Buy Chaos TowerChaos Tower Product Description:
- Rube Goldberg Kit It's called chaos, but kids don't need a kit to create that, do they? And it actually is used to create really fun controlled "perpetual motion" Rube Goldberg-type devices.
- You (your kids will never displace you once they see this kit) assemble a frame of your choice and adorn it with sets of chutes, slides, funnels, catch baskets, trampolines... You name it.
- The new Chaos motor driven chain lifts a ball to the top of your construction and off it goes through whatever course(s) you have set up. It is really educational physics, and we guarantee hours of creative fun with this top quality, attractively packaged kit.
- The tower has a max height of 78" and a whopping 602 pieces! It also includes an educational CD ROM. Everything you need (except batteries) is included. Ages 7 & up.
Product Description
Now you can bring the best part of the museum home to you with the Chaos World of Motion chaos tower. This incredible construction kit lets you build virtually any structure your can think of, and then watch as the laws of motion are demonstrated when you launch the balls into your cleverly constructed mad maze. Adults as well as children will find this set both fascinating and fun. The pieces lock together so easily that you
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
28 of 28 people found the following review helpful.
Great Rube Goldberg fun
By Geoff Fortytwo
Over the years I've purchased 4 of these sets and combined them together in one big set. Right now I have it set up in the lobby at work. It's three sections wide and about 7 feet tall.I was actually thinking of getting a few more sets and setting it up so that multiple tracks are supplied by balls from both ends. Making it even taller would also be cool, but I'd probably need a step ladder to work on it then.My only major complaint is that the makers of this toy have not added any new widgets in years. I'd buy another set this instant if I could get some cool new widgets.The ball return could also be designed a bit better so that it didn't clog up as much. And, the motor might need to be made a bit more powerful if I make the set 8 or 9 feet tall. I'm not certain whether it would handle the load (but, I haven't tried, so perhaps it would).
25 of 25 people found the following review helpful.
Lots of fun to build and watch, temperamental to set up and run
By Gabriel's Buddy
I bought this for my 11 year old and we built it together. We are very happy with the results and we look forward to modifying the design but it seems a little flimsy and was difficult at time to assemble.Assembly: One starts out making the blue frame out of tubes and connectors, then assembles pieces of track and gadgets, and then mounts those to the blue frame.The blue tubes were loose fitting onto the connectors. This has resulted in a recurring problem where the frame separates. There are many static and dynamic forces happening during use and while assembling new components and it is frustrating to finally have made some adjustment only to find out a connector is out of place and something is longer than it needs to be.The track fits together by sliding two pieces together perpendicular to the ball path. There are three slots that need to align and this is sometimes difficult to achieve, although assembly on a flat surface helps. The parts should go together with either part coming from the top but sometimes it is easier one way than the other. Sometimes they don't end up with the bottom of the track aligned perfectly and some adjustment needs to be made. Some dexterity is required.The plans were good but lacked some information here and there. When there was a red component (ball changer), the track beneath it isn't specified (use the short straight track!). How each part is supported on the frame also isn't specified.The loop seems fragile and could use some bracing to make both parts stiffer. As it is, any sideways force distorts the track at the loop which seems to put a lot of stress on it.I think my 11 year old would have had great difficulty doing this all by himself. As it was, we did it together and that was part of the fun.Attaching the track to the frame was easy once you got the knack for how the system works. There seems to be more pressure needed than I would have expected but I suppose that explains why you don't need more supports. It can be difficult to align all the vertical drops. You can get one lined up and accidently mess that up when adjusting the one below it, especially if the mount shares the same vertical tube. The location and number of supports isn't obvious from the drawing.Use Issues: Since the track goes together in either direction, they come apart in either direction. We have trouble whereby the ball collector at the top of the device often separates from the track to which it is attached. Another support (not shown) has rectified that problem.The trampolines don't attach firmly to the device; there are small pieces of rubber on the underside that prevent the mounting bracket from engaging unless you do it very carefully. This means they fall off easily and will also come off when you are adjusting the angle.The