Trix (construction set)

Trix model construction sets were originally produced in 1931 by a Nuremberg company, Andreas Förtner (Anfoe). The German patent for the basic Trix pieces had been granted the previous year, in 1930.¹²

The origin of the name Trix is uncertain; it has been suggested (by Adrie Wind³]) that it could have referred to the triple-hole configuration of the basic pieces.

A friendship between Stephan Bing, owner of Anfoe, and the English toy manufacturer W J Bassett-Lowke led to the founding of the London company Trix Ltd in 1932. In the United Kingdom, the first sets were advertised in the 1932 Gamages catalogue.⁴

Trix sets challenged the British-invented Meccano model construction sets.⁵ Meccano Ltd responded to the challenge by producing their own similar competitor set, the Meccano "X-Series", which had the same wider strips as Trix with three rows of holes.⁴

A unique feature of Trix was the Trix Unit System, in which sets were built from seven different units that each contained a variety of parts. Unit A was the basic unit, which allowed the construction of simple models. Unit B added components that enabled "more ambitious models to be attempted". Unit C added a range of wheels and pulleys. Unit D contained angle girders. Unit E introduced electrical parts that allowed the construction of buzzers, bells, telegraphs and other electric apparatus. Unit F contained two sizes of tyres. while Unit G added gear wheels of different types. Hence. the Trix slogan, widely featured in advertising, was "Always complete - yet never finished".⁶⁷