Are they still a chip off the old blok? (Mega Bloks)

Member Name: chele2002

Product:	Mega Bloks
Date:	06/02/02 (258 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Can be a rewarding toy on occasions

Disadvantages: Lasting quality seems poor

Oh, how I used to love Mega Bloks, not when I was a kid, wasn't sure they were around then, but there were what I would call good substitutes any how. It was and still is with our younger children, such a joy to see the smiles beam across their tiny faces when they create something unassisted, something that really doesn't matter if it resembles anything remotely, it is their creation and their faces tell me how proud they are of their selves.

Nowadays, while they seem to be bringing new ideas, new features and extra activities to keep young children even more amused, the quality has appeared to have suffered, which can be sometimes frustrating and annoying to a young child, who wants to learn new things and gets a huge amount of pleasure in doing so. When I say quality, I don't mean that their product have become fragile and easily destructible. No, something more important to a child, not as necessary to the parents but to be able to make something when you are a small child growing into the big world, is the greatest gift they will ever possess along with being part of life, and being a creation between mum and dad (naturally), with out it falling apart in 1 second flat.

Past experience with Mega Bloks
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Just over 4 ½ years ago I was on the hunt for a nice birthday gift for our oldest son Liam, and it was a visit to Safeway?s where I spotted this fair sized, bright red pull along wagon, half full of Mega Bloks, for a special price of around £12, if my memory serves me well. There was no doubt in my mind, a strong sturdy looking toy, with a fair amount of Mega Bloks and at a great price, suitable for even my budget.

What you got was this large red wagon, with a large yellow pull along handle, filled with extra large Lego type bricks, and suitable for toddlers.

Liam used to love this toy (still does if the truth be known), he would spend hours at a time playin
g away and creating all these very odd looking shapes, they kind of looked like those ink splodges you get shown (on TV any way), where you have to reply, by saying what you could see in splodges. Or if that started to bore him, he would get the wagon and drag it, push it (into me mostly), sit in it and even fall asleep in it. Every toddlers dream, but due to circumstances, I had to leave all of their toys behind, and so little red wagon never came along for the ride.

Present experience with Mega Bloks
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Well with it being Christmas just a couple of months ago, and with having children, you can almost guarantee something in there will be entertaining and amusing. So guess what? Our old friend red wagon, turned up as a rather smaller version and with less bricks this time around, for our youngest son John, from grandma, and for some reason grandmas presents always seemed to be of more interest then your own (my grandma always disguised her presents in the shape of talcum powder).

Our Mega Bloks wagon
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John's wagon is quite similar to the same product idea 4 years ago with Liam's. His was a fairly large red wagon, suitable for toddlers and up wards, which can be pulled, pushed and where the handle can be folded back, saving on space and broken ankles, from tripping over it.

The wagon move fairly easily, making it stress free for the toddler with terrible two's, and easily pushed away, for added amusement, which means it will not be suitable for a small child that is still even the littlest bit unstable, walking or standing. It stands just above knee height of a 2 year old and is just over the length of a child around the age of 2.

The wagon come supplied with an assortment of these large (Lego type) bricks, that can be used to build with. The colours of brick will probably vary slightly from batch to batch, but usual
colours are; red, blue, green, yellow, and purple. The blocks come in a few shapes and sizes, some very large ones, some with curved edges, smaller ones and a couple of people, and the quantity 50 bricks, not all that much, in fact around 25 less than 4 years ago. I have spent many hours trying to make something that at least resembles something but no matter how hard I try, I always find the need for extra bricks, to make something I consider worthwhile, not a good sign there then. I have found that the bricks have become loose, making it very hard for an adult let alone a child, to build something that doesn't fall apart, with the slightest nudge, can you imagine how that can be to a small child, the tantrums, resulting in bricks chucked at the nearest persons head, wagon spun around the living room like it Formula 1, and very bad earache from all those tears and moans.

The concept is a very good idea, not a new idea, but an idea that can be adapted to suit children of different ages, by the key features and activities, like the many Mega Bloks products, that seem to be popping up a lot over the last year or two. They certainly don't do the job as well as they did in the past, and what's more, the same product has reduced in size, quite noticeably compared to 4 years back, makes me think they have fell in the trap of cutting corners to save cost, result same product but with reduced quality.

I feel while the wagon is very nice and worth every penny with or with out the blocks in it but surely the whole concept should not be vanished but the weak material that appear to have been used if wear and tear is anything to go by.


Overall
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Despite the frustration that John gets when he has just built something, he still goes back to it a plays it, in fact it is the most frequently toy around the house that is played with. He does get great joy and pleasure building, just a pity that most of the time his c
reations are not constructed to stay together.

Our daughter who is nearly a year old also loves it; she is fascinated with the idea of how things fit in together and with how they come apart, but what she really loves, is hold on to the side and use it as an aid to learn how to walk.

Even our other older children of 6 and 7 years, have had fun joining in with Johns playing. So not a total waste of time, it is still worth its price, if brought on a special offer of around £10-£14. But if the main interest in buying this toy, is for the creational purposes of building, then 9 times out of 10 this product will fail to deliver, so perhaps not always a wise choice. I am not going to tell you not to buy it, or to buy it, that really depends on what your children or any other child this product will be for, if for the freedom of pushing something around, this one is great but for building, this really doesn?t get my vote.

I am just glad that my children have found other ways to keep themselves amused when playing with this, because if it was wholly and solely for building with then it really doesn't get my vote.

So not a bad product, but not also a product that will give 100% pleasure to small children.

Summary: