Comments on: Mega Brands Magnext iCoaster

By: M. Jones

M. Jones — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 10:40:09 +0000

My son has wanted this for two years now. We got it for him this year, he is seven. He likes it has played with it a lot. My husband had to help him start building it at first. It was not so easy I guess, my husband broke a piece even! (the first time he tried), My son now has been able to make many changes to his coaster. The metal balls do get stuck in some areas quite often and is not so fun having to un stick them all the time.

It really does not light up like we had thought it would and not exactly works as we had thought. My son does like it. Good luck!
Rating: 3 / 5

By: Trace

Trace — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 09:38:48 +0000

I am putting this thing together for the first time, and haven't had a chance to really play with it yet. I am a little miffed that there is no AC adapter. This forces me to have batteries on hand in order to play. We are getting ready for Christmas morning, and my wife is looking all over for some other older toys to cannibalize the batteries from. We bought a 100 pack of AA batteries last week, and we have plenty of D batteries, but no C batteries.

Another thing missing is a wire to connect to a portable music player. There is an input jack, but no wire that comes out to the head phone jack of my music player. I have no such wire on hand. This is a bummer because part of this Christmas gift is a new Sansa music player too.

Well, my wife just found some old C batteries, so we are going to fire this iCoaster up and see what it's got. Rating: 4 / 5

By: Tanessa Y. Richardson "Christopher's Mami"

Tanessa Y. Richardson "Christopher's Mami" — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 08:41:39 +0000

We were a bit skittish with the instructions at first, but after careful review were able to understand them, and my son had a great time “deciphering” the instructions (i.e., use the tower with 18 notches and put the track bracket on notch 15). When assembling, a good rule of thumb is, if you’re having to use force, you’ve got something upside down.

My son absolutely loves it. It’s got great music and sound effects. The biggest problem is getting him to remember not to fiddle with it too much while it’s running, because (no surprise) once part of the construction gets knocked off balance, things stop working smoothly. It’s another good lesson for him. Now I’m hoping to find some extension kits so we can build a gazillion different tracks!!!
Rating: 5 / 5

By: C. L. Miller "mom to boys"

C. L. Miller "mom to boys" — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 07:04:24 +0000

My 6 year old received this for Christmas – and I have to say – it turned out to be better than I expected. We’ve definitely enjoyed playing with it – but building the tracks has been difficult for him. I do have a few comments:

1. Like other reviewers have mentioned, unless you have an adapter for your MP3 player, you won’t be able to use that feature of this toy.

2. You’re obviously going to need a lot of space to put this together. Uncarpeted is best, too.

2. You have to be able to follow “picture” instructions –there are no written instructions with this. The pages are about the size of two 8 1/2 X 11 pages, so the pictures are easy to see – however, ours came with ‘corrections’ on ALL 10 different track configurations – on black and white 8 1/2X11 pages – making it much harder to ‘read’- you’re always having to flip back and forth b/w the corrections and the large pictures.

One final suggestion, – wait for it to go on sale. Our local stores have had this on sale MUCH lower than the Amazon price – Full price is too much to pay for the iCoaster, even with it’s improvements. Oh – and I can’t remember if it’s on the box – but you’re going to need 4 “C” batteries to make it work.
Rating: 4 / 5

By: Sherry D. Bluemel "Camera Clickin Mama"

Sherry D. Bluemel "Camera Clickin Mama" — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 05:55:38 +0000

We bought this toy for our 9 year old son. He, as well as the rest of the family, has completely enjoyed it! He has only made one from the book but has designed his own coaster 3 times. I rated this high for education for a simple fact. My son has some disabilities and problem solving and frustration is one of them. The has really given him a challenge and learning with problem solving. He is also learning to work with and listen to others ideas.
It is a little flimsy and can ruin the run with a simple bump, but it’s easily fixed. The toy overall is a great joy.
Rating: 4 / 5