Starter Kit

This item is great if for no other reason because you can leave that day's creation set up, it's not out on a floor, on a table or in the way so that it needs to be taken apart and put away--because of this, my boys (ages 6-13) at various points in a day will wander by, switch pieces around, and constantly change things up. It stays where it is and they come back to it later. They've even added parts from other plastic marble run sets that we have, as well as snorkle parts and other random household items whose original intent wasn't to function as part of a marble run--their ingenuity of adding to this starter kit has had endless creative results. We really love this and will buy more sets for future presents to keep adding to it. They originally complained a little about the putty that came with it, so I bought a couple different options from the store, it's not a perfect system by any means, but it's worked well enough for our purposes. Yes, the wall is now dirty and showing signs of wear, but well worth the sacrifice to me.

Bravo to the young inventor of this game! I think seeing the inspiration this young inventor gave my son (who's always been VERY much into "inventing" even drawing, to my complete amazement, a fairly accurate schematic drawing of how he thought the moving sidewalks at the airports worked, and a drawing of the different layers of a rock we'd found when he was like 5!?)Kids not totally plugged into video games LOVE the simplicity of creating a marble run and watching how they can tweak components to control the marble's movement to the end. This game would be a great introduction to logical/physics thinking for kids (but don't tell them that) as in, "I wonder how to make the marble do this?" or "How do I get it to not fall off the track?" The basic key is to encourage them to start VERY simple/gradual-just with the objective of getting the marble to run the full course (thus teaching them patience to gain knowledge, experience to work up to multi-jumping courses. There are actually videos of massive marble runs for this on Youtube that will blow you away!).Unfortunately, as in other cases, I think I discovered this toy when my son was too old (10, almost 11 at the time), more into video games than marble runs. I purchased the base kit along with the "deluxe" kit (really a must to go beyond a traditional small scale marble run). Essentially, it's a bunch of plastic tracks, tubes and funnels you stick to your wall using the included plumber's putty (note that and just go buy a small $3 jar of it so that you have enough to stick the pieces on the wall).He and I initially had a blast sticking the pieces to a large wall and created a fairly complicated track covering about 6'x 6' with jumps and ramps. Unfortunately, I didn't take the baseboard heating element along the wall into consideration and we quickly lost several of the included lightweight marbles (plastic, not standard glass marbles) since many MANY of the marbles just fell off the track. Some angle adjustments and speed controls helped. The included tubes, which you're supposed to bend into shapes with included rubber bands are too rigid to bend into tight turns as you'd expect.Here are a few helpful hints;1)Make sure you have a clear "drop zone" for marbles that fall off of the track2)Use only pea-sized balls of the putty AND soften/squish/recondition the putty before reusing (you can reuse it several times).3)Start with gradual angles-it's far more satisfying to watch the marbles travel the *entire track* than go fast and fall off, especially in the beginning.4)REMOVE THE PIECES *IMMEDIATELY* WHEN YOU'RE DONE PLAYING! We left our "working" track on the wall for several weeks, then when I decided to pack it up, it ripped deep holes in the paint/drywall when I removed it, no doubt because I'd left it in place for so long-(prior to that, the putty left NO marks or damage to the wall at all).5)This doesn't use standard glass marbles-it comes with lightweight plastic marbles. Maybe it could be adapted to use regular marbles, but I think they're just too heavy for the putty.The pieces fell off frequently, adding to the frustration level (on top of several marbles just falling off the track into oblivion). He had some of his friends over and *they* were really into it-but after pieces kept falling off, they also quickly lost interest.If I'd purchased this for him when he was say 6 to 8, I'm *sure* he would've LOVED it and it was a fun way for us to "build" something together, use creativity, apply basic physics, have a HUGE customized marble run, but again, at his age, sadly, it just wasn't as exciting as video games.

Sticks to the window for about 15 minutes. I think one spit of my chew would make this stick better to any surface then this wet toilet paper they send you. If you want to be constantly setting your kid up for failure, buy this. Every time you think you have something cool set up, they get one marble down it and then three pieces fall off. You manage to clean all the disgusting stuff off the white tacky goober they sent you and put it back up. It stays!! Two different pieces fall off! It’s a never ending cycle people! Don’t do it! It’s like wiping before you poop! It doesn’t make sense. It is fun when it works though.

Not as cool as we thought it would be. My son loves the create- your- own marble maze toys so when we saw this stuck to the wall we wanted to try it. It's just ok. There's a ton a potential, but you need to rip off and roll up pieces of "fun tac" or "sticky tac" to adhere the tracks and tubes to the wall. After 15 minutes or some of the tracks started to fall. Other tracks stuck so well that when I went to remove it, the tac removed a piece of the painted drywall, so not I need to patch and repaint some areas. Also, the tube are a cool idea, but don't bend well, so it pops off the wall and can get frustrating.

I had high hopes for this product. My kids spend long hours before I got this product putting together contractions to role marvels. but when I got this product it did not work at all. It is difficult to set on the wall. the tubes are difficult to set and they move constantly. it was a disaster. I do not recommend this product for any reason.

Bought this for our 6 1/2 yr old grandson for Christmas. Boy was it a hit! Although he received many gifts, this was was quickly out of the package and being put together. It is a toy that can be as simple or complex as you want it to be. We used our sliding glass doors as the "wall". He immediately grasped the concept and had fun testing angles, etc for best ball role. Here comes the best part......several of the adults present got hours of enjoyment as well! When our grandson was heading home the next day, it was easily removed from the wall and replaced in its box. Cleanup of glass "wall" was super easy. I highly recommend this for all ages.

The walls we used are in badly in need of paint so the puddy did not stick as well as we liked. About 50% or more of the marbles jumped the track. That being said my kids spent a solid week working the track over. We bought two variety kits and we built a track along the stairwell together... about 4 of us working together and it was great fun. Just wish the parts hadn't jumped off the wall so much.