Mega Bloks building blocks are a building block much like Lego; however, they are targetted more towards younger children with their larger appearance. The building blocks come in small starter sets or larger packs all for very reasonable prices; an 80 piece set will run $9.99 and a 200 piece set will run $29.99. Each set usually comes with some sort of storage, for example the 200 piece set comes in a re-usable duffle bag and the 80-piece flat pack that I purchased came with a reusable tupperware tub. The blocks also come in a variety of colors depending on the set you purchase, the original colors of the Mega Bloks blocks are yellow, red, green and blue; however, if you purchase the Princess sets they will come with pink, baby blue and white blocks and the Dora playset comes with orange, blue, red, yellow and green blocks and so on.

Mega Bloks has expanded their building blocks market to compete with other companies such as Lego by employing a technique that we’ve seen before with Play-Doh, they teamed up with popular children’s characters such as Dora the Explorer, Disney’s Car’s and Disney’s Princesses etc. The great thing about Mega Bloks teaming up with so many characters is that a parent can find any child at least one set of blocks that appeals to them and being that they’re all Mega Bloks blocks all of the sets are compatible and easily built upon with other sets and extension packs. Another fact about Mega Bloks that very few people know is that Mega Bloks building blocks are compatible with Lego blocks of the same size!

Mega Bloks building block sets were an easy pick for me because as a “Lego child” I have always been intrigued by building toys and being that Mega Bloks are so affordable it seemed like a no brainer. The blocks came in a very cool re-usable tupperware type tub (minus the sealable lid, the lid does close but not with the type of seal you find on tupperware) which was a plus for me, I love toys that come with packaging that make keeping the house clean and toys off the floor easier.

The Mega-Bloks flat pack with 80 pieces is an exclusive toy to ToysRUs (just the flat pack version, you can purchase other versions at almost all other toystores) and only cost me $9.99 for an 80 piece set. The affordability of all Mega Bloks toys blows me away but specifically the building blocks because they are toys that you can continue to build upon over time and not be afraid of the toy going out of style or being discontinued (they have been in stock in stores since the mid 80′s).

There are very few negative things that I can say about the Mega Bloks building blocks because between the price and the durability as well as the creativity that they induce there is very little to choose from when it comes to negative points on the blocks. I do; however, find that the flat pack is a little deceiving. When it’s advertised that there are 80 pieces in the box you expect to find more than you actually do when you open the tub. In actuality 80 building blocks really is not that many and although it may serve as a great starting point for younger children I cannot recommend this as a complete set, it is great, though, for a starter set and the tub that it comes in can fit at least 80 more blocks so provides a good storage unit for at least two packs of blocks (when the collection gets too large I recommend rubbermaid tubs from Walmart or Target, they are cheap, durable and securely sealed shut.)

The second negative thing I have to say about the Mega Bloks building blocks flat pack set is a comment on building blocks of this nature in general, as is the third gripe I have as well. The noise factor of the blocks is amazingly irritating on a quiet Sunday morning as children rake through the blocks to find the piece they are searching for, much as they are when the tub of blocks itself is shaken up and down (see the video when I turn the box upside down.) The thing with the noise factor on this toy though is that the noise can be limited to short bursts if the blocks are spread out amply to begin with, or one can simply learn to live with the noise of blocks much as my parents were forced to do when I was a child (after all “quiet play” is somewhat of an oxymoron.) The final gripe I have with the building blocks is that they are very easily thrown; however this is simply the nature of such a toy and cannot be changed although I do not recommend purchasing this toy for a child who makes a habit of throwing their toys around the house.

Overall I have way more pro’s than con’s when it comes to the Mega Bloks building blocks, they are a creative outlet for children which encourage social interaction and play while being durable as well as compatible with many other play sets which can be found at reasonable prices at almost any toy store.

The Lego Terrain Crusher Tiny Turbos car kit comes in a re-usable plastic casing shaped like a tire with a large sticker wrapped around it. The packaging itself is enticing to any child, not just a Lego lover; however, be warned that the packaging and the actual product itself looks MUCH bigger in online stores than it actually is. The complete toy, including packaging is about the size of the average adult woman’s hand. The top of the tire shaped case just pops off after breaking the seal of the wrap around sticker and the Lego pieces are inside a plastic bag for “safe keeping.” The Lego set comes with a sheet of stickers, just enough pieces to construct the car itself (so make sure you don’t lose any pieces!) and a sheet of instructions.

The sheet of instructions is readable enough to create a car but as an adult woman it took me a couple of tries to get the car completed as per the instructions. Since the instructions show groups of pieces as steps instead of piece by piece instructions it is a little more difficult than one might think to contruct the actual car featured on the packaging; however, it is possible after a little extra frustration of extra pieces and starting over a couple of times. Once the car is completed as per instructions the sticker sheet provided gives your child the opportunity to decorated their very own Terrain Crusher to look just like the one on the packaging or to their own specifications.

Lego Tiny Turbos has a few models of vehicles available including the 8130 Terrain Crusher, the 8131 Raceway Rider, the 8132 Night Driver, the 8133 Rally Runner, the 8134 Night Crusher, the 8135 Bridge Chase, the 8147 Bullet Run, and the 8681 Tuner Garage. These are the Tiny Turbo vehicles and vehicle sets available but there are also other classifications of Lego vehicle sets available including the Power Racers and the Ferrari sets.

The Lego Terrain Crusher Tiny Turbos vehicle set was mildly dissapointing but not so much so that I wouldn’t recommend it to friends. The primary disappointment of the set was the size, although I realize that Lego are small building bricks, from the size of the set featured on KB Toys website I expected a much larger set. The actual set (the size of my hand) contains just enough bricks to complete the car on the packaging and no more which was also mildly disappointing but again not largely so.

After taking the pieces of lego from the packaging and arranging them so I could see which pieces were which I realized that the actual construction of the car featured on the packaging was not going to be as easy as I assumed it should be. I mean honestly, how hard can it be to contruct a car out of Lego? I pull out the instructions provided and realize that the instructions themselves consist of groups of pieces. For example the first step includes building the base of the car, it does not show exactly which pieces to use but you are left to guess which pieces look right and your confirmation only comes when the final result of your step one looks identical to the final result of the instructions step one. Although this is a slight inconvenience it is not hard enough to make the toy one that I would not recommend.

Lego have always been a huge favorite of mine when it comes to children’s toys, I had Lego growing up as did my younger brothers and as will my own children when the day comes. Lego are the perfect toy for any child because they encourage learning and socializing as well as imaginative play which is ALWAYS a plus with any toy. I not only love the educational and imaginative factors of Lego though, I love that it is a toy that you can build on. Lego is a toy that can be collected and built upon for years as well as passed down from generation to generation and they continue to still be compatible with each other even as the years pass.

As for the Terrain Crusher Lego set, while I don’t highly recommend it as a Lego playset you could do a lot worse for yourself as far as toy choices go. I have seen other Lego sets that I would be more apt to purchase by personal choice, such as the themed playsets or the movie inspired sets (think Star Wars,) but if your child has his or her heart set on the Tiny Turbos vehicle sets, for the price I wouldn’t fight it. The cost is justifiable for a durable toy which offers hours of entertainment and can also be broken down to individual pieces that are compatible with other Lego sets and collections.