Reviews

Bought as a gift for my god-child at Christmas. It took a couple cousins a little while to put together and then they powered it up under the lights. Will sit and shake when it is powered up. They had a lot of fun putting it together on Christmas Eve and it was something they had never seen before. Worth the money just for the bonding time the boys had. Good purchase

My daughter, who just turned 5 and loves science, saw this on Amazon on a video, and was completely enthralled with the toy. I thought she would forget about it, but she didn't. So, she got it from the tooth fairy for her first tooth. The toy was smaller than I thought it would be, but it is still very fun. It was easy to put together with my daughter--it took maybe 15 minutes or so, and we were able to play with it right away. I think she loves it even more since she got to put it together herself. She loves that it works in the sun and also with flashlights and lamps. She loves experimenting with every light source in the house to see which work. The motor also makes a cricket-like sound when the bug is picked up from the turning motion of the motor, which is cool. My daughter is very hard on toys, and I felt this toy was very well constructed and sturdy. The antenna are flexible, but don't interfere with the action of the toy if they are skewed around. The toy has started some interesting conversations about solar power and renewable energy and how simple motors work. Highly recommended!

It was fun and easy to assemble this with our 11 year old niece on Xmas morning. A different type of novelty toy, best when in direct sunlight. Something she never owned before. Great price!

My 11yr old nephew was NOT impressed. All the pieces are tiny. We got frustrated putting it together. My nephew said and I quote "How much did you pay for this thing?". The only reason I gave it 2 stars was because 1 star = I hate it and I didn't hate it, we were just very disappointed.

Well my son got this as a gift. Went to put it together and the red wire came off from the solar panel while trying to insert the cylinder into the body. The wires need to be made and attached better to the solar unit if they're going to be charging $15 retail for this thing. Called to get a replacement part and they want $5. Said they're giving me the part free, so what's up the $5 charge. Is it really worth it to get a part that's so fragil and will almost certainly break again? Sigh. We'll give it a try.

Reviews

From my 9 year old son: "With this toy you can make 6 different items, but you have to be careful because the pieces are fragile. When you re-assemble it into another shape, one of the pieces broke when I pulled a piece off, I pulled it too hard (I learned this the hard way because when the piece broke, I couldn't fix it) because the parts are fragile. It's fun to put together although I recommend an adult's help because the gearbox is tricky to put together." From my 9 year old daughter: "This toy is fun to put together but don't forget they need to be in direct sunlight to work. We live in San Diego where it is mostly sunny, so we can play with ours outside, but you cannot play with it inside unless you have a very sunny room---but this is what teaches you how solar power works!" From me: "I bought this toy because it is a Top Doctor Toy winner. I thought the toy was great fun, they learned a lot, but I was surprised that the toy is only 2 inches long. Again, this is a good lesson about solar power and the idea of the size of the solar collector and the energy output.

I bought this as a project for my 6-year old daughter and her father to do together. So far they have completed the solar car and it does work, but we were incredibly disappointed by how small the pieces are. The pictures they put on the box are VERY misleading...you'll notice there are no people, hands or other items in the pictures or background, and we actually feel as though this was done intentionally to lead people to believe that the pieces are larger than they actually are. When we got the box we couldn't believe how small it was, and upon opening it we realized that the entire thing is just very very small. To put it in proper perspective, the finished car is 2.5 inches long, 1.5 inches wide, and 2.75 inches tall when the solar panel is extended all the way up. As for the actual solar panel itself, it is 1 inch x 1.25 inches. My daughter got this as a birthday present so she is not "disappointed" as she was not expecting anything one way or the other, but if you are looking for a kit to make large-sized items this is not the one to get.

I bought this product hoping to use it for a science fair project. All the reviews and the descriptions made it sound like it would be great fun and easy to set up. WRONG! First when it came, i tried putting it together. All the pieces come together on 2 slates of plastic parts, so you need to seperate the parts. When you take off the parts, there are 2 little stubs of plastic (from where you ripped it off) sticking out, and in order to make the wheels turn, i had to file the wheels down with a nail file. I was planning on building the car, and i became so frustrated because although the description may not sound like it, it was extremely diffucult to wire up. the wires were sooo small and you have to keep on taking it apart over and over until it is perfect. It took me about an hour and a half just to make the car, which is also extremely insanely small----:-(----,so you will need tiny hands. Then once you get the car set up, you need to hold it under a lightbulb about an inch and a half away for it work. MAJOR FAILURE. you need to carry the lamp about an inch away from the car at all times, and it doesnt work under fluorescent lightbulbs either. I tried making it pull a ping pong ball, and the motor is so weak it didnt move. Bottom Line is, although it may seem like it is cool, and it looks good, and the description and other reviews make it sound "Fun and Educational", just dont bother. Their are so many other kits that are probably far more easy to build and use. Hope this helps :-) !

My 6 year old had fun putting the peices together and making the different items, but was disappointed when the solar module didn't power the engine. The connections are not very durable, apparently, the system is set up this way so that it can be modular when you make the other "kits". The wiring is connected via springs that you slip the wiring through. We tried everything, including soldering the wires in certain places so they wouldn't come off....Nothing worked. Would have been a good kit had the little engine and wiring been of a better quality and if everything would have been a bit bigger (would have been easier to work with the critical parts)...Great concept, but due to quality, would not recommend to anyone....

Excellent item. Fun for at least 2 hours assembling and disassembling trying out other designs and a great value!!!

Reviews

This was fun to put together and the solar aspect definitely sends the right message but the front wheels could never be secured and therefore, it did not work.

I had to help my son put this together, though the instructions are pretty easy. It's a tiny car, and I'm not sure it works. He expressed little interest in it overall.

This is a tiny cute car, it's easy to assemble and it's fun to run. It needs direct sun to run. It's better to buy at least 2 to make a contest. Their size is about that of a HotWheel(R) car.