Editorial Review

This handy 10-by-10-inch LEGO base plate, made of sturdy green plastic, is the perfect building surface for your LEGO creations. The plate's textured surface is designed so that you can attach your LEGO pieces to it and create all sorts of scenes: castles, fortresses, farms, towns, or anything else you can imagine. With the base plate, even your more elaborate creations will hold together and be easy to transport and display. (LEGO pieces are sold separately.) --Elisabeth Fredrickson ... Read more

Reviews (8)

This baseplate greatly resembles the earth's crust
This is a comment in response to the review from the "Toy Enthusiast in Belmont"; perhaps he should become a little less enthused about toys and more enthused about the english language. The definition of Geology is as follows:

ge·ol·o·gy ( P ) Pronunciation Key (j-l-j)
n. pl. ge·ol·o·gies
1. The scientific study of the origin, history, and structure of the earth.
2. The structure of a specific region of the earth's crust.
A book on geology.
3. The scientific study of the origin, history, and structure of the solid matter of a celestial body.

I'm interested in learning what significance this term has in reference to the Large Green Baseplate. Perhaps he should spend less time playing legos and get an education. I suggest a geometry class for starters (but that's just me......)

Great for building a quidditch pitch!!
I was a bit disappointed with the quidditch practice LEGO set so I decided to buy this green baseplate and to buy two of the quidditch practice sets to make the ultimate quidditch pitch. I had a lot of fun and whatever you use this for it is sure to be a lot of fun

This Leggo baseplate Y
This baseplate makes it very easy for the kids to build their toys. No slipping all over the place and makes a lovely base to display the toys.

Essential for Lego Builders
My son has at least four of these boards, and he uses them all the time. I agree with the reviewer from Virginia that these should be included with every major set because the Legos do fall apart when they have to be transported from one place to another. I also think the boards are somewhat expensive, but at least they're sturdy and you can connect them with Lego blocks to build bigger scenes.

Gray base plate is better!
My daughter and I have found the 15X15" baseplate a better size to make our structures on. If Lego would market an even huger one, my heart would be content! ... Read more

Editorial Review

Although we suspect that real pirates were never actually this benign when they menacingly patrolled the high seas, looking for booty to loot, the lack of realism is completely forgivable since these pirates look like a lot of fun. The included eye-patched captain and happy crewmember carry no guns, choosing instead to cavort on the high seas with a parrot, a monkey, and a mermaid. Only the large cannon connotes any hint of menace although were certain they only use it for celebratory purposes. Pirate music and ocean sounds, played at the touch of a button, add to the fun. There are 12 blocks in all and they are all compatible with other Mega Bloks sets, creating plenty of possibilities for creative play even outside the narrow bounds of the buccaneers life. --Charlie Williams ... Read more

Reviews (3)

OK........................
When I Started on this Ferris Wheel i had no idea how big it would realy be! it took me at least a hour and a half to comppleat this ferris wheel by my self "whith a lot of years under my belt". when it was done i did have some trouble with th emoter but it was fine. ADVICE- DO NOT connect the controller to the inside when building the swings, My Cuz did it and broke the peices becuse everytime u wanted to shut it off you would have to stop the ride with your hand.

Fun Toy
I worked on this with my mom and my two sisters (9 and 5). It took me the whole day to finish it. When my mom and sisters took a break, I just kept going!. This toy was so fun i coulnd't stop. I was determined to finished. Finally I did and now i don't want to take it apart. I built the "Boom Ride". I had trouble with the motor because you need to do it a little diferently from the directions, and need to hold it in place for the first couple of tries. It's kindof hard to put the chairs together, but its alot of fun.

