Customer Reviews

Our Amazing Bridges

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

 

 

The description of this product is very enticing. But when you open the box the disappointment starts and spirals out of control. This is a very poorly made kit in all respects. The materials used, the quality of the pieces, the manner in which they fit together are all a huge disappointment. Do not waste your money. Save yourself seeing your child's crestfallen face. I wish I had taken the time to return it.

The Only good thing about this, is the book that comes along with the instructions. The suspension bridge, is made out of paper, the cement for the stone bridge does hold together properly.

What a waste of money.

No, this isn't the highest quality toy on the market, but it is functional. Besides, I wasn't expecting much more than an afternoon's project with my construction/firetruck/tractor-loving 5yr-old son when I bought it for $10.

With that said, this probably is my son's favorite project. Even months after he completed the bridges (with my help), he still uses the sturdy truss bridge when he plays with his trucks, and gets wild-eyed stares when he brings the suspension bridge for show-and-tell (HINT: we flattened a long cardboard wrapping-paper tube and attached the suspension bridge to it to make it easily portable, and we used rubber bands to keep the suspension wires attached to the bridge). He also spent a lot of time playing with the plaster bricks for the arch bridge -- no, he didn't try to cement them, but had lots of fun balancing them in place which is non-trivial for a 5 yr old.

So for $10, I got a toy that sparked the imagination of my son and his friends -- what more could I ask for as his $50 V.Smile video game system gathers dust in the corner?

I don't usually review, but my girls and I built two out of three of the bridges in this kit today, and as I went online to buy another kit as a gift, I saw all of these negative reviews...

What I Loved:
The book/ instructions. As I noted above, I am a structural engineer (now I actually teach this stuff in college), and I have spent my girl's lives teaching them structure concepts - trusses, arches, tension, compression, etc. The book that comes with the set does a great job explaining this stuff in a way appropriate for kids. As a Dad too, my girls were excited to look at the pictures and the instructions were written so that they could understand them. I have training on getting kids excited about math, science and engineering - this one was a home run for me.
What I liked:
The arch bridge - kit comes with plaster and molds. The girls and I mixed the plaster and were able to create all the blocks necessary to build the bridge in a half a day. Best part - they were convinced that we needed to glue the blocks together to make the arch - not so fast... The arch works only through compression and thus the large weights that we put on the bridge only pushed the loose stones tighter together. My kids were entranced.
The truss bridge - Fairly standard k'nex-ish bridge. The kids and I snapped it together in a half hour. One of the 'gusset' plates on it was shipped incorrectly, but that's what superglue is for.
The base - the kit comes with a riverscape plastic base that my girls painted when other parts of the construction were dragging for them. They loved it.
What I haven't tried:
We haven't built the suspension bridge yet. My suspicions are that it is the flimsiest and most complicated of the three, but even if so, I figure we more than got $15 worth of use out of this kit already.
The Verdict:
This thing sat in their toy pile since last Christmas. We opened it today, and I am on Amazon tonite ordering another...enough said.

Received this toy as a gift for 9-year-old boy. Kit contains parts and instructions to build 3 bridges: a truss bridge (plastic "beams" and connectors, sort of like K-nex), a suspension bridge (strings and paper cut-outs), and a "Roman arch" bridge (powder and molds for making bricks). No additional components are needed, although you will need some common household items to mix up the plaster for making bricks (paper cups, etc.). My son was able to make the truss bridge independently, but casting the plaster bricks to make the arch bridge was really beyond a child this age, and I ended up spending an entire evening manufacturing bricks. Which wasn't so very terrible, but if you want a toy that your child can play with by him/herself, you might want to consider something a little less challenging. Altogether, the toy delivered what it was supposed to, and provided hours of entertainment, as well as age-appropriate education in the principles of how these 3 types of bridges work.

It's a perfect model kit for the creative and curious minds of all ages. This will certainly help with kids projects and understanding of Structural building. The scale is precise, and building and painting can be hours of fun. I highly recommend this item for young builders and profesionals.