I was very frustrated with this toy - it wouldn't stay together, the car wouldn't stay on the track - until, I made sure the piece with the drive wheels was around the pole (step 4B in the directions). Then magically it started working.
Now it is a very cool toy and my son loves it.
I hope this helps.
Not as Bad as the reviews! Quite Good actually:
I do not write too many reviews. But I was very perturbed by the poor reviews this toy received. My son has wanted this Trak set for over 1 year. I avoided buying it because of the awful reviews. I broke down and bought it for him with full intention of returning it,if it was flimsy and non-duarble as most of the reviews claim.
First of all you have to put it together properly which can be a little tricky. My first attempt failed but I could tell it was flimsy and something wasnt correct so I took it... more info
It wasn't that hard to put together.:
It took a little time, but I think it was worth it. You do have to be careful once its assembled; if too much pressure is placed on parts of the track, angles will change and it the cars wont ricochet correctly. Otherwise its a fun toy, that is cool to watch in action, and its remarkably easy on the batteries.
this toy is very disappointing:
it seems as if the parts do not fit properly. the parts are subject to lateral stresses, which cause the whole track to to become aligned improperly. the launcher is either under-powered, or the incline is too steep, because the car simply gets to the almost top of the incline section, and flops backwards; either onto the floor, or (if you're lucky) onto the track below where the car comes to an inverted sliding halt. i'm not sure how easy it was to put together, because none of the parts seemed to fit. my... more info
