Ooh, these are awesome. We bought some for my son when he was two. He is now five...and still plays with them almost daily. My daughter, who is three, loves them just as much. Just today they were playing with them, building spaceships.

anyone know which country these are made in?

My kids love them too. No idea where they are made but they are well put together - not the typical cheap crap.

According to Guidecraft's FAQ page, their products are made all over the world. But you can call the company at the number listed on the page with a letter from the company president to ask specifically about this product.

They do seem quite good. FYI, Linens-n-things has it for just a tad more, with free shipping (http://www.lnt.com/product/activity-centers/307733-7585/guidecraft-educational-toy-magneatos-72-pcs-guidecraft.html), and Amazon is about the same.

I found a lot of reviews that say the magnets are very weak and hard to build up. Anyone have these that know different. My daughter loves to carry her creations around and would be devastated if they just fell apart.

So, these are magnetic? Would, say, a 2 year old be able to build these up? To make things stand, do they need to be arranged using triangular supports all over, or can regular square boxes be made? There are no photos of what the pieces look like. Are they just separate rods and balls?

They are separate rods and balls. Our set has some smaller rods, some larger ones. My son played with them a lot when he was two. You can easily make squares. Obviously the bigger the "building" the more support you need, but small things don't need much support, if any.

As to the magnets, they are decently strong - we've played with other brands of magnetic toys like this and these are by far the strongest. But a large creation wouldn't hold up to much transport unless you were very, very careful. But this morning my son built a snake with 3 or 4 rods as the body and a pyramid shaped head with balls and rods, and he carried it around by the tail for awhile. It only fell apart when he shook it. Hope that helps?

yes - these are meant for the younger crowd 0-4 year olds maybe - our preschool has them so they do last - however - the teachers use them under supervision only as the kids love to throw the balls and they are heavy or make " icecream cones" out of a stick and a ball and then fling the ball - this is of course something that can happen with a lot of toys but I want you to be aware of the weight. Other than that they are safe, fun and very popular with the kids and have lasted close to 10 years so far in a preschool ...

Be careful! Like the CSPC-banned Buckyballs, these will cause severe intestinal damage if swallowed; especially if swallowed in pairs!!

I would link to the Buckyball video that Woot posted a while back, but they seem to have removed it...

These are great. In our experience these are meant for building only. They really can't be carried around as a full creation. And they are WAY too big to swallow...so no worries there.

quantamm wrote:Be careful! Like the CSPC-banned Buckyballs, these will cause severe intestinal damage if swallowed; especially if swallowed in pairs!!

I would link to the Buckyball video that Woot posted a while back, but they seem to have removed it...

There is no way a child can swallow the ball or rod, they are too large. My boys have these and loved them as well. Very well made.

I ordered another set - got the 144 one a few weeks ago (was a better deal too), but my son wants to build a bigger 'castle'. In response to some of the questions:

- The magnets could be stronger, but you can absolutely build them up. The trick is to build a good support on the bottom levels in order to do it, which I believe is great for developing problem solving skills. If my 3 y.o. figured it out, I don't know what prevents adults from doing it.

- If your child could swallow one of these, then he'd have more urgent problems than stomach issues: these things are huge!