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Home > Categories > Toys > Construction Kits > flexo - Ocean Life kits review

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Score: 9.5/10  [15 reviews]
5 out of 5
ProdID: 8128 - flexo - Ocean Life kits
Manufactured by Flexo NZ

flexo - Ocean Life kits
Price:
$19.95
Sample/s Supplied by:
Click to search for all products supplied by Flexo NZ

Disclosure StatementFULL DISCLOSURE: A number of units of this product have, at some time, been provided to KIWIreviews by Flexo NZ or their agents for the sole purposes of unbiased, independent reviews. No fee was requested, offered nor accepted by KIWIreviews or the reviewers themselves - these are genuine, unpaid consumer reviews.
Available:
via online sotre and selected retail outlets

flexo - Ocean Life kits product reviews

Proud to promote NZ productsThese kits are themed on life in the ocean. Available in five variants:
    •  Crab
    •  Fish
    •  Seahorse
    •  Stingray
    •  Turtle

They bend and flex, will float in water and are safe for kids of all ages 7+.

Check out Flexo NZ onlineClick here to see all the listings for Flexo NZ Visit their website Follow them on Twitter Check them out on Facebook Check them out on YouTube They do not have a Pinterest board Check them out on Instagram They do not have a TikTok channel



Tags:
bricks   cobi   compatible   construction   crab   fish   flexible   flexo   lego   megablox   ocean   seahorse   stingray   tendons   toy   turtle   nzmade
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flexo - Foil Pack Collectionflexo - Foil Pack Collection
Rating: 9.5
flexo - Builder Setflexo - Builder Set
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flexo - Inventor Setflexo - Inventor Set
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Rating: 9.8
flexo - Small Heavy-Duty Plastic Storage Binflexo - Small Heavy-Duty Plastic Storage Bin
Rating: 9.9
flexo - Medium Heavy-Duty Storage Binflexo - Medium Heavy-Duty Storage Bin
Rating: 9.8
Fly-Away LadybugFly-Away Ladybug
Rating: 9.4
Speed FighterSpeed Fighter
Rating: 9.3
Pillow PetsPillow Pets
Rating: 9.8
Furreal Friends Dizzy DancersFurreal Friends Dizzy Dancers
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Mike the MowerMike the Mower
Rating: 10.0
Blingles Bling StudioBlingles Bling Studio
Rating: 9.0
Poppin Park Roll N Pop Express TrainPoppin Park Roll N Pop Express Train
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Product reviews...

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Click here to read the profile of kiwigirl04

Review by: kiwigirl04 (Sharlene)
Dated: 11th of March, 2019

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This Review: 9.5/10
Durability:
Score 9 out of 10
Value for Money:
Score 10 out of 10
Versatility:
Score 9 out of 10
Age Range:
Score 10 out of 10

Flexo Ocean life kit: Stingray

When I saw Flexo come out for reviewing I was excited to see something like lego but not lego. The name Flexo is just that, its a lego that bends and can float in the water and actually be played with. Opening up the box there was a bag of lots of lego pieces, a piece of paper and a tree of black bits different lengths all joined together. After pulling it all out I have a look at it before giving to the kids, I opened up the paper and was like wow thats it, thats all the instructions we need. It showed there was a youtube clip for instructions or the paper, had a tendon key and on the back showed the other kits and how to you the tool that it came with.

So I put it all back into the box and gave it to my 9 & 10 year old since the box says 7plus they are a little older than the start of this but they were keen to give it a go. They were excited to try something new, they decided to build it together but one do half of the stingray and the other do the other side then join it together later on, they worked out the colours on the picture matched the tendon key and off they went. They had a little trouble getting the tendons into the blocks then worked out on the back of the paper there was a how to use the multitool so they started using that to press the tendons into the blocks.

The blocks matched the instructions really well they discovered if you put the pieces on the picture they were a perfect match, I had a little try to see how easy it all was and it was very easy and enjoyable. Once they used their teamwork and put it altogether and added eyes they were excited and started playing, the loved that you could move it and bend it, sadly my 10 year old bent the tail a little too much and too many times that I snapped that tendon but the pack came with many spare tendons and she easily fixed it up. The issue came to wanting to play with the stingray as they both wanted to play at the same time so we had to look up the website and see what else we could buy.

