Tente (toy) facts for kids
Tente was a popular line of building toys. It was created in 1972 by a Spanish company called EXIN-LINES BROS S.A. This company was based in Barcelona, Spain. Tente toys were sold until the company closed in 1993.
Later, another company, EDUCA BORRAS, bought the Tente brand. However, it seems the toy line was stopped around 2008. Some newer Tente sets were not compatible with the older pieces. Tente toys were made of colorful plastic bricks that could interlock. They also included wheels, small figures, and other accessories.
Tente was a competitor to the well-known Lego toys. Unlike Lego, Tente focused more on commercial and military vehicles. These vehicles came in many different sizes. They were not always designed to fit with small minifigure characters.
A main difference between Tente and Lego bricks was their studs. Tente bricks had a small hole in the center of each stud. This allowed for a different way to connect pieces. Even though Tente bricks looked similar to Lego bricks, their studs were a bit wider. This meant Tente and Lego pieces could not connect to each other.
The company Hasbro sold Tente toys in the United States and Japan. Some of these models were unique to those markets. This was because Exin allowed new designs to fit local tastes. In the United States, Tente sets were often found in special toy stores. Today, you can still find Tente toys for sale online.
Exploring Tente Toy Series
Tente toys came in many different themes and series. Each series offered unique models and building experiences. Let's look at some of the main series created by EXIN.
EXIN's Classic Collections
EXIN-LINES BROS S.A. made many exciting Tente series. These included vehicles, spaceships, and even castles.
- Aire: This series featured cool helicopter models.
- Alfa: You could build futuristic buildings and vehicles for land.
- Astro: This series was all about building amazing spaceships.
- Castillos: These sets used special marble-colored bricks. You could use them to build detailed castles.
- Combi/MultiModel: This series had small ocean ships and space vehicles. You could combine different sets to make bigger models.
- Compact: These sets offered larger-scale vehicles and spaceships.
- Cosmic: This series focused on space vehicles that could travel on planets.
- Elephant: These were very large-scale models. They were similar to Lego Duplo and great for younger builders.
- Iniciacion: These sets had simple pieces in bright primary colors. They were perfect for smaller children.
- Mar/Oceanis: This series let you build small-scale ships for the ocean.
- Micro: You could create tiny city buildings with these sets.
- Mini: This series also featured smaller city buildings.
- Mutants: These were unique spaceships designed to look like animals.
- Pocket: This series offered small, easy-to-build vehicles.
- Roblock: These sets included colorful robots that could transform into vehicles.
- Ruta: You could build working trucks with the Ruta series.
- Scorpion: This series was all about army trucks, tanks, and other military vehicles.
- Titanium: These sets featured vehicles designed for exploration.
- Variant: This series offered large-scale vehicles for children.
BORRAS's Later Creations
After EDUCA BORRAS took over, they released some new Tente series.
- Multimedia: These models were road vehicles. They came with computer games and a 3D modeling program. These sets were not compatible with the older EXIN series.
- Unnamed series: This series included large ocean liners, warships, and sailing ships. These models were compatible with the older EXIN series.
See also
In Spanish: TENTE para niños
