Customer Reviews

Rok Works Start Set

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As a person with a background in engineering, I feel somewhat qualified to write a review on this product. This toy is engaging, creative, non-destructive and non-violent. On top of that, it's one of the few that you may actually find yourself addicted too as well! What more could a parent ask for?

A cross between Legos, model trains and remote control vehicles it is an intoxicating mix of motion and construction that most children find hard to put down.

It begins with the purchase of the The Works or Monorail Start Set. After spending a little time (about an hour) to put the set together according to the plans, you'll spend much more time scooping up the little balls with your remote control trucks and placing them into the conveyor, where they are lifted through a series of chutes into dispensers to repeat the process.

But that's not the best part. As your set begins to grow, your children can do many more things - all of which seem to engage the child more. The RC Elevator, Down-A-Vator, Construction World, and other vehicles and sets add immensely to the enjoyment.

I give the product a slightly reduced durability rating as my 6 year old managed to break one of the tabs attached to one of the chutes during normal construction, but to Rokenbok's credit they have a lifetime no questions asked replacement guarantee for any piece.

All in all as your set grows expect to spend $500+ on it depending on how big or tall you wish to go, but it is durable enough for most children and will last their entire childhood if played with correctly.

I bought this item for my 8y son last christmas, he is still playing with it faithfully and has even saved up his money to expand on the product. He loves it. This year santa is expanding on his set. If you have a child who seems to get bored with toys easy, then this is the toy for you, you'll never regret getting it.

My husband and I enjoy playing with this as much as our son does. The rokenbok website is very useful and has great plans for building new projects. I agree with the other reviewers in the need for buying more than the starter set. The additional pieces are necesary for extended play. I have not had a problem with pieces breaking, but I think that this a toy to be treated gently. This toy is great for developing problem solving skills.

This Rokenbok set is a very fun construction toy. It is fun to have all different situations with the set and it is even more fun when you add on to it. This toy provides hours of fun and is fun for the whole family!

Great for all ages. You can use building plans which come with it and also available online, also you can take an existing plan and change it using your own creativity. Or just start from scratch and start building from your imagination.

I COULDENT STOP PLAYING WITH IT! i wish they made more toys like this, very durable, fun, and AFFORDABLE!

I got this for my son for Christmas. I thought he may be a little young for it, he is 5. But my husband presisted on getting this item. We bought this along with the forklift. He caught on to the system really well. He plays with it and can honestly spend hours with it. I never thought that he would get hooked on it this much. His birthday is in just a few more days and I have now expanded the system and bought the monorail and the sweeper for his birthday. Best way to get a son and hubby out've your hair for a couple of hours!!!

I just bought this toy and all of the add ons.
The basic set has a comveyor belt that is touch sensitive or something like that. It automatically senses the balls in the collection bin and brings it up automatically with an annoying whirling noise. It can also be annoying if you haven't got the chutes set up right and the balls are flying everywhere. Also you have to drive the car to the back of the whole structure to fill up the collection bin which makes it tricky with the wires. I have the set up on the ground on top of a plastic mat as we have carpet. I may try to place the wires underneath the plastic mat to keep them somewhat out of the way. I am not sure why the wire coming out of the yellow conveyor thing is in the front end. Bizarre. The hoppers are alright. I believe you can control which hopper it lands in. Mine came broken so I am not sure about that. The truck backs into this plastic thing that release the balls into the back.
We figured out the remote control part alright. There wasn;t clear directions on the steps but looked at the pictures. It is plenty of fun however my kids heard me yell ... while putting it together. Several pieces(hopper, one of the chutes)either arrived broken or I must have twist it a bit too hard to get the pieces together (not likely as I can't find the remaining parts on the floor).
The dumptrunk is interesting in that when you press the button to raise the loader, when you keep pressing it -it makes the dump truck part dump thus dumping out all the things you just loaded.
Ok-other than these minor gripes...my kids will probably be busy with this toy for the next couple of weeks. My kids are working on directions and they are helping out the younger ones how to work the remote control. They are using problem solving,visual spacial, coordination, fine motor control, motor planning and cooperation. I bought three control pads for my kids. One comes with the kit but with three kids you would need three pads and three things they can run. I might add in two more for hubbie and I.
And don't forget batteries. 3AAA batteries for each running vehicle. There is only one in this set so just get 3 AAA batteries. By this way this toy took a significant amount of room in my living room floor. When you add on-it takes up the whole house. (I live in small townhouse though) The balls don't make it perfectly in any of the compartments and chutes so there will be balls everywhere. I am looking into their table. I wonder if it has edges to keep the balls from rolling off to be sucked up by the vacumn. I would think that a child of 6yrs would definitely need adult help putting it together. Those pieces are tight. My eight year old son didn't bother helping me put it together. He was overwhelmed just looking at the pictures and pieces. I am glad we have it and I hope the company will let me special order the pieces that were broken. I am not in the mood to trek back to Target the day before X-mas. (Yes we opened our Rokenbok two days before x-mas.) Too excited to keep it under wraps.