Great fun!
This is a great set of models to build. My 11 year old daughter worked on this for several hours with her cousins (12 and 16 year old boys). Once they were done, they took it apart and built it again. Several months later, the box was opened up and built again. This much more manageable to build than the large roller coaster set that takes a lot more perserverance. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Awesome! From an 11 year old
This kit is very good for anybody who likes to build. Although there are only 7 pieces of tracing paper to go with it, you can always buy more at an office supply store. It's the best thing ever! Jordan ... Read more

Editorial Review

This 15-inch-square green base plate provides a building surface for anyDUPLO set. It is made of the same sturdy, impact-resistant plastic as other DUPLO toys, and has smooth, rounded edges. DUPLO sets are designed for use by toddlers (ages 18 months to 5 years), and have bigger pieces and more rounded shapes than traditional LEGO pieces, so they can accommodate the needs of younger users. If you are shopping for a baby, try the LEGO PRIMO sets, which are even bigger and easier to handle. --Katherine Ferguson ... Read more

Reviews (11)

A must have if you have Duplo
A base plate will make Duplo easier to use for your toddler. It provides a great base for their structures and towers. And if they want to keep their "masterpieces" up for a few days it makes it very easy for you to pick up the entire structure and put it somewhere safe until the next day. An fantastic accessory for any Duplo set.

Not just for Duplos!
My two-year-old daughter was just given one of these and a nice big tub of Duplos. Without a base, all she could do was build long chains of a single block type (and she'd get frustrated when the tower wouldn't hold together perfectly). I had tried to get her to see how to link things in other ways, but she just didn't see it. Enter the baseplate. Aha! She suddenly figured out what to do with the blocks, and builds little walls and houses and beds and things. Much more fun. It's also much more fun for Mom and Dad to play along with her when we can get more creative.

Now, here's the kicker. She had had a set of Maxi Mega Blocks for ages, but hadn't used them much (because of the tower-building problem). It turns out that Maxi Mega Blocks will also fit on this baseplate! You can't build Duplos on top of them, but that's not a big problem here. The Duplo baseplate rejuvenated the Maxi Mega Blocks as a cool toy for a toddler who likes to build.

If you're thinking about buying something for a kid who is too young for Duplos, try Maxi Mega Blocks and a Duplo baseplate (the Primo sets are nowhere near as good as MMB for actual building).

The only bummer is that the baseplate we have is rather thin and flexible, and I'm worried about her stepping on it and breaking it (hence the 3 stars for durability). It hasn't broken yet, but I've taken a fair bit of care to make sure of that. But don't let this deter you!

Duplo Baseplate
It has been the best to buy. This keeps the duplo in place and less cleaning. My 2 year old loves it. I had a toddler table and used velcro to attach it, instead of buying the table.

Great.

A essential piece of equipment
An essential piece of equipment for the Duplo blocks!

highly recommended
if you bought any type of duplo set for your little one, you totally need this! it goes hand in hand to keep your little busy. ... Read more

Reviews (11)

Interesting, good for dexterity
I bought this as a change of pace to Duplo blocks, which my 3-yr-old daughter plays with every day. The kit is fairly small, so it would seem that there are few things to create with it. Not so! She makes everything from satellites to lollipops and bouquets of flowers. She was initially interested in the "creature" creations but now finds the challenge of snapping the pieces into limitless combinations engaging. We found that creating the creatures was difficult, since the "feet" and "eyes" are oddly weighted and often cause your creature to be unable to stand. A child with better understanding of weights and balances will have more fun making creatures.

Pros: it takes some dexterity and even hand strength to snap the pieces together. It has a nice, compact case with a handle. K'Nex teaches another kind of connection than the standard block. The abstract nature of these kits really engages kids' imagination.

Cons: A few of the pieces are a choking hazard to anyone under three. Even the long "sticks" could prove disastrous to a child that is unable to resist mouthing and running around. You child may need your help a lot in the beginning until they get the hang of how the pieces attach to each other.

Great Toy
I purchased this for my 4 yr old daughter before going on a trip to keep her busy and this was the only toy she played with the entire time. This was over two months ago and every day she is still playing with this set and building something new. We are amazed at her creativity and the complexity of her designs. I plan on including this on my gift giving list. It is the best toy buy we have made in quite a while.

Best quiet-time toy in the house
This is a truly amazing toy. Both of our boys (3 and 5) play with our sets (we have several) almost every day and it never bores them. I have been most impressed with the way even the younger boy is able to follow the included directions to build really fun toys, almost without any help from us. He has now progressed to inventing his own toys, which are increasingly complex and three dimensional. Including eyes, feet, ears, wheels and propellers was inspired--it allows kids to make animals, people and "space aliens" to play with. Our only problem with the sets are that the boys don't like to put them away, and with so many small pieces picking up is essential. This is also one of our favorite birthday presents for other kids.

