Does anyone remember a toy, an "electronic set of building blocks"?

February 24, 2009 2:42 AM

Does anyone else remember this toy, an electronic set of building blocks, or is it just in my faulty memory? Who was the manufacturer? What was the trade name? (How do I search for it on eBay? :)

When I was in elementary school in the mid-1970s, there was a toy we had that I liked a lot. It was designed to teach about electronics. There were roughly cubical pieces of plastic that adhered together using magnetic interfaces, all of them also sticking magnetically to a metal plate. The top surface was white, with the schematic diagram symbol etched into the piece in black. The underside was clear plastic, so you could see the component inside (resistor, capacitor, whatever). One way to think of it is as a version of Radio Shack's "10,000 in One" electronic sets, but those used loose wires that were connected together using springs. Because this toy was built to more closely resemble building blocks, it came across as much more graphically elegant. The manual was a set of schematics -- you'd assemble the diagram using the blocks, and voila! you'd have made some gizmo.

posted by aurelian to sports, hobbies, & recreation (8 comments total)

I'm thinking it's Raytheon's (!) Lectron Electric Dominoes

They're not that cheap but not ridiculous either.
posted by aubilenon at 3:05 AM on February 24

Oh hang on, there's a German company making these new now!

They don't have any English on their website, but I bet if you e-mail them someone there speaks English and can help you find some!
posted by aubilenon at 3:12 AM on February 24

Electronics 101 Snap-Kit


There's a bigger version, too. Very cool watching my six-year-old put together circuits.
posted by dragonsi55 at 7:07 AM on February 24

aubilenon, you got it in one. Thanks... You've just put an end to my tormenting toy shop owners from coast-to-coast, as they invariably say, "That sounds like a great idea, especially these days with computers, but I have no idea what you're talking about."

It's nice to see they're still being made, but not a surprise it's in Germany. From the first page you linked to:

"(I)n the 1960s the company imported a fantastic range of Lectron electronic building block kits developed by West German model train maker Egger-Bahn and electronics giant Braun."

Looking at that German website... I don't really read German, either, but I can read (a very small amount of) Swedish (my wife was born there), and they're related languages. On the menu bar on the right hand side, "Neues" means "New" -- and it seems they just announced a set for "Neurophysiologie." "Elementar" is a cognate for "Elements," and seems to list the multiple families of sets they have -- "Start-System," "Opto- und Solartechnik," "Digitaltechnik," and "Radio-Technik" among the easier to guess at (thank god for linguistic imperialism).

So, yeah... In that classic German engineering way, it looks like they've been building the things all these (40+!) years in between, and constantly adding with small, incremental improvements. Someone on the first site mentions it was a shame they've never hooked up with LEGO, and I'd agree, if only for marketing reach. And the fun thing is, schematics are language-independent.

Wow. {beat} It's amazing to put a name to the thing in my head all these years, and see it's been extended out the way I always kind of wished for.

("Dominoes" -- I would never of thought of using "dominoes" as the descriptor, but given the laying them out end-to-end aspect, I can see where the idea came from.)

Wow. Thanks. :)
posted by aurelian at 8:58 AM on February 24

There's a similar product that I've used with my kids - instead of blocks there are plastic pieces with snap connectors on either end. They have different size versions (more or less pieces) and I think you can get them at Radio Shack.



posted by Swampdog at 9:07 AM on February 24

Dang - I blew the link - new to the site Here it is in plain text
http://www.amazon.com/Elenco-SC-300-Snap-Circuits/dp/B0000683A4/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1235495063&sr=8-1

and I'll try to link
posted by Swampdog at 9:08 AM on February 24

Actually, turns out USD$70 on eBay isn't a bad deal. Here's current price list (note: .PDF file). The "Start-System" goes for EUR175 and it spirals from there.

But what's fun is, it goes on for eight pages because they've priced the blocks a la carte. No idea who'd sell it that way, but interesting they're prepared for it.

Here's another page with some home made photos, showing a set in a wooden carry case like a pool cue, or a go-ban, or mah jongg. Interesting updating of the story:

"The brand Lectron and the design of the educational system Lectron has been developed in Switzerland around 1960. The german firm Braun acquired the product and sold the enhanced system in a nice new design. Lectron became an independent firm in the middle of the seventies and the system was enhanced even more. In 2001 the brand and product Lectron was donated to an organisation for disabled people and is still being produced and enhanced."
posted by aurelian at 9:27 AM on February 24

Probably the a la carte is for customers, not distributors. Lego does the same thing which would be an important way to buy the pieces you needed if there weren't a ridiculously awesome Lego marketplace. Seriously.
posted by aubilenon at 9:32 AM on February 24