Construx. Speelboom, Netherlands.
Some of you may know of the recent Mega Construx building sets by Mattel, featuring well-known franchise entities like Masters of the Universe, Pokémon, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Monster High, Call of Duty and more. But did you know that Mega Construx has its origins dating back to the early 1980s when it was owned by Fisher-Price and known simply as Construx?
Construx. Speelboom, Netherlands.
The original Construx sets can be comparable to Lego, especially Lego Technic sets, in that creations could be built from a choice of interlocking and movable parts. Sets came with large-size beams that acted as frameworks; these were connected to smaller pieces by connector blocks. Hinges, motors, wheels, pulleys and figures added to the build and play experience.
Construx. Speelboom, Netherlands.
Construx production appears to have ended around 1988, with Mattel (current owners of Mega Brands, including Mega Bloks) re-imagining the line for their Mega Construx sets in 2017. When making my research for this post, an overiding sentiment I found among the original owners of Fisher-Price Construx was that it was one of the best construction sets of its time – even better than Lego, with many agreeing it was a toy limited only by the imagination of the builder.
Construx. Speelboom, Netherlands.
The following images come from 1986 and 87 Dutch catalogues, when the brand was heavily geared to space and action themes.
Construx. De Speelboom, 1987. Netherlands.
Construx. Intertoys Speelboek, 1987. Netherlands
Construx. Speelboom Club Journal N°4, 1986. Netherlands.
Construx. Speelboom Club Journal N°4, 1987. Netherlands.
Thank you for connecting and interlocking with us 🙂
The Vintage Toy Advertiser 
I had a bunch of set as a kid. I had many glow-in-the-dark pieces and would play in my closet for hours.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi. I bet those glow-in-the-dark sets were fun to see. Cool you had some of these sets!
LikeLike
I had these toys growing up. My god they were amazing! I had a ton of Legos, but they didn’t compare to Construx. About to go through my childhood toys are our parent’s house with my brother. Hoping we still have them fingers crossed Maybe one day Fisher Price will do a re-release. I built so many amazing things with them for my action figures. Would love for my two children to have that same experience.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi! They look like really cool building toys. I hope you manage to find some boxed away – maybe some other childhood toys and games too? Let us know what goodies you find 🙂
LikeLike
What a great flashback! I loved my Construx sets! In a way they are much more fun than LEGO (and less dangerous for smaller children) When I go down the toy aisles these days, the Lego have far too many pieces, specific to different sets (+ the price). They really are more of an adult collectible in disguise vs construx which are much more accessible.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s great you had some Construx. I didn’t know about it until I got hold of the ads – it looks a lot of fun and I agree with what you say when comparing to Lego, so expensive these days, even for a small set.
I continue to enjoy your posts over on 924Collective and wish to extend a BIG congrats for the ‘One Thousand Posts’ post – what a fantastic milestone! Keep doing what you do my friend 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much, and right back at you friend! Always love the references, and the little nuggets of nostalgia that constantly pop up in your posts!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I was unaware these ever existed – they are quite cool, though!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Same here. I don’t recall seeing them back in the day. I love the space sets.
LikeLike
I don’t remember these at all, but they look great. Can’t say I’ve even heard of the Mega Construx, though I haven’t had terrestrial TV or Sky for many years and that means I’ve missed many a toy ad.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I first knew of the Mega Construx on Twitter last year, then one of the blogs I follow on WordPress posted some pics of the He-Man ones. Pretty cool toys. The Pokémon ones are brilliant.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Interesting. It appears Lego outlasted Construx as a building toy! XX
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lego will probably outlast everything. Next to Twinkies and cockroaches, the only survivor at the end of the world. Visiting aliens will believe that the roaches eat junk snacks and spend all day building toys 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Logical!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi TVTA, you can certainly see a big similarity to some Lego sets in these Construx sets. In your last two images there is some sort of cockpit assembly with a figure seated in it and the cockpit itself looks like the new modular sections Lego use on their CITY building sets (such as their Airport and Police Station models). I never had any Construx sets but I might have liked a few of the space themed kits.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi FT. I agree, and some of those space themed sets look amazing.
LikeLike