HABA Ball Track Basic Pack Funnel Jungle - Wooden Marble Run with Plastic Elements (Made in Germany)

We bought this for my son for his 5th birthday 2 weeks ago. I have been researching marble runs for over a year for him. Last Christmas I bought him the well rated Frigits Deluxe and a large magnetic whiteboard for his room. Although fun, he was quite disappointed. My 7 year old has the Quadrilla twist and rail set with many accessory and fun sets that he has collected over the past 3 years. My younger son instantly knew his plastic set was inferior. After Christmas I began searching for a marble set comparable to the Quadrilla for my younger son. I wanted something my boys could use together, but that was clearly identifiable without requiring me to label every piece. Locally nothing similar was available. Online I looked at many sets, most of them European. I decided on this set after pricing and checking out available add-on pieces and reading the reviews. There is a video on youtube that interchanged parts from the Haba and Quadrilla sets for those interested. This set requires less thought and coordination than the Quadrilla The force for the marbles is created with sloping runs, and the blocks are used as supports (Quadrilla has flat run pieces with specialized end pieces differentiated by color, in addition to small red accelerators that set on the track). Haba pieces are just pushed next to each other. (Quadrilla has Plastic circle shaped lips on their runs that fit into the blocks) The highlight of this particular set is the bell/arch piece. It's string length is easily adjustable. Although the pieces are simple (many are just plain blocks) the set is well made and fun. There is a "guide book" showing kids ideas of what to do with the set, even incorporating cups, stools, books, and other standard household items. (The Quadrilla set never suggests using non Quadrilla pieces nor would it be as easy to do with their connecting system) However, the booklet is in German (Fortunately, my husband knows some German and my MIL is fluent) The pictures do give the general idea even if you're unable to translate. I would recommend purchasing a few additional marbles for this set as 6 are not enough, especially when more than one child is playing with this set. The marbles that arrive with this set are a little smaller than the Quadrilla or average "dollar store" marbles, but the standard size marbles do work with this set. Overall, this has been lots of fun for my younger son who now has a marble run that his brother wants to play with. He is looking forward to the arrival of the ski-jump which he bought with his birthday money.

Santa just brought this for my 6 yr old son this past Christmas. At first my son was not too excited about it -- but when I reminded him of the ball track in one of his 'I SPY' books he became somewhat interested. It was not until we laid it out and starting working with it did he really get into it. As one of the reviewers noted - if you move the pieces by just a hair -- it makes the marble run off the track incorrectly. But quite honestly that's what I love about this. It makes him fine tune what he's made. It has definitely helped with his patience. If it doesn't first work - we try, try again. We don't quit and give up. We have to check and double check the track as we're making it. So instead of waiting until the end to test the track -- we test it throughout the process. We usually start out making one of the designs but by the end we end up creating our own ending. Our 7 yr old neighbor came over today to play. I suggested they play with the marble run vs watch TV. The 7 yr old balked and I said -- just wait and see. So my son and I got out all of the pieces and started assembling it together. Okay, so as of right now the 7 yr old will not STOP playing with it. He has already searched some other pieces that we could get to go along with this and is loving it! They have had to figure out how to take turns, how to make the pieces all work together, and see if they can create anything on their own. I also love playing with this as well. So I don't mind helping them get it started. There is a definite sense of accomplishment when you can get the marble to run the track, hit the bell and end up where you've planned for it to land. I LOVE THIS TOY!!! I plan on keeping this toy for when I have grandchildren. It is made very well and built to last (much nicer than the plastic marble runs from china, imo). My only negative is that my son just drew in black ink all over one of the pieces. Oh well. Ours now has a funky look! Have fun!!!

Bought this for my four year old daughter but sometimes I think I'm having more fun with this than she is. She likes this but needs help to assemble as the blocks are not very stable. The build quality is excellent and I'm sure it will last a long time.