Amazing
My child loves a ton of toys, but this one inspires him. The only problem is that he has gotten in trouble for not being able to take his mind off of them long enough to eat breakfast. He's not terrific with small motor skills but he can handle these, he can follow the directions because of the colored pieces and their distinctive shapes and the eyes seem to make them even more interesting. It's as if he is making a small friend. Then, he started making objects outside of the directions and there's no stopping him.

Love this toy!
My son received this set for his 3rd birthday and just loved it. He and his brother play for hours with the pieces, building everything in the manual they give and anything they can think of. Now that my son is turning 4, he is getting more sets so he can build even more things! ... Read more

Reviews (11)

Fer Shizzle toy ever! :) :0 (:
this toy is really cool. it is fun because you can do just about anything with it, and you can make up your own story. its durable because it is just about impossible to break and its educational because you can create new things with them. Also, it's cool to take tahu nuva's swords and put them on him

Vakama
This bionicle is awesome!!! I have many sets and am getting the new vahki from lego magazine. This toy is fun because you can shoot your other bionicles, you can make your on little story, and other stuff. It is educational because you need to use your head to build it. It is durable but if it drops or something some pieces could fall off but it is still pretty durable. Over all I think this set is one of the best there is, but stay tuned... the Vahki are COMING!!!!!

SUPER COOL BIONCLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This boincle is so cool! It can realy throw the disk and hard!
All of them are too cool but I have to say that the red one is the best of them all!A BOINCLE is hard to build but is fun when it is ready to play! I have most of the BOINCLES but I`m on the lookout for more. I need MAKUTA and the mask of light and all of the maunta nui toa and the boarocks then I`m finished , got them all then. They are so cool!

educational, but FUN !!
mnay people say that building things takes a lot of hard work and lots of brains lego is almost the same thing first you have to use your BRAIN to make the thing second after the toy is finished you could play and play does mean to have fun with a toy or game making this bionicle also takes patience which parents likes in children and concentration which parents also like so if your parent or your self thinks this is a good toy your wrong its an AWSOME toy

Ka- Boom! It's VAKAMA!!!!!
This dude is awesome!!! The disc launcher is too cool. And
that disc is 2 awesome!!!! Besides, you can't get
it ANYWERE else, only with him.

He is 2 awesome!!!!!! ... Read more

Reviews (7)

The best blocks for the littlest babies
My son would beam himself in the head with just about everything when he was younger. These were the only blocks I would consider and he loved them from day one (about four months old). He plays with them in the high chair after eating and they keep him entertained for quite a while. They are also great for teething. He is now ten months old and still loves these blocks. He plays more appropriately with harder blocks as well, but we still love these best.

Wonderul Pooh Toy
I think I had as much fun playing with these blocks as my son did. They are very cute and so much fun to stack and knock over. I usually did the stacking. These kept us busy for hours. Wonderful blocks that are highly recommended.

This is a great toy
My mother recently bought these blocks for my little brother that we are adopting. I was a little bothered by the smell at first to but it really doesn't matter. So what if they are banned in Dutch Toys'r'us stores because if they were making kids sick then they would ban them in the U.S. Don't not buy this toy because that review because they will definatlly keep your child busy.

Almost a 5
My daughter recently cut three teeth, and she loves the soft blocks. She loves to knock them over when her daddy stacks them, too. The only flaw... they are a bit smelly. They remind me of my dog's chew toys a little bit.

Very Chewable!
My 6 month old daughter loves these blocks. They are soft, squeaky and seem to help satisfy her urge to chew things. They are a definite favorite and a great value for the money. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

molly's advise reveiw
If you buy this for your child then you are making the right decision because this toy will tech your child how gravity works. This toy will also last along time and it will stay in contact. It will stay in contact for awhile because the lego don't break but it might fall apart.

am.........
ok well its ok to build but small and not durble. i think it was pretty fun.

