My first magnet also caught almost nothing. Maybe starting it in a different spot would help, but for the most part, I think the majority of the reason is not that it was one magnet, but that the round was short and there was not as much junk in space and all the other upgrades we got before we bought the second magnet were not there when we first bought the first magnet and were disappointed at how bad it was. It did get decent right before I bought the second one. If they make the first magnet too good, then the upgrades won't do anything. Was I annoyed after buying the first magnet? Yea, but I would not change it. The upgrades helped. Everything else worked great.