ACTIVITY ENJOYMENT LINKS

Magazine had a good Techniques web page
(now I see only a monthly column).

Where?
(On their page, "Submit" means send your query, not add to to the database of places to ski.)

Equipment info (Karhu)

BALLROOM DANCING

US Amateur Association

Vancouver BC (Grand Ballroom)

U-R Dancing school, Seattle WA (with links to sites giving tips)

Baltimore-Washington DC (Hollywood Ballroom)

Pedantic written lessons * Regrets, that link has disappeared.

OLD TOYS

Erector Construction Sets (a good club)

Poster
I have several new copies of this poster, received in trade.
You could purchase one or more, or trade for Meccano - contact me.

Availability of Meccano:
After sale of the Meccano product to a Japanese company active in RC car models, summer 2001's news was that their BRIO toy subsidiary will handle distribution of "Erector" in the USA, and Borgfeldt Canada will handle distribution of Meccano in Canada (but that distribution was slow and in 2008 that company still cannot produce a web site with basic quality attributes like consistent spelling of the Spykee product name and working links to other pages).
Distribution remains spotty, marketing erratic and stumbling - see later in this page for recent sightings. What Meccano needs is an owner with ample pockets who is an enthusiast with good sense of business and both traditional markets and new ones like robotics. If anyone has such money and good values I am open to offers to manage the enterprise. ;-o

A 2004 brochure shows these sets:
> Meccano Heroes, fire rescue and castle sets with people figures, age 4+
> Yoocans, magnetic pieces that make cartoon figures and transportation vehicles, age 3-5
> plastic Meccano, in Construction, Creation and City themes, many sets, ages 4-8
> real Meccano in a number of attractive sets, labelled Design or Multi Model, ages 8-14
> Special Edition, including well-known buildings & monuments, ferris wheel (evoking Erector), steam locomotive, and Crazy Inventors (goody transportation apparatus, from old car to space ship)

You may get a feel for later variants at http://www.amazon.com (ensure your young child narrows the search to the Toys section as searching the entire site for "erector" will produce some "interesting" products whose educational impact you may want to defer to an older age) or http://www.thesourcecc.com (and muck about to find comprehensive information).

In the U.S. the product is branded Erector, but the parts and even the included brochure say Meccano and are Meccano. Some interchange with traditional Erector is possible, due to half-inch holes spacing, but other parts such as screw threads are different. There may be some new parts that resemble traditional Erector, such as the long flanged plate shown in the ferris wheel illustration in the brochure. (As well, someone - perhaps Meccano and others - are selling sets referred to as classic Erector or such. I have not seen the parts so do not know if they are fully compatible with old Erector or just look-alike in colors and themes as some of the really-Meccano sets like Ferris Wheel are.)
I expect that traditional large sets and spare parts remain available, though Meccano's dedication to those has long fluctuated. (Enthusiasts know where to get those, and of third-party sources including special parts not produced by Meccano who also have added many parts over the years.)

* NEWER info on stores that have Meccano:
- Toy Traders on the bypass road in Langley
A larger store than it may appear to be from the front. Its layout is unintentionally described by the sign on one display cabinet: Lamaze. But last I checked Meccano was close to the front door, and there were staff to help you.
- True Value hardware store in Sydney B.C. north of Victoria, small sets, well down north side of main street off the highway at main traffic lights.
- Lee Valley Tools had a special red-green set for Christmas 2007 but sold out.
- Amazon.com - The Source stores in Canada (formerly Radio Shack locations) have Meccano. The store in the mall near the west end of the Bay St. bridge in Victoria had several items in mid March 2008, including radio control but not robotics. As well, you can order online, web site URL is www.thesourcecc.com (cc standing for Circuit City) - select Toys from the top right corner and look for a More or All link in one of the resulting listings to see a comprehensive list.

OLD info on Stores that had Meccano in stock some time ago:
- Interactivity Games & Stuff was at 667 Fort St. in Victoria but their phone number is not valid anymore (they had a 100th anniversary set with a model built from it)
- ToysRUS in Victoria had significant stock of newer Meccano, including the Crazy Inventor's set, but I've not seen it in some other ToysRUs stores more recently.
- specialized toy and hobby stores in the Vancouver area (reportedly one on Lonsdale in North Vancouver, and Bear Toys in West Vancouver)
- possibly BC Shaver & Hobbies on Fort St. in Victoria (also had a cheap product from Communist China)

* NEW robot: update
The Spykee robot was delayed. Heavy on audio/communications & lights, computer interface to setup, Internet access capability to check on your place, humanoid/insect appearance, about 32 cm tall. Check Spykee World for some details (click on different areas of the page for different versions, at least four). I cannot judge how great it is for robotics - many neat features, the home security robot application does seem very capable. Regardless, it shows some action by Meccano to embrace modern technology, especially programming by personal computer, and may raise awareness of the Erector/Meccano product line. Unfortunately it is not the equal of Lego Mindstorm, which is getting the buzz that Meccano had generations ago, with contests and use for the original purpose of Frank Horny's efforts" - education (the "Mechanics Made Easy" start).

Comment:
Contrary to what some people suggest, the finish and quality of recent Meccano production in recent years has been comparable to the Meccano of your youth - though the Speed Play robot, a product of the new owners Nikko, is poor quality in design and packaging. (If you had Meccano in the late 30s or late 60s and early 70s you may find that today's finish is more durable, equal to the 1950s; if you had Meccano in the late 60s you may find that the packaging is much more attractive as a gift. (And look for the molded plastic cases that can be used to store the parts after opening the package - years ago only the top end sets had cases (and very few people could afford those huge sets).) Plastics have been used well (gears run quieter, flex plates don't kink from bending - besides plastic there is a new metal type that does not kink easily) and remote controls have been introduced.
And one area that Meccano has advanced in, though not enough to suit market demand, is electrics and remote control. Perhaps the new owners will increase development in those areas, as they are in the remote control toy business, but they seem very slow (sadly, not competitive with other toys including a metal construction set sold by Radio Shack in the US).

BCMC:
The B.C. Meccano Club isactive again. Meetings are held a few times a year, with better organization than in the previous couple of years - thanks especially to Sam Chow and Linda Chow.

The BCMC newsletter should be considered defunct, the effort to produce a 20th anniversary edition floundered, hopefully some day the articles written for it will be published.
Contact me if you are interested in the club or think it owes you newsletters, and I will put you in contact with the appropriate person.
(Good newsletters are produced by several groups around the world, including one in Ontario (Canadian Meccanotes?) and the Southern California Meccano and Erector Club - check the Internet (some links above).)

In the last few years the 100th anniversary of Meccano and the 20th anniversary of MCBC occurred.