Galaxy Wooden Marble Run 3D Wooden Puzzles for Adults to Build

This is a very well designed product. Everything fit together as it is supposed to. The instructions were quite easy to follow, despite what some people have reported. The pieces are fairly easy to find and identify, especially once you realize that the picture on the page, is the board you should be looking on. I spent about 18 hours putting the whole thing together, working a few evenings part of two week-end days, and broke only two pieces. One, because I did not pay attention and fitted the piece wrong and had to remove it to correct the mistake. A little wood glue fixed that problem. The other piece broke when I tried to force it into place instead of sliding it in like instructions tell you to do. The kit included two spares for that piece. I admit that I did not do much sanding and smoothing, only on the gear teeth and a few rotating parts. Still, when I started it up the first time, everything ran smoothly and the whole system worked just as it is supposed to. All in all, it is a very satisfying project. Follow the easy instructions, clean up the rough edges on moving parts, use a little wax where necessary, and you will have a very nice, working model. I will definitely be looking at other Wood Trick projects.

When I first read about this product I was hesitant. After all, it's a lot of money. Still curious I read some of the comments posted, from 1 to 5 stars. Some were unhappy with the product because it didn't work correctly (the balls flew off the course), but more were happy and even shared some suggestions. I took note of some of the suggestions from the happy customers, and was a bit weary of the possible pit-falls unhappy customers pointed out. First, I decided that I was going to put this product together to the best of my ability, and use some of the suggestions that happy customers (marked with *) left in their comments: I was very careful taking the parts from the boards using the provided tool and at time using an X-Acto knife (*). I used a bent-nose pliers (*) to press parts together tightly, or to take connections apart if not done correctly. The instruction booklet is very elaborate, though at times it took me a bit to understand certain sections. The images are clear and minute differences are well marked. Pay attention, sometimes images of the same parts are displayed in mirror-image. The pieces fit together perfectly, and the engineering of all these parts is amazing! Don't forget to wax all the parts that need it. The was provided isn't enough so I got a candle to do that. I loved the process of putting it together and finding ways to do it. When I first started the marble run, the balls flew off the track when making the first 180 degree turn down the slope. Is this a bad product after all? As it turns out the flimsy pieces making the turn possible weren't fully seated so I fixed that (don't force them in from the top, but instead slide them in from the side). Glad I found a few spare ones on the boards. This product is fun to put together and works perfectly!

I just finished the Wood Trick Spiral puzzle and now I’m starting this Galaxy. These are both going to be great additions to my collection of 8 marble run puzzles. The Wood Trick puzzles are my most satisfying and rewarding to build. One thing that has made the construction easier is to organize the part cards to see their number much easier and keep the parts from falling out before needing them. You can remove the top of a box (I use a large shoe box) and cut slots out on both sides (1/2 inch wide) to set the part wood cards down into the slots. You can then easily see the card numbers without having to go through your pile of cards. Hopefully this easy to make card organizer helps others. Will update this note with a review of the finished Galaxy in a few weeks. Have fun and a lot of patience. Just completed the Galaxy and it was another one of my favorite builds. Parts fit together nicely and snug. It was definitely a fun build and extremely satisfying to see it finished. It works properly with only two items needing attention unlike most of my collection’s completed puzzles. The diverter part number 225 on page 28 would not open right or left far enough when the first marble went past it. With the diverter staying pretty much in the middle the marbles would stack up behind it and not pass to one track or the other. I lengthened the side arms on this part and the diverter works perfectly allowing the marbles to move to one or the other tracks. To lengthen the sides of this part I used the small pieces from around the large gears that fall off when they are punched out of the cards. These triangular small pieces fit the side arms of this diverter piece perfectly and are a perfect length to move the diverter from side to side far enough when the marbles pass by. I attached a picture of the diverter with the extensions glued on. The other problem was the large Ferris wheel assembly and the motor box would move up from the base allowing the gears to misalign and bind up the drive line. The pressure of the motor drive gear driving the large gear would allow both to move up out of the puzzles base. I don’t like gluing pieces to the base of my puzzles as things may need work down the road after running them for awhile. A thin strong wire around part number 4 and 5 on page 33 and the base and a wire around the motor assembly holding it to the base works well. Have plenty of patients, don’t rush the assembling, have fun with it, and you to will enjoy the satisfaction of finishing a great marble run puzzle. One of the best now in my collection.

Very cool. Directions were very helpful and accurate. Trying to decide on what to build next.

