Line Mar Match Box Construction: 001 Table with Single Leg

Table with Single Leg.
It seemed simple enough.

I found a Line Mar Match Box Construction Set from the 1930s, complete and with instructions. The box claimed the set made 100 different toys. I decided to test that claim -- one toy at a time. You can read all the posts for the Line Mar construction project at 100 Toys.

001. Table with Single Leg

The very first toy pictured on the instruction sheet looked to be simple enough. It just used three of the metal pieces.

I should have known better. This Line Mar construction set was an inexpensive toy, and it shows. The metal pieces are far lighter than equivalent Gilbert Erector pieces (thinner metal = lower costs). And the stamping wasn't as exact, either. You can count on the sides of an Erector metal box to be exactly perpendicular. With Line Mar, it's simply... close.

Table with a Single Leg.

And that turned out to be a problem. The pieces that make up the table aren't secured in any way. They just sit on each other. And because they're so light, it doesn't take much to topple them.


And I had a problem with the table top, which kept sliding off the pedestal. In the end, I had to bend the sides of the pedestal to ensure it rested flat on the base, and that the table top rested flatly on it.

Sure, it's a toy -- but not one that would hold up to any playtime.