This is the greatest Lego Sports set ever
Not only is easy to put together, which my finger pads appreciate, but there are a ton of different things that you can do with this set. We bought this for my 7 year old during a 4 day cabin vacation, and he literally played with it the entire time. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Mix one 82-piece box of Gears! Gears! Gears! Gizmos with a handful of children and what do you get? A tableful of swirling, whirling, twisting, turning, cross-your-eyeballs thingamajigs! The Gizmos advanced set includes some unusual connectors, including a couple of comical 8-inch springs, some angled joints, and a working propeller--along with a generous helping of the basic stuff. With three sizes of meshing, stackable gears, and simple snap-together bases that can be arranged scores of ways, kids have the freedom to create all kinds of gyrating gadgets. Even with the outlandish decals and Day-Glo shades, Gears manages to teach budding builders an astonishing amount about how machines work. --Julie Ubben ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Fun
Gears was bought for my 4 year old nephew and he just loves it.
I would recommend this toy for education, imagination, and just plain fun!!!

Gear, Gears, Gears Motorized Monsters
I bought the Motorized Monsters set here (I don't see it listed now) based on fabulous reviews. I was very disappointed in the set and so was my 6 year old son. It is noisy, clunky and not at all the fun toy that we were expecting.

Fun and educational; should get more for money
My 5 year old son has advanced rapidly in just two days of playing with this. He is describing and building complicated gear layouts that incorporate gears of different sizes and gears at different angles to one another. Very nice!

My main complaint is that the set should include more pieces. I cannot see more than two kids playing with the contents of this set, and even then I think there would be some fighting for scarce pieces.

PROS
* Durable pieces
* Well-designed pieces connect well and allow for excellent spinning action of the gears
* The type of toy that kids will play with for hours on end and go back to again and again

CONS
* Not enough pieces for the price; you can get hundreds of lego bricks for the same price
* What do the gears *move*? There is only one propeller included and no wheels or other items that gears might control. Instead, we just tend to move more gears, which is fine for a 5 year old but not for an 8 year old

PURCHASING RECOMMENDATION
This is fun and very educational. I will buy the additional sets and give this one as a gift to other kids. I do wish they put more pieces in it, but it still is worth buying.

Fun for the whole family
I bought this gift for my nephew. It seems to be a great toy. All ages from 6 to 44 sat down and played with this toy. The only thing was the hand cranks came off way to easy. And one of the springs that rotates broke off within 15 minutes. We will look into getting that replaced though. Lots of fun for all ages.

A great add on
We have the original Gears! Set and love it. This is an add on that you can use to make bigger, better, more exciting things.

This inspires creativity, fun and imagination. It is more than a push the button type of toy to make some annoying noise. This encourages exploration of the world around you and more.

My husband and father (both engineers) love this toy and have a ball getting down on the floor playing with my son while he tries to put new contraptions together. This addition only makes it more fun.

If you are like and look for toys that inspire imagination, exploration, creativity. If you want toys that are not very loud and are easy to play with. If you want something that the whole family can enjoy. If you want a toy that is more than a push the button type of toy, this is the toy you might want.

My only complaint of sorts? I wish that there were books available for each add on set that is available similar to the book you can buy for the original Gears! set. And maybe there are books out there, but I haven't found them.

Enjoy. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Toa-beasts? seems that combo is a little creepy.
I've gotten this one recently. I customized it and added it to my unbeatable Bionicle army. The thing that annoys me though is that the flame weapons are RUBBERY! I can't make a new weapon out of something that has no stable structure. BIG disappointment! The thing that made me want to get it is the Rhotuka spinners. They go 50 ft! The only thing I have to do now is make a way to snipe with them. I'm off to brainstorm!

-Willsburo

let e`r ip!
guns on thier backs? shoot on to buy this kit!!to find out more about the transformed toa metru,read bionicle adventures#7.or i`ll tellyou. the evil visorak ,and their queen,roodaka,planned it.go to a book store or fair.get the toa hordika.

Spinners on bionciles!!!
What I think is cool about this bionicle is that it has a spinner ot it!The spinner can really fly, and it can go 25-50ft!!! Also, if you have bionicle comic #22, they listmultiplayer games you can play with the spinners.There are other bionicles with spinners and every new bionicle in 2005 is going to have a spinner!Thanks for reading this review!!!

