Meccano

Posted on April 25, 2013 By Eva Robinson Brands, Toys

About

It was in 1901 when Frank Hornby invented a new toy that promoted mechanical engineering called ”Mechanics made easy”. The toy was a smaller model of a construction vehicle made out of metal plates, girders gears and wheels. The toy was not a toy at all. It was more of an educational device that one could run tests on it. Many manufacturers noticed promising investment opportunity behind Hortby’s invention and financially backed him up to produce more units. Eventually, demand started exceeding supply and Hornby seized this opportunity by starting his own factory in Liverpool by the name Meccano in 1907. Meccano initially offered 7 sets of construction kits labeled numerically from 00 to 07. In 1934 the nine outfits were replaced with new eleven outfits that this time were branded alphabetically from A to L for three years after to be reversed again in numbers. Meccano had a thing with colors as company’s pattern was changed over time. So was the case, when after some financial crisis, Meccano was bought by Lines Bros Ltd in 1963 and the color scheme was changed to yellow and black plates with silver strips. After several ownership changes, Meccano finally stood on solid ground in 2000 when Japanese manufacturer Nikko purchased 49% of Meccano’s marketing operations, while production department was still based in Calais, France. Eventually new sets were released that brought positive results in the planned period. Today’s sets of Meccano include all kinds of new technology like radio gadgets, infrared option and zinc steel bolts.

Products

Toys – Today, Meccano mostly focuses on constructable toys that are based on popular game or cartoon characters. Apart from these, the company still has some of its standard models that can be made with parts which are included in sets. For example, Sonic the Hedghog and Rappids are game character-based models that enjoyed bigger success on the market because of the wide popularity of the characters. Other kits are divided based on the purpose of the constructed vehicles. Hence, Meccano offers these brand sets: Spykee (Robot construction kit), Multimodels (several models can be made of the same parts), Xtreme, Gears of War, Build and Play, Turbo, Tintin and Space Chaos. All these are different sub-brands of Meccano sets whose final outcome are vehicles with different purpose and look, made out of different materials.

Games – Meccano have recently launched its mobile application and offers sever games online to enhance customers’ experience. The Race and Space Chaos are free games available online for many admirers of Meccano products.

View the wide range of games and kids toys online of Meccano brand.