Plus-Plus - Mini Neon product reviews

Both my children age 6 and 8 years old both enjoy building with different materials we have at home, lego, connects and a few other things I'm not sure what they are called. When I saw the plus plus thought this would be something different for them to have a go with. When it arrived my son (6 year old) was into it very fast and claimed it as his, he ripped into the box with ease but had to find scissors to open up the bags inside the box. He pulled out the instructions and started sorting out the pieces to make up the robots he saw on the box which got him excited.

Sadly the instructions weren't that easy to follow for him but I give him A+ for giving it 100% and trying it, he got the head of one robot made but couldn't work out the rest, to be fair I gave it a go and couldn't follow the instructions either. I'm putting it down to the instructions are not designed for our way of thinking which is fine it gives us more free building room. We are use to more simple instructions unlike some other countries.

Once we worked out the instructions weren't for us, the kids made their own pieces, My son made little men that he used to fight with each other and my daughter made platforms with pieces sticking out of it. The pieces were small but great for little hands, my son called the pieces hard plastic and said they were very smooth and easy to clip together.

"mum this is really cool plus plus lego stuff, its so smooth and little, I can make lots of little mans with this and they can go in my plane. Mum did you know this isn't called lego cause the box says so, but I can use it like lego, I really need some more of this for my birthday or Christmas" Lukas age 6

My children had great fun with plus plus that we are looking at more for Christmas for them, the price seems to be about the same as lego which isn't too bad considering they can do so much with it. I would be great gifts for older children from age 5.

My son was so excited to review and try the Plus-Plus - Mini Neon, he pretty much ripped into the box and was into it as soon as we got it. He sat there for hours playing with it and making different things. He didn't follow the instructions to build what was there to make, he decided to make his own stuff and had some creative ideas as well. He said he found the parts easy to use and even though the parts are all the same, he used his imagination to come up with ideas on how things looked similar to something else.

When his cousin came over they to spent time using the plus plus and for boys who normally play with lego they really enjoyed it. The pieces are small and I find them lying around the house a bit but you get that with lego as well. My son has a big collection of lego and he likes the lego due to the different shapes and sizes and range of things that can be made with the lego, but he still enjoyed this plus plus and it kept him busy and quiet for hours.

The price of the plus plus is great and affordable and would make a good present for kids birthday parties. I even sat down and played with my son with the plus plus and enjoyed it as well. I found for myself it was rather relaxing using it and clicking the pieces into together and even though I wasn't making any in particular I still found it relaxing. When my son asked what it was and I said I don't know I was just connecting them together, he used his imagination to make something of it of what it possibly looked like, which is great to see my son using his imagination.

When I was all of about 6 years old, my father gave me my first Lego kit. Since then, I have remained fascinated by modular construction kits and the complex potential of simple connectable units. It's like John Conway's "Game of Life" automata simulator - from basic things, complex systems can arise. So, since childhood I have explored a number of construction toy systems - many are blatant clones of Lego, while others are very unique and because of that hold far greater fascination for me.

So when I had the opportunity to get hands-on with the "Plus-Plus" toy, I was keen and ready to dive in! I have encountered some similar products a few years back, but these were a new twist, for sure. So, opening the box with my youngest son in attendance, we began to explore. First off I have to say that while he had a blast building the robots as shown on the instructions and the front of the box, I was wondering at the odd number of each coloured block. There's far more of some colours than of others, and it struck me as a shame that the kit was clearly tailored to the set models, rather than leaving it open to full exploration by the kids.

However, after the little one had gone to bed, I grabbed the kit and had some free-play time. I admit, I had no idea what I was going to build, and started off with a couple of dead-end projects. In the end, I went for my fall-back when it comes to drawing too - scenic scapes. Green and blue panels made a river flowing around two islands... a cluster of green blocks stacked gave one island a small copse of trees, a more complex array of the orange blocks (because in a neon set you don't get earthy colours like brown) made a sandstone cliff, with some semi-translucent white blocks for snow, and the last of the blue blocks made a waterfall.

OK, it looked rubbish really, but it gave me some ideas on what could be made with these simple yet versatile blocks. I used the left-overs to make a dinky Mandala and snapped a photo before I headed for bed. In the morning I fully expected to see the blocks in a pile, but I was surprised to see my son using one lone block as a 'person' who is exploring an alien planet's wilderness and encountering a strange alien artefact (the Mandala)... kids' imaginations will never cease to impress and astound me.

