Erector Sets

History Of Erector Sets

The development of erector sets dates back to 1898 where Frank Hornby in a small Liverpool shop created a construction game made of screws and nuts for his children. Due to this, erector sets (Meccano) were born in 1901. Initially, Frank Hornby, after developing it marketed it under the brand name "Mechanics Made Easy". The name ‘Meccano’ was later registered in 1907.

At around the same time a gentleman by the name of A.C. Gilbert invented the first Erector Set in the United States. A.C Gilbert then registered the Erector Brand and introduced it in a toy fair that was held in New York City in 1913.

Initially, Liverpool was the first location for the Meccano Erector Set factory; however it was soon replaced so as to meet the rising demand of erector sets. Later, two additional factories were opened as the success of the Meccano Erector Sets spread across the world. These factories included one in Berlin in 1912 and another in Belleville, France in 1920. The production plant in Belleville was soon replaced by one in Bobigny that by 1951 made more than half a million Erector Sets a day! Later in 1959 a new one was built in Calais which is currently the main Erector sets manufacturing site.

In the 1970’s, General Mills bought Meccano (which at the time owned the rights to Erector Sets). This made the Calais factory become the sole global manufacturing site. At around this time, even though General Mills owned Meccano, Meccano was really not a priority for the company. Due to this there was a major slowdown in the development of Erector Sets. In 1985, Meccano ended up being sold again.

In the 1990’s, Meccano bought the Erector brand. Outside the United States, Erector Sets were sold under the brand name Meccano while in the United States they were sold under the brand name Erector. This still applies today. In 2000 a Japanese company by the name of Nikko ended up buying Meccano. In 2007 Nikko disassociated itself from Meccano.

Today Erector offers a wide range of Erector Sets that are geared towards children at different ages and a wide range of specific purposes.

Types Of Erector Sets

Growing Through Building

Many Erector Sets offered by the Erector brand have over many years helped children who are five years old and older understand the world around them. Many adults can even remember the Erector Sets that they played with when they were young.

Build and Play

The Build and Play Erector Sets encourages children over 5 years of age to learn how to discover the new world that Erector provides. The different parts including bolts and nuts have specifically been created for this very group. The packaged toy comes with a whole set of tools which give any child a great opportunity to build a wide range of models that they wish. Each of the models is age appropriate and can be built and disassembled with ease.

Construction Erector Sets

Any child who is over the age of 5 likes the opportunity of creating, constructing and building something. The Erector Construction line definitely has the answer for this. Children are able to play construction games with this line of toys and as a result help develop their problem solving skills and the ability to focus on a task. The Construction Sets come with plastic parts that are colored. Some of them are rigid while the others are flexible. Due to this they can build many different models.

Multi Model

The multi model sets have been specifically created for children ages 8 and older. Using the Multi Model Erector Sets series, children have the capability of building detailed models using one set and also building other limitless design models! These models come with different mechanical parts such as springs, cogs, motors and gear boxes. These models are great for introducing kids to basic principles of mechanics. They achieve this by giving children an opportunity of building models with moveable parts.

Design Erector Sets

The Design collection enables kids to build futuristic looking vehicles. The resulting bodywork hides the bolts but does not change the basic Erector building principles. This collection comes with new metal parts and the regular classic metal parts. Every year, Erector strives to release a new model to rejuvenate its collection.