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N&B Block

N&B Block, also known as Nintendo Block , is a discontinued brand of construction set toys produced by Nintendo from 1968 to 1972.

History

Due to the success of the Ultra Hand toy, Nintendo established a department in 1966 to produce more toys.[1] First released in 1968, N&B Block was marketed as a direct competitor to Lego. N&B Block was distinguished through the use of round and cylindrical pieces, which were not used widely by Lego at the time. Hiroshi Yamauchi heavily invested in television advertisements that directly compared the two products, and over 40 N&B Block sets were released. N&B Block was cheaper than Lego, making use of lower-quality plastic.[2] One of the first sets released was a Garden House set from 1968 and it cost ¥980 1968.[3] The lower price of N&B Block made the product popular among children that could not afford Lego sets.[4]

Satoru Okada began working on N&B Block as his first assignment at Nintendo in 1969.[5] Okada and Gunpei Yokoi both designed several sets, including one based on the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969. For this set, Yokoi created a springy piece that caused a moon rover to flip over and fall apart.[1] N&B Block is compatible with Lego bricks, but features a different form of underside tubing for block connections.[6] Some N&B Block sets feature electronic elements such as clocks.[7]

Lego filed a lawsuit against Nintendo over alleged patent violation, but Nintendo won the lawsuit due to the unique tubing on the underside of N&B Block that differentiated the blocks from Lego bricks.[8] Nintendo ceased production of N&B Block in 1972. The reason for which Nintendo cancelled the product is not publicly known, but Time Extension has noted speculation that this was the result of mounting legal pressure from Lego.[3] The 1992 Nintendo video game Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins features a level constructed from N&B Blocks.[9][10] Lego and Nintendo would later collaborate to launch Lego themes based on Nintendo properties, starting with Lego Super Mario in 2020.[11]

References

  1. 元任天堂・岡田 智氏の独立独歩 前編 "技術的に不可能"を覆したゲーム＆ウオッチ 「ビデオゲームの語り部たち」：第27部 4Gamer.net, retrieved 2025-08-01^
  2. Rich Stanton. The History of Nintendo: 1889-1980 review Eurogamer, 2013-02-14, retrieved 2025-08-01^
  3. Jack Yarwood. Random: Collector Opens Up 50-Year-Old Set Of Nintendo N&B Blocks Time Extension, 2022-10-31, retrieved 2025-08-01^
  4. 【任天堂クラシック博物館】第3回 N&B BLOCK 任天堂ブロック インサイド, retrieved 2025-08-01^
  5. Ken Horowitz. Beyond Donkey Kong: A History of Nintendo Arcade Games McFarland & Company, 20 August 2020^
  6. Brian Ashcraft. LEGO Is Making Super Mario Themed Playsets Kotaku, 2020-03-12, retrieved 2025-08-01^
  7. Graham E. Hancock. LEGO Super Mario is not Nintendo's first brick-building product brickfanatics.com, 2020-04-09, retrieved 2025-08-01^
  8. Hiro師匠とレゴブロック「Atari 2600」を組み立てよう！ せっかくだから任天堂のアレも持ってきたよ（「買い物Surfer」第10回） 4Gamer.net, retrieved 2025-08-01^
  9. Super Mario Encyclopedia: The Official Guide to the First 30 Years Dark Horse Books, 23 October 2018^
  10. Alistair Wong. Before LEGO Super Mario, There Were Nintendo's N&B Blocks Siliconera, 2020-04-08, retrieved 2025-08-01^
  11. Tom Phillips. Lego Super Mario range releases in August Eurogamer, July 31, 2020, retrieved September 21, 2020^