Patrick Rylands was an art student in England in 1966 when he came up with the concept of PlayPlax. An open-ended constructive toy, PlayPlax went on to sell over a million copies, and even won the Duke of Edinburgh's Prize for Elegant Design in 1970. Then it went out of production as other toys took over the marketplace.

Until now, that is. Lovingly resurrected by a group of admirers in the UK Ð who even got the original factory in Cheshire to make them with the same dyes that gave the first pieces their gorgeous colors Ð PlayPlax is back for a new generation. And very likely, even in our age of batteries, bleeps and bits, its value as a source of hands-on fun and creative development will be appreciated as much as it was half a century ago.

For ages 3 and up. Each box contains 48 squares in 5 colors. Made in the UK