disclosure: we were sent the items mentioned for the purpose of review
My son may well be hurtling towards his twelfth birthday but he still spends pretty much all of his free time playing with construction bricks. My brother bought him a couple of Laser Pegs sets for his birthday and Christmas presents a few years ago and they were an instant hit. I knew he’d jump at the chance to spend time getting creative with the Multi-Models 4 in 1 sets from Laser Pegs when we were asked to review them recently. Both sets are aimed at children aged 8 years and over.
We received the 52012 Red Racer and 52004 Construction Laser Pegs 4 in 1 Multi Models sets and my son was eager to get building at the weekend. Each set comes with bagged components, light up bricks (batteries included) and instructions to build one of the four models (additional instructions can be downloaded from the Laser Pegs website. There is also the alternative of a QR code to scan in the instruction booklets as well although we found that the code in our Red Racer booklet didn’t work.
These sets are great for building on hand eye coordination as well as learning to follow instructions. They offer hours of play potential, the ability to make more than one vehicle, but also the opportunity to go rogue and build whatever you fancy. This is exactly why my son still loves construction brick sets and the variety of play that they offer.
The instruction leaflets give you a step by step guide for building each vehicle and my eleven year old had no problem following them.
Gone are the days where my assistance is required in these sorts of construction brick builds! My son was quite happy getting creative with the Multi-Models 4 in 1 sets from Laser Pegs by himself for the time being. Apparently, I might be able to build one of the alternative vehicles in the future.
The Laser Pegs bricks snap together in the same way that other construction bricks do (they’re also compatible for even more play potential).
The highlight of these sets, for my engineering mad son, is the light bricks. These are either turned on by a sliding switch on the side of the brick or by pushing a button in on the end.
Our older Laser Pegs sets have less realistic wheel assemblies so my son was eager to see how the newer ones work.
He had no problem at all fitting the types over the wheel hubs on the Construction set and was soon happily playing with his Bobcat. But there is a definite issue with the wheels in the Red Racer set. With a bit of brute force, I managed to get the front tyres on for him.
But neither of us could fit the larger back tyres over the wheel hubs, so we asked my OH to look at them and even he has only managed to get one of the tyres to fit properly so far. This appears to be a known issue, and I hope that the manufacturer will look at changing these wheels to a more flexible rubber option.
But the wheel issue aside, my son has loved getting creative with the Multi-Models 4 in 1 sets from Laser Pegs. The light bricks are as big a hit today as they were when we first discovered Laser Pegs.
With these sets the Red Racer the larger light brick can be set to flash on and off or on constantly, whilst the remaining light bricks are all either just on or off.
My son has already modified the Bobcat so that the cab can rotate, that’s the joy of these sets, free building is just as much fun as following the instructions.
If you’re looking to add something a little different to your children’s Christmas stocking this year then the Laser Pegs 52004 Construction set is available from Very and you can find the Laser Pegs 52012 Red Racer set at Smyths.
