Mega Construx Magnext Mag-Star

This toy is disappointingly implemented.What it actually does is pretty cool: it’s part of the Mega Construx construction series of toys that’s designed to fit with both its own system and other similarly-sized construction toys (e.g. Lego) and when assembled uses magnetism to create ‘suspended’ rotation. It’s quite a small set, and has a single, fascinating but independently quite limited function – in that when you position the ‘wand’ element with it magnetic part over it correctly, the ‘Mag Star’ (a 6-sided shape, akin to joining a pair of triangle-based pyramids) can be caused to rotate. Which is pretty freaking cool. And yet somehow the set seemed a bit of a let down.It took me a while to twig, but something that's really odd about this, is that the main part of the construction arrives pre-assembled. It’s a fairly small construction toy (only 20 pieces in total) the main part of which comes pre-made in a plastic blister pack! Why on earth do this? On receipt, the only pieces that need assembly are those for the separate wand, yet it's supplied with instructions for the complete build. This is weird. The physical properties are fascinating, and a suspended ‘Mag Star’ can be integrated into constructions by simply clipping on the end of the wand - but part of the joy of a new construction toy is achieving that first build. By supplying the MagStar pre-built, the construction toy element is undermined.Expensive for such a small set.

I liked this toy. It kept my grandchild amused for hours and is an excellent learning aid to help understand spaces, magnets and construction.The box comes with six triangular plastic tiles in three different colours, six steel balls, a grey plastic tile, a smaller yellow tile, and six small plastic pieces which fit into holes in the triangular tiles. Each triangular tile has a magnet embedded in each of the points. The sides have clever notches which allow the triangular pieces to fit together. The clever thing is that you then use a steel ball to "lock" the pieces together by magnetism at each point. This allows you to build a small geometric shape in various combinations of colours, triangles and balls.Magnets always fascinate children and my grandchild spent some time trying out different shapes and playing the games suggested by the instruction sheet that came with the kit.This kit is rather limited and I see that there are larger Magnext construction kits available, which would give longer play value and make better Christmas presents. But this small kit is an ideal stocking present and allows you to see whether your child likes the concept. With more pieces I could see that intricate and attractive objects could easily be built in a wide variety of geometric shapes.The quality of the product is good and the magnets strong enough to hold constructions together well. The tiles are claimed to "brick compatible" which I assume refers to a major global brand of building bricks, so this product may integrate with toys your children already have.I've given it four stars because I think the makers could have been a bit more generous with the contents. But I still recommend it.

Ive never experienced one of these magnetic kits. I can see that they have really put thought into the safety aspect of this kit. Obviously magnets can be serious if swallowed but the balls of this kit are just metal, not actual magnets, The magnets are inset firmly in the plastic. This is way safer than having free floating magnets that you just know a kid will shove up their nose or swallow.This set is more of an add on that a first set as it doesnt have a whole lot of play value that i can see, its a diamond shape on a holder. The shape can spin and connect to one of four magnets in the holder. The holder can also connect to lego style bricks.The shape comes already made.The bit i do like is in the instruction booklet, it has a science experiment you can do using the magnets in the kit. I like this aspect, it does extend the play value whilst introducing the science of magnets.Id recommend this as an add on kit to someone who already has some of this, i think it might put someone off this sort of toy if this is the first thing they get as there isnt much to it.

I'm not going to lie, I don't get this. It's aimed for kids to be able to create and what not, but my 31 year old brother just played with it mainly. It kept him entertained though.What I get from is its, colourful and sturdy, and it spins, but I wasn't impressed but it at all. And at 13 pound, to me, it's a bit over priced for what you get. If you are into such things, if you look at this and you, or someone you know, might enjoy it go for it, but I just wasn't impressed. I'm still not sure if it's part of a collector and you can add more later on.

This is a fun magnet toy, although maybe limited. Perhaps it isn’t the most appealing toy to look at when it is in its box. What you see is a geometric shape (a triangular bipyramid) already assembled (even though this is a MEGA Construx set – which is a LEGO-type toy – and the box also says “Wonder builders” on it, but there is not much building to do here).Take it out the box and then you can see what it is all about. There is another magnetic piece that you use in your hand to manipulate the main bipyramid shape which has magnets at all its corners. In this way you can make the shape spin at all of its vertices without touching it. This is where the fun comes from.It is brick compatible (e.g. compatible with LEGO) but the bipyramid shape doesn’t actually have any studs on it to attach pieces to it, it only has 6 holes where special pieces can be put in. Only the other magnet piece has studs on it. The box also says that there is more to collect in the Magnext range, so maybe the play experience of this toy will be enhanced if you combine it with others in the range.So, yes, we had some fun with this toy.