Thames and Kosmos Gumball Machine Maker

My nephew is gumball obsessed and he loved this gift. It comes with a handful of gumballs. He finds it to be very fun that the gumballs come our different ways. He loved building it.

Little man absolutely loves this! We have to refill it all the time

This may be one of the cheapest, least functional toys I have ever bought. Some pieces struggle to fit to lock into place while most are too loose. The design is a whole lot of theory and lack of execution. It's just junk.

First of all it arrive with a crack in the container to hold the gum balls. Easily fixed with tape but still. Plastic seems cheap overall and we were afraid of breaking it further the entire time putting it together. Got it as a silly gift for my adult brother and I and our father. We would probably rate it as a 2 but going to give it a 3 for kids. The mechanism to release a gumball was almost useless. It constantly jammed in both directions and was almost impossible to get a gum all out. This would be the biggest frustration for a child. Several of the “experiments” are overhyped, especially the claim that they teach physics. The dominoes is a disappointment - the ball is intended to fall off the track. Actually it’s intended to fall off for several of the “experiments”. The momentum trap track was basically just the same as the 180 degree track. A few experiments were fun though! Trampoline was cool, although assembly was confusing. Centripetal force funnel was also cool. Slingshot was definitely entertaining even as an adult. Be aware that you can only do a few experiments at once due to the height of the gym all machine, especially if you want to do ones requiring more height like the pendulum. Overall I guess I’d recommend it if it was $10-15 max but for the price it’s not really worth it and I could see it being frustrating for children.

It’s a little tricky for an 8 year old, says my grandson. Getting things to line up is almost impossible says grandma. We had fun together but it was frustrating because we never got a gumball to make it through the machine maker.

Was a gift The receiver loved it

Where do I start, how about with the CONS. The gumballs actually taste good, so they are going to get eaten. So … Yup, that’s the cons list. Now for the PROS, This is another great science kit from Thames & Kosmos, but this time They put the GUM in FUN! Or is that the FUN in GUM … Anyways right outta the box, you can tell that there’s a lot going on, starting with this kit from the QR code on the front that takes you to a number of explanatory videos that mirror the experiments in the box, where they take you through various experiments that teach you about the different pieces in the kit, like the Smooth track, Momentum track, inclined plane, Centripetal Force funnel, etc. To the “expert set-ups” in the manual that show you how to combine the different pieces and combinations to construct almost like a gumball “Rube Goldberg” machine. And this is where the real fun begins, combining the various parts, creating different experiments, observing the actions and reactions, making adjustments, and doing it all again is where your kids are going to have a great time and get lost in it. To be honest, your kids probably won’t even get to the expert set-ups before they are off on a tangent bouncing gumballs off the trampoline, trying to land them in the funnel, where they will circle around and head off to pendulum and then to the ... Forget about handing the kids the iPad, put this in front of them, and watch their creativity soar while they have a great time learning physics in the process.

I really, REALLY wanted to love this item for my kiddo...but, it just did not hold up to expectations. The concept is great with having multiple variations of builds and encouraging kids to try their own builds. However, the pieces do not snap into place like they should and throw off the necessary angles/slopes needed to make it work. Also, the mechanism to move the gumballs from the globe out to the track tends to crush the gumballs and get stuck. The instructions could have also been more clear. There was a great image in the front of the booklet with everything laid out and numbered along with the part names, but some of the names were a bit cumbersome and it would have worked better if the part numbers had been used in the "which piece goes where" sections instead of the names. Even once we got the different variations built, the gumballs got stuck or didn't go where they were supposed to without holding certain parts in place or a lot of assistance with keeping them moving. My 9-year-old was in frustrated tears and wishing he had spent his Christmas money on something else by the end of the whole thing.

Not worth the price, reasons follow: 1- it has edible gum-balls which are soft and gets stuck in the machine. 2- gum-balls leave color on kids hands 3- assembly is not easy instructions are not clear 4- build quality of the machine is good but major elements i.e gum-balls are edible and soft.

I bought this item as a gift for my niece. She put it together and loves it.

As mentioned by other buyers, the gumballs get stuck in the top turning mechanism and they don't come out no matter what we did. We have to get the gumballs from the top opening manually by hand. Total disappointment! Build quality is flimsy. The domino effect doesn't work well. I should have trusted the reviews but my son really wanted it so I had no choice. Really not worth your money. Buy elsewhere.

It’s like a marble run gone horribly wrong ! Real low quality runners and plastic

Missing pieces & broken pieces , & for almost $70.00 , non of the tracks they demonstrated actually work. The gumball never makes it through the run. Wouldn’t let me return or refund or even get the missing pieces. Not impressed