ATCO is Medquip's Interlocking Bricks?

09.14.2015 – Rarely aside from LEGO®, Mega Bloks, and Kre-O as popular brands of building toys few have been much known aside from Combi and K’Nex. For those who have grown up in the early 1990s few have heard of ATCO Bricks. For those who haven’t heard of ATCO probably not everyone wasn't interested LEGO® was the only brand that was popular until now.

ATCO Bricks was the first brand to challenge LEGO® at that time, but was shutdown with a lawsuit and only few of these sets have made it to the Philippines. Last Saturday a similar looking ATCO set was sighted produced by Medquip?

Medquip is a company that manufacture health care products, but surprisingly they are also the ones who produce their own interlocking bricks. But in some ways the appearance of the box sets of interlocking bricks seemed peculiarly familiar.

ATCO Bricks has not produced since it was reported in the news back in 1992 that LEGO® has shut down the company with a lawsuit claiming that the company is copying the pioneering brand from Denmark.



At that time trademarks and where different that if you copy a certain brand or original product it gets filed with a lawsuit unlike currently where LEGO® can’t do that anymore and you’ll notice the growing popularity of other brands started competing with the same interlocking bricks.

This became an immediate interest connecting ATCO Bricks with Medquip as there were a couple of sets, which was sighted at Rustan’s Department store’s toy section over the weekend. ATCO Bricks have this trademark box design that you’ll immediately see as back in 2004 there were sets being sold in Divisoria in some of those stores with this similar appearance.

Could this be possible that Medquip purchased the rights from the former owners of ATCO Bricks? It may be so as the color of the box down to the design of the minifigure is a spot-on ATCO Bricks product.



The sets which were sighted are a little bit expensive, but if you know where to find the original ATCO Bricks being sold in Divisoria you don’t need to spend more just to buy these under the “Medquip” brand name. But these sets sighted at Rustan’s are bigger sets not the City or Space Series themed sets that were spotted in Divisoria almost 11 years ago, but it sure is noting that ATCO Bricks did not entirely died knowing now that they are being owned by another company.

If you’re familiar with ATCO Bricks surely you won’t have a second guess that these where the same sets produced back in the late 1980s and early 1990s. But here’s a question would you shell out PhP 1,300.00 pesos for a Medquip Interlocking Bricks if you knew them and grew up owning some the sets?

The answer most definitely you’ll probably do.

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