There’s a secret to 3+, a new furniture collection by Polish designer Oskar Zieta. It seems counterintuitive, but the strength of the series lies not where the material is–but instead, where it isn’t.

Introduced in 1913 by A.C. Gilbert, Erector sets allowed children to build working models of everything from bridges to locomotives using metal beams, gears, and motors. Dubbed “the toy that builds ...

I'm sure many of us spent hours during our youths fumbling with the bolts, nuts, gears, motors, pulleys, and various metal plates and grids of Erector sets. It's been a toy of exploration for many ...

Thirty plus years ago, my mom and dad gave me one of the best birthday gifts ever -- a bright yellow ABS plastic toolbox filled with metal beams, screws and nuts, pulleys, a motor, and a variety of ...

NEW HAVEN >> Some came for a history lesson, some came for nostalgia and others just came to play. The New Haven Museum celebrated the 100th anniversary of Alfred Carlton "A.C." Gilbert filing his ...

If this infinitely reconfigurable furniture line reminds you of your childhood toys, it’s because it’s by the same company. Building Ikea furniture is like playing with an Erector Set that gives you ...

HAMDEN >> Deep in your basement, or perhaps in the boxes up in the attic, maybe, just maybe you have a miniature steel girder, a flat nut or other metal pieces from a long-ago beloved Erector Set.

If we were to talk to engineers about the childhood toys which most inspired them, it’s likely that the older among them would mention either Meccano or Erector Set. These similar construction toys ...