Vintage Tinkertoy Manuals

Not finding anything like this online, I decided to post this manual, found among some old toys my brother Ted sent me a while back. This is so much better than the sheet they provide with modern tinkertoys.

Updated  (09/19/21)

4 page color PDF of basic manual (above)

Additional manuals with more complicated designs can be found below:

Models for the vintage "Teck" & "Major" sets
photos; 4 page color PDF of "Teck" & "Major" manual

Models for the vintage "Big Boy" and "Grad" sets
photos; 4 page color PDF of "Big Boy" & "Grad" manual

If you appreciate these manuals, why not add to our "Tinkertoy Engineers' Relief Fund" -- we'll post & scan new manuals as we find them! Or maybe we'll just go buy an ice cream!  Venmo link for ice cream fund here.  

Don't miss the videos below.  Thanks!

And here are some YouTube movies of a"Big Boy" building project in action

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cw1JINFAFBg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICOjXCUK_d0


Tinker Toy Jack-knife Bridge (from the Teck & Major manual)

Have fun! If you make something cool, please write me about it!

New blog

Recent problems with Blogger made me look elsewhere. Please visit the new site & tell me what you think--

http://leojames.wordpress.com

Problems with photos

To see the photos of today's visit to the quarry (if they don't show up below), try looking at them here at Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/86803984@N00/sets/72157602567665356/

A Day at the Quarry

A bus took us into the Aggregate quarry.


A view into the pit, where they had lots of trucks to climb on, a catered lunch, four moonbounces, and a backhoe that kids could drive.


They also had a great sand pile covered with Tonka trucks.


Leo and Finn next to a some big chains on a tire.

More from the gravel pit

Finn and Leo chat on the bus ride to the quarry.


Leo found a cozy place to sit.



The tires on this truck cost $70,000 to replace!

Finn and Leo standing on the enormous Cat 992G. If I heard correctly, it can lift 60,000 pounds in its bucket.


Finn contemplates the scene.


Leo gets a lesson in how an asphalt paver works.

From the Nursery School Blog

Yes, nursery schools now have blogs. Here's a photo I stole from the site, taken by Miss Debra.

Mug shot

Ten Points to Ellen Sluder!

Ellen guessed right -- Leo is going to be Katy the Snowplow from "Katy and the Big Snow". 

Besides knowing her children's books really well, Ellen knows a lot about Broadway shows.  Check her reviews out here (she's the third from the left). 

Who will Leo be this year?

Ten points to the first person to correctly identify who Leo is going to be this year for Halloween.

If you need a clue, check past Octobers (2006, 2005)-- Leo is sticking with a certain theme.

On top of Holt Hill

Two older ladies joined us on top of the "mountain" (barely a hill at 420 feet, but our county's highest point nevertheless) and asked Leo what his dog's name was. He politely asked them, "Would you like to feel her? Be careful, she's licky".

Puppet Showplace Theater in Brookline

Pre-show warm up -- Leo admits now that he thought froggy was real

Puppeteer Katie Adams after her Johnny Appleseed show



The quilt used to tell the Johnny Appleseed Story -- this is HUGE.

Leo's First Movie

At four years and one month, Leo's mean parents finally allowed him to see his first movie. It was "Arctic Tale", a story of a polar bear cub and a walrus calf. We went to the Music Hall in Portsmouth, NH. Not knowing what a movie was, Leo thought he was going to be seeing real polar bears on stage(!). His favorite part, if you ask him, was the polar bear cubs falling into their ice cave. All in all, a successful outing.

Playhouse in a week

Leo helping offload the 700 pounds of parts off the truck. Fortunately, we had great weather during the week it took to build this.


Allan and Finn checking out the foundation.


Nigel and Allan reading the world's smallest-print instructions.


Vera & Nigel and the finished product.

Topsfield Fair 2007

Sophie starts the Strawberry ride with a smile on her face, but it didn't last. No more rides for her!

More rides

Yoga time w/ Auntie Steph

Naptime in Groveland