I love this for my kids, and they loved it too, even playing the 2 year old wanted to play with the stingray once finished knowing he can't really break it. We had a look online and they were excited to see you can get glow in the dark tendons and the different packs so I guess we will be buying more. This was a great way to start up our collection and the price isnt bad at all. Very happy all around here.

Click here to read the profile of raz_1984

Review by: raz_1984 (Sarah)
Dated: 10th of March, 2019

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This Review: 8.8/10
Durability:
Score 8 out of 10
Value for Money:
Score 10 out of 10
Versatility:
Score 9 out of 10
Age Range:
Score 8 out of 10

Flexo Ocean Life Kit - Crab

We have a very big fish enthusiast in our house who is also a mega Lego fan. So when I saw these up for review, I knew I had to put our names down for it! I saw that the age was from 7 and above which put us exactly at the starting age range of 7, so was interested to see how we/she would go.

Excitement was at an all-time high when the package arrived! We received the very cute crab, and I'm not sure who couldn't wait until we could open it up the most! So carefully we opened it, and I was pretty pleased that once we opened the box, there weren't a lot of different plastic bags to open and then deal with.

Taking everything out, we went searching for the instructions and it wasn't until we had a good look at the 1 piece of paper in the box that we realised that everything was on there, and that there was a YouTube link to follow if we wanted to. But being a school day, and no YouTube technology is allowed, we opted for the old school version of instructions on their website. The paper it came with made everything very easy to lay out correctly. Each block was colour coded on the sheet, and so Miss 7 was very happy to do that as it said, and on her own. We both got a bit confused at first when it was time to use the connectors and couldn't find the colours rubber parts and thought maybe they had been left out of the box. Until I spotted down the bottom that the colours on the instructions were in fact coded for the black rubber bits that were included. My guess was that it made it easier to see them. Which it was, we just didn't spot the code quick enough.

What Miss 7 did find hard though was when it came to the rubber parts and connecting more than 1 layer together. The rubber parts to connect adjacent pieces were easy enough, and the special tool made it even easier. But when we had to connect it up and around another piece, she struggled with that and just couldn't get it to work. So that was Mum's part in the assembly. Even I found it hard, but found it easier having nails to get all the fiddly bits put together. We didn't use the YouTube instructions, but will next time as the online step by step instructions were a bit puzzling when it came to adding layers to the initial crab shape.

We successfully completed our wee crab, and even took him for a swim as it said it would float (and he did!), and really enjoyed the challenge it gave us, and loved that it was a project that we could complete together that wasn't Lego. At 7, it still seemed a bit challenging and adult help was needed. But when I asked Miss 7 if she'd do it again, she said: "I definitely would, building this crab made me happy." Well, a parent can't ask for more from a toy! She now has her eye on the turtle and seahorse next.

Price comparative to other building sets, such as Lego and Meccano, it certainly is more affordable and definitely something that we would buy for friends for birthdays.

Click here to read the profile of nikkib90

Review by: nikkib90 (Nikki)
Dated: 6th of March, 2019

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This Review: 8.8/10
Durability:
Score 9 out of 10
Value for Money:
Score 8 out of 10
Versatility:
Score 8 out of 10
Age Range:
Score 10 out of 10

Flexo Ocean Life Kit - Turtle

Master 7 is busy doing all he can to save the turtles and was simply delighted when a Flexo Ocean Life Kit - Turtle arrived for him to review. He is a puzzler and a keen builder so this was going to be an exciting adventure to build a turtle. The box was studied and there was excitement to see an app could be downloaded to make this turtle come to life! A very clever way to combine building and screen time while they are learning. This is unlike other brick building systems, such as Lego, as it has a number of parts that fit together using small (very small) rubber connectors called tendons. Once he read the instructions he was very busy choosing the right connector to put the pieces together. This certainly kept one little boy busy building, concentrating and ensuring the right parts were being put in the right places. I offered to help, but the bits are better suited to small hands, and he didn't need any assistance since the instructions were so straight forward to follow.

