Make perfect snowballs every time. Not too big. Not too small. Just right. The plastic is a hard durable plastic that does not bend. It is about 1/4 inch thick. It does not wobble from side to side like salad tongs so it closes the same way each time. The rivet that holds the two pieces together seems strong enough. If it did break, you could get rivets from your hardware store and fix it easy enough. Making snowballs is very quick. The snow does not seem to stick to the plastic so you can scoop up the snow, close the two halves together and drop it in you pile. You'll have many snowballs made in no time at all. While the other kids are still making their first couple of snowballs, you can already launch your attack with many more snowballs. Okay, if you get the two pack, give the second one to the other kids to make things fair.I bought these for my nephews2years ago along with the snow block maker they were 4and 6at the time they have really enjoyed being able to go out in bad weather and do something fun they have made several snow forts with the block maker followed quickly by the snowball wars back and forth! Perfect for New York winters and easy for little ones to manage I spray a little cooking spray on the before use and the snow doesn't get stuck this was a winner in our familyEpic! My son loved this and it was so easy to use . I can imagine as he gets older he'll be the pro of the neighborhood .So much fun, these work great. Makes perfect snowballs very fast. My 4 year old grandson loves them. Great time saver when your in a snowball fight.These snowball makers are very durable and work great. I never thought I would use one as I believe in doing many things the old fashioned way but, when you are in the midst of a snowball fight, these toys are fantastic.I got these for my grandchildren to use in the snows that we get around here and they absolutely loved them....good quality toy.I bought this item and it arrived the day of a blizzard here in Oklahoma...made for some fun times.