My daughter (4) loves them. And interestingly, they are a lot more like the Legos I remember from my childhood (early 80s) than the kits I see now. Very few specialized pieces, much more of the generic block that you then turn into something interesting. The instructions that are included are very similar to how I remember, and some of the larger kits also feature the alternate builds that I again remember.
The topic poster has a point though. Wander through the Lego section and ooh-aah over the cool kits, but a lot of the pieces are very use specific. Obviously you can re-purpose them for anything you want, but they were clearly designed to put in a certain spot on a certain kit. The ghost series is a great example. The ghost train, while very cool, you really can't build much outside of the train using the pieces that are included. Little doodad crap sure, but nothing larger.