This is just ridiculous
Lego is trying to milk all the money out of Bionicle as they can.I remember the good old days when there were only toa, turaga, and bohrok.Those were the good old days. Now Lego has kept adding on with more ridiclously priced sets and ever increasing models.This is what, the fifth set of toa?I will stick with the old sets and remember the good times of Bionicle.

great fun for kids and adults
they'redurable and funny, i'm 13 but my father of 40 play with them too. is very pleasing play in family making fussions and fighting with them. i have a great expirience with that to learn a little bit of mechanics.
... Read more

Reviews (4)

My daughter loves this toy
I purchased this toy for my daughter when she was 9 months old. She is now a year old and has loved this toy from the first day she got it. When she first got the toy she would pull the animals off of their little stools. Now she pushes the buttons to make sounds. She has also started pushing the tractor around the house. She enjoys listening to the animal sounds and music. I don't think she will get tired of this toy for some time since she still needs to learn how to build the blocks and pretend play. It is still the first toy she grabs when she wakes up in the morning. This is a great toy and my husband and I enjoy it as well.

2 year old son LOVES this
My 2 year old son can't get enough of this play set. He is so into mega blocks now. He puts all the figures in the tractor and makes all the sounds of the animals. I like that it has 3 options for volume and that the plastic is durable.

A favorite Mega Bloks toy!
My son saw this in the store when he was 10 months old and was immediately attracted to it! We could barely pry it away from his grasp, so we just had to buy it.
He's now 14 months and still absolutely loves to play with it. He thinks the music is just great. It also has three different volume levels- which is nice from my perspective.
The top of the barn comes just below his waist, so he do some building with the blocks even from a standing position.
He also has the fire truck, the boat and the Mega Truck. This seems to be the easiest and most fun to build on to. He also likes the see-saw in the front of the barn that he can put a couple of animals, or the farmer, on.
If there was one negative thing about this toy, I'd say that it's the doors of the barn loft. They come off very easily and are difficult for him to open when they are closed.
Other than that, it's been great!

He Loves It!
My 9-month-old son loves this toy. It is fun to eat and keeps his attention for lengths of time. It is also the first toy where my son and his 4 and 7-year-old cousins actually play "together." ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A keeper!
I bought 2 of this for 2 3-yr-olds at my son's daycare. They happened to be Bob the Builder fans and really loved this toolset!

Build Fine-Motor Skills with a favorite toy!
Besides being one of my son's favorite toys, I feel great about him playing with it all the time because he is building on his fine motor skills. Also, it is adorable to watch him follow his father around the house when his father fixes things. Cleap up is made easy by the tool box that comes with it - and this toy is holding up unbelivablly well considering how quickly my son's toys normally break! ... Read more

Reviews (20)

Fun to build, tricky to play with
Based on the response from my 6-year-old son, this toy is pretty cool. The cycle was challenging to build, however the instructions were very easy to follow. The Toa builds very similarly to other Bionicles and comes with his unique Mask of Light. The only problem we have is that the Toa's arms pop off when you take him off of his cycle, which can become a little frustrating. All-in-all, good choice for a Bionicle lover.

will the bionicles keep on coming?
This is the third time around for these guys.They look too alike I think but they are OK!

Takanuva rulez!!!!!!
Takanuva could be a few dollars less expensive, maybe 4 or 5, but other than that it's an awesome toy! I reccomend it to ages 8 through 12. It's a little hard to build, but that's the fun part! It's cool putting the other Toas on Takanuva's motorcycle. One of the best things about Takanuva is his mask -it's so cool! I like putting other masks on him and putting his mask on Takua. I'm twelve, so kids of other ages might think different of Takanuva.

takanuva is sssooooooooooooooooooooooo cool by lehrahk780
woh this i gotta say is the most successful(did i spell that right?)seeing it is rated 5 stars all throgh the reviews. i thought the rahkshi better but anyways i got dissapointed on mnolg(for those that dont know its mata nui online game its not for sale it used to be availible on bionicle.com i heard its going to be availibe to all lego club members later) that i could fight makuta (i like to fight the big bad guys now all thats left is to fight cadohk and gahdok) i got exited but i got to the end and you couldnt that got me exited who made that rumer? then i got bionicle the game and i completed my lifes "dream" (lol) with takanuva if i somehow fight the borohk queens then i will like him even more

