I almost didn't buy this toy because of all of the negative reviews here, but went ahead and took the chance - and I'm so glad I did! This is one of the coolest toys I have ever purchased for my kids, and I don't understand at all what others are complaining about.
The box does say "New, stronger fortified fit" - I'm wondering if all of the bad reviews are from a previous version of the product. If that's the case, it's too bad they are influencing this current version, which is excellent.
We have had no problems with stability. Like others have pointed out, you do need to follow the directions, as there is a specific direction that the balls are supposed to face. The arrows go on the top and then the poles connect into the holes or side based on the letters there - some holes are D, some are E, etc. To make a square you simply connect the poles into all the D holes and you have a square - angles are F and G, and so forth. Maybe it sounds complicated, but once you've built a couple of structures, it becomes intuitive and you don't even really need the instructions anymore, although it is nice to keep them around to refer back to when you haven't built a certain structure in awhile.
As for the structures: with 1 box you can build a house with a sloped roof and an entryway, an igloo in a classic dome shape with an entryway, a meandering tunnel, a tall rocket ship, and a castle with three turrets (if you didn't cover the whole thing in sheets, the castle could also be a fortified city gate, or some such). You could build even more but those are the ones that are listed in the directions. They are all completely different and so fun to play in. I am 5'6 and If I belly crawl through the entryways, I can fit in the house and igloo and sit comfortably, no problem, and my 1 and 3 year olds can fit in there with me - there is plenty of room! We even fit both kids, me, and my husband in the igloo once. I'm not sure why people are saying you need 4 boxes to make a structure - that has definitely not been our experience. That being said, I am eager to purchase another set, or maybe even two additional sets, so that we can make epic multi-room structures, because building with this kit is so much fun!
The plastic is heavy duty and has taken a lot of abuse. I have found that it's not necessary to attach the poles that lie directly on the floor - if you leave them out when building, the structure is still sturdy, but then you don't have to constantly crawl over little poles everywhere, which is nice especially in the tunnel. It also saves some wear and tear on your poles, though again, we haven't had any issues with wear. The poles are just flexible enough that they don't break. I'm not sure what the balls are made of, but they're virtually indestructible. We have not had any problems with poles coming loose from the balls while building, either - as long as you put them in the right holes and give them a good twist when inserting, they stay put, even when your sixteen month old is overcome by an overwhelming desire to grab her newly assembled house and ram it into the couch as hard as she can.
Overal: buy this. The negative reviews here must refer to an old version of this product and are no longer relevant. You can make an entire assortment of vastly different structures either from the directions or of your own creation, and you can make independent forts or incorporate them into a larger table- or couch-based fort, all with just one box. The assembly is not difficult at all once you understand the direction the balls are supposed to face. The quality of the materials is high. Five stars!
EDITED 12/10/14: 1 year later and we are still playing with this toy often and enjoying it so much. It still looks new (we finally ditched the box and started storing them in a rubbermaid container because the box was getting warped and didn't stay close, but we did use the original box for storage for almost a year.) I bought another box for Christmas - so I have yet to see what we will be able to build with 2 boxes, but I am VERY excited about it! I love building with this thing. My 2 and 4 year old are still not able to assemble complete structures themselves, but I don't mind helping them at all because I enjoy constructing things. Lately we have been elaborating on our single structures (such as the house or the igloo) by draping sheets over the main structure and then attaching sheets to various things in the room outward from the main structure so that the entire room becomes the fort and the main structure is one of the rooms within the fort. This has been fun and worked well for us, and if you only want to purchase 1 box, I assure you it is well worth the money and you will get lots of use out of it. That being said, I'm still really excited for Christmas to come so we can open our second box and start building even bigger structures . ;-)
EDITED 12/3/17: Ha!! I just came to this page to buy a 4th box of these for Christmas this year, and forgot I had once written a review of them - which I see is still being read! Well, FOUR years later, my rating for sure still stands. Interestingly, I will say our 3rd set was of the orange poles that are supposed to bend, and I didn't like those ones as much. They don't bend well - I always feel like I'm forcing it and they are going to break - and don't stay in the balls as well as the regular ones. (We still use them, and they're okay, but if you're trying to decide between these and the bendy ones, go with these ones for sure.) Three sets has been soooo much fun. But we have 3 kids now (age 7, 5, and 1.5) and, well, we are clearly Crazy Fort addicts. So here I am. Ridiculously excited to give this company my money for the fourth straight year in a row. ;-)
| 商品尺寸 | 42.55 x 8.26 x 25.4 cm; 907.18 克 |
|---|---|
| 厂商推荐适用年龄 | 5 岁以上 |
| 片数 | 69 |
| 是否需要电池 | 不是 |
