CrunchLabs is an STEM subscription box specially crafted for makers. The innovative brand was founded by Mark Rober, a former NASA engineer turned YouTuber, boasting more than 24 million subscribers and 130 million views on his videos, captivating audiences worldwide with his ingenious engineering and storytelling.
There are two boxes to chose from with different recommended age ranges:
- Build Box - Toys designed for kids ages 8-12+
- Hack Pack - Robots designed for teens 14+ and adults
Per their website, all CrunchLabs boxes include:
- Exclusive Mark Rober videos
- materials and project components
- a booklet with picture-based instructions
- STEM concept explanations
- activities and challenges that take the toy to the next level
- a gear badge that celebrates featured engineering superpower
This review is for a Hack Pack. While it is recommended for ages 14+, our reviewer is a 12 year old boy who is mathematical and a mechanical thinker - he loves legos and building computers. He has previously had a year long CrunchLabs subscription (recommended age 8-13). That ended about one year ago.
This box was sent to us at no cost for review. (Check out our editorial guidelines to learn more about how we review boxes.)
Hack Pack - Turret
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Let's start with the box. I love it. It's simple and sleek and represents the brand. At the same time, it is super informative. Before even opening it I know what we are going to build as well as what items to expect inside.
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The box was packed well, everything fit securely without being squished. Within the box items were grouped in bags, however they were not labeled.
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Instruction booklet has attractive clear illustrations of supplies. On that page is an important note that states "For missing and replacement parts, visit "My Account" at crunchlabs.com and we'll ship them to you for free." More on that later.
The instructions themselves are designed as Lego-style step by step directions. The booklet broken into build, play, think, hack, and share sections, clearly outlining activities related to the box beyond the building step.
Build
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The build is an IR Turret (remote controlled foam darts shooter).
Activity was very self-directed, our builder needed minimal parent intervention or support-problem solving only. As I was hovering, he told me a few times that I didn't need to be there.
He has learned well form his mechanic father and only opened bags as needed and organized his work area.
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Twice he asked for help, once to problem solve when he couldn’t access a screw and we together realized another part could rotate for access. The other time when he discovered a crooked pin that needed to be gently straightened to fit for assembly.
Assembly took 15 minutes.
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Use
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Once assembly was complete, we found the remote was not working.
The remote is supposed to have 3 functions, operating the 3 motors to rotate in 2 different directions and rapidly shoot the foam darts. Without the remote it was inoperable.
We tried all the usual trouble shooting, removing and reinserting the battery, and checking the trouble shooting videos linked by QR code in the manual. We then checked and rechecked all connections in the build. After over 30 minutes of troubleshooting we gave up.
Dad was able to come take a look at it, and after 25 minutes of checking connections and taking apart the remote (not part of the build) and realized there was no battery contact. He got the remote to connect and send a signal. At this point though, any button pushed on the remote made the same thing happen, rather than each of 3 buttons controlling a different motor. Two of the motors were heating up, the other not working at all. All the connections were checked again.
At this point, the builder was over it. We knew we had to contact the company to get a new remote, but he didn’t want to bother. While he enjoyed the build and what was built, he didn’t have enough interest to wait for a new remote to finally get to play with it.
We’d never had broken or malfunctioning parts in our year of CrunchLabs boxes, but generally those are more mechanical and less electric/robotic. This issue was with a pre-assembled piece (the remote) rather than our building, which is frustrating that we couldn’t fix it ourselves since there was no manual for the pre-assembled remote.
New Remote
Of course I contacted customer service on a Friday and they responded right way. They shipped a box that arrived the following Tuesday. Once we had the working remote in our hands, our builder was once again ready to play with his build. He spent a humid afternoon shooting the darts around the living room for the dog to chase.
While the darts fired with some velocity, it wasn't strong enough to break anything. The aiming functions worked well, but, of course, the accuracy depends on the user. However, I don't recommend using this around anything fragile.
Final Thoughts - Was This Box Worth It?
Yes! The box was a fun but quick build. While my son was a bit annoyed that he was unable to use it at the moment of the build, he was delighted once we received the new remote.
Since my son is slightly younger than the recommended age, adult assistance was needed. But the issues he had were easily resolved by poking around a bit.
To Wrap Up:
The Cost: $79.95 per month, $66.65 per month with an annual subscription.
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? Yes, this box is still available. From CrunchLabs:
Your first package will arrive within 2 weeks of registration. Subsequent monthly packages will be delivered within 2 weeks of each monthly charge.
What do you think of Hack Pack? Let us know below!
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