including SpongeBob) My 6 year old logs a solid 5 hours a day playing with this.
It actually works as well (pieces fit together, he doesn't need help from dad, etc) something that is a pleasent surprise these days.
We give this one the thumbs up!

This was bought for my 5 year old son, but my 8 year old daughter also loves it. The set has many parts that can be configured in many ways, so there is always new vehicles to make. It is also a big hit at bathtime.