And B4 Lego, there were these

[Majorstrain]

Well I don't know if they were really around b4 Lego, but they are old enough 2 b.

Can any one shed some light on how old they are, and indeed what they were called?

I was given them when I was 6 by an elderly couple living next door to us in Albany, Western Australia. The neighbors were from Europe if I remember correctly.
I'm 39 now and the neighbors would have been in there 70's back then.
I loved playing with them because they would come apart when hit by marbles and such. Just because the marbles were launched out of little catapults and cannons had nothing to do with the damage to them. :. They are a loose fit and are reasonable brittle so I think they are early or pre-plastic.

Anyone know anything about them?

My son has a couple of years to go b4 he gets to play with them. ;D
Cheers
Phil

 

[tel]

Yo Phil - they look very like the '50's vintage 'Build-a-Brix' (or similar) that my brother and I had in that era. No multi-hued stuff like Lego - just the red and white to simulate brickwork. Sets also came with windows, doors etc and roof panels.

 

[tel]

I was nearly right - the ol' brain cell must still function to a degree, Bilda-brix
http://www.architoys.net/toys/toylist1.html

 

[Majorstrain]

Your a legend Tel. :bow:

I did a Google search on the name you gave me and came up with this quote from the ABC collectors TV site.

Manufactured by Moulded Products (Australasia) Ltd, in the 1950s and later, and based on the US American Plastic Bricks

http://collectorsshowandtell.abc.net.au/_Bilda-brix-Aussie-construction-toy/photo/3907371/37596.html

Any guys in the USA played with them when they were young?

Now I just need to keep an eye out on flea bay for more of them.

Cheers
Phil

 

[tmuir]

Being an Australian made toy post WWII and pre1960 you can pretty much guarantee there will be a few hard core collectors out there and so when they turn out they could end up getting expensive.

You may get lucky and find some badly listed on ebay Australia cheap but if they say Bilda-brix in the description expect them to go a lot higher.

I collect Australian made toy steam engines and they are starting to get expensive now, my website is probably partly to blame as a lot more people know about them now, I'm just glad I can buy the broken ones and machine up the missing parts else I wouldn't be able to afford any of them.