What a waste of money (Magnetix Clear Light Cubes)

Member Name: welshwickedone

Product:	Magnetix Clear Light Cubes
Date:	10/10/06 (928 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Educational

Disadvantages: Deceptive packaging, get everywhere, hurt to stand on.

Magnetix 285 piece set with Storage Box.
---------------------- -------------------- -------------------- --------------------

My daughter has enjoyed all her cards and presents this morning as today is my daughters 12th Birthday. As a present from me and her father she decided she wanted some magnetix as she has enjoyed playing with the small sets I had purchased for my son from the pound shop. She had decided she wanted them as she needed lots as she loves building and creating things, so we decided to buy her the Magnetix 285 piece set with storage tub as we thought that would be loads and she would have something to keep them tidy in. What a disappointment.

About Magnetix.
-----------------------------------
Magnetix is a construction system, which allows you to build and create to you hearts, desires using the magnet sticks and metal ball bearings system. The set comes with an instruction book, which contains ideas for children to make from magnetix as well as details that the sticks are also available in glow in the dark, translucent, sparking and the regular primary as in this set.

The Magnet sticks are plastic coated magnetic sticks that are about 2cm in length each and come in four colours red, blue, green and yellow. This set contains 35 of each colour magnetic sticks, 140 in total, 144 metal ball bearings and the storage container. The storage container is blue in colour and plastic with a sealable lid, it measures 12 inches wide, 4.5 inches in height and 6 inches in depth. The set in stored for packing spread out between two large polystyrene trays and the whole set is plastic wrapped.

My Opinion.
=============
I bought this set for my daughter for her 12th Birthday as she is very creative and has wanted these for ages. The set cost me £29.99 from argos.co.uk although I wish I had now not bothered to buy it as it was a waste of money in my opinion and in no way worth the price I paid.

When you are first greeted with the sealed plastic storage case you think that it looks good and is good value, but then you open it. On opening the product, I was shocked when I saw the first layer of these mini sticks and ball bearings in a polystyrene tray, not even plastic to allow them to be repacked tidy. Then my daughter took out the polystyrene tray to discover this tray was actually half the size of the storage container and that the second layer was the same. When they were removed from the polystyrene and my daughter had to pack them away before school she placed them in the storage tub. There are no storage sections in this tub it is just a plastic tub and the magnetix are just to be stored loose in there. When they were all in the tub they did not even fully cover the base of the tub there was that much difference is size comparison.

The tub they supply in my opinion would hold about 3000 of these magnetix sticks and ball bearings if not more and I do not understand in the slightest why they needed to supply such a large box other than to give you the impression that it was value for money. I have bought packs of 25 of these style of magnetic systems for my son in the past from the pound shop, that were not from the Magnetix range and those had sticks that were about 3cms in length and contained ball bearings. The pound shop variety was of the same quality as these, if not better as the sticks were longer and to be honest I would have saved myself £15, had better, and more by buying 14 packs of the cheaper ones and a plastic tub myself.

A few quick personal warnings for anyone who does buy these, always make sure none are left lying around on the floor as they will cause you to not only hurt your foot when you stand on them but you will go flying on the metal ball bearings. This product is recommended for ages six years and over but I would say more like nine years and over. Never allow access to these by children 0-3 yrs old due to choking hazards from both the sticks and ball bearings.

I am very disgusted with the product and can tell you know that although they are good in quality they are a waste of money. Do not be fooled as I was by the size of the container these things are supplied in. I have to say as well you see the children on the TV building huge buildings with these things and when you actually see them you realise you would need about 10,000 of these to build as these children do, if not more.

I do not recommend anybody waste there money on these, they only get 2/10 from me, and that is only because they are educational.

Summary: If I was you, I would not buy this product.