Cobi is a Polish toy company with its headquarters in Warsaw, Poland. The company was founded in 1987, producing puzzles and board games. In 1992, it started producing building blocks with an interlocking stud and tube system, compatible with Lego blocks. Due to their popularity, the company switched completely to building block sets.
The Cobi catalogue is divided up by themes, with each theme having multiple brick sets. The majority of the catalogue consists of 20th and 21st century military equipment, like tanks, ships and airplanes. Lego has a policy to not make realistic weapons and military equipment, leaving an opportunity for other building block companies to fill this niche.
Cobi has various licensing deals, including with several museums, but also for some Hollywood movies.
Cobi produces a larger variety of custom pieces than Lego. In recent years they’ve often printed their blocks, rather than using stickers. The mini figures have the same size as Lego figures, but have a more three dimensional head, with the nose sticking out.
