Goldie Blox and The Spinning Machine

Promising idea but poor quality and disappointing as is. It's not a Lego alternative
I love the idea behind this toy, but the execution falls flat. Here are pros and cons;

Pros:
1) Great idea/concept of matching story with the toy
2) Manual toy - no electricity or batteries involved. Forces kids to be proactive

Cons:
1) Poorly made - I don't know if this is a Q.C. problem (it's made in China) or just a bad design. The figures that you put on top of the yellow wheels do not fit snugly, so with the force of turning the wheels, they always fall off unless you pull the ribbon very carefully and slowly

2) Same problem with the handle - it does not fit snugly so cranking the wheels to wind up the ribbon is very frustrating process. The handle keeps coming off.

3) The story in the accompanying book is poorly written, contrived and frankly embarrassing to read out aloud. eg. The dog named "Nacho" who is not looking quite so "macho" squeals"Chorizo". Or when Goldie runs into a problem, she tries to solve the...
Not worth the hype
When you click a single star it says, "I hate it" - my daughter didn't love it, and I'm really tired of the hype and over exposure. Today, Nov. 21, I got an email from Goldie Blox asking me to write a review (this is my second).

Context:
- I did the Kickstarter.
- I saw the toy in stores before I got it from them.
- Had to hassle them to get my order.
- My daughter (4) played with it for half an hour, it took a lot of encouragement, as the game itself isn't really that well made. Maybe it is targeted towards an older demographic, but my 7 year old son who also loves all things mechanical, wasn't that enthralled.
- The kids' favorite part were the figurines.
- I get email after email from them - even after having hit 'unsubscribe' many, many times.
- It is a lot of hype without a lot of play value. Their roadmap for other things they are coming out with looks similarly unimpressive.
Wanted to like this, but here are some better options
I really wanted to like this sooooo much!

Positives:
-1 star for the idea of creating something that was meant to inspire girls to ponder the STEM career fields and having some great viral marketing videos

Negatives:
-Poor quality for price
-Save some dusty shelf space: it really just does one thing and after one use (maybe two) nobody wants to play with it any more
-Really doesn't inspire creativity or "engineering" skills, no room for thinking outside the box
-If we are trying to empower girls, why does it have to be pink and purple?
-A thin Caucasian blonde wearing short shorts and a PINK toolbelt? Really?

If you want something to inspire your kids to actually learn something, and be creative "engineers" try these much better options:

http://www.amazon.com/Gears-%C2%AE-Beginners-Building-Set/dp/B00000DMCE/ref=zg_bs_166103011_1...
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