newyork, UK
Automoblox is one of those toy ideas that, when you see it, you smack your forehead and go "Oh, why didn't this come out when I was young enough to play with them?" In a nutshell, it's sort of a cross between hot wheels cars and Lego bricks - you take the pieces and parts and make your own custom wooden bodied roadster. In terms of visual appeal, they're very Art Deco with streamlined, aerodynamic shapes, and look sort of like a 1950s vintage vision of the future on the basic line. The R series line are a bit sportier, lower down to the ground and more aerodynamically shaped and "modern" looking.
The basic concept is that you buy a kit - made of maple - where three pieces snap together to make the chassis for the car (a body, a front (with axle) and rear (with axle) and various snap on parts let you customize it (from wheels, to windshields, to spoilers and airdams.)
The pieces are constructed of high quality wood, and while the plastic bits are, well, plastic, they're obviously built with the understanding that this is a high price item, and furthermore, a high price item meant to be played with by kids. (Though I don't doubt that a lot of adults end up buying a set for the kids, and a second set or two for themselves.)
There are three lines - the basic Automoblox system, the R series, and the minis. Parts from the basic Automoblox and R series are interchangeable, but parts from the minis series are not. The minis series parts are interchangeable with other minis parts, and Automoblox says that they're releasing new concept cars for both lines each year.
The Basic Line has six models:
Red C9 Sports Car Aqua M9 Sport Van Purple X9 SUV Green T9 Truck Blue S9 Sedan Orange A9 Compact
Because of the interchangeability, Automoblox toys encourage, for lack of a better term, "fiddlyness". Kids (of all ages) will take them apart and put them back together. Want to see what your R series race car looks like with a fire engine front end? It'll fit! What this does for kids is make them learn fine motor control (getting the bits stuck together), and encourages a lot of creativity and problem solving, and exploration of combining parts into custom vehicles. One of our testers created a stretch truck that he thought was "super cool" especially after filling the truck bed with skittles!
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