()After receiving this toy, the Fisher-Price TRIO Hot Wheels Stunt Ramp Builder, I once again assembled my crack team of testers ... a six year old boy, a four year old girl, and a nearly three year old boy.But before getting into the actual testing, let me describe what you get:The set includes over 90 pieces including a car, a "driver", a sawhorse, three barrels, and a booklet that gives you step-by-step diagrams on how to build four different ramps.The kit is made of a sturdy plastic, albeit some of the pieces, like the ramps, are intentionally a little flexible.The building pieces vary from sectioned plastic rectanglar bricks (similar to legos), some straight and curved-lengthed connectors, and some miscellaneous pieces like flags and a roof.The pieces snap together firmly, and it takes a little force to get them together or take them apart.
The testers were all excited to see the toy, especially my six-year old.He was able to look at the booklet, and after I explained how to use the diagrams, do very well on constructing a ramp.I still had to help him a little, particularly with the curvy lengths used to connect other pieces ... the connecting ends of the curves bend sharply on one side of the length and not so sharply on the other (as a spacing mechanism), but it was hard for my son to be able to tell which end to use where.He had enough strength to get all the parts to snap together relatively easily.My near-three year old could get some, but not all, of the pieces together, but he isn't anywhere ready to be able to build a ramp by himself, of course.My girl was interested in watching the construction, but not enough to want to build it herself.
Once the ramp and car was built, all three enjoyed sending the car down the ramp and into the sawhorse/barrels.The youngest enjoyed it the most ... he's always liked crashing things into other things.: Both boys have subsequently enjoyed snapping pieces together and free-form building things, although the oldest still likes trying to build ramps from the diagrams.While I don't think the set will end up being one of my children's favorite toys in the long run, they're enjoying it now.I'm considering buying one or two different stunt builder sets, both give them something else to build and to provide more pieces for their free-form construction efforts.
As an aside, it would be nice if Fisher Price could come up with some bigger, multi-set diagrams (and perhaps post them on their web site for downloading/printing) similar to how some of the marble run sets can be combined into mega marble runs.
But this is a decent toy with some learning aspects, mainly in how to construct things from diagrams/building plans.Four stars.
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()I tend to buy my son building toys, because he loves building more than playing. At times, I am fortunate if he lasts playing with his creations, such as when he plays with his Legos. I am not about to compare Fisher Price's TRIO Hot Wheels collection to any Lego set, but I will say that building and playing with this toy held the same interest to my 4.5 year old as when he builds and plays with Legos. So far, he has been very pleased with this toy.
To begin with, this set includes 93 pieces, which I think is plenty to keep a 3-8 year old preoccupied for some time. Constructing the toy probably requires (limited) guidance from an adult if the child is about 5 or younger. The pieces are large and the plastic is quite durable; this toy is certainly not cheaply made. The blocks snap into place easily but at the same time, taking apart comes too easy. Depending on the child's age, the toy can take about 1hour or so to build. My son, with SOME help, built this toy in about 45 minutes. Once he built it, he could not be drawn away from the toy. He loves anything with wheels, and this set was not only ideal for including a neat car, but also perfect because the child has a choice of building the given design or building his own, which he loved! My son also has a vivid imagination; therefore, creating his own race track and grand prix was not too difficult.
Although the box claims that the toy is for 3-8 year olds, I am not so sure this toy would hold too much interest for a child over 6. Perhaps the child (over 6) would enjoy building the set and playing with it for a pair of hours; I only assume this because I find the toy ideal for children between the ages of 3-6 based on my observations with my own son and his older playmates. However, others might disagree with me.
For the price, $40 is not a bad buy for all it includes. If you are a parent who is unsure if your child will find interest in building blocks, give this collection a try. In all honesty, MegaBlocks and Lego Duplex blocks are not too different, but on the other hand, this trio set is certainly not a replica of either. I recommend this toy for parents who want to add variety to their child/children's toy collection. For a boy it cannot get any better than cars, ramps, and races! I give this toy a 5 because my child loved it since he received it, but also taking into consideration that a child's interest in a toy does not last forever, I give my son a few more weeks before he moves on to the next Hot Wheels set. He has hinted that he wants the "Lift'n Go Garage" but I will have to wait if a months before buying it.
