There is a Fantasia gears set, made in the USSR by the Spetsstanok factory.
This vintage building set is similar to the Quercetti Gears sets. It also includes baseplates, poles, and, of course, the gears. The baseplates connect like the pieces of a puzzle, they are heavy and sturdy enough to hold the whole construction in place. There are also many small colorful pins to decorate the pieces.
While there are no poles like in Quercetti sets, you can connect and interlock the baseplates in 3D, making some of them stand upright. They can also hold together at the angle, so you can build all kinds of shapes from them. Overall, these plates themselves form a good building set.
After making something from the baseplates, you can attach the gears to the finished crafts and make the gears spin. All gears are the same size, they are almost as big as the baseplates, and you can also use them just to decorate the crafts. All pieces come in many different colors. Sadly, there are few pieces overall.
This set has an educational purpose – some schools used it to teach children about the gear transmissions. The description says that the set is for children aged 4-8 years.
Incredible! We usually think that Italians make the best sets of this type, but they aren’t the only ones.
Yes, this set is fascinating, but somebody made similar sets in USA in 1980s, though. Did anyone know anything about and compartability with Quercetti? We also have an Indian version of Quercetti gears, with a very original color scheme. I bought it only because it was Made in India – I have never seen an Indian building set in my life :)))
Fantasia’s holes are slightly smaller in diameter, so the Italian parts (for example, the one where the gear is put (a circle with 4 pins)) fit into Soviet parts with a VERY big trouble (that is, mom puts them in and dad pulls them out). When you fit them the other way around, they fit perfectly and hold well. In addition, Italian circle piece with pins is better because the gears hold better on it. You can turn it over. Soviet set don’t have these – I don’t know how to call them? – edges that are wider than the hole in the middle, but move when you put on the part because the middle gap (I hope you understand what I mean :))). The squares themselves are perfectly compatible and hold up great. They differ slightly though – the Italian ones have sharp edges, while USSR-made ones have slightly rounded edges.