Overall, though I think designing the packs for specific models is a bit limiting, those very same limitations force young minds to think laterally and explore new ideas and options, so it's not necessarily a bad decision at all. That said, I am really pleased to see there are more generic kits that simply offer a pile of blocks in assorted, but more evenly distributed, colours that will enable your child to add extra dimensions to their play. I really hope it takes off in NZ!

I have three Lego fans in the house, one who loves to collect all the animals and characters and all three love to build and create worlds with their Lego pieces, so I knew that this would either be something they'd enjoy or something that would get very little use.

The kids were intrigued the moment they saw the packaging and tried to rip into it, until I got a hand on it and opened it with calmer hands. All the pieces are the exact same shape and size and do offer a tiny bit of flexibility, which helped when caught underfoot, they gave a tiny bit and that meant less pain on my foot (which don't appreciate finding little plastic things in the middle of the night). My kids weren't interested in the paper that comes with the box as they found the instructions (for building a robot) to be a bit too hard to follow and went for free play instead. As a side note, if you do loose your instructions, they are on the company's website.

Building with these was, interesting, when one is used to a certain style of building blocks, we did go for making some curves in our creations, but found that the pieces easily popped free of each other, so the kids weren't too keen to worry about such creations. My concern for long term, is that sometimes it takes a little more work to get the pieces apart, so would this wear down the edges and mean they no longer build well? My kids have spent several hours playing with these and we all love that the box is sturdy enough that these pieces can be popped back in till the next play.

My youngest (five) says she likes it, when asked to rate it out of 10, she says fifty-hundred! She thinks its easy to build with and you can build things with it and it's easy to hold but she wishes there were more green ones. My seven year old likes it but wishes there had been more pinks, instead of just four, but will keep playing with it anyways. My eldest (eight) likes them as you can build anything you can think of but would have liked a bigger box as sometimes there weren't enough to share with his siblings.

This is a fun product, another great at promoting imagination and I actually like the lack of instructions provided. I'll be keeping an eye out to get another box or two as this box size isn't enough for when the kids want t build together.

Plus Plus was most definitely a huge hit at our place! I have two Lego loving boys so was excited to get to try this! I am currently looking at adding more kits to our collection.

Plus Plus is very easily connected together, it was a wee bit harder for Mr 4 than Lego to create with but once he had played with different techniques he found a way that worked for him and was away! We have played with the Plus Plus almost everyday since receiving it. My boys both love Minecraft and commented how the Plus Plus reminded them of Minecraft before creating swords and Minecraft characters.

I love that the Plus Plus is quite difficult to pull apart once put together as often with Lego something is made then destroyed by accident so the fact that this is durable once built into the desired creation was a definite advantage in my eyes! It is quite hard I find to find affordable indoor activities that my boys enjoy and can do together, Plus Plus definitely ticks all the right boxes with both me and my boys!

The kit we were selected to review holds 170 pieces which I thought was great but my boys have concluded they need more. In my opinion Plus Plus is cheaper and more versatile than Lego! Huge hit for my boys and would make a great gift for birthday parties!

My boys love Lego and my 8 year old can build with his Lego for hours. I noticed this product was available for review and I thought it would be good to try and if it proved popular then I can add to it easily enough.

The boys were that excited that they ripped the box open almost before I could get a proper look at it. I really liked the window so you can view the product in the box. I was a bit surprised at how small the pieces are and that they all looked exactly the same. One thing any parent knows is that Lego is not that nice to stand on so I had to test the product to see what it would feel like and I was pleasantly surprised to find that I couldn't feel anything at all.

Mr 6 was the first to complain that he couldn't follow the instructions and that he struggled to connect the pieces and breaking it up also proved a problem. He gave up rather quickly after telling me that the new toy stinks as he battled to play with it.

Mr 8 played with it for a lot longer before telling me that he prefers Lego as there are more variety in shapes and brick sizes. He put it aside for a few days before giving it another go and his final thought is that he likes it almost as much as he likes Lego. He wasn't impressed with how little was in the box but I did say I would get a second kit and he can combine them to create as much as he can.

I was curious about how it would feel and how easy it would be to connect and break my creations up. I must admit that it was easy to connect but a slight struggle to be able to pull it apart again. I personally wouldn't play with this product again but would buy for my boys.