<p>I have <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325&tag=motheringhud-20&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FFractiles-Inc-FCR675-Travel-Version%2Fdp%2FB000BW49VS%2Fref%3Dsr_1_2%3Fie%3DUTF8%26qid%3D1292297714%26sr%3D8-2" rel="norewrite" target="_blank">this one</a>.</p>
<p>It's the travel version. It is fantastic. When I saw it, I thought it was so cool. Later, my husband agreed with me. My dd was merely the justification for purchasing it. </p>
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<p>The product is so simple, really. </p>
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<p>It is a very thin black annodized plate made of magnetic steel sheet metal, about 6 inches x 6 inches. (That part is sturdy, but it's so simple that it is essentially fool proof.) I have an old cookie sheet/jelly roll pan that is magnetic that would serve the same purpose, but not look quite so pretty.</p>
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<p>Then it also comes with three sheets of magnetic stickers, the type that people print advertisements and small calendars for you to stick onto your refrigerator door. One sheet is red, one sheet is yellow, and one sheet is blue. The sheet is a single sheet, that is cut into small quadrilateral shapes with angles that are integral multiples of 7 degrees. (I.e. 7 degrees, 14 degrees, etc.) </p>
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<p>I have to admit that I was a little disappointed about the magnets when I first opened the package. I expected the thick hefty solid magnets, not the thin flexible sheet magnets. (Maybe the non-travel versions have more substantial magnets?) However, in retrospect, stronger magnets than these are not necessary and may not even be appropriate for this type of use. </p>
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<p>Although the shapes were scored into the magnetic sheet, they weren't cut all the way through the thickness of the magnetic sheet. For this reason, the dozens of quadrilaterals were still all partially attached to each other, and every single one had to be separated before using. So my husband and daughter had to spend about 45 minutes breaking off all of those magnetic shapes, and sorting them into the three different piles according to color/shape. I would have gone crazy doing it, but my dd and husband thought it was great fun.</p>
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<p>We bought this product when my dd was 4 years old, and now she is almost seven. She loved it when we first bought it, and she still loves it now. She doesn't use it very often. Every once in a while, she'll pick it up after not touching it for a long time, and play with it. So I wouldn't say that she has the all-consuming fascination with it as she would have for, say, the paper dolls that I just bought her. However, I consider the money very well spent. If she ever tires of this game, then I won't even care, because it will still be plenty of fun for ME.</p>
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<p>Three years after we purchased this game, it is still in almost new condition.</p>
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<p>This toy is everything that I love in a toy.</p>
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<p>1. It is intensely mathematical if you really want to spend time thinking about it, and no numbers.</p>
<p>2. You can make beautiful art with it, which is the whole point of mathematical toys.</p>
<p>3. You can never outgrow the fascination with it, even in adulthood.</p>
