Reviews (5)

Classroom Teacher
This product has provided hours of entertainment to my Kindergarteners and my first graders in the last two years. I can't believe how rough they can be with the toy and nothing breaks.

Really neat...even fun for mom
I bought this set for my son when he turned 4. He didn't attempt to play with it by himself until one day I got it out, sat on the floor with him and started building really neat stuff. When he saw what I had done and watched all the colors of gears turning round and round that was it, he loved it. This set has so many options; you can build 1,000 different things. We will have this set for a long time.

Start with the Under Sea Adventure set, this as add on!
We received several gears, gears, gears sets at the same time, and found that the plain set ie Super set although initially fun looses excitement without some add ons. If I were to buy just one set I would start with the Under the Sea adventure set first, then add with the fantasy play park. The Undersea set has parts that move the gears in interesting ways from the standard set. It also comes with regular gears for building, although in limited number so the super set still helps extend the play.The motorized monstors sounded more intteresting than it was, but the parts when added to the Undersea adventure set was great fun! The gears are an interesting way of learning how things work. If your child is mechanically minded any of these sets will provide a wonderful new constructin opportunity. If your child hasn't been inclined towards let's say lego's etc.. This toy may provide some interest initially in being able to create a design that moves. However, construction with this set is more complicated than legos and for the less mechanically inclined child will still need paren'ts help beyond the age minimum's recommended.

Love! Love! Love! Gears! Gears! Gears!
My kids love their Gears! Gears! Gears! My sister bought them this set for Christmas and they are still enjoying it. The gears seem very durable and the colors are vibrant and look great in their playroom. There are so many things they can make, and the gears are a nice change from all the legos.

Kids feel like they've made a real "machine"
This set of "gears" is really neat. There are lots of pieces, very nice bright colors, and countless configurations. I really like that the set didn't include patterns to follow or directions--it just told you how to make flat gears, upright, etc. My oldest child is 3--his main fascination right now is how everything moves together. He yells at me to come see the "machine" he has made. I think it will stay interesting to him for several years. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Our favorite toy
My 2 year old son was first introduced to this toy at our Montessori class...he was hooked immediately!!! It was easy for him to figure out how to put the pieces together and attach the gears (he loved being able to do all of this himself as opposed to other gear toys where most of the building is already done for you) He sat and happily played with this fantastic toy for almost an hour before we had to leave. The learning possibilities of this toy are immmense as is the "fun value". With no "bells and whistles" this toy ranks very high on our list of toys due to the fact that our son has complete creative control...it's all up to him. All in all, it's a fantastic toy that we highly recomend.

Almost perfect...
My son received this toy for Christmas, and we gave one to our niece. The verdict is that it is almost, but not quite, perfect.

The toy is a set of interlocking squares of various colors that are perforated to hold a four-pronged hub that can support one of four sizes of gears. Everything is made of a durable plastic that has some flex to it. You can create systems of gears that spin around and even construct things like gearboxes. (The cover of the box--shown above--will give you a simple idea of what can be done.) There is a manual aimed at parents that helps them teach their child how gears work, too--a nice touch.

The quality of the toy is high: the colorful stickers for the gears are plastic coated, the injection-molded pieces are free from excess plastic, and the pieces fit together solidly. It's everything you would want from a European-made toy. (Quercetti, the manufacturer, is based in Italy and the toy is actually made there.)

It's a mesmerizing little toy and its variability is virtually endless. There are other kits in the Gear line that include such things as universal joints and 3-D parts, so it is highly expandable, even as your child ages.

My quibble? Our three year old niece adores the toy, but our three year old son only plays with it in fits. Truth be told, I play with it more than my son does. So as with anything, your mileage may vary.

It's nice that toys like this one are still being made. There's a lot of learning that can occur with it, too. Factor in the expandability and how can you go wrong?

Now if only I could get my son to join me more while I'm playing with it!

Bit tough for little hands to put together, but beautiful...
The base pieces of this toy are a bit stiff for my kids' little hands to put together. Also, the pegs that hold the gears onto the base are a bit tricky, but will build good fine motor skills if not discarded in frustration. I was just as entranced by this toy as they were as we played with it together for the first time. The brightly colored decals are trippy and fun. And learning that gears transfer energy they supply to move other gears of various sizes "on down the line" is... priceless. *grin*

we can go earlier
My daughter has always been drawn to visual spatial toys and loves playing with gears. She started getting independent with this around 3 years of age. I love the Discovery toy version as well.

Kaleido Gears Review
Originally purchased for our 5 year-old granddaughter, this toy is a little above her developmental stage, and apparently above her grandparents as well! She and we became frustrated in trying to fit the white gear connectors to the gear pieces, and then attaching the coupled piece onto the frame. Our 8 and 11 year-old granddaughters, however, love it and fight over playing with it! ... 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