Tente (Toys) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Tente was a line of construction toy

Toy

A toy is any object that can be used for play. Toys are associated commonly with children and pets. Playing with toys is often thought to be an enjoyable means of training the young for life in human society. Different materials are used to make toys enjoyable and cuddly to both young and old...

s created in 1972 by EXIN-LINES BROS S.A., a plastics and toy company based in Barcelona

Barcelona

Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...

, Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

which ceased operation in 1993. Subsequently, the trademark and patents were acquired by EDUCA BORRAS, and as of 2008 the toy line appears to be discontinued. Their later series were no longer compatible with the old system, although some models remained compatible. The toys consisted of multi-colored interlocking plastic bricks in multiple scales and an accompanying array of wheels, minifigures, and various accessories.

Unlike the more popular Lego

Lego

Lego is a line of construction toys manufactured by the Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of colorful interlocking plastic bricks and an accompanying array of gears, minifigures and various other parts...

line of interlocking brick toys, which was a primary competitor to Tente, the Tente line emphasizes commercial and military vehicles of a variety of scales, less confined to the "minifig" scale that dominates Lego

Lego

building sets. The primary physical difference with Lego

Lego

bricks is that Tente brick's studs have a small central hole that allow an alternative connection method to accessory pieces. Additionally, although modeled on Lego

Lego

with nearly identical brick and plate outer dimensions (including the fact that three stacked plates is equivalent in height to one brick), the studs of Tente pieces have a larger diameter than Lego pieces, resulting in them being incompatible.

Hasbro

Hasbro

Hasbro is a multinational toy and boardgame company from the United States of America. It is one of the largest toy makers in the world. The corporate headquarters is located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States...

marketed the toys in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

and Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. Some of these models are different from those offered in Europe because Exin authorized the creation of new models adapted to the tastes of the alternative markets. In the United States, Tente sets were typically found in specialty toy and model/hobby shops and not major toy retail stores. There is a small but significant aftermarket market for Tente toys on auction sites such as Ebay.

EXIN Series

Aire, Helicopters

Alfa, Futuristic buildings and surface vehicles

Astro, Spaceships

Combi/MultiModel, Small scale small ocean ships and space surface vehicles, intended for sets to be combined to create larger vehicles

Compact, Vehicles/Spaceships at larger scale than primary sets

Cosmic, Surface-based space vehicles

Elephant, Very large scale models similar to Lego

Lego

Duplo

Duplo is a product range of the construction toy Lego, designed for children aged 1½ to 6 years old. Duplo bricks are twice the length, height and width of traditional Lego bricks , as a result being easier to handle – as well as being far harder to swallow – by younger children...

Iniciacion, Sets of simple pieces in primary colors for smaller childres

Mar/Oceanis, Small scale ocean-going ships

Micro, Small scale city buildings

Mini, Smaller scale city buildings

Mutants, Animal themed spaceships

Pocket, Small vehicles

Roblock, Colorful robots

Ruta, Working trucks

Scorpion, Army trucks, tanks and other vehicles

Titanium, Exploration vehicles

Variant, Large scale vehicles for children

BORRAS Series

Multimedia, Road vehicle models which include computer games and a 3D modeling program (not compatible with EXIN series)

Unnamed series, Small scale large ocean liners, warships and sailing ships (compatible with EXIN series)

External links

ROSA'S PAGE - Spanish language history of Tente toys from Exin company tribute site
LA TENTE TECA - Spanish language Tente fan page
EDUCA BORRAS - Official web site for EDUCA BORRAS S.A.
TENTE BOATS SCANS - William Webb's Tente Boats scans
U.S. PTO - U.S. Patent #3,716,939 for Tente Construction System

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