Molecular Visions (Organic, Inorganic, Organometallic) Molecular Model Kit #1 by Darling Models to accompany Organic Chemistry

If you search Amazon under "Molecular Visions Kit" you'll find (any given time) up to three or four of the wonderful Darling Model kits. These kits have been trashed as coming in the "wrong" container in some reviews (pictures have now been fixed, which confused the "triple" kit (organometallic / organic / inorganic) which DOES come in the green plastic box with single bag kits previously.But who cares? The point of Darling isn't just the outstanding snaps, bonds and exclusive atom shells, but the awesome and unique BOOKLETS that come with these sets, that step you through not just assembly but the chemistry, the pi's, the bonds, and MUCH more!! Unlike ANY other set (including Prentice), Darling's books MAKE these series. Stephen simply has spared no effort to EDUCATE us on what we're assembling, in painstaking detail.Which brings me to a BIG WARNING: You CAN get these kits for 10% of the price as "used"-- I got this one for $2 with an Amazon third party, and have also bought many others here for my classes (molecular biology tutorial creator). BUT:1. DO NOT buy from a seller that states "parts may be missing." If the "part" is the booklet, you've missed out on 90% of the value of the set. In fact, I put these booklets' value at about $20 by themselves!!2. If a seller says "like new unopened" you're usually ok. If they say "like new, just opened to check" -- EMAIL them on Amazon's system and ASK SPECIFICALLY if the booklet is there!So, here are the kits available here at this writing, each with their own booklet: Molecular Visions: The Flexible Molecular Model Kit Molecular Visions Organic Model Kit with Molecular Modeling Handbook Molecular Visions Organic Model Kit #3 [With Model PiecesWith Instruction Booklet ]Check out all three to see accurate pictures of packaging, which Amazon has now corrected, if that's important to you.Five stars on all of them, with an extra star for Stephen's well thought out booklets that teach FAR MORE than how the pieces go together, including types of bonds, aromatics, planars, his trademarked atom visions shells, acyclic molecules, Newman projections, software oriented Fisher projections, isomers, and MUCH MUCH more!NOTE: If you mistakenly get a kit without the guide/booklet, they are available on the manufacturer's website as free pdf downloads-- darlingmodels dot com-- but if your kit(s) are missing parts, you'll have to buy them!! Note also that Amazon's direct AND third party prices are all lower than the manufacturer direct! The booklets ARE different for each set.Library Picks reviews only for the benefit of Amazon shoppers and has nothing to do with Amazon, the authors, manufacturers or publishers of the items we review. We always buy the items we review for the sake of objectivity, and although we search for gems, are not shy about trashing an item if it's a waste of time or money for Amazon shoppers. If the reviewer identifies herself, her job or her field, it is only as a point of reference to help you gauge the background and any biases.

Love this model kit. I purchased another one originally but I noticed a lot of the other ones are smaller and the pieces that represent the bonds are just too small to see the structure and geometry of the molecules. The parts in this kit can break more easily though, but if you’re careful, it is a superior kit to seeing the molecules the way that you want to visualize them.

Most of my Orgo 1 classmates purchased a different brand of modeling kit that contains "balls & sticks"; that version seems more intuitive to use than this one, which looks like an Erector set. I may breakdown and spend the extra money to get one of those kits. It's difficult to fit all the pieces in the case and get it to close, so after a couple days of tediously arranging and tucking and closing quickly before everything shifted, I gave up and dumped the pieces into a big ziploc bag. That's much more convenient. My final disappointment was the shrink-wrapped kit arrived missing 22 pieces, including all the "marker balls" which represent atoms. Inside there was a note that opened kits are unreturnable. I contacted the manufacturer (rather than returning the kit to Amazon) and they provided the missing pieces within a week; they also sent a note that "[they] do not market their products on Amazon, therefore, the kit must be secondhand." Other than missing pieces, I have no reason to believe my kit was not brand new, and I know from the one other return I've ever done with Amazon that they have excellent and responsive customer service. If Darling Models had been unwilling to supply the missing pieces, I probably could have returned the kit. It is probably just a fluke that I was missing so many pieces, and since it was resolved favorably, I am good to go now. It just took a little longer.