The Good: All-wood construction — no metal, screws, or plastic. That's rare and appreciated. Decently challenging and interesting build. ~4 days at 2-3 hours per evening. Once properly sanded and waxed, it runs smoothly without stalls. Reassembly is convenient — easy to go back and fix mistakes or repair parts broken by kids. Weak motor stalls easily when blocked — a downside for reliability, but a plus for safety around small fingers. Kid loved it, which cleared my bar for the 4-day time investment. The Bad: Not enough sandpaper and wax included. You will run out before the largest cog wheel assembly. I had to borrow wax from other ROKR sets. Sanding and waxing dozens of parts is already the most tedious part of the build — running out of supplies makes it worse. Sanding/waxing instructions are inconsistent, unclear, and sometimes wrong. I ended up deducing the rule myself: sand every flat moving surface, wax every moving part and its contact sides. Inconsistent wood quality. Some panels arrived split down the middle and needed gluing. Average cut tolerances — some joints too tight, some too loose. The spinning sphere had to be glued or it fell apart at any touch. Some parts are designed so poorly you'll likely break them just inserting them. I broke several — and not a single one is on the spare parts list. One part was manufactured wrong (pin in the wrong location). I had to perform surgery: relocate the pin and re-glue. The tilting seesaw arms on rubber rings don't work. The rings are too stiff — one marble's weight isn't enough to tilt them, so marbles run off the track. No adjustment possible; I had to remove a ring from the lowest arm entirely. Aesthetically it could be more refined — the exposed motor stands out as unfinished. Bottom line: Overall good — if you're prepared to troubleshoot on your own: source extra sandpaper and wax, figure out what to sand and wax yourself, glue splitting parts, repair breakage, and disable features that don't work. None of these issues are critical, and all are fixable by the manufacturer — they just haven't bothered, so you'll do the struggling instead.

I loved putting this together. The package arrived and looked in perfect condition. However, some of the pieces along the edges of the sheets were broken and this couldn’t be seen until you pushed out the part, 15-20 were chipped, broken or shattered. Some parts were duplicated in the kit and that helped, but some of the more delicate pieces 196, 257, some of the thin rails, etc., were EXTREMELY difficult to get out in one piece. I had a bottle of precision tip gorilla supper glue gel and needed it for MANY pieces that the tips had fractured during removal. I used the glue and then had to wait 24 hours for a full cure on glue. But it held beautifully. The gears and mechanics worked great! I highly recommend this for a more experienced user (I’ve put together 10 -12 of these wood projects.). Would not recommend for a novice. Overall a great product, but stronger boxing is recommended to save edge pieces from being smashed. Thanks for a wonderful challenge and it runs great and the gears are superb. Wood Trick you have outdone yourselves!

I read many reviews on this before buying this model and I tried some of the other wood trick models before purchasing this one. First off this is some of the highest quality material. 3 ply plywood. Try and buy this and have fun sourcing the material. Next, this is first class laser quality work. This is top shelf. For those having issues, try a less complex model or maybe lego. This is a model for anyone who has a good mechanical aptitude and has patience. The instructions are absolutely perfect. Unsurpassed, color, 3D and detailed. My advice is not to get too far ahead of yourself on this and to trust the instructions. The flow of the build is a perfect mix of complexity to test a person's abilities and organized to keep a person curious about what's to come and to keep the builder interested. I had some minor adjustments to make and this functions as I had imagined. There is an entire board of extra parts. The planetary gears are amazing. I am curious if the engineer of this model is a rocket scientist or an accomplished software engineer or maybe both!

Challenging. You must pay close attention to detail. It is a great model and percise pieces.

Me ha gustado mucho la precisión del tamaño para lograr un ensamblado muy ajustado. Producto muy divertido de montar y de utilizar una vez terminado.

Salve, lavoro complesso ma ne è valsa la pena. Risultato spettacolare, funziona tutto alla perfezione ed è piaciuto a tutti quelli che lo hanno visto ed ammirato. Lo consiglio vivamente.

Well, having made numerous kits in the same theme of this marble run, I have from experience learnt to ALWAYS sand ALL the edges where attached to the boards and ALWAYS put plenty of wax onto the gears and ALL the holes where there is movement. When I saw this kit, I decided this was a great challenge, and it was. The ONLY reason to give it 2 stars for " Assembly " was because it is NOT an easy kit to make. When I came to press the start button, it not only started correctly first time, but also worked completely. It is a FANTASTIC kit. Well done to all involved in producing it. Video attached. Enjoy life. Bob S

My first Woodtrick puzzle. Easier to remove parts compared to other brands. Took longer than I expected, but well worth the effort. Works great after some minor tweaking. Many spare parts…if you break a part, check the spare parts sheet (it takes up more than half of sheet #9!) before you get the glue out. The wiring diagram is not complete. The manual only shows the motor white wire to the switch white wire. The rest is red to red from the switch to the battery box, and green to black from the motor to the battery box. Also, pay special attention as to when to flip the sections over before proceeding with assembly, it is not indicated as others do. And follow the arrows. The manual is large and shows where to find the parts. Past experience with these puzzles is a must. Would highly recommend. Sit back and enjoy the finished product and watch it work!

Loved this wood trick model. The best yet from this brand.