Editing to say we enjoy this toy so much, especially now that the littlest one is 2 1/2 and we don't have to worry about him swallowing marbles. Mostly he uses these as building blocks, making roadways, towers, and parking garages. Now our five year old enjoys building the ball track. This is such a high quality toy. I would say this would be best for 6 and up, or younger with lots of adult participation. The wooden pieces are so nice and sturdy, they are very nice to hold and can be put together in infinte ways. This toy will help your child learn in a concrete way about physics, building, patience, motor skills, and so much more. I wish we had only such simple, sturdy, educational playthings in our home. Definitely an outstanding toy that will last for years and years.

He can build random piles and short runs using these high quality, well made blocks, but at age 4.5 he needs Dad to set up the full marble run so it works. The marbles do not run perfectly in the tracks, due to no fault of this toy. Rather, some thinking, curiosity, analysis and inventiveness is required to get them to run right. And that, my friends, is exactly what a good toy should inspire!!! By age 6 or 7 he'll get it by himself. Recommended highly

Usually we love Haba toys and games but this one comes short. The pieces of woods are very sturdy maybe too sturdy (thick, bulky and heavy). The tracks offer a lot of possibilities if only it would be more stable to actually be able to let marbles run and enjoy it. It's impossible to play it on the carpet. We tried on hardwood floor, the pieces of wood are so sturdy would leave marks on your floor if it falls appart and it does fall all the time. As previously mentionned in another review. Haba should allow the blocks to be put together with either a magnetic system or kind of wooden nail. Kids tried and tried various combinations just to see how it would fall appart if slightly touched. We bought the Quadrilla marble run set Twist and Rail and this is really the best marble run we've ever played with and much cheaper. Quadrilla really is demonstrating what a well thought and built marble run should look like. They even thought about how to place the pieces back in the box and give a detailed manual to build different tracks.

I have three children, two boys, aged 7 and 8 and one girl, almost 5. This set was purchased for my 7 year old son's recent birthday. That was several months ago and this set has been played with nearly every day we have been home. It was so popular in fact, that I had to institute a "no playing with it before 7 a.m." rule! All three of the children play with it but the oldest two build the most elaborate tracks and spend more time with it. They even incorporate their other Haba blocks and Legos when they build their structures. I hope to add some accessories for Christmas. It does need to be on a flat surface and a very low-pile rug (ours is primarily set up on an old oriental that isn't very soft at all but helps with the noise.) This is one of the toys that I plan on keeping in case I have grandchildren in the future. It is heirloom quality.

I was SO excited for this. I thought my 4 year old would love building it and running the marbles down. She likes it, but it's really hard to get everything lined up to get a successful run down the track. I love the idea of the wooden blocks, but I think maybe something plastic would have worked better for us. I wanted to avoid the plastic because they seem like they would be really loud. Maybe it will be good when she is older, but even her dad and I can't get it working very well.

Queríamos una pista de canicas de madera que permitiese diferentes construcciones. Ha sido con diferencia el regalo estrella de estos Reyes,

L'enfant ignore la notice de montage et construit d'après sa propre initiative. Les erreurs rencontrées le font réfléchir et ressentir la joie de la réussite, même si la réalisation est partielle. Qualité, solidité, finition et chaleur du bois.

Für mich die beste Kugelbahn die es gibt. Erweiterbar mit vielen Teilen. Qualitativ hochwertig. Zwar nicht ganz billig, aber dafür ist sie auch für die Nächte Generation noch brauchbar.

Une combinaison incroyable de circuit. On ne s'en lasse pas. Ca ne casse pas. C'est un peu cher mais très solide et indémodable.

Un gioco bello, sempre diverso, stimola la creatività e non ci si stanca mai! Sono mattoncini di legno di diverse dimensioni con i quali si costruisce una pista dove far scorrere le biglie. La biglia passando da un bellissimo suono a seconda del pezzo che incontra. Lo trovo un bellissimo gioco. I miei figli ci hanno giocato per anni e si divertivano a costruirla in modi sempre diversi.