Customer Reviews

TINKERTOY Building Manual: Graphic Instructions for 37 World-Famous Designs

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

 

 

My 6yr old daughter LOVES tinkertoys. She makes some incredible "inventions" When I saw that this book/cd was coming out I was so excited and purchased it for her. The book is easy to flip thru but they show you the end product first and then 2-3 pages of how to put it together. Problem is, there isn't a finished product at the end so you have to go back 3 or so pages to see the first picture to see how it all fits together. It wouldn't be such a pain but the book isn't spiral bound so you need have a weight on it if you are trying to build and look at the same time. My daughter was getting frustrated. The interactive CD is not interactive at all. It is the basically book pages on a CD-ROM. I was thinking it might be a little more involved. Overall the concept is great and the building ideas are fun but I think the book could have been a little better.

I have to agree with some of the previous reviewers:

Some of the designs are incorrect and violate the laws of physics such as the "duck" and the "dragster." Wood rods are not flexible and do not bend without breaking. You have to be innovative and change things so that they resemble the drawings in the book. The diagram's rods are colored randomly. They should be consistent and have a legend in the book specifying the length of each rod color.

This is not a step by step building manual like the vintage tinkertoys used to have. You can tell that the author never tried assembling these designs to make sure that they work. He just assumed that because they are licensed by Hasbro they have to work, wrong!

Most of the drawings in the book are just conceptual artistic designs. You have to improvise a lot to make the pieces fit without breaking them.

I also agree that the book should have been spiral bound to make it easier to look at the pages.

In summary, if you like to build things this book will give you some ideas or maybe you don't need it. If you need a step by step instruction manual, skip it.

This book is awful. I have made several of the creations in this book - or at least attempted to... Nothing works the way it is written. I find myself having to go back and change things just to get something resembling what it should. Some of the angles that the book expects are impossible with the way the tinkertoys are made (not to mention that I have damaged some of the rods in attempting these angles). I believe these ideas must never have been tested (or they changed the length of all the rods since it was written... Copyright on my copy is 2007). Not sure which it is, but I cannot stand this book. A total waste of money and time!! Don't buy it. You will be disappointed.

This book is a great idea, but is a disaster at a practical level - many of the designs are inaccurate, have the wrong color sticks and defy the laws of tinkertoy (and linear) geometry. Trying to explain to a six year old why the design doesn't work when we start trying to put it together is no fun!

The book is a great go with for the Tinker Toys---- My 4 year old and 5 year old Grandsons both enjoy the toy and looking at the book --- they haven't quite got the hang of building from the book but it lets them see what can be built --- the Tinker Toys were a great idea for them -- the older simpler toys lets them use their imaginations ---

I returned this book. The biggest problem is that the color for each spoke does NOT match what color the actual spokes are. And it might be one thing if, for instance, all the book's "blues" were actually "greens", but the diagram's spokes are colored randomly. I think that is why one reviewer commented on the impossibility of some the angles - the angles were possible, but just not for the colors shown.

I never opened the CD so can't comment on it.

And as one reviewer said, a spiral bound format would have been much better.

As I stated in a previous review, we have loved our Tinker Toys, but even with all that fun we lacked focus and clear ideas for building. This book has certainly taken care of that. It has been a wonderful addition to our collection of creative books and has definately instigated more creativity with our Tinker Toys. A great purchase to get the creative juices of your kids flowing.

A wonderful book, but buyer beware. Latest issued tinkertoy buyers will be disappointed that plans reflect previously issued pieces (some pieces aren't even part of the now issued 225 can.)

A great manual, but best for the collector.

My grandson is 5 and he loved this book that showed the diagram and spelled the word that he was building!! So glad I bought this along with the Tinker toys!

Most of these illustrations are wrong, you are better off with your imagination. Dont waste your money on the book or the tinker toys that wont stay together. They are not made in the USA like they used to be, but then what is ????