I bought this for an organic chemistry course. From looking at other students' models, this is the best set. They all had the same lame set from the bookstore.The users manual that comes with this is full color and about 50 pages (50 small pages that is, one page measures about 4 x 8) and is a mini chemistry course in itself. It was very helpful in showing you how to model all the different molecules you will encouter in a junior level org chem course.The set is small, yet it is engineered in such a way that you have more options than the other sets I encountered. The set comes in a hard plastic case in which all the pieces snap into place (the bookstore version sold it to you in a plastic bag!) thus saving you time when you are ready to assemble.When modeling some molecules, there is a lot of strain put on some of the pieces, and the pieces tend to become deformed. However, this set is made of a polymer that when you put the deformed pieces in boiling water, it returns to its original shape.Overall, I was very impressed with this set and highly recommend it.

I purchased this for my chemistry courses, and this is perfect for visual learners.

The model kit works and it really helps to show the bond angles correctly; however, it's a bit hard to use as it takes at least two pieces to make one tetrahedral carbon. If need to make a double bond you need to use a separate piece as well. I also had a hard time creating a triple bond. Pieces also were a bit loose and did not hold their shape when making isomers or chair conformations. I also had a problem with just closing the box from the sheer amount of pieces. I personally am a bit biased toward the ball and stick methods, but these do just fine if your in a pinch, but I recommend you use whatever you feel comfortable with.

This is a pretty fabulous set if you know what you are doing and what you want. I started in organic chemistry a few decades ago and moved on to pharmaceutical/medicinal chemistry in graduate school. Since then I have been in the business side of the industry but wanted to get back to molecules. I ordered two of these kits because I suspected one wouldn't be enough. Well, as a learning tool, one would be enough. With two kits I was able to build three interesting pharmaceutically active molecule models.These models are a bit tough to initially snap together, but once they are snapped together they are easy to reassemble into other molecules. These are great models and similar to other teaching/learning models i used in undergraduate/graduate school. Putting them together and then looking at the configuration of a molecule provides a completely different perspective to what is on a screen or on paper. These aren't Dreiding models but they cost tens, not thousands, of dollars.The set is quite generous in terms of what is supplied, perhaps too many oxygen and not enough nitrogen parts. That may be an issue of my preference for modeling alkaloids. But, the manual provides information on how to order additional parts online at what I consider to be very reasonable prices. They claim to ship internationally.The enclosed manual is an excellent introduction to molecular modeling and bond types. Overall I'm totally delighted by this molecular modeling kit, and I have worked with the very best. A very inexpensive investment if you are serious about organic chemistry or pharmaceutical chemistry. Seeing is the start of understanding.

Todos los modelos moleculares que conozco tienen ventajas y desventajas con respecto a otros. Algunos son muy útiles para exponer algunas cosas pero no son los mejores para otras. Estos modelos en particular me han resultado útiles como complemento a otros que ya tengo. No son lo ideal para un curso de Química Orgánica, que es mi tema, pero sí son útiles como complemento a otros que ya tengo. Los recomiendo principalmente para cursos de Química General y Química inorgánica.

The molecular model I got is of good quality and none of the pieces were missing or broken. I am a teacher and this kit helps me in conveying many complicated topics to my students easily. I was really interested to buy this model because of the flexibility of the bonds which is very essential in demonstrating the ring flip analysis of cyclohexane. Thank you.

Opened the box which was seemingly organized and as I was configuring how to use it, I realized there were pieces missing pieces replaced pieces I don't need. It's useless. I only have one carbon???Don't recommend buying this from this seller since their is a chance you'll have the same fate.

The media could not be loaded.  Very good product..very use ful..but I think Some more parts would have been better.