After completing a bunch of ROKR wooden pieces, I decided to give another brand of wooden puzzles (UGEARS) a try. I picked up the Model Safe Kit to compare its build quality, instructions, latch mechanism, and final product to the ROKR safe. Note that these aren't actually puzzles, there are step by step build guides. You're not meant to figure it out. In fact, if you can figure it out without the instructions, then wow! :O Total time of this build: 4 hours 45 minutes Difficulty: 4/10 (would've been 2/10, see notes) Overall Rating: B+ (up from C- in the first few pages, see notes) I started this build and immediately noticed the quality compared to ROKR. The wood is a lot less refined (read: more rough), and when popping pieces out you tend to end up with some splinters on the table. By the end of the build, there were lots of splinters. The frames in which the pieces were set also broke easily, which actually made getting some of the smaller pieces out a lot easier, so that was a plus, despite the small mess it made. I rated the difficulty of this a little higher than normal due to the first about eight pages of the instructions. While not actually difficult, fitting some of the really small support pieces in place inside the box was actually quite difficult to push them into place. I ended up using a thick sharpie to help press them down into each hole. Given there wasn't much leverage, and I didn't want to break the large wooden pieces, this turned out to be trickier than I expected. The first seven pages took about two hours due to carefully making sure the right pieces were in the right place and putting in all those darn support pieces. Once I got to step 8 and the build of the door and locking mechanism, things went a lot smoother. The steps were clear and the mechanism was well designed. At this point, the only annoying part was the toothpicks that served as the central shaft of some of the turning pieces. It would've been nice to see metal shafts provided for this like other brands do. The toothpicks did NOT fit the holes as provided and each one needed to be sanded a bit to be able to slide through multiple pieces. Once that was done, though, everything came together. The instructions for setting a code on this piece were just as confusing as first as the similar ROKR piece. However, for this one I picked the default 321. I ensured the door opened multiple times using this combination (very detailed written instructions are provided at this step) before moving on. Once the entire piece was assembled, I was quite happy with the result and bumped my personal rating up. Sure, some of the initial instructions and getting things to fit were annoying, and the toothpicks were a minor setback to sand, but in the end it's quite a nice fit and finish of a piece, minus a few splinters sticking off that I sanded. It even has a little slot in the top for coins and money to be dropped in, as well as "emergency opening instructions" should one find themselves locked out. Quite a nice touch! Final verdict - early in the build I didn't think I'd buy another UGEARS piece but now I think I will if I find something that interests me. It's a large "puzzle" that provides a good amount of enjoyment to assemble and a satisfying mechanism to play with to unlock and open the door. Quite pleased! Addendum - I actually lost whatever wax block they may have provided me (cleaners came, so I moved all the pieces to my office), so I used all natural saxophone cork grease. While not the same, it still allowed for fairly good lubrication. We'll see if it holds up, and if not, I'll wax the pieces that need it later on. Addendum 2 - No pics included since there are plenty in the reviews already from others. :)
