Construction toys and building block systems: What’s hot in 2023!
Diversity in the creative construction kit segment
Written by Peter Pernsteiner.
Clamping building blocks, plug-in systems and other construction kits in a wide variety of grid sizes could finally be once again touched and tried out to the heart’s content of visitors at the Spielwarenmesse 2023. Some are made of hard or soft plastics and others of wood or metal... but many have one thing in common: there are scarcely any limits to users’ creativity.
Anyone looking for individually designable construction toys for young and old alike managed to find plenty of them in Nuremberg. The spectrum ranged from classic construction block sets in a wide variety of brick grid sizes to complex marble run construction sets. Marioinex from Poland, for example, exhibited many new products with its waffle blocks. The main components of this system world are flexible square-shaped 7x7 waffle blocks with holes and insets. They come in three different sizes for different age groups. The square hole size of the Midi Waffle is 7.5 mm, that of the Mini Waffle 5 mm and that of the Micro Waffle 2.5 mm. For the Mini Waffle system, for example, which has been on the market for seven years, the company exhibited numerous new themed sets, e.g. City, Adventure, Street, Recycling or Port with Container Ship. Also new are the "grab bags", also made in Poland, as little gifts that contain not only various plug-in waffle parts but also a plug-in mini figure.
Compatible clamping building blocks
There was, of course, a lot to admire in Nuremberg in the standard 8 x 8 mm grid of 1x1 bricks patented by Lego in 1958, because this patent expired back in 1978. For example, the Italian company Androni Giocattoli presented colourful carrying buckets containing 250 basic building blocks for buildings, figures and more for its Blox range, the lid of which contains a studded building plate. What are also very practical are packs of four building boards measuring 256 x 256 mm with 32 x 32 studs, which are very stable thanks to being 3 mm thick. Unlike some other building boards, they even have a 4x4 structure on their underside for attaching studs.
CaDA has licensed the brand-new Mercedes-AMG One sports car as a highlight for its Master line of clamping building blocks. A prototype of the more than 50 cm long model was exhibited under a bell jar in Nuremberg. The exact number of parts used hasn’t yet been settled on, because the remote-controllable model might still receive a few modifications. Also remote controllable is the 220X crawler excavator from JCB, which hasn’t yet been exhibited. The concrete and already available models of a London cab and the 31 cm long legendary 2CV from Citroen made a great impression.
There are also standard clamping building blocks made of wood. Once Kids, a first-time exhibitor at the Spielwarenmesse, was founded in Dallas in 2014 and produces sustainable toys from FSC-certified wood. The wood bricks range in particular was showcased in Nuremberg. The wooden clamping bricks are CNC-milled and, apart from slight variations in material, are largely compatible with standard bricks from Lego, CaDA and many more. Depending on the series in question, they are made of either beech or bamboo. Those who prefer a more colourful look can order various basic building sets consisting of 54 to 176 Color Wood Bricks; all six sides of these bricks are treated with a non-toxic water-based colour tint. With a nod to Lego’s toddler range, Once Kids also offers Plus+ Wood Bricks that are twice the size of the traditional wood bricks. The studs on the top of these large bricks are milled in such a way that the small stud bricks in sizes of 2x2 or 4x2, for example, can also be placed on them.
Clamping building bricks in other sizes
Based on the classic Lego bricks, Ten Square from Taiwan has been supplying gigantic soft building blocks for five years. The UNiPLAY blocks, which can be bent to suit children’s wishes, are made of polypropylene and have basic cuboid dimensions of 35 x 35 mm and a height of 24 mm. A 25.6 mm large and approx. 6 mm high stud sits on top of each one. Besides the typical standard blocks, there are Cube Blocks grid elements with five or eleven studs in width and depth, which can be joined together to form a cube or even the walls of an entire children’s playhouse, for example. New products include the Unishelf wall shelf and the Unipetal colourful table elements, which are also round-shaped and can be plugged together. They have easily removable feet and, on their stable round-shaped table surface, a play area with up to 15 studs in width and up to seven studs in depth.