What I like about this product is that it is Made in New Zealand as we are all about supporting brands that are made here rather than elsewhere if we can. There are other Ocean Life Kits so we can add to our turtle with other sea friends. The pieces are robust, easy to handle and don't have the same "cringe" feeling when you accidently step on one or it drops on the floor like Lego does. The parts are compatible so when/if the decision is made that the turtle wants to shape shift, it can become something else that a creative mind can create as the options are endless. The turtle came with 229 pieces and is suitable for ages 7+ which made it perfect for Master 7. The colours of the.pieces are vibrant and make an imagination come to life as to what this turtle would get up to. The children are in the process of naming it, so it is a hit as not many other toys get that privilege in our home. An added bonus is that the turtle can float in the water so he has joined in on bath time for a swim and enjoyed the sprinkles on the hot days.

Now we are committed to joining more Flexo Ocean Life Kits to our family as Master 9 feels he is need of his own sea creature to add to the adventures. He has his eye on the crab and I think the stingray would be fun to put together. At the cost of $19.95 I feel it is affordable for the fun and creativity it brought. It was a real joy to find a building item that goes beyond just being put together and left to the side, it has become fun to watch it on the app, talk about turtles and to do research on more information about turtles. Anything that gets us talking, playing, researching and learning together as a family is positive. Thank you for the opportunity to enjoy the Flexo Ocean Life Kit.

Click here to read the profile of kiwiblondie

Review by: kiwiblondie (Michelle)
Dated: 6th of February, 2019

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This Review: 9.0/10
Durability:
Score 9 out of 10
Value for Money:
Score 10 out of 10
Versatility:
Score 10 out of 10
Age Range:
Score 7 out of 10

Flexo Ocean life kit: Stingray

I have a son who is very creative and loves lego, we have in the past tried other brick systems but he was really unimpressed with them but he loves the flexo kit.

We opened it and watched the beginning of the video which explained how to use the multi tool and then he told me to stop the video as he could see exactly how to build the stingray using just the template supplied in the box. He built this in under ten minutes and I heard a lot of "wow this is so cool" and "interesting" and "this is a bit easy (level 1) but mum can you buy some of the more complicated ones for me to try?" as well as "I'm glad we watched the video on how to use the multi tool, I think I need a bit more practice with the tool", he is now busy decorating it with the domes.

I downloaded the app to see if it would be worth it, the kids loved how the stingray came to live and was swimming and doing back flips on my phone, I will keep it and the box as my youngest was not happy that his brother got to build this one until I let him choose one that I have ordered online for him to try.

Comments from my son is that he loves it and he really hopes that there are more complicated kits available in the future. I am really happy that he is building and the next thing he wants to try will enable him to use his imagination and I know it will be amazing.

Click here to read the profile of noisybabe007

Review by: noisybabe007 (Angela)
Dated: 23rd of January, 2019

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This Review: 9.8/10
Durability:
Score 10 out of 10
Value for Money:
Score 10 out of 10
Versatility:
Score 10 out of 10
Age Range:
Score 9 out of 10

Flexo Ocean Life Kit : Stingray

All three of my children (and my hubby) are construction and Lego mad - so seeing the Flexos come up on KIWIreviews to request, I was eager to request and give them a try. I requested this set as well as the domes, storage box, mixed set and creator box and was very lucky and got all of them!

Upon opening the Sea Life box the kids squealed with excitement at seeing a stingray - they had hoped for that or the seahorse - so were rapt. They studied the box for a wee bit and were excited to see that the "wings" of the stingray were going to be able to actually move! At this Miss nearly 10 exclaimed "These are SO much cooler than I thought"

Although over the years my hubby and I have used a fair amount of building type toys - these really are quite unlike anything else on the market with the domes and flexible joining things (not sure what to call them) giving you a lot of different options of what you can create. These were the second Flexo product we opened - as we wanted to try ones with instructions first, and am glad we did, as I am not a "put it all together and make something cool'' type of builder, unfortunately.

What I really liked about these was a few things - all of my children worked really well together making it, giving the easier tasks to the youngest and with Miss nearly 10 managing the rest with no help from me. I also liked that they actually COULD do it on their own, rather than "Mum, this bit is stuck and we need help" The kids really loved that they could jump online and watch the video on how to make the stingray, but I felt that the video was quite fast, and I personally would have gotten muddled. Maybe with all 3 of them, that was the key! I did realise afterwards that there are instructions on the website - so next time would know that. Miss 10 has now searched out all the Flexo videos that she can find, and is obsessed with watching them!

