Dollar Store Erector Sets?
The "Legos" sold by Dollar Tree don't claim to be LEGO brand, but this claims to be an official Erector set by Meccano. It also bears a Spin Master logo and is labeled as imported from China by Greenbriar International. Is it any good?
I have next to no experience with Erector sets, although at some point in my youth I had custody of a really old kit from a family member. I wonder where that went. I haven't seen it in well over 20 years. At any rate, I don't know what the proper fit, finish, material gauge, and tolerances should be.
All the parts are sealed in a plastic bag inside the box. On opening the bag, I was able to confirm that all the parts were included, and they are mostly just stamped sheet metal and cheap fasteners. Several parts are marked "Meccano." The center holes on the plastic wheels are noticeably off-center, which seems peculiar to me considering the simplicity and low expense of injection molded plastics. The allen key is sufficient to the task. The wrench is thin, but it has folded-over tabs on one end that work well to help hold nuts, and the thinness helps it slide between parts to tighten things up, such as when adjusting tension between the wheels and frame.
Speaking of assembly, the box has an exploded assembly diagram of the model on the back. It is rudimentary, but easy to follow if you have any understanding of reading such diagrams whatsoever. This car relies entirely on the tension of the nuts and bolts to keep everything aligned. I don't like that. To my mind, a good design should be structurally stable in all three dimensions before fasteners are tightened. This would require larger components that attach at more than one point along each plane, though.
I think this offers a lot less replayability than the Lego knockoffs that were shelved next to it, but that could just be my bias. Still, I think it is certainly buildable by the 8+ age range identified on the box, although younger people may need some guidance. For $1.00, it's not completely terrible, but I can't really recommend this as a stocking stuffer candidate either.
If any readers have fond memories of proper Erector/Meccano sets, I would welcome your comments below! There were also other sets, so if you think I should review one or two more, let me know about that, too.
I played with a genuine erector set as a kid. I didn't find it to be particularly engaging (I spent a lot more time with Construx), so my experience was short lived, but I did play long enough to remember some details. I think the fasteners, the wrench and the metal struts themselves were probably about on par with this cheap one you bought. The wheels though, for some reason I think mine were made of wood and they definitely weren't off center. They were given to us when our great grandfather passed, so I think they were quite old.
I remember Construx. I had a car kit from that line as a kid. I still have some of the pieces in an official yellow Construx case I acquired some lime later. It's all in my garage sale pile now.
I always thought Erector would be ideal for train set trestles, but I never had a proper train set. I did have a LEGO train set though, and that was awesome.
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