ball feeder works well and is very cool to look at as part of the fun. My son was playing with the ball carriers, making some very close together and some far apart, so that the dynamic would change by having balls sometimes released close together and sometimes far apart.One ball collector releases two balls at a time. That is cool except that two balls hitting the trampoline in close succession often don't make it into the basket.Once all is said and done, though, it is very fun to look at and the adjustments can be seen as part of the fun.Other items: The CD ROM is useless; boring old physics lessons written with primitive illustrations. I thought it would be lessons you could learn using the device as an experimental rig (e.g. a ball bouncing off the trampoline can bounce high and into the basket or take a more horizontal and faster route, try that...)The box it came in is flimsy and useless for storage. We are still trying to find a storage solution.There is a good deal of leftover track and a few bells and other devices. This is great in that they could have just provided the minimum necessary to make the device shown on the cover. This way my son has more ways to experiment.I have two 3 year olds. They love putting in the marbles and watching it go. I think it will engage their creativity too.It would be nice if you could buy some extra components (a drum head, the xylophone pictured, a spiral tube, water wheel, seesaw etc.) but they don't have very much on their website. We've made some things from around the house which, I suppose, is cheaper and more creative, but it seems they could make it expandable to keep the interest.The manufacturer sells a box of 12 balls for $15 with $8 shipping. I'd recommending getting the extra balls right away if you could save the shipping as it is more fun to have many things going on and we've already had one ball break when falling on our concrete floor (they are metal encapsulated by plastic). The ball carrier requires balls of a specific size.In summary, this is a great gift and very affordable considering what you get for the money. There are some shortcomings as far as fit and finish go but these are far outweighed by what you end up with.
26 of 27 people found the following review helpful.From a Physics teacher...
By B. Lamore
I see this product is listed also as "Chaos Tower" on Amazon. I don't know which is the correct page, but the reviews are different. I'll put a copy of this on the other page too.I teach high school physics and decided to get one of these for a project-based endeavor we are trying at our school in a couple months. I had one shipped to my family's house for Xmas to try it out. I was going to bring it to a family gathering, because I thought the kids would like it, but it didn't arrive in time. As it turned out, I think that was fortunate; here's why.The age group specified is 8+, but 8-year olds can't build this on their own. You really need at least one adult or savvy teenager to get the most out of The Chaos Tower.There is a learning curve that might take you an hour or two, but once you get the hang of what the designer had in mind, you can be very creative.I found the parts were very well designed and made. Parts fit together quite well and tightly. The range of possible marble runs is endless, and it's clear to me the designer went through a few design cycle iterations before they made it into a viable product. The result is a testament to the Scientific Method, and I would like to hear the inventor's experiences in making this!I've seen a few other marble runs toys that have a lot of bells and whistles, but if you look closely, much of the assembly is just for show and doesn't perform any mechanical function. This is not the case with the Chos Tower. Everything in the kit has a function if you choose to utilize it in your design.So now the $64 question: will your kids like it? If they have the attention span, yes. If your kids can't focus for a couple hours, then plan on helping them. Once the kids see how to design and use the parts I think they will like it. But I don't think you can just give this to anything less than a teenager and expect them to run with it. If you do and the kid does well, you definitely have a future engineer/scientist.For most kids, who, sadly, have the attention span of a gnat, plan on learning how to build some of this yourself (assuming you are a competent adult).I plan on using a number of these kits in a contest format. I'll judge student teams based on creativity, % of balls that stay in the run (some balls will fall out of a loosely-designed structure), mass of structure (or number of parts used or some other way to measure complexity), and time to build. I'll probably also judge them on how well they work in a team, since I can see a tendency for argument. This is a good opportunity for kids to learn to work in groups.I'll probably video the final designs and solicit judgements from other teachers.Lastly, there is a CDROM included, but I haven't looked at it. It may provide some design insights that could shorten the learning curve.
Latest Price: See on Amazon.com!
More Info: See on Amazon.com!
See Customers Review: See on Amazon.com!
