Lift the Lid on Knights: Explore a Medieval World of Chivalry and Adventure and Build Your Own Knight! (Quarto Children's Book)

Rating:
Summary: Love it!
Review: Most of the time, girls don't like knights, but when I bought this as a present for my cousin, I wanted one for myself. it was neat to learn about knights and everything they did and what stuff meant that they did. I would recommend that every kid learn about knights using this kit!

Rating:
Summary: An armless knight -- Great for Monty Python fans
Review: My son received Lift the Lid on Knights from a relative for Christmas and both my children (8 & 11) have enjoyed looking through it. However, we had to exchange the first one he got because the knight's right arm was separated at the elbow when he received it. It looked like some child had taken it out in the store, assuming it was like an action figure with movable arms, tried to bend it, snapping it off. The new kit we got has a knight whose left arm keeps falling off at the shoulder, but since it can be put together again the kids don't mind so much.
Today, however, we tried playing the backgammon game that came with the set. First, the board did not match the diagram in the directions, making it hard to figure out. It appears from the directions that the board was designed wrong: the white and black points are reversed, and the numbers go backwards on one side. The directions also say to put pieces that are bumped on a strip in the middle of the board, but the board is so small you can't really do this. The game required two dice which were not included (we used pieces from another game), and when you got to the end, it told you that you'd have to roll a "1" to win, something that is hard to do with two dice.
I emailed the publisher to see if they have any fixes for these problems and am waiting to hear back. The other kits in these series sound interesting, but for $19.95 it'd be nice if they were put together better.

Rating:
Summary: An armless knight -- Great for Monty Python fans
Review: My son received Lift the Lid on Knights from a relative for Christmas and both my children (8 & 11) have enjoyed looking through it. However, we had to exchange the first one he got because the knight's right arm was separated at the elbow when he received it. It looked like some child had taken it out in the store, assuming it was like an action figure with movable arms, tried to bend it, snapping it off. The new kit we got has a knight whose left arm keeps falling off at the shoulder, but since it can be put together again the kids don't mind so much.
Today, however, we tried playing the backgammon game that came with the set. First, the board did not match the diagram in the directions, making it hard to figure out. It appears from the directions that the board was designed wrong: the white and black points are reversed, and the numbers go backwards on one side. The directions also say to put pieces that are bumped on a strip in the middle of the board, but the board is so small you can't really do this. The game required two dice which were not included (we used pieces from another game), and when you got to the end, it told you that you'd have to roll a "1" to win, something that is hard to do with two dice.
I emailed the publisher to see if they have any fixes for these problems and am waiting to hear back. The other kits in these series sound interesting, but for $19.95 it'd be nice if they were put together better.