Thames & Kosmos Ultra Bionic Blaster STEM Experiment Kit | Construct a Robotic Foam Dart Blasting Glove | Challenging Build, Learn About Mechanical Technology & Engineering

My son had a lot of fun building this and playing with it

I've built several Thames and Kosmos kits with my kids - including the really complicated hydraulic hand. The other kits were great, so I bought this one cause it looks really fun.... But, it's horrible.First, you need a very small screwdriver and a pair of wire cutters that are not included. No big deal there.The problem is the build is EXTREMELY frustrating and it's VERY FLIMSY. The whole top part of this that hold the bullets doesn't secure on in any meaningful way and it comes off easily. The little sights fall off easily. The spring that is supposed to help raise and lower the launcher part is not only difficult to put on, it unhooks constantly.I took this thing apart and reassembled it several times. I must have spent a minimum of 3 hours just trying to "fix" this.I'm the end, I can't get it to work as intended. The handle jams up and won't compress, gets stuck in place, or does not generate enough force to compress the springs in the back because the gears get caught up. One half of the handle slides up more than the other and then it gets stuck. I poured oil I had on this over liberally over every single gear, contact surface, and spring trying to get this to function.It'll launch a bullet if I manually pull the air generator apparatus back, which is tricky to do, but I know that part works.It's the handle and gears of this thing... Which is also really annoying because the handles have multiple tiny screws in them add its a total pain to have to deconstruct them again and again.I did not enjoy this. The fragile construction and unfuncrional results are disappointing and just frustrating. Frustrating.... And I feel Iike I should type that about 5 more times.

The Thames & Kosmos Ultimate Bionic Blaster, aka the Robotic Hand, is the closest thing my nephew has to becoming a superhero without the need for radioactive spider bites. He put it together faster than I can untangle Christmas lights – a true Christmas miracle!Now, he struts around like he's part cyborg, high-fiving and grabbing things with the precision of a bionic ninja. If only I could convince him to use his newfound powers for household chores. Who knew a robotic hand could turn a regular kid into the superhero of the family? Thames & Kosmos, you've given my nephew a bionic boost and turned Christmas into a high-tech adventure!

This was fun to build with my 8 year old son, but he definitely could not have completed it on his own. There are some tricky steps and some parts that tend to not stay connected.After the build, the blaster worked fine. It's not very durable though. The handle, strap, or other components can become disconnected easily. It's a fun project, but not meant for rough-and-tumble NERF wars that boys like.

We have purchased almost all of the Thames & Kosmos STEM Experiment Kits, and have had good luck putting them together and learning about how each system works. We purchased the Thames & Kosmos Ultra Bionic Blaster STEM Experiment Kit, and the kids in the family were so excited, because they have had NERF guns for years, and saw this STEM kit as an extension of the dart shooting activities. Due to the many parts and intensive instructions to build this model, it took a couple of well-paced and patient evenings to get this model put together. And then it didn't work. We couldn't get the darts to shoot. We took apart the model, followed the instructions again to reassemble it, and we couldn't get the darts to shoot. There was so much disappointment in our kids, and they left the model sitting where they had been working on it for a couple of days, walked away from it and never went back. After a week, there was no further interest and trying, so it went back in the box and into a closet. Maybe, someday, I can bring it back out, disassemble it again, and see where mistakes were made. Until then, it's in a closet.

The media could not be loaded. Got it for the kid to spend times in the raining day. Not difficult to assembly

Grandson loved it. Kept him. Busy most of the day putting it together

Every. Single. Piece. Is. Plastic. It’s all from a plastic mold. So you or your kid will need to cut off and FILE DOWN the remaining excess plastic bits, per the instructions! That is NOT STEM. There is nothing STEM about cutting bits of plastic all day. There are dozens of pieces. Look elsewhere for real STEM projects.