Kid Spark Education

The Rokenbok Toy Company was founded in 1995 by Paul Eichen in the United States.[1] In 2008 the company transitioned their sales to be nearly entirely online, due to the closure of many toy stores during the great recession. Videos were created for YouTube to act as marketing for the company, to not only demonstrate the products, but also how they could be combined to create larger builds.[3] In 2015 the company transitioned to a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit. Around 2017 all chutes and vehicles (with exception to the Maker ROK-Bot) were discontinued.

Beams and chutes

Rokenbok was an educational toy that combined a modular construction system with interactive infrared controlled vehicles. The system was expandable and could be added to and modified. Certain surfaces and platforms used in the Rokenbok constructions had a round-stud surface, making the toy compatible with Lego.[4]

Rokenbok featured multiplayer; up to four players can operate any of up to eight vehicles simultaneously. There were many different manufactured vehicles. Each player could operate a vehicle by themselves. Control of the vehicles used a controller similar to those of video game consoles with a D-pad for directional control and special function buttons and shoulder buttons for other functions. Rokenbok was non-violent by reinforcing cooperative play patterns that engage children in a positive way. Rokenbok did not use licensed characters or cartoons.

The original Construction vehicles included the Loader, Dozer, and TransGripper and Cargo Trailer.

The Metropolitan vehicles introduced a few years later included the Power Sweeper, Skip Track, and Emergency Speedster.

In 2000, the Elevator was released along with the Monorail system.

The Tower Crane began production in 2001.

Rokenbok began a redesign of their product line in 2002. This included products that were more reflective of real-world construction sites and included a more realistic color scheme. The Loader and Dozer were recolored. The Forklift, ROK lift, and Night Shift Trailer were also introduced. A simpler version of the loader, known as the Dump Truck, was produced for younger children.

For a short time, Rokenbok produced the Police Defender and Fire and Rescue set.

With the release of the engineering-oriented products came the X2 Power Unit, which could be used to drive various machines such as drawbridges and lifts.

The final lineup included: Dump Truck, Loader, Dozer, Power Sweeper, X2 Power Unit, Forklift, ROK Lift, Night Shift Trailer, and Skip Track.

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  RC Loader
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  RC Sweeper
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  RC TransGripper
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  RC Skip Track
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  RC Forklift
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  RC Monorail

The monorail system, introduced in 2000, uses beams and blocks just like the regular building system. There are curved and "s" beams as well to create turns or sloped (for ascending and descending) track. Rokenbok makes riser beams which are two blocks long with tabs on only one end to support the track since the monorail train itself hangs down over the sides of the track for balance and blocks the side connection holes on the beams.

Control pad for the first-generation remote control system

The Rokenbok vehicles, crane, and elevator were controlled with controllers, not unlike the Xbox's or PlayStation's in design. The first generation controller was wired and required that the user pressed a button to cycle to the vehicle number they wished to control. The successor to this was the "Rok-Star" controller, a wireless controller that allows players to select a vehicle by pointing a red light onto the vehicle's receiver. This removed the limit on how many vehicles could be controlled by a player, and how many players could play at once. The control pads, consist of three sections, the left contains the four-way directional pad, or D-pad, that controls the movement of the vehicles. On the center of each control pad is a button which the player presses to cycle through available units and vehicles that can be controlled (up to eight on the older RC controllers, chosen by setting a LED light on a number 1-8, presented in a circular fashion, each corresponding to the numbered radio keys in each vehicle on the Classic RC base, or on the ROK star controller, there is a large "R" button the player presses and holds and then points at a ROK star vehicle to select it). On the right section, there are four function buttons: A, B, X, and Y. They have different functions for each vehicle. The ROK star controller also has buttons to sound a siren (and change its pitch) and sound back-up alarms. Above each handle, at the top of the control pad, are two shoulder buttons. The left-hand shoulder button will switch to the last vehicle the player used; the right-hand shoulder button will slow the vehicle down. The D-pad and shoulder buttons provide the same function for each vehicle.

• The Rokenbok Homepage