The LOZ Company assortment has been dedicated to the other end of the size spectrum for more than 10 years. The LOZ mini bricks made of ABS plastic measure 6 x 6 mm and look almost like the little brother of the usual standard Lego bricks. There were countless sets from the manufacturer set up at the exhibition stand in Nuremberg, such as a small functioning pinball machine, a Japanese ninja castle, a roller coaster and a Ferris wheel. The two models in the photo at the top of this article are also an absolute eye-catcher. The hinged mediaeval castle, including six mini figures, consists of 2,212 parts and the tree house set with four mini figures comprises 1,033 parts.
Metal construction kits
Also with a grid size of 6 x 6 mm are the 3 mm flat aluminium Metomics clamping building blocks from RADstuff with 2.5 mm high studs on them. These studs contain small plastic click elements that provide stable connections for larger free-standing model constructions. Robust small articulated bricks also enable users to reproduce very realistic figures and animals. New products include construction sets for a T-Rex consisting of 219 parts, for a robot consisting of 137 parts and a 150-piece set for building a cobra, a crocodile or a snake.
Zephyr Toymakers from India, on the other hand, relies on 12.5 mm wide rounded sheet steel strips with 4 mm holes spaced at 12.5 mm intervals for its Mechanix metal construction kits for children aged 8 and up. They are connected either by screws and nuts or by plastic spacers. What’s new here is the Funfair set for building small fairground rides and the Advance set, which comes in a plastic case, with 249 parts for building cars, helicopters and more.
Marble runs
System construction kits don’t always need to be screwed or plugged together piece by piece – as is demonstrated by the Franckh-Kosmos publishing house and its newly introduced Gecko Run ball track system. The German-made system is based on flexibly mouldable 25 cm long track elements and various action parts, such as bridges, reversing loops, a kind of switch for changing lanes or a catch funnel. The elements, which are made in Germany from bio-based plastic, are attached to windows or smooth furniture surfaces with, for example, the aid of adhesive pads, which allows them to be expanded into a giant marble run. The starter set, which costs just under €30, includes seven steel balls, 12 track elements and 40 gecko pads. It is supplemented by expansion sets with, for example, a loop or a kind of trampoline.
To YouTube: Interview about the Gecko Run marble run from Kosmos
In the fall, Ravensburger added power components with electronic parts to the GraviTrax marble run game for children aged eight and up, which can be expanded as required. They have now launched GraviTrax Junior as a marble run variant for children aged three and up. It contains marbles that are two centimetres wide and is designed to help toddlers increase their motor skills as well as their spatial thinking by building individual tracks. This system also features bridges, straight lines, curved elements and elevation blocks, but deliberately avoids switches and crossings so as not to overtax toddlers. The GraviTrax Junior components are made of environmentally friendly materials.
Naturally, Fischertechnik has also dedicated itself to the subject of marble runs for some time. What is still very new is its Marble Competition set consisting of 702 parts, in which two tracks are built in parallel for competitions. In the entry-level price segment, marble sets are now also available for a mere €15 – a nice gift for children and adults. The spectrum ranges from a labyrinth ball run that can be individually designed from 61 parts to a 21 x 27 cm pinball-like slot machine via Ping Pong Bowling with a container to catch a table tennis ball to trigger a ball run ride. The 277-piece Mechanics basic construction kit teaches children aged eight and up the functional principles of gears, clockwork or, for example, a percussion hammer drill. The Crazy Rides construction kit offers colourful action for building a freefall tower or three other amusement park attractions. Also new is the Crazy Reactions construction kit for the experimental design of a chain reaction course, where even the functioning of a compressed air tank can be studied.
To YouTube: Interview about the new Fischertechnik construction kits
About the author:
Peter Pernsteiner discovered his love of technical journalism when studying electrical engineering and joined the editorial staff of a large ICT trade magazine soon after. Since 1994, he has worked as a freelance journalist, focusing on tech topics – including for model railway magazines. In 2016, he also started a YouTube channel for technology reports which has since attracted global attention.