The movement of the stingray is really neat, and we decorated it a bit differently which was cool - so everyone building actually could have a very unique stingray! We saw that these would float as well, and so had to try it out - which the kids were nervous about, as I never let them put lego in the bath - and so when it floated, they absolutely loved it.

Flexos are honestly, hands down, a top toy idea for us in this house at the moment - and I can see us buying them for presents as well as ourselves. Not only that you do not have to only make the item on the box - they do have a fair amount of versatility.

Click here to read the profile of shadowshaded

Review by: shadowshaded (Jeremy)
Dated: 15th of January, 2019

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This Review: 9.0/10
Durability:
Score 10 out of 10
Value for Money:
Score 8 out of 10
Versatility:
Score 9 out of 10
Age Range:
Score 9 out of 10

Flexo Ocean life kit: Crab

We received the crab as our selected Flexo ocean life kit and the kids were very excited to open it up and get into building it as having previous experience with the smaller Flexo foil pack collection and dome pack. They opened up the pack and separated all of the pieces into piles so to make the build easier and followed the instructions to build the crab. The crab was just as easy to build as the smaller sets it just took longer to put together as it joins a lot more pieces but the difficulty of the building is relatively the same. The crab has a lot more playability also due to more moving and flexing parts and also to the kids surprise they could stick their finger in the crab's mouth and could mimic it biting by pressing on the soft top shell flexing the mouth.

After they had made the crab they wanting to make it more colourful and used the domes from the Flexo dome kit to decorate the crab which they were happy with having the ability to create and change pieces to their liking. After the crab was decorated they named him disco party crab and my eldest son said it would be a cool character in the Fortnite game for the disco domination mode. Naturally, after we told the kids that it also floated they insisted it had to join them in the pool for a swim so we chucked it in with them and found it has excellent buoyancy. The kids are absolutely sold on this product and love it and have dropped hints they would love the entire ocean life kit collection so they can have them in the pool also.

We will have to keep an eye out for if they have a sale on these and would look at possibly fulfilling the children's wish of collecting the set in due time. These are very good sets and are great for child development for creating and constructing and once we have quite a lot of the pieces it will be great to see what they can construct themselves.

Click here to read the profile of shellcruise

Review by: shellcruise (Shelley)
Dated: 13th of January, 2019

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This Review: 10/10
Durability:
Score 10 out of 10
Value for Money:
Score 10 out of 10
Versatility:
Score 10 out of 10
Age Range:
Score 10 out of 10

Flexo Ocean Life: Turtle

Opening the box up I was a little confused at what I was looking at - I had assumed it was kind of like lego and expected blocks - but instead I found circles and triangle shapes and a weird black connector thing. I looked at the instructions and it said to turn on u-tube. Reaching for my tablet my seven year old daughter came over and asked what I was doing and when I told her she said you don't need u-tube its easy and then hubby joined in and next minute I was being shown how to use the Flexo pieces.

They showed me how to use the multi tool, how to connect everything and said to copy off the picture. I looked at the tendor and could not figure out what goes where and my husband showed me how to use the key which was drawn to scale which made it very easy. I was also told once you have made the base you build it up and the creature started to take shape.

It is not a fast process but I found it rather relaxing poking and proding as I went along. I made all 3 diagrams as instructed but when I went to join it all I found it did not work so I removed the tendons and just built it up. My husband came over and said that is not right and took it from me and tried to do himself which he found the same issues so I suggested actually watching the u-tube channel as suggested and we found out the paper instructions actually were not correct and missed a whole lot of stages and actual blocks. The u-tube channel was rather basic and explained everything bit by bit and in the end we sped up to a bit as I did not need that much information.

