Fantasia Materials: 50 Different Rough Stones with Identification Cards - The Best Starter Rock Collection and Activity Kit Including Stones from Brazil, Madagascar, Mexico, Asia, India and More!

I bought it for a teen. She was very happy.

My first impression upon taking out these stones--gorgeous! Wow! Be sure to rinse them off. I put mine on plates with white paper towels on them for identification purposes. There are some drop dead gorgeous samples in here. Then, there are nice samples. Then, there are just a couple that are really lacking. My green calcite was not even an inch long. HOWEVER, I challenge you to find 50 stones like this for $30 anywhere. With an average cost of $3 each this kit would have been $150. There is a $35 kit on Amazon for 48 stones, but they are itty bitty. These are a really good size.Identification: Really challenging! So, because stones can vary so much, I had to look up many of them on Google to try to figure out what they were. There are still three I cannot identify. Not bad out of 50. I found the easiest thing to do was to look up the name on the card using Google Images. Be sure to put in "Raw" or "Rough" before the name of the stone. Some stones were tough to identify, but I had fun doing it. This is a great activity for a parent to do with an older child.I sorted my stones out in two large bead boxes from Walmart (not too pricey...like $3.00 each), and labeled the box lid above each stone with its type.The cards are a bit small to read, but I will save them because it is very handy to have the properties right there. They are not good for identification in most cases.There are three stones I did not receive, and I got duplicates instead. I do want to note for the seller that this is not what you advertised. You advertised no duplicates.Also, a quick mention that the Green Opal came with two chunks broken off because the stones need to be wrapped in bubble wrap and put inside a slightly larger plastic bag. Otherwise, beseech Amazon to shipBitch them in a box.Highly recommend!

I was very impressed with this set of stones for the price. All of the specimens I received are large and some are really gorgeous pieces, like someone hand-picked them. They do need to be cleaned, once you clean them the colors show. My set came with 49 out of 50 cards and stones. I am familiar with minerals and was able to fairly easily match the cards to the stone for 31 out of the 49. The last 18 I am going to have to use a gem book and other identifying techniques like hardness etc. I can understand how it might be disappointing to some who find it hard to identify them or who don't bother to wash them. I wish the cards had more geology type information instead of the 'healing properties'. This set is very educational and provided me with much enjoyment.

Over all the set is nice, and they deliver what they say they will.CONs:1- Packaging was what I had the biggest issue with. They were all thrown into a single large bag together.+++Reason it's a CON: The stones in this collection rang from a 2-8 or 9 on the hardness scale (roughly). Which means the softer stones can easily be damaged by the harder stones or a stone of the same hardness.I'm not saying bubble wrap each stone but even if they were in their own individual baggies or some kind of paper or something it would keep them from getting damaged during shipping or from just being all in there together. Having said that, some do look possibly damaged but I can't say for sure since I don't know what shape the stones were in when they were first shipped.2 - This one is kind of a con and kind of not. The cards are not together with the specific stone it belongs to.+++Reason: While I enjoy the challenge of figuring out which stone is what, for someone who is just starting out it can be a challenge or extremely frustrating and could be a turn off for some when purchasing.Suggestions:1 - I would suggest possibly putting a warning in the package. For 2 reasons:A. Some stones can be toxic (Ex: Fluorite (or Fluorspar)) and their level of toxicity can change depending on if it's a raw stone, if the stone is being cut or broken into pieces, or if they decided to try to clean them with water or chemicals. Knowing to wash hands after handling can keep someone from getting sick.B. Buyers will likely want to clean their stones: Some stones are not water friendly, whether that is because they are water soluble and will dissolve or break down in water or if they are a more delicate stone and simply crack or change color when exposed to water for any period of time. (Some even become toxic when exposed to water.)*If anyone really wants photos let me know, I repackaged everything after wrapping stones in paper and putting away. I have no where to display them right now.

This is by far the best pack of raw rocks and minerals I have bought. Almost all rocks are accurately identified and cut in a way that let's you see their main features, like the patterns in jaspers. The printed cards is also a nice detail. It is true that every set is different so don't expect the same rocks as seen in the photos (I badly wanted a chrysoprase and my set didn't have it). Also, a few rocks in the cards were not in the set, like the green opal or chrysocolla. However, this is a very good product.. would buy it again.