LEGO Historian Posted January 16, 2014 (edited) I'm working on finishing up an new collectors guide... one that I really didn't want to start, but once I got into it, it became an obsession. 1:43 scale LEGO trucks and wagons are the general same scale as the "O" Train Scale. And like the "O" scale trains... the actual scale number is a matter of interpretation... just as the nearly same size (and compatible) LEGO Minifigs. The 1:43 LEGO trucks were produced from 1952 until about 1957. They show up in a 1956 Norwegian LEGO "Bilparade" vehicle catalog, but by the time of the August 1957 25th Anniversary of LEGO book... they are noticeably conspicuous by their absence. The 1:43 trucks all have one thing in common... they are all Chevrolet trucks. And they have a knob on top of the cab roof that can be held to steer the truck as it is being pulled along (the front wheels turn using this knob). These 1:43 trucks also have a long steering cable that can be attached to that knob on the truck cab. This long steering cable has a small steering wheel at the other end. Here is a 1950s 1:43 Truck set, which contains a truck cab, attachable trailers (short trailer, long trailer, short 2nd trailer) and a long steering column. This very colorful boxed set is probably very familiar to many LEGO folks, since it is picured in many LEGO books, such as the 1986 WORLD OF LEGO TOYS, and 1998 ULTIMATE LEGO BOOK, and others. In this image, the boxed set is surrounded by 7 different LEGO logos. For some odd reason there is a wide assortment of LEGO logos on the different boxes that make up these 1:43 Chevrolet Trucks.... This image is going to be the cover image of my upcoming new collectors guide (as a download). More images coming! Edited January 16, 2014 by LEGO Historian Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LEGO Historian Posted January 17, 2014 TLG sold these Chevrolet trucks in Denmark starting in 1952, Norway in 1954, and Iceland in 1955... The trucks came as short trucks.... They came as long trucks.... .... and as Chevrolet wagons in a rainbow of colors and functions.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LEGO Historian Posted January 21, 2014 (edited) Well the many months of research and documentation are finished.... The 50 page 70 color image... Unofficial LEGO Chevrolet Truck/Wagon Collectors Guide is now finished and available as a download (no shipping/no customs)... http://www.eurobrick...showtopic=91101 Edited January 21, 2014 by LEGO Historian Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LEGO Historian Posted January 22, 2014 A historic Danish 1954 LEGO brochure that mentions both LEGO bricks and the LEGO Chevrolet 1:43 Trucks/Wagons.... (from the collectors guide)... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LEGO Historian Posted February 3, 2014 (edited) Just adding some additional vehicles to the 1:43 Collectors Guide... I had always thought that Shell LEGO items were first introduced starting in 1966 with the 325 Shell Service Station, and continuing on until the OCTAN station replaced Shell for non-USA gas station sets (in the USA it was always Exxon). However I was startled to find that the 1952-57 1:43 Chevrolet trucks, which were only ESSO for gas/oil, and BP for natural/propane gas trucks.... well in Norway there were a few promotional Shell trucks as well... althouth these are very very rare. So I added them to the guide... new updates going out to current owners... (as will be the case going forward)... The Danish 908 Shell Tanker Truck... The Danish 918 Shell Long Tanker Truck.... As is always the case with the 1:43 Chevrolet trucks with tanker attachments... the truck is made of plastic, but the tanker portion is made of wood. Ironically, unlike the small Town Plan era (HO scale) 1:87 trucks, the larger (O scale) 1:43 trucks are all compatible with LEGO minifigs... basically the same scale! Edited October 9, 2014 by LEGO Historian Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LEGO Historian Posted February 9, 2014 (edited) The last photo in my new LEGO 1:43 Chevrolet Trucks Collectors Guide is this very painful to look at image. It appears as though these 1:43 trucks were all just dug up... but they bring new meaning to the words "heavy playwear"! Had these been in pristine condition... they would be worth thousands of Euros (all together!).... From the collection of my German collector friend Olaf.... And one other item that TLG produced were 1:38 scale VW Beetles (and also in the collection of my German friend Olaf... At first these were promotional items used by VW Showroom Dealers... they had a model of 8 of these vehicles to show potential buyers the 8 colors of VW Beetles available for sale. But very soon thereafter these were seen by the children of VW car buyers, and the VW retailers ended up giving them away to the children. So the demand was great for these, and TLG produced them for regular promotions. TLG also sold these in Denmark by LEGO retailers as a standalone item unrelated to any other scale LEGO system. The 1:38 VW Beetles were painted. And one owner of a used played with model removed all the paint. The result was this very beautiful model in a swirl of psychodelic colors... which would have been very appealing to hippy buyers in the 1960s!! As we all know, TLG never threw anything away... and so floor sweepings of LEGO plastic ended up in a bin and was washed for reuse in LEGO plastic items that were painted (early on TLG created slotted LEGO bricks in swirling colors as factory seconds). But by the later 1950s TLG used the mix of floor sweepings for LEGO trees/bushes and these 1:38 VW Beetles... all items that would be painted over, thus hiding the original swirling colors. However, unfortunately the use of Cellulose Acetate plastic had the bad effect of warping, and eventually cracking of the plastic... here we see some clear breaks in the plastic caused by the stresses on the warping Cellulose Acetate. But one has to say that removing the paint on this particular VW Beetle... it had the unintended consequence of enhancing its' value... which already numbered into the hundreds of Euros in used painted condition.... Edited February 16, 2014 by LEGO Historian Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LEGO Historian Posted October 9, 2014 (edited) Found another very rare LEGO 1:43 Truck.... from Iceland... where all LEGO items are assembled by an Icelandic Tuberculosis Clinic called "Reykjulundar". The Icelandic alphabet has 28 letters... it includes the letters "eth".... Ð and "thorn....Þ .... and one of these is used in the truck name..... This 1:43 LEGO truck is for an Icelandic fuel company (which still exists). This extremely rare truck dates to 1956-57.... Here is the logo for all LEGO items sold in Iceland from 1956-60s. Any LEGO box with the REYKJALUNDUR name on it is worth BIG MONEY!!! This is mostly because Iceland only had about 200,000 people in the 1950s... so it was a very small country, LEGO wise!! Edited October 9, 2014 by LEGO Historian Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pinioncorp Posted October 9, 2014 LEGO Historian, Please contact me regarding what I have paid you for but still have not received. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
