TOMYToomies Gearation Refrigerator Magnets

Tomy has a reputation for creating durable, high-quality fun and educational toys for ALL ages, and this includes adults too (or "ELDER children" as I prefer to call us).Tomy's "Gearation Refrigerator Magnets" is NO exception. Very reasonably priced at around $17.00, this toy comes equipped with SIX MAGNETIC, FUN, PLAYFULLY DECORATED, HEAVY-DUTY, COLORFUL and STIMULATING-TO-THE-SENSES PLASTIC GEARS. They may be used, independently, for Refrigerator Use Exclusively! Post up notes. Use them just like any 6 refrigerator magnets you know and love.Or ... and THIS IS THE *T*O*M*Y* *M*A*G*I*C* which makes $17 an ULTRA FAN-TOY-STIC BARGAIN for Young and "Old" Children Alike:Here's why. Tomy's Gearation Refrigerator Magnets, first off, are "Sui Generis," which means - ONE ... OF ... A ... KIND ...A. They are POWERFUL magnets for affixing notes, grocery lists, ANYTHING to your refrigerator. Hey wait, I already said that.B. Okay sorry. Next! These gearation magnets are not only COLORFUL, SMILEY, ZOOKEY, HAPPY-GOOFY-ZIPPY - designed with HAPPINESS and CHEERFULNESS in mind. One cannot LOOK at these magnets or connect their gears from one to another, without evoking a smile, even on the cloudiest day!C. And THAT'S just the START ... THESE magnets are SO MUCH MUCH MUCH MUCH *M*O*R*E* (than just really cute, cool "fridge mags"):1. One of the "Six Gears" is AA (battery) powered. (Very Important Note, Battery Buyers - This should be ANNOTATED by Amazon.Com, BTW, as a CORRECTION to Your "Specs," which say "one AAA battery required." That is wrong - ONE AA BATTERY IS REQUIRED!)2. Now. For MY money, I strongly recommend getting the "Engerizer Ultimate 9X Lithium AA Battery," which is guaranteed to last (at least) NINE times longer than the Best Energizer AA Alkaline which, in my opinion, has ALWAYS been a superior DC power cell over the Duracell Alkaline AA, or any OTHER consumer alkalne battery on the market IMHO.3. Because: You will *WANT* a *SUPER* *STRONG* battery, once you see JUST *HOW* *MUCH* FUN you are going to have - once you've "unlocked" the possibilities, of this "ELECTRO-magnetic Wizardry" in one of these Tomy Gearation Refrigerator Magnet wonder toys! They remind me of the kind of toys featured in that WHIMSICAL, MAGICAL FILM "Mr. Magorium's Magic Emporium." For there is TONS OF IMAGINATION and ENDLESS CREATIVE POSSIBILITY built-in to these "seemingly ORDINARY, six electro-magnetic magnets, designed to interlock with one another as 'perpetual motion gears' - why, to the unitiated eye, you won't know WHICH gearation magnet is POWERING the lot of them." I would emend this by addomg: These are not only ATLAS-LIKE MAGNETS. They are "SUPER ELECTRO GEARNETS" ... FOR "SUPER INTELLIGENT 'GEAR HEADS!'"4. Because These Magnets are SUPER CREATIVE! You can line them up ANY ways (and there be Millions!) that YOU DESIRE! Then flick the power switch to the left or right to engage ... **A**C**T**I**O**N** (on the "Power Gear," to initiate DC electric power. [For either clockwise gear motion or counterclockwise motility.] Then AWAY YOU GO!) All SIX magnets whirl and twirl, click and cog and sound JUST like a Victorian Clock Tower. Of course, without the bell toll to announce "the hour". But ALL THE FUN IS THERE ... Just Like in the Martin Scorcese Film "Hugo!" I kid you not!5. You have literally ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES for changing your "configuration" of "DC powered fun from Age 3 to Age 133!"6. Trust me. There's *N*O* CESSATION to *M*A*X*I*M*U*M* *F*U*N* **F**U**N** ***F***U***N*** GGGEEEEAAAAARATION - from the EDUTAINTING, ENTERTAINING and EDUCATING BRAINS of THOSE *A*M*A*Z*A*M*A*N*I*C*A*L*L*Y* *F*U*N*T*O*Y*S*T*I*C* *M*I*N*D*S* of *A*L*L* *T*H*O*S*E* **W**U**N**D**E**R**K**I**N**D** - "TOMY GEAR ROCKER JOCKERS KNOCKZ-YOUR-SOCKZOFFERZ! WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!"But don't trust me.Buy a set for your son, your daughter, your grand daughter, your grandson, your favorite niece, your favorite nephew, your favorite great grand niece, your favorite great grand nephew; or ... heyzoo ... ANYONE ELSE you love, My Little Kangaroo! I PROMISE UUUUUUUUU! You think your loved ones love you NOW!?! *THEY* *WILL* *LOVE* *Y*O*U* **E**X**T**R**A** **E**X**T**R**A** **E**X**T**R**A** **M**U**C**H**, ***M***O***R***E*** than even "GEARATION CAN MEASURE!" [well mebbe ... I dunno ... no tests've ever been conducted on THIS ONE!]But! Amigo! Amiga! For THIS price, There's a *T*O*N*-*O*-*L*O*T* of EXTRA LOVE LOCKED AWAY - READY TO BE RELEASED - from THESE GOLD-MINE GEAR-MONDO-TASTIC-FANTUBULOUS CLICKETY-CLACKING SIXTY MILLION CHEERS, in 6 "Simple" GEARS - especially during these here, which is to say: in THESE ummm ... TIGHT SOCIO-ECONOMIC TIMES! Tomy's got the remedy.You'll *NEVER* get tired of having fun playing with these "gearation magnets!" Or ... did I mean to say ... having fun *WATCHING* your loved ones play with them. :-) That's okay. I think that it is is PERFECTLY *O*K*A*Y* to HAVE FUN "OVER 40" too!Buy a Set for Your Significant Other Today *T*O*O* !!! He or She will Thank You for "Tomy Gearation Refrigerator Magnets" *E*V*E*R*Y* SINGLE DAY! Take MY word on this! Because MY S.O. loves them (like there's no tomorrow) ... JUST as much as I do ... and THAT'S HAPPINESS money cannot buy! We BOTH have a set of Tomy Fridge Gearation Mags now. All we need is a SECOND FRIDGE!!! :-) [LOL]It's *A*L*L* *F*U*N*, *A*L*L* *C*H*E*E*R*, *A*L*L *H*A*P*P*Y*. From The MINDS OF TOMY! The "MEGA MINDS, of TOMY!" SUPER strong plastic, adhesive designs which DO NOT wear off. Gears which are solid, reliable and will never break down. AND A LIFE TIME'S WORTH OF HAPPINESS AND SATISFACTION ... TOTALLY GUARANTEED! (Or your Happiness FULLY Refunded!)Not "too much" to ask for a VERY economic TOP TOY PRICE of $17!Go ahead. Buy YOURSELF ... a SET of TOMY GEARATIONS ... *T*O*D*A*Y* ! Be the FIRST, in YOUR family, on YOUR block, to OWN one. :-)Oh yes ... I should add ... They *A*R*E* "addicting fun!" But GOOD addicting! EDUCATIONALLY engaging! IMAGINATIVELY SO! The RIGHT kind of "addiction." For the right kind of "affliction." If you can call "a yen for fun," an affliction.In summary all I can say is: A toy just DOESN'T get ANY better than this! ALL HAIL TOMY TOY-MAKER INVENTORS!YOU'VE STRUCK *G*O*L*D* with THIS "Little Set O' Six!" :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-)SO *MUCH* *MUCH* FUN, in just ONE "SIMPLE TOY!" But "simple" is a "deceptive" description. Tomy's GEARATION MAGNETS are SIMPLY: *A* *PURE* *ENDLESS* *FUN* *JOY* !!!!!!!!!!!!!These "Happy Fun Gears" are worth YEARS OF EXCITEMENT, ENJOYMENT and *I*N*F*I*N*I*T*E* CREATIVITY, whether you're a "refrigerator magnet aficionado" or just "a happy gear Mover and Shaker!" :-) There's SOMETHING *S*U*P*E*R* *O*U*T*S*T*A*N*D*I*N*G* in This Toy ... For EVERYONE! And You Won't Find a Stronger Set of Cool Magnets for Your Everyday (or Just Plain Fun, Fun, Fun!) NEEDS as well!Try COMBINING two or more sets too! That's why I recommend the 9X Lithium Energizer Battery! The EXTRA power will EASILY propel a DOZEN or *M*O*R*E* of these zany, wild and crazy, fun and hours-of-happy-playful "gizmoids," "doodads" and "good-heavens-dear, gear goodies" to your heart's content, with PLENTY OF FUN "*G*E*A*R*A*T*I*O*N*" ... for EVERY Geared-to-Go-Generation ... to Spare and ... SHARE ALIKE!HAVE FUN! (I said that already) With TOMY TOYS, it's IMPOSSIBLE not to! (I think I said that too) :-)Bears repeatin' tho.

