Anyone have experience with Tubelox or similar construction toys?

February 2, 2021 11:40 AM

Do you have recent direct experience with Tubelox? Facebook has been showing me ads for it, and my daughter would love it if it actually works. But does it? It's expensive, and I don't want to buy it if it's frustrating junk.

Tubelox is a construction toy that kids can supposedly use to build models they can sit, climb, and ride on. It looks something like a fantastic upgrade to Crazy Forts.

The problem is that the product is only available direct from the manufacturer, and I've had trouble finding independent reviews. It used to be available on Amazon, and the reviews from 2016-2017 are very mixed. There are a lot of complaints about parts not fitting together or aligning properly and not having enough parts to build the models shown in the instructions. If that is still the reality of this product, I don't want it.

Alternatively, do you know of a different, good, kids construction toy that they can use to build models that they can sit, ride, and climb on?

posted by Winnie the Proust to Shopping (6 answers total)

We've had a basic set of Quadro for our kid (now 5) since he was 3ish. Seems a little larger scale than Tubelox, but it's been good for indoor climby stuff. Now that he's 5, he can choose designs & mostly build them himself. FWIW, the connectors were a little stiff at first, but became easier to use pretty soon.
posted by jeffjon at 11:48 AM on February 2, 2021 [1 favorite]

I bought tubelox for my kids about 4-5 years ago. I have not tried any of its competitors. They have definitely had a lot of fun climbing, swinging on and jumping off structures. However, the 7 year-old still needs some adult assistance to actually build with it, although the structures are fairly sturdy. I wish the set were about 50% larger, or that you could buy extra individual pieces. I've had to get creative linking short pieces together to make larger structures. The wheels have been used as steering wheels and never for actual rolling. Nothing has broken (yet).
posted by arrmatie at 11:53 AM on February 2, 2021

We've had a Quadro set since this holiday season. It's great for the indoor playhouse/sliding/climbing structures we've made. Tons of fun for us adults to put together. Hoping our almost-2-year-old eventually enjoys construction with it as much as she enjoys playing with it, or as much as we enjoy disassembling and reassembling.
posted by supercres at 12:13 PM on February 2, 2021 [1 favorite]

We got the deluxe Tubelox as a gift for Christmas and it’s a big hit but
1) adults must assemble, mostly. Instructions are not broken down very far. My 3 yo puts the locks in and finds the right pieces by shape/color, which is all great.
2) they’re static-y, so pet hair magnets.
3) they’re kind of tedious to build and take apart, but that’s my LO’s favorite part (not the actual playing with)
4) some designs just do not work as advertised (the car especially) where a little bit of torque will pop the locks out
posted by shesdeadimalive at 1:05 PM on February 2, 2021

We also got Tubelox last fall and the set we ordered came with a couple of pieces that got damaged during shipping. Irritating but we haven't tried to send anything back.

My kid is 5 and she and her dad co-build things. She gets frustrated with the fasteners when she tries to build by herself. Also, when they build a vehicle she insists that we push her around in it, I haven't found that she can "drive" it by herself.

It's pretty cool overall, but I wouldn't necessarily have bought it had I been consulted on it - I don't really like adding plastic toys to our life. This is a futile thing to resist, I know.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 1:38 PM on February 2, 2021

Response by poster: I should probably mention -- my daughter is 9 and on the small side.
posted by Winnie the Proust at 1:49 PM on February 2, 2021