Quadrilla Marble Railway, Basic Set Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This toy is one of the best things we've gotten for our kids in a long time. It is made of solid wood pieces which can be fit together in different patterns, allowing marbles to roll down the track and through tunnels. It sounds very simplistic, but this is its charm! Our six year old son played with it for two days straight when he got it for Christmas, and soon his two older sisters were helping think of new ways to configure the marble run. I was impressed because Quadrilla is very sturdy when it's assembled, which avoids the frustrations we sometimes see with racetracks or Lego buildings that fall apart. I give this set five stars in all areas because it teaches physics, develops imagination and fine motor skills, and teaches children that not all fun toys have a joy stick, batteries or flashing lights. We plan to add to our basic Quadrilla set in the future. We already bought extra marbles in various colors to make "teams."

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Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Award 2006! Quadrilla! Fast moving marble runs have never been this fun! Basic Set contains 49 brilliant pieces of high quality wood. Wooden pieces fit together for amazingly easy construction & highly stable design. Loaded with possibilities for design innovation. With: Helix (Spiral), Rails, Connecting Blocks & Accelerators, 50 Colorful Marbles. Instructions for 4 rail combinations. Ages 4+

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Imaginarium Motorized Deluxe Marble Race Review

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(More customer reviews)Some random observations about this product that may help you make your decision:
On the positive side, once it's set up, it's loads of fun with seemingly infinate replay / rebuild value. The kids (and their Dad) are mesmirized by the marbles tumbling through the nicely varied chutes. My 7-year-old can effectively build her own towers, one of which turned out to be taller than my six-feet. (She had to stand on the coffee table to complete it and get the balls rolling.) Little friends that have come over have all expressed excitement and had fun putting their own marble runs together. There are enough pieces for 2 separate but adequately sized towers to be built simultaneously. This set is much easier to assemble and far more steady than any wooden set I've ever encountered. It's one of the most played-with toys from this Christmas, and that includes a new electronic gaming system.
But, I also have a few gripes for the manufacturer.
1) Initial set-up is a royal pain, especially when you've got an anxious child sitting at your elbow, eager to play. Each of the chain links need snapping together (the process hurt the little lady's fingers), and the instructions are paltry at best. (We did better following the picture on the front of the box.)
2) The motors for the lift system broke within the first 10 minutes of use. Though we didn't "abuse" them, per se, my daughter did hold up the chain mechanism while attempting to dislodge a stuck marble, and instantly it started running in a jerky fashion, then quit altogether. The lifts can still be turned manually, but it takes all the "cool" out of it. Way too wimpy for a childrens toy.
3) Inexplicably, some of the pieces are of different lengths (about 1/2" shorter than the rest), making towers crooked and wobbly. We haven't figured out a way to utilize them effectively, so by and large, we just leave those pieces out of play. Silly, and it seems like a waste of box space.
In spite of the shortcomings, we still have a lot of fun with this set. Ours just now happens to be powered by gravity only. If you intend to buy a marble run (which I'd highly recommend for the logic building/educational/FUN value), you may want to bypass the motorized version and get something like Marble Race Deluxe or Quercetti Super Marble Run Vortis, 224 Pieces.

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PlanToys Build N Roll Review

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(More customer reviews)Sadly I purchased this becuase it appeared to be a fairly simple marble-run-like 'game'. Set it up...roll the marble...and watch the fun. While the product is built with pretty heavy duty wood it also slips and slides eaily on most surfaces making setup very difficult. The overlapping track parts tend to fall apart after one or two runs because they are not stable - this was a point of frustration resulting in tears for the target child (7 year old). I held high hopes that perhaps I was not doing something correctly...but in the end we just couldn't pull the enjoyment to give this more than 3 stars.

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This set consists of 45 pieces including 3 wooden balls and a special accessory to construct a windmill.
Playtime Ideas:


This set provides opportunity for children to be a designer by constructing the tracks various ways and changing track to form a loop.
To add more fun, children can play with Construction set and PlanToys Unit Block.

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Quercetti Skyrail Marble Run Roller Coaster 250-pc. Set Review

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(More customer reviews)My five year old and I built the first designs together and since then he's been off and running, on his own when I'm not able to join him. He doesn't always build designs that work but that is actually a good thing, as now he's talking about how the marble didn't have enough momentum to make it through a dip in the track to the next high point. When I initially saw all of the smaller pieces, I worried that it would be too fragile for a 5-year old but the pieces are bendable and so fairly forgiving of structures falling over. I suppose eventually they'll accumulate damage, but I anticipate we'll get a lot of use before that happens.
My husband and I have both had a lot of fun with this toy too--it is easy and fun building really cool roller coasters with loops, spirals, crossing paths and lots of twists and turns.
My only complaint: I wish the blue, circular bases that support the track were heavier or designed so that they could be weighted with sand. As taller supports are built, they have a tendency to tilt and become unstable. We've solved this by using our wooden blocks to weigh them down.


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Educo Switchback Racetrack Review

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(More customer reviews)I did a lot of research and found that this one was the best one I could find on the market. When I got it I found it to be a very good toy.
It is a much larger size then other ones so your child can really get in to it.
It comes already assembled so you can have fun getting it out of the packaging with your child and create some excitement. Plus much less work for you.
It has two tracks instead of one so you can really encourage and engage your child to play by having races.
It is absolutely great quality, well built and will last.
The tracks are lined up and on the right angle so you don't have to worry about to much flipping off track and traffic jams.
It comes with 4 cars instead of just two. The cars are made specifically for the track and to flip over on it. They are also a decent size not to small or to big.
However it is expensive, and is a toy your child will really want to play with someone, not alone. So these things could be a draw back for some.
Also I looked on line elsewhere, as well as, in some catalogs that I get, and found Amazon to have the best price. Plus if you use standard shipping most retailers will ship it for free on Amazon.

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18 months & up. Discover what happens when you let one car go. How about two at time? The bold graphics, fun colors and the vehicle's action will captivate even the youngest child. Includes four 2 1/2" cars. Racetrack measures 21 1/4"H x 7 1/2"W x 18 1/2"L at the base.

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