Ruairí's Rok'n and Roll'r Rokenbok System

We first saw a Rokenbok system in a specialty toy store in Bend, Oregon, when Ruairí was 3 years old.  It's not a Rokenbok 5-Star dealer, but it did have the same big demo system that you find at a 5-Star, sans the Tower Crane ('can't say I blame them, as the crane's not exactly something for inexperienced operators, anyway).  While fascinated with it, he was way too little to operate it by himself.  We frequently visit downtown Bend on our trips to Central Oregon, and this toy store is a must-stop store on these excursions.  So we got to play with the demo system every once and a while.

By last fall, Ruairí was five, and was old enough that he was able to control the RC Loader and the RC Monorail in the demo system quite well.    That was all the excuse Dad (yours truly) needed to see to it  that Santa brought some Rokenbok for Christmas.  Christmas day, Ruairí excitedly opened boxes for the Rok Works Start Set, RC Monorail with Bonus Track and Crossing (just for fun), and the RC Power Sweeper (how else do you pick up stray balls off the floor?). I think the two of us spent most of Christmas Day Rokenbokin', with the only break being for turkey dinner.

The desire for system expansion meant seeking out  a 5-Star dealer during our Christmas vacation trip; and finding two more near home.    For Dad's birthday in February, I asked for the RC Transgripper, and got the Down-a-vator and Chutes 'n Hoppers II as well.

We didn't plan to get the Skip Track so soon, but the closeout prices at the local Circuit City were too good to pass up (Dad also picked up a third control pad and a Rok Lift, which I put away until the next special occasion).

Current Setup

These pictures show the current system.   It is made up of:

Description

Due to limited space, we "went vertical" with two towers that the vehicles climb to drop balls into the conveyor.  Entry to the first level of the right tower is gained via a tilting bridge.  Vehicles get to the entrance of the tilting bridge by an overpass the goes over the monorail track.  The monorail track goes around the outer circumference of the setup.  A spur of track splits off through the monorail switch and corkscrews up in height and dead-ends at a ball bin on the left tower.  It was Ruairí's idea that the monorail back up to the bin to retrieve the balls, rather than stop alongside it.  Vehicles can leave the towers either by going back over the tilting bridge, or from the second level of the right tower via the Down-A-Vator.

Ball Path The conveyor drops the balls into a hopper, which starts them on their journey.  The sorter routes the blue balls to the left tower, and the red ones to the right.   Note the red balls drop out of the sorter and into a "tunnel" made of two curved chutes. On each tower, the balls are dropped into a hopper which routes a few balls to a bin, but most of them end up in  one of two quarries.  So the quarry on  the left tower accumulates the blue balls, and the one near the right tower gets all the red balls (except those misplaced by mischievous vehicles, that is!).   Balls in the left bin are picked up by the monorail.  Balls in the right bin can be picked up at ground level be vehicles such as the loader.

Playtime Both Ruairí and Dad love playing with the system, as does his sister and Mom.  He's gotten quite adept at operating all the vehicles, including the use of the slow-motion key (it can be quite tricky maneuvering  turns in the towers).  I've been pleasantly surprised how much counting and arithmetic the building  has stimulated: "Dad, how much are 3 fours?", etc.  (as every Rokenboker knows, "four" is a basic building unit).

Future plans

Ruairí  never misses a chance to extol the virtues of the RC Tower Crane, although that's a birthday-level Big Ticket Item.  Space is currently very limited in the place we're renting while our house is being renovated.    However, the new family room will be quite spacious.  Who knows? We may even try the Production Junction mega-plan from the Rokenbok website!

Battery Info

The main problem with battery-operated toys is that they're, well, battery-operated.    Fortunately, I found a source of reasonably-priced, high performance rechargeable batteries.  The web site www.batterybarn.com has good prices on 1800 mAh NiMH AA batteries.  It seems to be a small outfit, but has a good reputation among the digital camera community.