The new face of Meccano...

As you may know, Sue and I can be seen at all the big shows with the latest Meccano boxed sets and usually the models too. We usually have prototypes of future releases. This year we had the pre-production model of the Tower Crane and a disobedient G15 KS at Skegness.  We even had the box for the new Thunderbird 2, that we announced HERE back in June, this year. I should have one of the production models next week to show you.

The big news story this year has been the Meccanoids. Love 'em or hate 'em they are poised to be a big seller this Christmas. The robots themselves are entertaining enough but what is making me think is the potential of this new venture for Meccano. We have spent a lot of time over the past few months with these guys.

The new logo has the words MAKER SYSTEM incorporated and is instructed to be used only as a whole. This logo will become very recognisable over the next few months as Meccano roll-out the publicity machine on the lead up to Christmas. The two robots are now being seen in all the big shops and as the name suggests (the 'G' stands for Genesis - the origin of something) This is only the beginning. Extension packs are already starting to appear in the American stores and will be available to all via the internet.

The first of these packs is the smart servo assembly shortly to be followed by the battery packs. This is only the beginning, we are looking forward to getting stuck into this new development in our hobby and seeing how we can combine this high-tech new kid on the block with the classic Meccano we all know and love. Even though Meccanoid and the new Meccano Tech is state of the art 21st century toy, it is still 100% compatible with all the meccano that has gone before. The DNA of Meccano is still there, ½ inch hole spacing, 5/32 BSW threads and square nuts.

As the new developments happen we will bring you the news first. In the mean time we will be experimenting with what we have already and building some new and exciting programmable gadgets and models.

Don't fear, there is plenty of new classic Meccano to keep us busy too, now the Tower Crane set is becoming available, through the internet, we have got our hands on one and will be playing around with that to see what else we can build with it and discuss a few of the problems that have been reported regarding the fitting of the narrow girders inside the standard ones...

Ralph.