ShapeScapeS

by ShapeScapeS

Product Features

• over 90 pieces of non-toxic plastic
• variety of colors: red, green, blue, yellow, white, and black
• each piece easily interlocks into another
• includes brochure to stimulate ideas
• packaged in a cylinder (4" Diameter) with a lid for storage

Product Details

• Item Weight: 2 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• ASIN: B0018Z26JY
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #191,488 in Toys & Games (See Top 100 in Toys & Games)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

Product Description

This construction toy contains over 90 colorful pieces in whimsicle shapes and a range of colors. There are no buttons to push, no batteries to install; to "operate" it, you just need hands and an imagination. ShapeScapeS inspires you to create an endless array of fabulous structures. Make a bird, a person, a sailboat or somethng of your own invention. You direct the play. ShapeScapeS are easy to put together and pull apart. You can make as many sculptures, wall hangings and mobiles as you like. It will captivate your imagination and free the artist within no matter what your age. Created by Los Angeles sculpture, Peter Mayor, this beautifully simple toy has been designed to stimulate innovative play and increase children's special skills and color awareness.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Miro, ready to go, March 29, 2010

By 

Gary David Bouton (Central NY) - See all my reviews

= Durability:4.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:1.0 out of 5 stars 

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: ShapeScapeS (Toy)

ShapeScapes is a construction toy geared toward adults; similar to a flat version of zoLo, it comes well-packed in a storage tube, plenty of shapes made of fairly sturdy plastic...and you just forget any sort of instructions! The shapes themselves harden in look and spirit to the Impressionist paintings of Joan Miro, and it's hard NOT to build a 3D sculpture that resembles something Miro might have painted.

You won't have to hide your child's play after you've built something, either. A ShapeShapeS sculpture can perk up the den as a display piece and sure beats the stuffed bear you won at the fair 5 years ago.

It's just fun, a tad on the pricey, but well-made and a novel concept for anyone who likes to play with Legos, but has grown out of the school of Cubism.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Unique, Artistic, Fun Toy, March 16, 2010

By 

goonius (a room in a house on a street in a city just like any other.) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

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

This review is from: ShapeScapeS (Toy)

I might have given Shapescapes five stars had I simply happened onto them and not had high (perhaps too high?) expectations. Overall, this is a really cool, different toy. I don't think there's anything quite like it out there, which is why I was so ecstatic when I found it while shopping online. It's nearly perfect. Almost. But not quite.

There's definitely a lot you can do with the 90-odd pieces in the box. However, don't expect to recreate easily the pieces shown in the stock photos. The pieces in each set are apparently varied in color. It would take a good bit of thought to match the different colored pieces to those shown the the photos. Of course, I've got no aversion to thinking but I was rather surprised at how different our pieces seemed. No matter, the fun is in creating your own designs.

Because there are a number of easily-identifiable, yet absolutely open-ended pieces (ie. one piece vaguely resembles a man's face, other pieces could double as feet or hands or paws on an animal, and there are four circles that are perfect for wheels, and so forth) you find yourself immediately inspired to create a few obvious things; a humanoid figure or robot, animals, a vehicle. Then these same pieces and others which tend more toward simple geometric shapes are great for just making really strange abstract art, which is what my kids are inspired to do with them.

Really, I only have two complaints with this toy. They're minor ones, but they are the reason I withheld one star rating. Basically they concern the way that pieces attach to one another.

First is that the pieces fit very tightly together - a little too much so - at least when the toy is new, as ours is. This can be especially annoying if you've got a structure in mind, and have partially created it but find that everything goes cattywompus when you have to force the next piece on. Then you have to go about rearranging things and so on and so on each time you add a new pieces.

This is less a problem when you fit pieces together using the designated grooves, which brings me to my second issue. It seems each time I'm especially in need of one of those designated grooves to complete the design I have in mind, there's not one to be found. In fact, I feel as if they were stingy with grooves on many of the pieces, and that leads to problem number one - everything going cattywompus because fitting a piece on without a groove is inherently less stable. Hmm.... Maybe that's only one complaint.

Anyway, the bottom line is this: I think minor improvements could be made so that pairing one's imagination with the building experience would be less tedious. A few adjustments would allow for more actual possibilities, but this doesn't actually harm the integrity of the toy significantly. It's still a great toy, and there aren't a lot of great toys these days, nor are there a lot of new, fresh, original ideas.

My kids, two and four years, actually seem to enjoy Shapescapes a great deal, and while they experience some minor frustrations with the aforementioned issues, they are willing to build things in a more spontaneous manner and don't experience an adult's frustration with the limitations.

Of course, I didn't actually buy this one for the kids. I bought it for my husband. Its other truly redeeming value is that it's absolutely fun for all ages!

So, I wouldn't pass it up - certainly not - in fact I'd highly recommend it. But it's only fair to have realistic expectations about the limitations of the toy as well as to very cool possibilities.

*Because I'm a stickler for country of origin in kids' toys, I find it worth noting that this toy - as most are - is made in China. Though the plastic type isn't identified anywhere on the packaging, it is a slightly textured, rigid, but not completely inflexible plastic. My best guess is that these are made of HDPE, which is generally considered to be one of the safest plastics. Aside from the choking risk with the smallest pieces (which can be removed) this would be a pretty safe toy even for younger kids.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect for a range of ages, September 18, 2008

By 

L. Bradley (MS) - 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: ShapeScapeS (Toy)

This collection of organic shapes which can be put together to create amazing creatures or fantasy vehicles, I bought at a museum to take on vacation with grandchildren, ages 9,7, and 3. With no prompting or adult help, they each began to build their own projects. While the big boys hiked, 3 year old granddaughter played with shapescapes for several hours on the rug while we were hosting relatives. I came home and bought more from Amazon and now have sets for each for Christmas. Best I have ever provided for their entertainment.
[ASIN:B0018Z26JY ShapeScapeS]]