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When I first saw Trio blocks, I thought they were just another Lego wannabe.But this is something new.It has blocks, sticks, and panels.The blocks have holes in them that fit pegs on the sticks and panels.That allows the child to rapidly build up high or build airplane wings, etc.--anything that needs distance but not thickness.The blocks are also able to connect to other blocks like traditional building toys where the top of one fits into the bottom of the next row.We've had Trio blocks (this and another set) in the house for 3 months now and in regular use, and no parts have broken yet.The Hot Wheels Super Stunt Builder set combines a car track with a building toy and you can use it for either one or both at any time.The set contains a building base, racing car, launcher ramp for the car, and blocks to build a structure to support the ramp.It has some specialized pieces but it's mostly versatile pieces and it was clearly meant for plenty of creative experimentation.That is, it doesn't follow the trend in "building" toys to be just snap-together play sets, it really is intended to be taken apart and turned into other things on a regular basis.
There are directions for some basic ramp possibilities with it and I'd call them about medium in clarity--sometimes it wasn't clear when an action was to be repeated and I sometimes had to think (not that there's anything wrong with that) about how a section I was building would connect to the rest of it.On the positive side, the pictures in the directions look like what you're supposed to actually build and they include two major layouts and one variation layout.
The main layout is a high slide that the car rolls down when you lift the launcher by one of its handles.Cleverly, it has no springs or mechanism to cock first, so it's not easily broken and it is easy to understand.On flat surfaces the launcher returns to the start position on its own by gravity.The car hits a flipping "gong" sort of thing as it goes by and you can set up the included barrels past that for added mayhem. The launcher and track work just fine with other wheeled toys, and it can be fun to line them up and see who can go furthest.
A tip:It's very likely that at some point your child will first destroy the elaborate version of the track and then ask you to make it work for cars again right away.No need to refuse.The panels make it easy to build high in a hurry if you need to.Just build a tower with four panels and layers of bricks between them and put the launcher on top and hook the track to it--time permitting, maybe build a 1-panel high support about halfway down the track.No flags, no shed on top, no elaborate railing, no walls, no gong--but the cars will still go down the track just fine.
Pro: 1) More blocks for the money than an average Trio set. 2) High repeat-play value. 3) You can play too, an adult won't get bored easily 4) Works with other Trio sets 5) No broken parts in 3 months.
Con: 1) Trio racing car driver doesn't fit anything else in the Trio world that I can find--neither the sticks nor the bricks connect to his feet, only a socket inside the car. 2) I'm still not sure whether or not the sticks part could be dangerous though they aren't sharp and nothing has happened so far. 3) The car is heavy--that's good because it really launches, but keep bare feet out of the way.
Bottom line:I plan to buy more Trio sets in the future.
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()Let's be honest, the best thing about toy cars is making them crash into things, that's true for me as a 36 year old and it's certainly true for my boys 8 and 2 1/2 (x2), so anything that facilitates that process is going to be a win in my house.That said, this is actually a very clever toy as it combines building (sort of Lego/Tinkertoy hybrid blocks) with a ramp for cars.The result is automotive aerial mayhem of the highest order in a toy that also encourages creativity and planning.My only guidance with this toy would be that the suggested age range of 3+ seems a little low to me; this toy has worked well in our house because my eight year old can snap the pieces together in his sleep, but there is no way his brothers could do so, and I suspect that a three year old would struggle mightily as the toy just requires too much manual dexterity and planning for that age group.
That concern aside, this is a really fun toy that has the benefit of being modifiable.While it may be a little sophisticated for a three year old, the flip side is that it encourages, parent/child or sibling/child interaction much more than a pre-cast toy.Highly recommended for all toy car lovers.
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