I have purchased a few sets of these over the last few years (2009-2013) for friends' kids, neices and nephews, from ages 1.5-8. Of course small children need supervision with small parts, but that's nothing new. Basically no matter how young or old, these are a winner. My parents keep a set on their fridge (50+) because they find them fun and basically everyone who steps into the kitchen fiddles with them. Even babies can enjoy watching the motion of the changing colors and patterns.The largest gear has the motor and the green arrow is what controls the motion; in the central position, it's stopped, flick it either direction and the gear will turn clockwise or counter-clockwise. Set non-motorized gears against the motorized one, and you suddenly have a functioning system. Each gear has a magnet on the back that is strong enough to prevent it from sliding, but not so strong that small hands can't easily re-arrange the gears in any of a number of patterns to get different motion and combinations. The motor is strong enough to move all the gears, but not so strong as to pose a pinch hazard to small hands. This was a concern of mine on my first purchase, but it's not a worry.These make a nice gift because you can be almost certain the family doesn't already have three of them sitting around gathering dust. Multiple sets can be combined and used together and it only enhances the experience. Also, if a piece gets lost, the whole toy is not ruined. So long as you still have the motorized gear and at least one or two others, it's still a great toy. These are also good for "smaller spaces", as they can be stuck to the fridge or a metal cabinet and don't necessarily need to be "put away" after each use. Plus, this allows for play in the kitchen (within sight) without toy clutter on the floor.As for durability, they hold up very well to being dropped, stepped on, even tossed to see if they will magnet to the fridge mid-flight.Although I wouldn't necessarily classify them as an "educational toy", these also help teach kids how gears work - sometimes you place them in the wrong orientation and the gears will try to work against eachother and stall out. But since you can maneuver these while in motion, if you make a wrong move, they lock up instantaneously upon placing the gear, so kids can right away see their mistake and correct it. Just bumping the wrongly placed gear out or removing it, and the others start turning again.Battery life is phenomenal - even with periodically being left on for extended periods of time, and it just takes 1 AAA battery, so no special trip to walmart to search out that hard-to-find battery when it does go out. We use a rechargeable one in ours.Smaller hands might have a bit of a hard time with motor skills at first flicking them on or off because the switch is fairily low profile, not the clunky dials and switches they might be used to, so it's not the easiest to grip, but isn't that part of the point? To stimulate new skills? Watching an older sibling or parent using it, they are able to do it pretty fast!The price point is the biggest downside, but these are a quality toy that will last for years to come. Overall these are a phenomenal product and a great addition to any household.

My 2-year-old grandson LOVES this toy - we have it on our fridge and he plays with it while we are cooking or doing other things that we want him in the room for but don't want him underfoot. He's able to move the pieces around and make different designs, and it's loud enough that we can hear it going (when he forgets to turn it off) but not so loud that it's annoying or interrupting conversation. The colors are fun and bright, and the magnets are strong enough that the pieces stay where he puts them but he can move them easily. Highly recommend.