Amaze 'N' Marbles 60/Pkg

I researched wooden marble runs a lot, and I'm very happy we finally went with this one--the cheapest. According to reviewers, the Blocks and Marbles brand is much higher quality, but it also costs twice as much for fewer pieces. It is true that some of the holes in this one are a little rough (not sanded well), but as long as you make sure the widened hole is placed upwards, it runs pretty smoothly. At first I thought it would be better if the long, grooved pieces were slanted more or sanded near the hole, but really you just need to start with enough gravity (starting with a square block) and line everything up right, and it really isn't a problem. It's also true that some of the pieces are slightly different sizes than others, but it hasn't really been a problem for us, though occasionally I've seen my husband add a folded piece of paper line things up better. My five year old quickly learned to make his own simple runs, and is getting more and more creative. At his development, he occasionally gets a little stuck (so he's still making it work, though not as well as it could be), but usually figures out how to adjust the pieces a little to line them up better. He's spent hours essentially on his own with it. (The first three days we had it, that's practically all he did.) My three-year-old loves putting the marbles in our constructions or playing just with individual pieces, though he can't really build yet (and yes, sometimes bugs his older brother and knocks the blocks down). They both love it if my husband and/or I join them and create more elaborate runs, and we both love doing it (and it's rare for me to enjoy their games), so it's a great family activity as well as individual. The pieces do not snap together as the plastic ones, but an advantage over the plastic runs is that once you build one, you can continue changing things around or adding to it. I was also thrilled I could buy this site-to-store and not have to pay shipping.