In the end it looked very impressive and I was a little shocked to see that you could put in water and it would float - naturally we had to try it out and it really does float. The other fantastic thing about this is you can download the Flexo Ar App and you can watch your creation come to life. Grabbing the phone it took less than a minute to put on my phone. I then tried to scan the QR code but it did not work then I re-read and said just view the box and next minute this turtle was flipping on my screen. I expected to be able to do more things with it but basically its the turtle flipping over and using its flippers as if it was swimming - still very cute. It pretty much was the splitting image of my build.

Once I got the hang of using the Flexo it was very fun. It does not take much to do besides time. I am a little concerned as difficulty level is easy and considering how many problems I had to begin with I would hate to see what hard is like. It has a lot of elements to it and I found it is something the whole family can get involved with. I am a little worried though there are no spare pieces so if you loose something it will effect the creation which could be an issue especially with those little tendons. But it is something that we all want to continue with and I am keen to get the whole set especially the seahorse.

Click here to read the profile of onyxcyrus

Review by: onyxcyrus (Cat)
Dated: 13th of January, 2019

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This Review: 9.0/10
Durability:
Score 9 out of 10
Value for Money:
Score 9 out of 10
Versatility:
Score 8 out of 10
Age Range:
Score 10 out of 10

Flexo Ocean Life: Stingray

We received the stingray to test out and the kids were really excited as they had wanted that or the turtle. My 5 and 7yos opened up the box and the plan was for them to build it together. Straight away we realised there were instructions on you tube to follow along with which the kids were pretty happy about. My 7yo ran and got the remote and set it up in front of the TV on a chopping board as Flexo suggested. The 5yo got bored pretty fast and got distracted with something else but did keep checking in on the build.

It looked pretty complicated from what I saw but left the 7yo to it and she figured it out easily and I only came over and helped when she thought there was a missing piece which we realised she had put in the wrong spot elsewhere a mistake you can easily also make with Lego. It took her around an hour and a half for her to finish it with a couple of breaks. I'm impressed that she stayed so focused and was really proud of herself once she finished the stingray. The 5yo came back over and had a turn with it and they planned to take it into the bath with them later. We also got given a box of domes and since the stingray was a bit hard for the 5yo we decided that it would be her job to decorate it.

The app was an added bonus at first we couldn't get it to work as we were trying to scan the barcode but once we figured out you just hover over the pictures the kids had fun with that.

Overall we thought this was a pretty cool toy and it is good that kids have to use their brains to build it as its not simple. This one was rated at a difficulty level of 1 so I can imagine that the level 5 ones would be quite tricky but would make a fun challenge!

Click here to read the profile of sassy121

Review by: sassy121 (Amelia)
Dated: 5th of January, 2019

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This Review: 10/10
Durability:
Score 10 out of 10
Value for Money:
Score 10 out of 10
Versatility:
Score 10 out of 10
Age Range:
Score 10 out of 10

Flexo Ocean Life Kit - Turtle

Ever since I can remember I have had a love for building with bricks and being creative, it was not uncommon for me to spend my weekends constructing large structures, only to tear them down to create something completely different the next day. My three children have also developed the love of building with bricks, we enjoy building together as a team, or they are quite content to build by themselves. When I saw KIWIreviews had a new building product I was intrigued, it looked incredibly fun, and there were numerous different kits. I had a closer look and knew that my children (and myself) would be able to have fun creating one of the Ocean Life kits. I put in a request and crossed my fingers we would be lucky enough to review one.

When our review box arrived just before Christmas, we were over the moon to see a cute Flexo turtle kit, my youngest loves turtles so instantly wanted it to be built, unfortunately we had guests so it had to wait for a week. Finally we sat down and prepared to open the kit, looking at the front of the box we see lots of vibrant colours, and a selection of cute sea animals able to be built out of Flexo. The box states that this product is suitable for ages 7+, contains 229 pieces, and the turtle can actually float. I was intrigued to find out what the turtle on the box would do once you scanned the QR code, so before we started building we downloaded the Flexo AR app, boy did my 2 year old son get a shock and started looking around for the turtle hehe. We also found that if we pointed the phone at the animals on the back of the box, they also came to life.

