Thames & Kosmos Candy Claw Engineering STEM Experiment Maker Lab | Build Your Own Claw Machine | Learn Hydraulics & Engineering | Includes Lollipops | Toy of the Year Finalist | Difficulty: Advanced

This was not made to be a use able toy once finished. We thought we were getting a claw machine that our kids could use (like ones you see at game rooms, grocery stores, or restaurants). It took two of us all evening to figure out how to put it together. Water leaked everywhere, and we knew it wasn't actually going to work once we were finished. The pieces are all plastic and have to be cut off and then have to have any remaining plastic on the piece your working on either filed off or cut off with another tool (if your lucky to have one). Other sections fell apart as we worked on new sections, the ribbon that is supposed to pull the claw the lengthwise along the machine doesn't move it, and then the ribbon falls off the roll its on. The mechanism to move the claw from the front to the back of the machine is run by air- it does move the claw, but its jerky, and hard to turn. The water hydraulic system is used to move the claw up and down and to open/close the claw. The lever to move the claw up and down- that works good. Its probably the only piece that does. The lever that opens the claw on the other hand... all the water leaked out of the system and it didn't work. There was an easier way to "refill" that side if the water leaked out, but since it liked to fall apart randomly, we didn't chance it. The claw itself takes up over half the space between the top of the machine and the bottom (where the treats are). I'm sure as a "how do things work" science toy- this is great for older kids. But I don't think any kid 8-12 is going to have the patience to put it together.

Got the Thanes and Kosmos Candy Claw Machine for my grandchildren, and they were so excited about it that they opened it and started to put it together without any help. Well, it is pretty complicated and they really needed an adult, so they just skipped steps they didn't understand and scattered parts all over the place. Ultimately, I got involved and discovered a couple of key parts were nowhere to be found. The Customer Service department at Thames and Kosmos cheerfully sent replacements, and insisted on paying for the parts and the shipping (in spite of my offer to pay). I'm a customer for life for any company that actually believes in customer service and has good products to sell!

This product would be great for high schoolers or college students who are studying engineering and how to improve on children's toy designs. This is not easy to assemble. The age listed is 6-14, but really 6-10 year olds will need a LOT of help to put this together. More important, this really doesn't work. I would not consider this product as a functioning candy claw machine. It is instead a hydraulics building lesson, where the main point is how a poor design won't end up working. The hydraulics leak, to the point where you have to refill them after each use. And even when full they still don't work. The weight of the liquid (which is part of the claw assembly) makes it difficult for the claw to be raised high enough to drop the candy in the chute. I'm sure the design could be changed to function better, but as is you will likely be unable to get this to function at all, much less consistently, and much less well enough to where a child in the age range can use this and have fun. This review is not even considering the myriad other issues such as the wonky controls used to move the claw around before it drops. Ultimately this isn't a good present for anyone unless you really don't like the children or the parents.

My daughter used her own birthday money to buy this. She was wanting a claw machine, so I suggested her to get this one since it can be used for learning as well. The item shipped quickly and we received it fast. Everything was nice and neatly packaged. All of the pieces were there. The idea of this is so neat and fun. However, the company that makes this could do better with the design. This was assembled just as the directions said, but the claw opening and closing needed tweeking. It wouldn't function properly when assembled just as pictured. The latch for the prize door doesn't hold up and the door flies open each time you lower the arm. I've put a piece of tape over the side just to hold it in place. The suction cups are a great idea for keeping the machine still; but the way it is designed, it doesn't hold them in place and the machine still moves with use. Lastly, the tubing that moves the arm forward and backward keeps twisting up and coming off. Like I said, great idea, but the design and setup definitely needs to be better. I feel bad because this purchase was made for my 9 year old who used her own money to buy it, and it just doesn't work like it should. *This took longer than 2 hours to assemble, with having to cut pieces first and reading directions.* The box says it takes about 2 hours.

Fun. Good value. My 14 year old struggled to complete it.

This is WAYYYY too complex for a child to put together on their own. Also, the claw does not close completely, so it doesn’t work that well. Edit: we got it to work. Took the intellect and expertise of a physician, a mechanic, and an engineer. Good luck!

This was a gift so we can't give feedback.

I hardly ever take the time to review a product on Amazon, but this is absolutely horrible. There is no way an 8 year old could do this. The pieces are made of cheap plastic and you have to shave extra plastic off every piece after removing it from the template. The tubing leaks water into the compartment. The instructions are absolutely worthless and also don’t make a lot of sense. Why would you put the claw apparatus into the machine where it’s hard to reach and THEN add a bunch of parts to it? Especially when everything could be done beforehand. This was one of my daughter’s birthday presents and I’ve been working all day to try and put this stupid thing together. The final straw for me was the little piece that holds the claw apparatus so that it’s suspended in air. It is too small to span three pieces to hold everything in place and just keeps falling out with the slightest movement. I will definitely be returning this and recommending to everyone who shows an interest to steer clear and save your money. It’s a complete waste of time and money.

El tema de manufactura y elementos son buenos, pero el juguete no es funcional porque fuga agua por todos lados impidiendo su funcionamiento adecuado.

This is a super cute mini candy machine, took 3 hours to build but when it was complete we couldn't get the hydronic system to work properly, it keeps sucking in air. We noticed it has a large Crack in it so unless we can get the seller to supply a new hydronic system, the until is garbage.

I bought it before reading the reviews and I concur, the plunges don’t work. Their plastic pieces introduce air into the hydraulics under pressure through regular workings. However I refuse to throw a new toy away, and I used cutters to remove screw parts of the plunges that are essential for the claw, changed all plunges to medical syringes and attached screw parts to the medical syringes. Toy works fine now, but adult involvement is a must if the toy is to work. And kid definitely learned that material is important for parts to work properly. Standalone, this product should not be sold to avoid disappointment and parents feeling tired or defeated.

Would not recommend this product or this seller, the hydraulic system doesn't work, cylinders come with holes in it and they won't refund me. Pretty scrappy Christmas gift for my daughter... would give negative stars if I could.

Does not work as intended. Whoever designed this thing probably did it out of autocad and never play-tested it. The hydraulic motion does not work as intended because the springs are inefficient. You can use the syringe-hydraulic motion to open or lower the claw, but the springs nor hydraulic motion have enough power to pull it back up or close the claw.