Varis Architect

For a number of years, I have coveted the log building sets from Varis Toys of Latvia, but was daunted by price & shipping costs.

When Varis added the Architect line, I was even more intrigued, but still held off.

But I finally broke down & ordered (via a UK seller on Ebay) the smallest set, with just 25 pieces.

It arrived yesterday, and is a delight.

The pieces are 20mm pitch (a little over 3/4 inch), like the old Ankerstein Klein Kaliber. They are very well made, so are not to small for building small structures.

These are not intended for the huge castles that advanced Anchor builders enjoy, but that is not their intent, nor does Varis offer the variety of block shapes that requires.

Yesterday I immediately built the small church illustrated on the box and diagrammed with layer plans on the excellent sheet included.

Today I pressed onward & built something freelance. Even with so few blocks, it is possible to create something interesting, especially if one has some experience building the 'facade' structures from the plan booklets of the smaller Anchor Stone sets.

This structure is about 8 1/4 inches high, or about 21 cm. Not too shabby.

The block size has been used by other makers, so I may try adding a few blocks borrowed from other sets.

But I am impressed enough that I have already ordered the next larger Varis Architect set, with 63 pieces.

Good Block Play.

Tomola

There were Ankerstein copiers all over, some well known and others not so well known.

Tomola may fall into the least known category, or if not, the least known are ones I still haven't heard of.

The box says they are made by "The Beton and Ceramic Factory Limited Co." of the Ujpest district of Budapest, Hungary.

I am inclined to believe that "Beton" is the same as the German word, which means "concrete," and that the concrete portion of the business contributed more to the technical development than the ceramic side.

The sand may be a finer grit than we are used to in concrete, but these feel much more like concrete than do Ankerstein, much less Lott's.

Even though it's out of register, it is worth clicking on the example plan sheet to see someone else's take.

These blocks are 20mm, the same is the earliest Ankerstein, and Richter's later Kleinkaliber, rather than the 25mm of later Ankerstein or 25.4mm of Lott's. I like the size, but it is less suitable for larger structures. Same goes for me, so there.

On another note, I have been tickled with the news coming out of CES about all the 3-D stuff coming along. Now I want the new Fujifilm 3D digital camera even more.

For now, I will keep shifting my Olympus sideways for stereo pairs (below).

Much fun & good block play.