When we opened the box and started taking out the pieces, my children were so excited, upon reading the instructions we noticed that there was a note saying to watch the Youtube video, or alternatively could go to their website for instructions without the video. However I did wonder how people would get on if they did not have access to the internet (for example if my children were at their nana's house, she does not have the internet)
I enjoyed watching how to properly insert the tendons into the bricks, and the demonstration on how to use the multi-tool was very informative. My son decided to help, he sorted all the tendons into their size groups to make construction easier. We found that while making the various parts of the turtle, it was easiest for us when we had the pieces lying on top of the diagram, so we did not get confused. This product was straight forward to construct and not very time consuming. After a couple of mishaps with putting the wrong tendon in the wrong spot, we found the multi-tool was a definite helper, and once they were in the right spot the bricks could lock the tendons in.

When the turtle was finished we admired how cute it looked, and how flexible it was, we proceeded to test how well it floated and we were pleasantly surprised. I would highly recommend this product to anyone with children aged 5 years and up, my 5 year old enjoyed helping make this, but did need a bit of help with some of the tendons, however his 7 year old sister had no problems. I love that Flexo is a New Zealand brand, as I like supporting homegrown products, I really love how the bricks have been made in a way that they are compatible with other brands.
We will be getting more Flexo soon to expand our collection and release our creativity, my daughter has her heart set on trying to create a cat.

Click here to read the profile of devilprincess

Review by: devilprincess (Lauren)
Dated: 3rd of January, 2019

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This Review: 10/10
Durability:
Score 10 out of 10
Value for Money:
Score 10 out of 10
Versatility:
Score 10 out of 10
Age Range:
Score 10 out of 10

Flexo Ocean Life Kit: Crab

We were lucky enough to receive the Crab Ocean Life kit to create and review at home. My son currently loves watching educational programs about sea life and animals and comes up with the most random facts. I really wanted to see how easy or hard this set was for him to create since it's geared at slightly older children (he is 5 but is very competent with Lego).

I was aware that these sets were geared towards children aged 7 and above so I thought I'd need to help my son a bit to get the hang of it but he actually surprised me and picked it up super quickly and managed to work out what to do with the supplied tool almost instinctively.

I did notice that the tendon pieces in this set were put together differently from the Builder set and they were much easier to separate and use, this made a huge difference for my son who could easily separate them all on his own.

The pamphlet that came in the box said the instructions to build the crab could be found online at the Flexo website or YouTube Channel. Since my son was younger than the recommended age and would be a little slower than expected we decided to download and print out the instructions. I'm so glad that we did this and would definitely recommend others do the same for this age group. It allowed my son to work at his own pace and put the pieces he'd created against the pictures (which were the exact same size) and not be rushed along by a video.

Bringing the crab to life using the app was a cute added bonus for the kids as was being able to bring the crab into the pool for a swim after all the hot work of putting him together. My son loved being able to build one of the creatures he watches on tv and he was really proud of creating something that was above his age group. I would definitely recommend this set to other parents of children who love to build things and get creative.

Click here to read the profile of mizim

Review by: mizim (Miriam)
Dated: 27th of December, 2018

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This Review: 9.8/10
Durability:
Score 10 out of 10
Value for Money:
Score 9 out of 10
Versatility:
Score 10 out of 10
Age Range:
Score 10 out of 10

Flexo Ocean Life Kit: Turtle

My kids have been fans of Lego but never really got into creating things with lots of moving parts, so seeing this come out opens a few more possibilities (especially as this states its compatible with major brick brands). There's a little bit on the side of the box, which gives a hardness rating out of five, putting this at a one, meaning it is nice and easy, and suitable for ages seven and up. Pouring out the contents there's all the pieces you need (there aren't any spare bricks) and a bit that has all the connectors on it, which does require pulling apart but it does so with great ease. A double sided A4 piece of paper shows the other sea creatures in this range and how to use the multi tool. The other side serves as a base template as well as a tendon key.

There is a link to a video to see the step by step building of the turtle, which is handy for the first time as it also showed each way to use the multi tool. There is an option to get a guide from their website if you don't feel like watching a video, as the video is almost twenty minutes long (including the multi tool instruction). My eleven year built the majority of the turtle, he found it easy to build, his favourite factor was using the multi tool and reckons that he will create some new things with this kit as well as making the turtle again. He found the video easy to follow and is confident that he could remake the turtle all on his own. My nine year old did a small part of the turtle and found it too hard, however she will happily create something new in order to practice. There is also an app that you can download to 'bring your creature to life', for which you just get a very short clip, so not an app I will be keeping.

