Exin Blocks for Colonial Gaming Structures

"But our box of bricks almost satisfies. With our box of bricks we can scheme and build, all three of us, for the best part of the hour, and still have more bricks in the box." --H.G. Wells, Floor Games, 1911

Exin Castles Building Blocks
for Colonial Gaming Structures

For those who are not inclined to scratch-build their own structures, or who are short of storage space, or who want more flexibility than permanent models offer, Exin Castles is the best set of commercial building blocks for 25mm colonial structures known to the Major General. Even those gamers with some permanent buildings may wish to have a set handy in order to create special structures for particular scenarios quickly, or just for the fun of playing with snap-together bricks again.

The Spanish-made Exin Castillos (as they were originally known) were cast in a beautiful veined buff color. For a while they were produced in a dreary grey, but the current production blocks offered in the USA are again in the warm buff tone ideal for adobe or stone colonial structures. One online retailer who lists the Exin sets is Victorian Treasures & Toys.
Exin Castles are currently manufactured by Popular de Juguetes, S.L.; Pol. Ind. La Cova, C/ Maestrat, 34; 46940 Manises (Valencia); Spain

The blocks snap together in a similar manner to Lego bricks and earlier construction block sets. Here are a few of the various shapes useful for making colonial structures (not everything in the box is).The Ral Partha 25mm figure gives an idea of scale.

A Native Fortified Building and Three Houses show some of the advantages and disadvantages of the Exin blocks. The curved and flat-topped doorways and three different kinds of capping blocks lend realism and variety to the buildings. There are even special blocks for creating embrasures (firing slits) as in the third building above and the individual block picture.

On the other hand, the walls are quite thick, cutting down on rooftop space for placing figures. Individual blocks are clearly evident and are far too large for realism. Unless the building is built solid with bricks (as the building at left is) rooftops must be custom cut from thin cardboard and supported by stacks or ledges of bricks inside. But the biggest drawback is the visibility of the round studs at the tops of the walls and in the window sills. Since the number of thin capping blocks in the set is limited, this is just something that the individual gamer must decide if he can put up with.

One other disadvantage, not so evident in the picture, is that the blocks, at least in earlier sets, were made from a non-resilient plastic, and the studs wear rather rapidly (in comparison with Legos, for instance) to the point where a tight friction fit cannot always be obtained. This is unimportant if the buildings are built in place on the tabletop, but if the bricks are to be semipermanent structures which are to be stored and reused, it makes moving them a bit dicey. It may be that the current sets have solved this problem.

For years, their outstanding design and beauty have made Exin Castillos sets one of the Major General's favorite toy products. To his knowledge, they have not been readily available for some time, and he is overjoyed to see their return. And he has faith that sooner or later you will find some use for the ghost figure that comes in each set.

For another example of structures built with Exin blocks, see the Tombs on the Miscellaneous Structures page.

For fans of construction and building sets, there is a fine website which shows the Exin and many other types of interlocking block, stacking block, panel and girder, notched-log and other types of current and nostalgic architectural toys.

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