My 4 year old loves playing with this. Usually he'll play with toys for a few days then move on but this one has been a favorite for over almost two months. It's also nice that he and his friends can play at the same time. The only issue of course is that the marbles end up all over the house. And check pockets very carefully before laundering - I've found a few marbles in the washing machine despite what I thought was a careful inspection of pockets.

My five year old son LOVES this toy. He goes to it daily and puts one, two, three or more marbles in at a time and delights in watching them race through the tracks and funnels. There are wheels that spin too. Had to have his dad put it together without him present because he would grab peices. Once together, he has left it in-tact and enjoys using it every day. Eventually, as he matures and his fine-motor skills increase, he will enjoy building the various configurations possible. This is a keeper as it is a toy that teaches on many different levels and evolves as the child develops.

Need to have space to leave set up as it takes awhile to assemble. Fun to watch....drives our cat crazy. Regular sized marbles will not fit this run...only came with a few.

First off, I have nothing against the seller or Amazon. They're probably great.

As for the product itself, I don't know where these good reviews are coming from as they clearly weren't using THIS product. We returned this abomination after a handful of failed attempts to create a structure that would work properly and that was stable enough to last for more than 10 minutes. If you enjoy being frustrated, this is the product for you. If you don't, look elsewhere. (Note: We started with a cheap, hand-me-down marble run we had is FAR superior. I just wish they still made them.)

For those who may doubt the veracity is my review, here are a list of SOME of the problems with this product:

* Despite all of the pieces APPEARING to be the same height, the heights of the columns you build will almost magically be slightly off when you mix different types of pieces together.

* The spiral pieces are flimsy and the marbles often get stuck trying to go down them. (see first bullet)

* The vortexes, a key selling point, are also nearly impossible to get to line up the height appropriately so you're left with a wobbly, unstable structure. I attribute this to the use of soft plastic.

* Most of the ramps, curves and spirals all use a green piece that slips over the end to form a piece of that column. While this provides great flexibility when building structures, it introduces additional instability because the green pieces form a C shape instead of being a complete circle. You will press down lightly on one column to make sure the pieces fit only to collapse the entire structure because it has so many weak points.

To summarize - this is a great idea but an abysmal implementation.

Purchased for my 6 yr. old- this is a favorite toy for my 4 yr. old as well. Pros:Everyone who comes for play dates seem to really enjoy it too. I love that they are problem solving and using creative strategies in a fun way! Cons:Not as durable for moving when it is assembled as I would like. However, It is also nice for adult relatives and my husband and I to interact with our children. My kids also really like the "ciphon " pieces. I think we may purchase the Marble "rollercoaster" as well.