Tente

My work colleague Gavin told me about a Lego like toy that he had played with when he was younger called Tente. I had never heard of it, so he brought it in for me to check out.

It’s similar in scale to Lego, but the connector system is a little different. There is a knob, but it has a small hole in it, and a post in the bottom of the connecting piece that nestles in it.

Tente was a Spanish company, and I have to say that given the time frame, it was quite a bit more advanced than Lego was at the time. The hydraulics especially were quite impressive compared to what Lego offered at the time. I suspect that at the time, markets were still regional enough that a small company like that in Spain could capture a decent enough percentage of the market. They went under in about the mid 80’s sometime. I hope their designers made a move to Denmark.

Fun toy. This is all I had the chance to make with it. The sets that Gavin had received as a kid had a predominantly space theme. Just a shame it can’t be mixed with Lego.

The L.A.R.B. – The Laser All Round Blaster

The evil alien lizard hordes can try to attack from any angle, but they’ll get blasted to evil alien lizard bits

Don’t mess with the humans, evil alien lizard hordes hellbent on Terran domination!

A picture of what the studs look like.

 And this is the Q.A.A.B. (Quad Anti Alien Blaster).

To try and stop the evil alien lizard hordes from even setting foot on the planet.

UFOs spotted on long range sensors.

Entering coordinates.

Laser juice hoppers loaded. Let ’em have it!

The last thing those evil alien lizard hordes will see.

Hatches battened down for action.

The driver, AstroBob. Intrepid defender of the human race from the evil alien lizard hordes. Note the short range blasters on the front. In case any of them make it through the withering barrage of laser blasts and manage to land, AstroBob will fry them.