Primates of the World from Bloco Toys

I stumbled onto Bloco Toys at Toy Fair this year and knew I wanted to share them with my readers. The high-density foam construction kits are adorable, bright and fun. They come in a few different price points, and I think all of them are an excellent value. I’ll be doing three separate reviews (with paired giveaways) of Bloco kits so you can get a sense of what’s available.

The first kits come from the Bloco Toys Primates of the World collection. These kits each have one model and retail at $14.99. We received the Chimpanzee model (54 pieces) and the Mandrill model (53 pieces). Each kit has several sheets of foam pieces that need to be punched out and a bag of plastic connectors. These kits have a recommended age of 5-10, so I decided to tackle them with Bug who is five.

To start out, I had him punch out all of the parts and the holes inside of the parts. There were a few small holes that he needed help with and he was definitely antsy to finish the prep work and get started. The directions for these particular kits are printed on the back of the box. With all of the pieces, I was a bit nervous, but the directions were very clear. Each step lists which pieces are needed and how many you’ll need.

Bug is used to following instructions on construction kits, and was able to pull out the correct pieces for each step and do most of the assembly. Some of the pieces were difficult to push together and I was on hand to help with those. He also needed some assistance understanding the directions on a couple of the steps. Older children who are comfortable following directions will probably be able to assemble most of these independently. Kids on the younger end of the age range will most likely need help.

Once assembled, the figures are very cute. The colors really pop. You can pose the figures, but they won’t hold up to a lot of play. The individual parts are sturdy, but they’re better as construction toys and models. That said, you can mix and match parts between kits and it can be fun for kids to create their own creatures.

What we liked:

• Great price point makes these a nice friend-birthday gifts.
• Clear, visual, step-by-step instructions.
• Interchangeable parts.
• Great-looking final products.

What we don’t love:

• Some of the pieces are hard to push together.
• Models don’t hold up to kid play (although the kids still try!).

Bottom  line:

Our first experience with Bloco Toys kits was a positive one. Both of the kids (even our 3-year-old Lady Bug) enjoy playing with them and experimenting with mixing the parts. As a bonus, when they aren’t being tinkered with, the Chimpanzee and Mandrill will look cute on the kids’ shelves.

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