A little more DIY than expected, but overall, I'm pleased and would order again.

Review of ATXinventor:

Let me begin by saying that I did pay full price and shipping for the tower, stair, and spindle box.  However, the rest was sent to me without cost.  That’s technically some freebie action.  It doesn’t change my review, but I feel it needs to be noted.

The items would have been delivered in 3 days, if not for the post office, I obviously don’t hold him accountable for that.   I moved, and was foolish enough to put in a change of address.  It took over a week to get here under 3 day shipping.   I received the box on 3/8/2014.  I let ATXinventor know about the issues that evening.  He said he’d send replacement parts for the ones that were flawed.  The date today is 3/15/14, to my knowledge it has not been sent yet.  It must be noted that I knew he was going to a festival this week and would be gone most of the days.  Please take that into consideration. 

Items received:

Pink tower kit

Broad Stair kit

Spindle box kit

Acrylic insets and tray kit

Blank fraction circles

World map

Pink tower- took 26 minutes to snap together, went together pretty easily, very straightforward.  If you are someone who needs a lot of direction, you may have trouble as there are no written instructions.  There’s a bit of a trick to snapping them together so the wood doesn’t splinter at all, but it isn’t difficult to put together.

My 4 year old stacked them, but preferred nesting them.  If you’re looking for a traditional experience, you may have to cover the bottom with something else to keep them from being nested.  I was okay either way, but as it is an option, know that the child will likely nest as well as stack. 

Broad stair- went together just as fast as the tower; the catch was that there was a piece missing, so I can’t use that stair until it is replaced.  They are longer obviously, and harder to snap together without a bit of splintering.  This can be taken care of with sandpaper, so it isn’t a huge issue. 

The same issue came up with the nesting as we had with the tower.  Again, I’m cool with it but not everyone is.  There is also the issue that it isn’t as heavy as the traditional tower and stair, though there is a weight difference between the smallest and largest, not as much as a traditional set would have.

Spindle box- again this was very straightforward, though I did forget to put the tall piece on the back and had to reassemble.  The issue here was that I received 2 back pieces for the box so I had 2 5-9 pieces and no 0-4.  One of the little boxes for storing spindles did not match up properly and was also unusable, but I really only needed 1 box. 

This seems to work as well as a traditional spindle box (I re-labeled it 0-4 for now so I could test it out).  I’m not sure this would be any different from a regular Monte spindle box, except that you put it together.

I ended up putting them together and covering the incorrect numbers with a piece of cardstock and the appropriate number, as a long term solution I wouldn’t be doing this, but as a quick fix until replacement parts come, it’s fine.  He used them without any problems. 

Acrylic insets- These were the prototype for the ones that are currently for sale.  They only needed the tray to be assembled and that snapped together fast and, again, was very straightforward.  The circle inset cracked a bit during shipping, but still functions fine.  One other one needed a bit of sanding on one edge as it was a bit bumpy.

As we have never used real metal insets, I can’t say how these compare, but I know that from what I understand of the goals for insets- these seem to do the trick nicely.  Mine were clear and white acrylic.  Where they are clear, there is a distinct advantage for my son, he can see the line he’s making and make sure it’s lined up.  That’s the only real difference I see.  That and they obviously wouldn’t have the same sound as metal.  I used them secondarily as one piece puzzles for Po (13 months) and they stood up to him banging them on a concrete floor and did not crack. 

Blank fraction circles- This is a great base to start from, they are wood, and lightweight.  They do not have pegs and are simply the circles cut in equal pieces from 0-9.  I’m keeping these by for my 4 year old because he’s not quite ready for fractions.  However, for an older child it does provide a great visual reference when showing fractions. 

World map puzzle- This was not done the way I originally asked, but I find I like the idea better.  The pieces are comprised of a world map, each continent is a piece. Underneath, each country is represented by its flag.  There is no writing on the puzzle, but I could add it if I chose.  I asked him specifically for accuracy and it is that. 

This was the item my son was most excited about.  He loved taking it apart and putting it back and we talked about some of the country flags.

The verdict- These are not traditional purist materials; that needs to be stated right-off.  They have multiple other functions, but for the purist traditional Montessori environment these would probably not be appropriate.  He packed all the pieces for each item in the box separately in heat shrink.  That helped to know what was for which item.  I’m not thrilled with how the post office handled this.  I’m hopeful that ATXinventor will be using a different carrier or at least provide an alternate option for those who would prefer their package gets where it’s going reasonably fast and arrives intact.  The box (a mail/shipping box from the post office) worked apart during shipping and pieces were lost in shipment.  Also, one of the acrylic insets was cracked almost all the way across.  I couldn’t say if it was an issue with how it was packed, or if it was because of the postal service.   As with everything I’m going to divide this into PROS and CONS.

PROS-

• ·         Inexpensive cost
• ·         Multiple uses beyond traditional materials
• ·         Nesting ability of some larger materials creates extra space for storage
• ·         Varied price options
• ·         Fairly easy to put together
• ·         Reasonably sturdy
• ·         Customizable 
• ·         Extra pieces for smaller items in case of loss etc.

CONS-

• ·         Weight differential isn’t what it would be with traditional materials,
• ·         There are no pictures or instructions of any kind, and so you either refer to his website or wing it. 
• ·         If parts are missing or incorrect it can take some time to get replacements.  (this may be due to  the festival which he told me about previously so I knew the time frame I was looking at) 
• ·         The method of packaging and delivery could use some work, and will probably have to be changed or at least have options given to ensure better end results. 

In summation, will I be ordering from ATXinventor again?  Yes.  (Assuming he creates something new I don’t already have.)  Will I recommend him?  Yes, but with the caveat that exactly the right parts making it to you the first time can be an issue.  But please read the whole review, this could be an isolated thing.  Do I have some qualms?  Also, yes.  I’m sort of a stickler for a correct order and quality control.  However, I don’t know of a company that gets this right every product every time.  As long as I get my replacement pieces, I’m not going to have too many negative things to say.  That being said, there are other things at work here.  He was packing the box with other items that weren’t exactly on a packing list.  The box came apart in shipping, I have no way of knowing what all was lost, but I know several pieces were lost.  There was probably a good portion of distraction involved here; there were multiple prototypes, a short timeframe, prepping for a festival, etc.  He was trying to get it all here so I could look at it and work with it and the kids.  It’s entirely plausible that a different order would be perfectly executed.  The boys used these and they held up well to 4 year old and 13 month use.  

Thank you Yama, ATXinventor for the opportunity to review your work, I'm sure we'll be speaking again soon.