Every now and then it was a bit fiddly but this was a fun endeavour and we look forward to trying out more kits.

Click here to read the profile of hjproffit

Review by: hjproffit (Heather)
Dated: 23rd of December, 2018

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This Review: 10/10
Durability:
Score 10 out of 10
Value for Money:
Score 10 out of 10
Versatility:
Score 10 out of 10
Age Range:
Score 10 out of 10

Flexo Ocean Life Kit: Crab

We were lucky enough to get to try the Flexo Ocean Life crab. On receiving my kids were extremely excited to try. Looking at the box it is bright and attractive. It's clear what the product is and how it is different to other building materials. I knew it was bendable but surprised that it was swimmable and that you could get an app that brought it to life.

On opening the box there were instructions and a small plastic bag containing the blocks. The bag also included the multi-tool and the tendons. We started looking at the instructions but were a bit confused. This was the first time we had used something like this.

We downloaded the app and looked on youtube at the Flexo videos. The video was handy showing you the tools and how to use them. After watching Mr 7 was confident enough to give it a go. The instructions were also available to be downloaded showing each step.

We started putting it together and it was going well until we realized that we were building it upside down. Once we worked that out Mr 7 was off. The blocks fit together smoothly and the tendons were easy to put into place especially with the multi-tool. The finished product was this cute crab that, due to the way the blocks connect with the tendons, actually really looks like a crab. It's really cool how it moves and great how durable it seems to be. The kids also loved the fact you can bring the crab to life using the app.

This is a pretty cool product that the kids thoroughly enjoyed building. It is definitely a product I will buy again. I have a feeling I will be off to buy the crabs other ocean life friends.

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Review by: michelleh (Michelle)
Dated: 18th of December, 2018

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This Review: 9.3/10
Durability:
Score 10 out of 10
Value for Money:
Score 9 out of 10
Versatility:
Score 9 out of 10
Age Range:
Score 9 out of 10

Flexo Ocean Life Kit: Turtle

My 8 and 10 year old daughter's were torn between all the fabulous looking sea creatures but finally they both agreed that they would like to make the turtle. The Flexo Build-and-Play Turtle has 229 pieces in total and a difficulty level of 1 (out of 5). The box is really colourful and the made turtle is about the same size as the pictured turtle (although it's head is smaller in real life!). I liked that it had a conservation message on the box stating that many species are endangered and a 'Fun Fact' that the largest turtle can weigh over 900 kg's!!

When Miss 10 year old saw it she opened the box and looked at the instructions. They are comprehensive and easy to follow and there is the option to watch it being built on YouTube which my daughter didn't need. It looked quite fiddly with 4 different sized tendons that were different colours but my daughter plodded along and the supplied multi tool made it easier. There were also instructions on how to effectively use the multi tool and the different actions you could do, whether it be press, stamp, knife or hammer. Realistically, it took my daughter between 15 and 20 minutes to complete without any help whatsoever from me and it was 15 to 20 minutes of total peace and quiet!

The finished turtle was great and the fact that it floats is a great added bonus. You can also bring your ocean friends to life when you install the Flexo AR App but to be honest, the fact that my daughter was not on her tablet and had no inclination to go on it was a big enough deterrent to stop me downloading the App. This would make a fabulous gift for any kids that are interested in building blocks or marine life. The box says it's suitable for 7 years + but older kids would love it too. I love that the blocks are interchangeable with other building blocks so more creative play can be made!

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Review by: samantha203 (Samantha)
Dated: 18th of December, 2018

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This Review: 10/10
Durability:
Score 10 out of 10
Value for Money:
Score 10 out of 10
Versatility:
Score 10 out of 10
Age Range:
Score 10 out of 10

Flexo Ocean Life Kit: Stingray

My master 6 is construction mad so has had lots of experience with the various construction materials out there like Lego, knex, and mobilo but this was like no other building material we had used before. Fair to say after the initial new learning of a different style of build master 6 has declared he loves Flexo and needs all the sets he can possibly get. With the versatility of the flexo bricks and connecting tendons the only limit really is your imagination though as you can use your own ideas to create whatever you want from the materials of other sets.

