Erector sets, do kids like this?

[Janeway]

My 5 and 7 yr olds got this out the other day. I only have a set that has a few pieces left in it and I was about to throw it out. There isn't enough to make anything of it. They (the children) had never seen this set before and seemed very excited about it. But then it quickly got put to the side as there were not enough pieces to do anything with it.

 

Do kids play with this sort of thing anymore? Would it make a good Christmas present? 

[Guest]

All children are unique, individual human beings with their own proclivities and tastes, of course.

 

My kids love them. Particularly one of them.

[SKL]

We used to love our erector sets when I was a kid.  :)

[mumto2]

My kids loved them. They are in our save pile. :) That being said my kids loved Lego too.

[Spryte]

My guy loves these.

[Arcadia]

My kids still love the erector RC car we bought from ToysRUs many years ago. We bought them a set each. I think there are two RC channels so both kids can build and race. We have other sets but the RC set gets the most attention.

[MysteryJen]

Mine didn't. Except for one who used it to build swords. We gave our set away fairly quickly.

[gstharr]

My 6th grader still plays with his, and uses parts for science projects. however, we have merged several sets over the years, so that we plenty of pieces, wheels,  gears and electric motors.  I don't think there would still be interest in the simpler sets. 

[Garga]

My kids never touch theirs.  I was sure they would.  They don't.  
 

But it's been years since I pulled the set out of the attic.  I could try again for my now-11 year old.  

 

Looks like some will love their sets and some won't.  No guarantees.

[Farrar]

We liked the Tinker Toys better, but Erector sets are cool.

[SparklyUnicorn]

One kid did and one didn't.

 

They both LOVED Magnatiles.  I think hands down that was the number one building type toy around here. 

 

One of mine loved Knex, but the other not so much.

 

I agree it really is individual. 

[Lady Florida.]

Mine didn't and I was surprised. He LOVED Lego, but didn't care for the Erector set we got him one year.. He'll still happily sit down with a nephew or niece and build with Lego. He also didn't care much for Tinker Toys but he sort of liked Lincoln Logs. It's really individual, but I wouldn't automatically assume if kids like one kind of building toy they'll like others.

[Suzanne in ABQ]

My kids hardly touched the set I bought several years ago.  I think they made one thing, but never took it out again.  It's in the garage, on its way out to a thrift store or something.