6-in-1 Solar Kit
Age: 8 and up
Category: Science & Nature
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ToyDirectory Product ID#: 28662

The 44 pieces in this kit from Elenco Electronics include a miniature motor and a working solar panel. Children can assemble six different machines and watch their creations come to life while learning how the energy in sunlight converts to powerful electricity. A detailed instruction manual is included with the kit.
― “I can't keep those in stock,” remarked Casey Sartain, buyer for Tutoring Toy in Salt Lake City, Utah, of Elenco's 6-in-1 Solar Kit. Sartain listed the 6-in-1 Solar Kit as his best-selling activity kit during an April 2010 survey of 48 storeowners.
— In a Fall 2013 survey, Kim Emigh, manager of e-commerce at Growing Tree Toys in State College, Pa., told TDmonthly that this solar kit is one of their best-selling science toys. 5/26/2010 [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

SC-300 Snap Circuits
MSRP: $59.95
Age: 8 and up
Category: Educational
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ToyDirectory Product ID#: 5252

Snap Circuits make learning electronics easy and fun. Kids follow the colorful pictures in the manual to build exciting projects, such as FM radios, burglar alarms, doorbells and more. Parts are mounted on plastic modules and snap together with ease. “Children can play with this kit for hours and hours and still have not completed all the projects the snap circuit kits have to offer,” Walter Larsen, national sales manager for Elenco, told TDmonthly.
— One retailer said in summer 2007 his store sells 25 Elenco units monthly. Five percent of 64 retailers said in August 2008 that Snap Circuits are a best-selling science product, reporting average sales of six units per month. Four of 38 retailers echoed the same a year later. “They’ve gone back to this game six or seven times,” between January and July 2006, said TDmonthly's homeschooling mom Susan Ledford.
— Any time TDmonthly asks specialty storeowners about top-selling science toys, Elenco's Snap Circuits heads the list. This simple electronics kit appeals to both girls and boys. By making science fun and easy, Snap Circuits earned a TDmonthly Classic Toy 2007 award.
—  As of 12/17/2012 this product had 4.8 out of 5 stars from 575 reviews on Amazon.com. Cons: One user said that her grandchildren were "not all that interested" in the Snap Circuits, and told her that they would prefer LEGOs on their birthday. 10/27/2005 [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

SC-100 Snap Circuits Jr.
MSRP: $29.95
Age: 8 and up
Category: Educational
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ToyDirectory Product ID#: 1116

Kevin Tjaden, owner of Scientific Wizardry in Boise, Idaho, had this to say: “It's an electronic kit — kind of like the ones we had when we were kids. … It's really taken off. It also targets the right age range: 8-14, which allows for increased market share. It's become easier to use and easier to understand. As parents, everyone remembers it, but certain parts didn't work that well, certain springs would fall apart. … By solving those problems, people say, "This is like what I had as a kid, but better!”
— As of 12/17/2012 this product had 4.9 out of 5 stars from 477 reviews on Amazon.com and was No. 16 on the top 100 bestselling toys and games. PROS:  Fun and educational, lots of possible circuits.  CONS:  Kit doesn't always explain how the circuits work.
— In a late Summer 2012 survey, four out of 12 retailers told TDmonthly that Snap Circuits were one of their best selling Science & Nature toys.
. 9/6/2012 [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]