Mega Marble Run

This has been in use a couple of days now and has proved a great hit with all. Instantly entertaining to kids and great for adults to interact with too, this set has many advantages. Unlike cheaper versions this branded item is well constructed and has a solid thick feel (any balance issues are down to skill as an architect, if you build something too tall without supports it will wobble). The real marbles included have a satisfying weight and there are plenty of them, they are just regular marbles so you will have no issues replacing any that you lose.It kept 3 children occupied (5, 2 3/4 and 2 1/2 - keep marbles away from very young children), each having their own pieces and constructing their own marble runs - you don't have to make 1 big joined up effort! Of course daddies construction, left as a surprise for the next morning also went down well (you can have several starting places for the marbles to allow for many hands to pile them in.The amount of pieces in the Mega marble run are more than enough, if not too much, you should not need a larger version than this.Nice to add would be another piece which alternates the marbles routes and the tri-pieces pictured over the circular swirling pieces don't seem to fit (you get to legs locked in but forcing the third in makes it come out again) - still this seems to be decorative only and a minor quibble.If you are considering one of the cheaper alternatives check the reviews for cheap feeling, plastic marbles and inability to use real ones - stick with this one and you will have no such issues and hours of entertainment.

This marble run is one of our favourite toys and is providing hours and hours of fun for the entire family. We first got the Galt Super Marble Run to our son when he was 2 years 9 months, and now gave him this new bigger set for his fourth birthday, to combine the two. At first he and his big sister were watching us build the run and only plopped in the marbles under supervision, now they are building more and more complicated runs by themselves. It is fun for adults and teenagers, too, especially if one wants to rise to the challenge of assembling all pieces into several continuous and intermingling pathways.The pieces are made of good quality plastic and fit together snugly, resulting in a sturdy construction, while both assembly and disassembly are easy even for children. The primary colours of the pieces are pleasing to the eyes and timeless. The special pieces are also really well designed and fun. My only gripe (not really) is the photo on the box: It shows a construction that has several unsupported columns and is quite unstable, and for some reason my son currently always wants us to build the run "as it is supposed to be" - let's hope this is just a phase :-).

Really happy with this toy, keeps adults and toddlers engaged for long periods of time. Plenty of pieces in this mega set, to make large runs if you want. The circular pieces which send the marbles swirling round and round, are particularly good. In the box you are given 4 photos of different runs, from simple to very complicated, and you can copy these if you choose. Once you get the hang of what you are doing, you can then proceed to improvise and come up with your own designs. The pieces are good quality, sturdy plastic. Your constructions will readily collapse if you knock them by accident, of if like us you have a curious baby crawling in the vicinity, but i have not found this to be a problem, as part if the fun is building and re-building it and changing the layout. If it was just one permanent moulded piece of plastic which never changed, i think it would get boring, but making bigger and better runs is part of the enjoyment.

This product is amazing, it keeps my 3 year old entertained for ages. She will sit and watch the marbles go down for long period of time. My only issue with the product is that it comes with 3 round sections which have little holes round the edge to sit a 3-pronged section on top, but they don't actually sit in the holes which are meant to hold them in place meaning they have to be precariously balanced on top. Best to be used on a hard surface though as my 3 year old tends to lean on it now and again and when on carpet, it will just collapse.

It's marble run, what's not to love? The kids need help with this, and how anyone can make anything 'amazing' easily with just one set (we have 2) I don't know, you'd have to be very good at planning! It takes me a while to put a run together and everyone wants a say in the creativity process. We found with one set that there were never enough riser bits to fulfil our marble-run fantasies. Nonetheless everyone (me, various 2 - 7 year olds) likes playing with this when it comes out (it's not the kind of toy we'd play with every day). With the 2 sets we can make just anything we want (extremely tall and extremely long marble runs are popular here). As said, I don't think these sets come with nearly enough single plastic risers - they could do with a set of long tubes of different lengths to fill in bits which are just acting as supports - a tower of single bits is not especially stable... Inevitably some bits get broken (the ones with cut outs/spinners). I guess they want you to buy multiple sets. I did. I wouldn't pay full price either for what is essentially a pile of bits of coloured plastic, although the quality is fine. This is one of the few toys we've got which has been played with over years. The pieces fit together well, it can be difficult to match them all up but that's just the way it works. It is an extremely noisy toy once it's got marbles going through it.

Why did you choose this product over others?:This was requested as my grandson loves the smaller marble run he has. He loved receiving this and was so excited to help set it up and play with it all. A very fun filled sturdy made product.