Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Did you buy this kit so you could spend a few hours doing the following: 1) clipping dozens of plastic parts from the various frameworks 2) filing burrs off (to prevents finger bruises, and so that parts fit together nicely, no bumps..) 3) bag & tag all the parts for later identification (hopefully) as no plastic parts have labels on them (the framework did, but who cares once the parts are removed and the frames are thrown out!). Yet, the instructions call out part references like A-4 x12 and B-6 x2. 4) clean up the mess from steps 1 & 2 If you made it thru the prep work, then you get to build the gear box assembly. Many reviewers complain about the poor instructions. So true, they nailed it! This company didn't spend enough time with non-engineers to know how to create a decent instruction book. So, this critical assembly is unnecessarily hard to build. Once you get it right, the gears will turn smoothy and with ease. If yours doesn't, then something is wrong. (Play evil music here). Next up: Test the gearbox and solar panel. If you waited this long to do this and it doesn't work, the instructions tell you to take apart the assembly and start over. Really, what a waste of time, AND that box isn't coming apart all that easy. If you are reading this and haven't built the gearbox yet, test it every step of the way!!! I held the solar panel directly under a 150 watt bulb and the gears barely moved at all. Right then and there I knew this entire kit was gonna be a flop. The solar panel is under powered for the job. I next got a AAA battery and tested it to prove my theory. Yep, works great w/a small battery, but that's not the point of this kit, is it? Next up: More tedious work to apply a bunch of small stickers. Some people like them, some don't. I don't. More time wasted. I needed tweezers to get some of the harder ones into the grooves/slot where they belonged. Finally, it's time to pick a robot to build. The Wheel-bot it is! Since the instructions aren't very good, I had to translate the terrible mechanical pictures into easy steps for my 7-year old. Do this, put this here, like this, and so on... When it comes to LEGO'S (and great colorful instructions) my kid EASILY builds 1000+ piece kits all by himself (Ultra Agents HQ, Imperial Star Destroyer, Galactic Titan....). Once completed, the only way we got it moving was when we had a SUPER bright sun shining perfectly on the solar panel, and then it barely moved and often needed a push (or kick, hehe). The slightest bit of shade, or cloud, or shadow, meant no go. Where's the educational factor in this kit? Do you mean to tell me that all a company has to do is add a moveable solar panel to a box and it magically becomes educational? Ha!!! Overall, I would NEVER recommend this kit as it was WAY over-priced, non-educational, too much tedious prep, AND most important of all is the UNDER POWERED SOLAR PANEL!!