TL;DR
Do you know Fischertechnik construction blocks? If not take a closer look on the post, small introduction into the German construction blocks world.
In this post, I wanted to share with you one of my passions, hobby which are a Fischertechnik blocks. Let’s start with a short intro.
A long time ago, around 25 years back in time, I was a boy who loved to construct things. I remember a first day when I got an old plastic box with a set of completely new, unknown kind of construction blocks. I new Lego, or other “standard” blocks. But this kind of blocks was something new, a new challenge. It was even bigger challenge, because all I received that day was just this plastic box with some parts in it. No instruction, no picture of example construction. That was my first experience with Fischertechnik. The set I had was incomplete and very small, so my construction possibilities were limited. Since then, I always wanted to buy these blocks some day.
The years passed and about a month ago, I found a new, very cheap, huge set of that blocks with a little bit damaged enclosure. It was a great occasion because it was a brand new Super Fun Park 508775 Advanced set. A lot of parts, very good price, I decided to buy it. Take a look on the enclosure below.
It was a great opportunity to go back to my childhood and check if this “toy” has still that magic 🙂
And yes, definitely. It was a great fun to build all constructions from that set. They were really big and the satisfaction, yeah, you know. I felt like I was a teen again.
What is the “magic” I see in that blocks? I guess the way they were designed, to be very flexible and universal. You can build everything you imagine. Starting from simple gears powered with 9V motor, up to constructions like automated factory, clocks or even really complicated machines like gearbox.
Cranes – the unfulfilled dream
One of the very interesting sets is Advanced Super Cranes, that you can see below.
Whole construction is really big – around 1 meter high. Additionally it uses few 9V motors to rotate the crane and to give us the feeling that we are steering a real machine. I don’t know how about you, but I feel like I was a boy, who can build whatever he will imagine. This set is not in my collection….yet 🙂
Fischertechnik is not a cheap hobby. It’s like Lego, expensive and really fun. For me, the solutions of connectors and parts which are the same since over 50 years, are unbelievable. Of course a lot of new elements was added since I was touching it for the first time, but the basic assumptions and shapes of connectors are unchanged since many years. That’s amazing!
The manufacturer propose nowadays a lot of news in comparison to the original old sets. I found a great page with a lot of manuals from past 50 years (that’s how long the company is in the market) which can be downloaded for free for inspiration and to get to know how some tricky parts are really working, what are they designed for. Take a look here on Studica page. I put below some examples of constructions from these old magazines that also inspired me.
Some of that constructions are really huge and complex.
After I realized that nicer construction needs more blocks and parts, I decided to find out more used sets online. And guess what? I found an auction with a perfect set – old vintage blocks with all that rare parts you will never find in the newest sets. I bought it and I got two big boxes of old good Fischertechnik construction parts. I have kids so the first idea was to build some models for my young son and little bit older daughter. They both were amazed. It was a great time spent together on creating something unique. Take a look below, it’s one of our constructions 🙂
Car was much upgraded by me. I found original version on old magazines, but without instruction, just one photo. My young son was so exited with it, that I had to build it. Then I had to make it “kids resistant”. I changed the model to reinforce construction – added some blocks and here we are.
Why am I sharing all of this? The blocks are so flexible that I plan to build some kind of 2D plotter or some kind of drawing machine. I really love that blocks, I wanted to share the passion with you. All just for fun!
Thanks for reading.
