Wundersteine, an Austrian LEGO

 

Wundersteine (Wonderbricks) was a brand under which was manufactured near Vienna an Austrian LEGO clone by the firma of Franz Meczes. The construction system was launched in the second half of the 1950s and subsisted for about a decade.

The toy is a delightful clone of the early LEGO Automatic Binding Bricks (or of the Kiddicraft Self-Locking bricks, for that matter) up to the thin baseplate that, unlike the bricks themselves, bears a proeminent marking. The bricks are very slightly larger than LEGO and the studs are hollowed from the top.

Below a comparison of Wundersteine material with a LEGO brick (Figure 1) and a #2 set with contents displayed (Figures 2 and 3).

 

 
    Figure 1- The Wundersteine basic elements with a 2X4 LEGO brick
    Figure 2- The top of a Wundersteine #2 set (marked "Pat. Pend." in German)
    Figure 3- The contents of a Wundersteine #2 set (bricks are set in two levels)
     
João Manuel Mimoso, Lisbon, Portugal, Feb 15, 2010
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