Girder and Panel building sets facts for kids

Two beams and one column connected to resemble iron girder construction

Girder and Panel Building Sets are cool plastic construction toys. They were first made by Kenner Toys in the mid-1950s. These building sets have been made many times since then, by different companies.

Building with Girders and Panels

Girder and Panel Building Sets let you build plastic models of buildings. These models look like buildings from the mid-1900s. You start by putting plastic columns into holes on a Masonite base board. Then, you connect horizontal girders to the columns. This creates the skeleton or frame of your building.

Next, you can snap bright plastic panels onto the outer girders. These panels have clear "windows" and act like the outer walls of the building. Finally, square navy-blue roof panels go on top. Some roof panels even have clear skylight domes built into them!

Later, sets for bridges and turnpikes were added. These also used girders but had roadway sections instead of wall panels. They also included special parts like trusses to build different kinds of bridges and roads. Even later, Kenner made sets with battery-powered motors. These motors could make elevators move or drawbridges open and close!

The way Girder and Panel toys work is similar to how real buildings are made today. Many modern buildings use curtain walls. These are panels attached to a frame of girders, trusses, and cantilevers. Girder and Panel toys were important because they helped toys change from metal ones, like the Erector Set, to the plastic toys we see now. While Lego is very popular today, Girder and Panel sets are unique because they show how modern buildings are really put together.

Different companies have made Girder and Panel products since 1957. Today, Bridge Street Toys, a company in Massachusetts, still makes them.

New Ideas for Sets

After the first building and road sets were popular, Kenner Toys looked for new ideas. They found inspiration in three big trends happening at the time. These were the growing use of chemicals, the spread of suburban neighborhoods, and ideas about future transportation. These ideas led to the Hydro-Dynamic, Build-A-Home, and Skyrail sets.

Hydro-Dynamic Sets

Hydro-Dynamic sets let kids act like hydraulic engineers. These sets came with battery-powered pumps. You could use these pumps to move water through plastic pipes into tanks. The water would then flow back into a tray with a small pool. Set #11 had one pump, and set #12 had two pumps. Each pump needed two D-cell batteries hidden under the tray.

These sets had many new clear plastic parts. These included spray heads, dippers, turbines, funnels, and different sizes of liquid chambers and storage tanks. You could control the water flow with valves. This meant you could build models of places that use liquids, like chemical plants or water treatment plants. The sets even came with colored dye tablets to make the water look like different liquids. The project booklet even suggested designs for industrial plants that used liquids.

A few classic Girder and Panel pieces were also included. This allowed you to build a small office as part of your chemical plant, with roads leading to it.

Build-A-Home Sets

In the 1950s, new neighborhoods called subdivisions started appearing around cities. Kenner Toys made Build-A-Home sets to match this trend. These sets let kids build modern suburban houses. You could make them look like they had brickwork or white siding. New diagonal beams called joists were added. These helped create a gently sloped roof, which you could cover with plastic roof plates.

You could choose between brick or white siding styles. The sets also came with fun accessories. These included patios, swimming pools, TV antennas, chimneys, barbecues, and even doghouses! Green plastic trees and plastic shrubs helped you create a simple landscape around your home.

Set #14 was the basic one, #15 was a bit bigger, and #16 was the largest. These sets did not include motors or road pieces.

Skyrail Sets

The Skyrail sets brought in yellow girders and beams. They also had different colored window and door panels. The most exciting part was the battery-powered red or blue "Sky Cars." These cars ran on metal monorail tracks from one building to another. There were two main sizes: a single red car set (#17) and a larger two-car set with a blue car (#18).

These sets did not have track switches. So, your monorail layout would either be a complete circle or a single straight line. Red end-of-line bumpers were included to stop cars from falling off the ends. A special red clip fit onto the girders to hold up the metal rails. This allowed the rails to be tilted at cool angles.

Unlike other monorail toys, Skyrail sets didn't need fixed pillars. The buildings you made with the girder and panel pieces would hold up the rails. This meant you could imagine and build layouts of any height, width, or complexity.

Later Toy Developments

Later, Kenner updated their Girder and Panel and Bridge and Turnpike sets. They called them Modern-As-Tomorrow and Freeway USA sets. These new sets had grey girders and beams, new panels, and updated roofs. They also included realistic road signs, toll booths, and lamp posts.

The last sets Kenner made before they were sold were the Girdermatic sets. These sets focused more on mechanical structures than just buildings. They had many unique parts, like a new green motor, round platforms, cog belts, and even Ferris wheel rings! With these parts, you could build moving cranes, observation towers, different types of bridges, and even amusement rides like a Ferris Wheel.

Virtual Girder and Panel Building Sets

Did you know you can also build with Girder and Panel sets on a computer? There's special software called RogCAD Virtual Girder and Panel Building Set. It lets you create 3D models of anything you could build with the real plastic toys!

Girder and Panel Set Details

Here are the original Girder and Panel sets made by Kenner Toys. The number of pieces for each set was checked from the actual Kenner Set boxes.

Kenner Sets (under General Mills)

Around 1968, Kenner stopped making Girder and Panel sets. They started again around 1974, when Kenner was owned by General Mills. They made a huge 1,100-piece Sears Tower set (#72001) with black girders and panels. This set could build a model of the Sears Tower that was about 5 feet tall! These sets came with white or grey baseboards.

Kenner then brought back the Girder and Panel line with some cheaper sets. The green baseboards were replaced with plastic plates that could connect together. The wall panels were now flexible printed sheets. Here are some sets made when Kenner was owned by General Mills:

Irwin Toys Girder and Panel Sets

Kenner Toys stopped making the 72000 series of Girder and Panel sets in 1979. In 1992, Irwin Toys from Canada took over the Girder and Panel name. Irwin then started a whole new line of sets. These sets had new blue/grey girders and beams. They also had new diagonal beams for slanted roofs and new wall panels. All Irwin sets now included an internal light that ran on two AA batteries.

Starting in 1996, Irwin made a second line of special sets, like the Gas Station set. These were mostly sold in Canada. Here are the Girder and Panel sets made by Irwin Toys:

Bridge Street Toys Girder and Panel Sets

From 2005 to 2016, Bridge Street Toys sold Girder and Panel sets. They made many different sets. Their parts also worked with older Kenner Toys and Irwin Toys sets. The last two numbers in the set number show the year it was first made.

Bridge Street Toys also made two test sets that were never sold to the public. Only a few copies of each were made.

In 2005, Bridge Street Toys created a special set as a Christmas gift for investors and family.