Techno Gears Marble Mania Extreme 2.0

by The Learning Journey

Product Features

• 330+ Colorful Construction Pieces
• Power Lifter Automatic Ball Returns
• Interlocking Plates Gears 3-D Connectors Shafts Channels Funnel And Pendulum
• Motorized Gear Unit
• Inspires Creativity

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 24 x 9.2 x 24 inches ; 5.6 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: B0007XIEX0
• Item model number: 455654
• Manufacturer recommended age: 8 - 12 years
• Batteries: 1 Nonstandard Battery batteries required.
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,161 in Toys & Games (See Top 100 in Toys & Games)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Techno Gears Marble Mania Extreme has over 330 pieces that can be used to create a marble run that will automatically take your marbles and move them through the run. The set includes multiple channels, 3-D connectors and structures, a power lifter and much more – everything necessary to build and “power up” hundreds of marble run designs. Requires one “AA” battery. Ages 8+ years.

Product Description

Techno Gears Marble Mania Extreme has over 330 pieces that can be used to create a marble run that will automatically take your marbles and move them through the run. The set includes multiple channels, 3-D connectors and structures, a power lifter and much more B? everything necessary to build and B?Power UpB? hundreds of marble run designs. Requires one B?AAB? battery. Ages 8+ years. Measures 9.45"L x 24.02"W x 9.45"H.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars a little frustrating, June 25, 2005

By 

D. Kelso (Birmingham AL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Durability:2.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:2.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:3.0 out of 5 stars 

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Techno Gears Marble Mania Extreme 2.0 (Toy)

The twin boys from next door loved Discovery Toys Marble Works, but it was starting to loose their interest. Thought I would "upgrade" to what looks like a very cool toy, adding gears and a "power lifter" to the "marble experience" and so i bought "Marble Mania"

It comes with about 25 different types of "parts" that all friction fit together. The manual is okay, but could really use a bigger format to make reading / reference easier. It took me about 5 very frustrating hours to assemble this monster. Hint: group the similar parts together and make sure you have the right piece...because if you don't you will have to take it all apart and start over. Also, the manual only illustrates the "pictured" construct...some alternatives that require different levels of understanding and demonstration of gear ratios and other "capabilities" would really enhance the learning "possibilities / fun".

Anyway, the base does not completely interlock and will only stay together if mounted on a tabletop or hard surface. This makes moving the toy very problematic. Hint: get a piece of wood plank and cut to size to provide a permanent base for the toy. This is not something you assemble, take apart and put away...just too complicated and time consuming to re-assemble.

The friction fit allows for quite a bit of "play" in the alignment of the various gears and slides and must be constantly adjusted to keep the gears and marbles running as planned. The unit only comes with 3 marbles...for $50, they could provide a bag full.

Still, the motorized "power lifter" is cool (if very slow) and the marble runs are pretty interesting, once you get the alignment of the supporting framework perfect. It held the boys interest for about 20 minutes...pretty long for these two. They are too little to experiment with alternative configurations which would probably be a lot of fun for a pre-teen.

I think this toy would be excellent if your child has the patience, skills and interest in creative problem solving required to assemble the structure. Children who could go beyond the pictured construct and build "experimental models" with these parts would have a lot of possibilities to explore.

Don't plan on a young child building this on their own or being able to use it unsupervised.

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for the mechanically inclined child, October 8, 2007

By 

Shay Chas (michigan) - See all my reviews

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

This review is from: Techno Gears Marble Mania Extreme 2.0 (Toy)

I bought this for my son when he was 4 years old because he absolutely loves marble runs (not just marbles), especially the complicated ones created at children's science centers. We chose to put together the display run and yes, it took quite a while to do as it used almost every part. (It took us 3 hours) You can just as easily construct a smaller run from the many pieces. We constructed it on a piece of wood so that we can move it around the house easily. My children ages 5 & 3 now, absolutely love this toy. The pieces move easily, however my son can now fix anything loose. Keep in mind, THE TOY IS RECOMMENDED FOR KIDS 6 AND OVER. If you don't want to help your kids with the toy, don't buy it until they are old enough to really work with it.

It is great for kids mechanically inclined because the kids can now take it apart and contstruct very simply to quite complicated marble runs. Think of it as a big box of Lego. If you need to use every piece, it will take a while to construct and be complicated. However, you can construct smaller runs and have endless possibilities.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Poor quality-broke before we got it assembled., August 25, 2005

By 

Involved Mom "Mom" (Fond du lac, WI) - See all my reviews

= Durability:1.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:2.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Techno Gears Marble Mania Extreme 2.0 (Toy)

I do not recommend this toy. Parts broke before we got the thing assembled-which by the way with children "helping" took two hours. Once assembled the kids had a great time until it started falling apart. Not a toy to put up and then store easily; more than likely you will put it up once and then never bring it out again.

I plan on returning it and trying again with another product.