Comments about Arbor Scientific Teacher Molecular Modeling Kit:

Short version:

Set name: Inorganic-Organic (Teacher) Set (108 atoms)
Manufacture: "Moly Mod" (Owned by Spiring Enterprises Ltd.)

Good:
1. All plastic parts (More water friendly than wood and metal)
2. Made in England
3. Parts interchangeable with other Molymod Kits (like the "Student Molecular Modeling Kit" also sold by Arbor Scientific in the USA)
4. All parts as advertised (so the long bonds are actually flexible and don't just shatter when you bend them)
5. Comes with box, manufactures sheet and instructions for basic molecules.
6. Assembled compounds can be thrown across a concrete dorm room and not fall apart, or break themselves.
7. Includes different kinds of electron configurations (14 tetrahedral carbons and 6 Trig-pyramidal carbons)

Bad:
1. Parts can be hard to connect/pull apart during their first use (a common issue among any modeling kit solved by general use of the kit)
2. May be lacking enough Carbon and Hydrogen for Organic teachers. (I am a student. I run out of hydrogen very fast but I haven't made large enough models to run out of my 14 tetrahedral carbons yet.)
3. Does NOT come with a tool for prying apart bonds

List of parts:
14 Tetrahedral Carbons (4 hole, 109 degrees bond angle)
6 Trig-Bipyr Carbons (5 hole, 90 and 120 degrees bond angles)
12 Hydrogen (1 hole)
2 Linear Hydrogens (2 hole, 180 degrees bond angle)
6 Tetrahedral Nitrogen (4 hole, 109 degrees bond angle)
4 Pyramidal Nitrogen (3 hole, 107 degrees bond angle)
16 Angular (bent) Oxygen (2 hole, 105 degrees bond angle)
6 Tetrahedral Oxygen (4 hole, 109 degrees bond angle)
8 Angular (bent) Sulfur ("Sulphur") (2 hole, 105 degrees bond angle)
4 Tetrahedral Sulfur (4 hole, 109 degrees bond angle)
1 Octahedral Sulfur (6 hole, 90 degrees bond angle)
4 Tetrahedral Phosphorus (4 hole, 109 degrees bond angle)
1 Tri-Bipyr Phosphorus (5 hole, 90 and 120 degrees bond angle)
2 Pyramidal Phosphorus (3 hole, 107 degrees bond angle)
8 Halogen (1 hole)
4 Metal (1 hole)
3 Angular (bent) Metals (2 hole, 105 degrees bond angle)
2 Trigonal Planar Metals (3 hole, 120 degrees bond angle)
4 Tetrahedral Metals (4 hole, 109 degrees bond angle)
1 Octahedral Metal (6 hole, 90 degrees bond angle)
[The next 3 items all look the same except for different colors]
6 Unhybridized p-lobe (pink)
6 Unhybridized p-lobe (purple)
6 Lone Pairs of Electrons (Tan/Beige)
38 "Medium" links (31mm, grey)
12 "Medium" links (31mm, purple)
36 Long Flexible links (46mm, grey)
[I think the "Medium" links are pretty short, but their "short" links are used for space filled models. There are no "short links included with this set.]
1 grey box to hold it all (235 X 170 X 58 mm)

Long(-er) Version:
I just got this kit today and have been using it to make models from my o-chem book homework.

Before I get into telling you about this product, let me explain what I hate about other modeling kits. I've always hated the awful wooden model kits we used in high school chemistry. They gave me splinters, the metal springs hurt my hands, you couldn't get them wet and if it was too humid then you could forget about getting the little peg in the hole. Once I figured out how badly I needed a modeling kit, I knew I would never get one of those. I wanted a full plastic kit, so I bought this one.

The plastic parts in this kit are solid. They will not break when you drop them, pound them, or generally beat them to a pulp. I've already tossed them across my room and down a brick walled hallway for research purposes. (You're welcome.) I would bet that your students can't break them without some more serious tools than bare hands. The flexible bond flex well and do not tear, split or otherwise fall apart. The atoms hold together well once assembled into a larger structure. You can move it all around and drop it without fear of losing things. The downside is you may find yourself a tad frustrated as you try to pry apart objects more stuck on each other than teenage couples in a school hallway. If you use your teeth to pry things apart, (I can see all you dentists cringing) the plastic will get some lovely gouges in it. Based on this, I imagine a very persistent student with lots of bordem and access to scissors would do a number the bonds and probably scratch the atoms too.

I was pleasantly surprised to find this kit was made in England.

The box everything comes in is nice. It holds all the molecules and bonds and it makes a great hat for chemistry parties. Very science major chic. For those OCD like me, I would recommend plastic baggies for storage, just to keep things organized.

This one goes out to all the o-chem teachers/students. For a student this works well enough, but this is the Inorganic-Organic kit. The manufacture does make organic kits. Go ask Arbor Scientific if they'll carry it for you. I bet they might if you're nice.

The only thing I wasn't so hot to trot about with this kit where the different electron configurations for things like carbon. As you can see in the parts list above, almost every atom comes with a varying amount of holes. While that may be good for some, I was really only interested in the 4 hole tetrahedral carbons. So, I really only ended up with 14 of those when I planned on having twenty. Word to the wise, check the parts list above and make sure you're getting what you want.

Final opinion:
I like this kit. It isn't exactly what I wanted (see reasons listed above) but it is still excellent. Had I known there was an o-chem kit, I probably would have gotten that instead, but this works just fine. I like the parts, the materials and the kit as a whole. I chose this over many other kits and I'm glad I did. I'm impressed and happy with it.

Comments about Arbor Scientific Teacher Molecular Modeling Kit:

It's really good quality ! Great learning tool.