The Stingray itself was a great set to expand on the smaller soft packages we had started off with to get a good feel of what you can do with Flexo without being too difficult. While we did like having the to scale picture of the stingray to build against and check where we were at having paper instructions would of been quite nice. We chose to look at youtube and watch the tutorial video for the stingray to get the initial picture of how they built the stingray but did then use the instructions on the flexo website as it was easier than having to pause the youtube video which went a little faster than us.

Great having the choice their of watching vidoes or using the instructions and master 6 now has new youtube videos added to his channel to watch and of course new flexo sets he has seen that he really thinks he could get for Christmas or his Birthday or just for being good. Having a video tutorial is a great resource as we found it really helpful to see someone else do it when we encountered parts we couldn't work out at first. In saying that I do think the recommended age shown on the box is quite accurate as my 6 year old could definitely do it but a little guidance from me was appreciated. Though at first it appears complicated it really isnt and is actually a really great building set to make unique and easy models.

We loved the stingray, it is really neat just how flexible the stingray is and that both its tail and wings can move in a way a real stingray would. My boy loved flying the stingray around as if it was swimming in the ocean flapping its wings and swinging its tail. The other great thing we noted that was once you build the initial set you can add to your stingray how you want, we added some of the additional domes to decorate our stingray and give him a rainbow tail and also added some lego too it to test the compatability of the two building materials. The next challenge on my boys list is to build a lego ocean so he can have the stingray swimming in a lego ocean.

We loved the Flexo sea life Stingray and would love to in future add to the collection with some of the other sea creatures the crab especially looks very cool.

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Review by: savta (Jo)
Dated: 16th of December, 2018

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This Review: 9.3/10
Durability:
Score 10 out of 10
Value for Money:
Score 10 out of 10
Versatility:
Score 8 out of 10
Age Range:
Score 9 out of 10

Flexo Ocean Life Kit: Crab

Having had some experience with the Flexo Builder Set, Mr Nine and Miss Six were much more confident working out the Crab Ocean Life kit. There are five different sea creatures in the range, but I thought the crab looked the most interesting so that is what they got! They examined the box carefully before opening it and were so intrigued that they then looked at the inner instruction page before they got to the contents at all. It was clear that they had learned from the Builder Set that you have to tap into your own creativity and plan your strategy before you start assembling things. This is such a wonderful, self-directed way to learn!

Their first discovery was that the finished product will float. This got Miss Six considering whether she should stop having showers and go back to baths so she could take it in with her! Mr Nine was more pragmatic; he said that it would do her good to have both then she would smell better! I thought I would have to intervene but the toy was too interesting; by now, Mr Nine had discovered that he could ask his parents to download an app that would make the crab move. So that put paid to any arguments - it was full on building for both of them.

Miss Six was heard to tell her brother that the kitset might be a bit too much for them - what were they going to do with all those pieces? Mr Nine consulted the instructions and was relieved to find that they were beautifully clear; they were easy for the children to follow, relying on colourful diagrams rather than written explanations. Mr Nine noticed that the tendons were shown at full size on the instructions sheet so that the real tendons could be measured against them. The other pieces were also shown at full size so that the child could check that the correct one had been chosen, What could have been a difficult and complicated task was made straightforward so they could manage without adult assistance.

They worked companionably in almost total silence, only commenting to each other every so often on what fun it was proving to be. Mr Nine said he would happily buy another sea creature in the same range for himself as it was something he could play with on his own or with his sister. He thought it would entertain him for hours. Mr Nine was also very glad that there was a multitool included. They already had one from the Builder Set, but having two meant that they could work twice as fast. It would also be useful if one of them got lost or broken.

They both thought having tendons in a darker colour was useful. It meant that they would be easy to find if they got dropped - although, as Mr Nine said, they have a dark carpet so that might not always work! The bricks were supplied in two colours only so the result was less colourful that their Builder Kit creations had been, but Mr Nine thought that made it more lifelike as multicoloured crabs probably don't occur in real life either. But who knows? Neither the children nor I are experts on crab species! What we did agree on was that we are sold on Flexo products.

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