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.
