Mario K'NEX for 9-year old?

[August Mom]

Does anyone have any of the Mario-themed K'NEX racing sets? How well do they work? Are they worth the money? Would it be something that would entertain a 9-year-old? DS just saw them at TRU today and is intrigued.

[justlearning]

I don't have it but have seen it (and DS has too without any interest in it). It depends on the child, of course, but the Mario track would be far too easy to build to entertain my 8-year-old. And it wouldn't entertain him to just run the cars around the course after it's built. (I would say that running the cars around the track would entertain a child who still enjoys playing with Thomas trains or matchbox cars, which from my experience is much younger than 9.)

DS did really enjoy building a much more complicated 4' high motorized roller coaster last Christmas when he was 7 as well as a 3' high motorized ferris wheel. But even those he finished in less than two days and then they've just been standing in our playroom without being played with ever since.

Costco has a large K-nex roller coaster right now for $45 or so (more than I paid for DS' gifts) if your son would like to build something more complicated with K-nex.

[KrisM]

I considered it because DS1 wanted it. But, the reveiws for the starting track say it's difficult to build, even for adults and that the directions are difficult to follow. I figured once built, he'd lose interest in it pretty fast. It didn't look like a staying-power toy to me. My friend's DS is getting it for Christmas though. I could be proven wrong.

[katydid1971]

DS got one this summer/fall and it is total crap. Mario's leg fell off after putting him on the motorcycle and won't stay on anymore. The instructions were hard to follow. I'm glad he only got one of the lesser expensive (around $7 I think) sets, since it was a total waste of money.