Takanuva, the strongest Toa.
This toy is really cool. It comes with the Mask of Light (which you can't get anywhere else) and a grey Tahu mask (people who have seen the Bionicle: the movie know what it is). You can build Takanuva and his cycle and it gets pretty tricky at one part, but that's the fun of it. Takanuva looks cooler than any of the other Toa. His mask stays on to his face better than the standard Toa mask and it shines when you expose it to light. He also comes with a staff which he can swing up and down like the other Toa. He can also attach it to his back. The cycle is cool too. If you push a switch it puts out its landing gear and stays in place. You can also put kraati in 3 secret compartments. It doesn't come with kraati so you should buy a pack of them seperatly. Overall this is a great thing to have, either for a display model or a toy to play with. You also might want to buy Makuta so you can combine him with Takanuva to make Takutanuva. Then you can pretend to destroy Mata Nui or use him to scare your little sister. ... Read more

Editorial Review

The M1A1 Abrams weighs 70 tons and is powered by a 1500 HP gas turbine; luckily, this MegaBloks version is a more wieldy 18.5 inches, and doesn’t use any gas at all. Still, at 850 pieces, it’s a complex vehicle and should keep any junior engineer happy for many hours even before its first deployment. All parts are pale tan or black, except a small sheet of decals and a camouflage cover. No painting is required, but for authentic desert colors, two washable "Camosticks" in black and dark brown are included, along with complete 75-step assembly instructions. --Richard Farr ... Read more

Reviews (8)

The best Tank ever
This tank has everything you could ask for!!!!!! This tank is the best thing i have ever ouned. I love to play with MEGA BLOKS and LEGOs and this is by far the most funnest thing i have ever played with. This thing will give you hours of fun and excitment!!!!!

KICKIN'
My brother is a mega blok expert (he has put together about 9 of them, all pro builder). He loves the tank and doesn't have any problems with it. He says that building these is cheaper than therapy, and he needs a lot of therapy.
We would recommend it to anyone who has some time to spend and enjoys projects like this.

Better Value Than Legos
I grew up on Legos, owning much of the Main Street USA collection back in the early to mid 80s when I was a kid. Their advanced model sets always intrigued me, but my parents would never buy them and by the time I could myself, production had stopped in favor of movie lines and sci-fi schlock.

I started looking over kits in my local store and found that Mega Bloks consistantly got more pieces for a fraction of the price of legos (kits that cost the same were often 3 times the pieces and twice the size once assembled). I finally ordered the M1A1 Abrams tank online and went too it. It is an extremely complicated design, but very fun to put together with instructions that are easy to follow (but must be followed, I wouldn't have guessed how to assemble it). They make very good use of 'stock' pieces to make the tank, without requiring many speciaty pieces except for teh gun barrel, the camo net on the side, the treads, and the skirt around the treads.

This is a great introduction to 'Lego-like' modelling and while I might recommend a smaller model first, this tank is definitely fun and looks great once completely. I would recommend other Mega Blok kits based on the strength of this one if you end up liking it.

The only drawbacks to this is how the turret is attached seems a bit wobbly at times, and the skirts do not have any secondary support to hold them on, which seems to clash with the double-triple reinforcements most pieces receive through the construction process.

PS: I've not gotten the heart to try the camo sticks. I think I'll stick with the base yellow / desert look of the Abrams once assembled.

Very good model
This is a really great model when it is finished. However the ton of flat pieces are pretty hard to put together and the whole tank could fall apart if one comes loose(which always happens), so I recommend you gently use a hammer to tap them together. I find no problems with the side pannels, although they ought to be more securely fastened. Also, the turret is not very well fastened to the body, and if you flip the model upside down it will fall of. If you have extra bricks at home(especially rotating ones) I suggest you use those to help fasten the turret to the body.Also, do not use the camo sticks unless you are sure of yourself(they aren't that washable). And check for any holes in them if you decide to use them. Mine had two holes and sprayed all over the carpet and the model so I had to take about 3 hours trying to get the paint off of every little brick. Some stains still show. Anyway, even though this model does not look exactly like real M1A1 Abrams, it is still a great model(and I'm still trying to get the paint stains off using bleach).

M1A1 Abrams tank
very good i have one myself, its got good tracks
but it has no crew making it less fun. its side panels fall
off sometimes. ... Read more