In Uruguay and other spanish-speaking countries those were called "mecanos" (which, judging by other local customs such as calling sneakers "championes" and bub

In Uruguay and other spanish-speaking countries those were called "mecanos" (which, judging by other local customs such as calling sneakers "championes" and bubblegum "chicles" was probably a trade name) and they were great. I'm from 1978 and got to play with some sets from my dad (who's from '49). Besides being entertaining, they were a great way to develop mechanical affinity (if that's the right expression in English? I mean things like knowing how far to turn a screw so that it's as tight as it can be but you don't break the piece) Sadly, you can't get them anymore here, at least not ones good in quality. There are similar building games but they all feel rather cheap and I know from personal experience they only survive a few repurposing of the pieces. I do love LEGOs though, even though I played with copies in my childhood as my parents couldn't afford the originals. My main gripe with them is the sets. As a child, I just had a bunch of blocks and would build whatever I wanted. Now you can still buy "just bricks" but most of what kids get at stores are sets that tell them what to build. They feel more like 3D puzzles than building games. Erector-like sets and LEGO-like sets can go together well though: I enjoyed demolishing my brick buildings with my mecano machines :)