Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I bought this toy for my 5 year old boy. He loves the basic gears set and loves to build things with it so I thought this would be great. I thought he would enjoy making the set larger and having the gears move something. Other reviews for it were good. However, when he opened it on Christmas morning it wasn't something he could just put together and make work himself. His dad had to sit down and help him put it together because there's only one way to make it all work right so you have to follow directions. It's not great for just being creative with like the basic set. So after you spend all that time setting it up, you crank the handle a few times and watch the monkeys go around and that's it. The kids lose interest pretty fast and then you either have to find a place to leave it out, or just put it away. It's not really something they can just get out and be creative with and then put away. I wish I would have spent my money on another basic set.