Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Alright, I bought this for my son last Christmas. At the time, he was 4, and I was hoping something like this would peak his interest instead of video games. Unfortunately (probably because of his age) he didn't even bother to open it. No interest at all. Up to his closet it went, unopened. Now he's 5. And just last night he brought it down to me asking what it was. I got half-excited explaining to him it was a microscope. "C'mon!" I said. "I'll show you what we can do with this!". When I opened the box, I was amazed at all the different cards, slides and neat tools there were in there. We were both like "WOW! He was immediately facinated, and I was happy he was so interested. Neither of could wait to get started. However, all that ended when I took the microscope out. I couldn't believe how cheesey it is. Nothing but cheap plastic. The light runs on two AA batteries, but doesn't illuminate enough to penetrate anything you put on the tray. And the optics on this? HORRIBLE! I mean, I wasn't expecting lab quality, but gee, how about something that actually works somewhat. Compare the optics on this to like trying to look out a frosted window. That's how bad it is. Forget about using the higher magnifactations. The lenses are so low quality, there was absolutely no visual at all. I wouldn't be surprised if the lenses were nothing more than clear plastic. This experience ended up with me saying "Sorry son. Dad made a mistake. I'll make it up to you with something else." Recommended?............Absolutely NOT! What should have been a neat educational toy ended up being nothing more than sheer disappointment. Update Sept. 14, 2013. The best part of this toy was the schoolbus box. The kids really liked to play with that. Although I did start finding pieces of this kit all over the house. Eventually, I got tired of picking up pieces and trying to keep this kit together. I finally threw everything in the garbage except the box. It's a real nice box!