Motormax Take Along Fire Station Playset

I saw some low reviews on this toy so decided to take some time to write my own review. This toy was very much out of stock around Christmas time so I was very excited when I managed to get it just in time. My son loves this set and says it is his favorite toy. YES you do have to reassemble a few pieces each time like the loop and the tower but he learned to do it himself very quickly and also learned exactly how to fit all the pieces into the case and close it. I am not sure a 3 or 4 year old could do it. The cars are tiny but cute. Half the cars can do the loop de loop. All the pieces we got are correct. I put all the stickers on BEFORE giving the gift, this is ESSENTIAL. It took me a couple of hours. This is a wonderful toy for imaginative play and all three of my children aged 4-6 enjoy playing together. Its great that it packs up and is compact. Mine came with one extra streetlight but we haven't lost any pieces so far since December.

I bought this toy 2 years ago for my then 5 year old and 7 year old. At the time, they opened it, and then it sat on the shelf for 2 years. they are now 7 and 9. The have suddenly rediscovered it and play with it every night. This is not a toy for a younger child. The pieces are small and the set up complex. In hindsight, this would be a great gift for a 7 year old or 8, not really younger. it is so cool tho. really a brilliant design and concept.

My 5 year old got this for Christmas today. I was really excited because it seemed so neat and exactly like him. The excitement quickly faded. It took HOURS for two adults to put together all the tiny pieces with a half sheet of poorly drawn "instructions" that required a magnifying glass to see. It falls apart constantly, and after the initial unpacking it is impossible to get all the pieces to fold back into the truck as advertised. It is of terrible quality, especially considering the ridiculous price. My kiddo loved it until he actually tried to play with it and it kept falling apart (not just the pieces we attached, but the factory made pieces that aren't supposed to come apart), then he quickly lost interest. No way is this worth the trouble or price, there are much better products out there. Very disappointed.

On the surface this whets the appetites of both the eighties/nineties Micro Machine fan in me and my son's fervor for everything car-related, stunt-related and transforming. Unfortunately, in execution, this thing falls far short.It is decently constructed of semi-durable plastic, my four-year-old can unfold and assemble it with relative ease. Unfortunately, refolding it requires a bit of tetris-esque placement of the dozen or so tiny pieces and more than a little finagling to get right. My wife or I usually had to supervise the refolding, as my sons would get frustrated. Speaking of the dozens of tiny pieces, several of them are integral to the utility of this product (I'm looking at you, spiral tower) and they have a tendency to get lost or misplaced, rendering this toy useless. Several of the major hinges aren't properly reinforced, leading to them popping apart during the vigorous closing attempts.Also useless is the spiral ramp with the pull-back accelerator. It never really worked as planned, although it was a super cool concept. "Never worked as planned" could be a good alternate title to this review, as we had difficulty with the spiral, the car elevator, even the drop-down bridge. The entire toy fails to deliver to its promise and potential, which left both sons feeling disappointed.On a positive note, the die-cast cars are well constructed and have been deemed "pretty cool" by my boys, so they will long survive the main body's forlorn trip to the recycling center.I would recommend not spending more than $10 on this toy; even the most fastidiously organized boy or girl will inevitably lose a few integral pieces rapidly, and he or she will undoubtedly leave the play session more than a little disappointed.

My 4 1/2 year old son asked for this toy out of a catalog for several months. Despite the bad reviews, we purchased it for him. He absolutely loves it. Yes, there are pieces that need to be put together every time and pieces that fall apart. Yes, it is a little difficult to transform back into a fire truck, and all the pieces do not easily fit back inside the truck. And yes, some of the moving pieces (like the elevator and the upside-down loop) do not always work right. However, my son is learning how to put the pieces together himself, and he really enjoys driving the five little die-cast vehicles all around. He thinks it is a great toy and is very happy with it. I would not recommend this toy for a younger child, who would be likely to get frustrated if parts fall off or do not work as expected. I think it can be a fun toy for a child who is 4 or older and enjoys engineering things and pretending.

Bought this after my oldest had a small hospital stay at our local children’s hospital. The playroom staff brought him this toy to play with and he fell in love. I was shocked to actually find it online and ordered it immediately. Quality is great, does not feel “cheap”. Die cast cars that come with are wonderful, I’m so excited to wrap this up for Christmas and watch him light up for it all over again!