The 65th Year of LEGO....

[LEGO Historian]

Well although the way anniversaries and birthdays are identified, the 65th year of LEGO won't be until 2014... but this year 2013 is the start of the 65th year that LEGO was actually produced... with 1949 being year 1.

Up until just a few weeks ago, I couldn't give you a complete idea of what the very first LEGO sets actually looked like... just box top images that were always thought to be cardboard boxes (as even the TLG archives and collections thought).

But recent evidence proved otherwise... and the first 3 basic sets (700/1, 700/2 and 700/3) were made of wood instead of cardboard. And until now we weren't even sure that parts packs were part of the 1949 introduction... but it appears that there were 2 parts packs from the very beginning.

Here's an image of the middle sized basic set in wood (all 3 sets had the same box top image), along with the first 2 spare parts packs... one with 12 2x2 and 12 2x4 bricks, and the other with 9 early windows and 3 early doors. Also included is part of one of 4 pages of the first 1949 LEGO leaflet/catalog (that mentions the 3 sets pictured below, along with their contents). A unique item that came with these basic sets were 2 art cards (see next post).

The next iteration of my Unofficial LEGO Sets/Parts Collectors Guide (on DVD/download as E-Book)... will have this image in it in Chapter 2 - LEGO Automatic Binding Bricks (1949-54). Those folks who ordered the current DVD/download (or have it)... will receive a new upgrade every 6 months FREE of charge. I will likely go from 2,800 pages to almost 3,000 pages by the first upgrade (both PC and MAC compatible). Still available in the Eurobricks bazaar or elsewhere...

Edited January 2, 2013 by LEGO Historian

[LEGO Historian]

The very first Automatic Binding Bricks (LEGO) of 1949 were slotted bricks that came in 5 colors (blue is not shown here). By 1952 there were 24 different colors available.

The very first Automated Binding Bricks (LEGO) windows/doors of 1949... were very thin, and fit within the slots on the slotted bricks....

Also included in the first LEGO sets were "Art Cards", 2 in each basic set. Because the LEGO bricks had slots on the sides, you could make a picture frame by building the frame with the art cards fitting within the slots. Interestingly enough the LEGO Archives have no known information on these cards... but all the 1949-52 Automatic Binding Bricks (LEGO) catalogs mention the sets as coming with 2 of these cards. Here is the oldest known card (of about 1/2 dozen known designs)... shown on the 700 basic set box tops....

These images can be found in the LEGO DVD/download chapters on the LEGO Timeline, Automatic Binding Bricks, LEGO Bricks and LEGO Windows/Doors.

Edited January 2, 2013 by LEGO Historian

[Hey Joe]

Very interesting, thanks!

[LEGO Historian]

By 1952 the number of colors of 2x2 and 2x4 LEGO bricks jumped from 5 up to at least 24! By 1958 the number decreased down to 5 colors (red, white, blue, yellow, clear).... and then it took another 50 years to climb back up again.... But the 1952 colors were.... (as found in Chapter 49 - LEGO Bricks of my DVD download....

I didn't mention this earlier.... but these 24 colors were NOT all made by LEGO Denmark... some were made by Geas Konstharts (Sweden) and A/S Norske LEGO (Norway) under license to TLG. So none of those 3 countries made all of the 24 shown colors.

Edited January 3, 2013 by LEGO Historian

[LEGO Historian]

The inside of a smaller 700/3 set, but in a cardboard box... this dates to circa 1950. Early LEGO sets had the parts hand packed 1 level deep in checkerboard layouts (which was shrink wrapped in place) so that when the box top was removed it showed a very colorful and impressive array of bricks. This 700/3 set has 60 2x2 and 60 2x4 bricks, the medium sized 700/2 set has 72 2x2 and 72 2x4, while the large sized 700/1 set has 84 2x2 and 84 2x4.

This 700/3 has 6 windows each in small, medium and large size, and 4 doors, as well as 2 art cards.

My favorite of all the slotted brick colors is shown here... what I call Peacock Blue....

Edited January 3, 2013 by LEGO Historian

[ShaydDeGrai]

By 1952 the number of colors of 2x2 and 2x4 LEGO bricks jumped from 5 up to at least 24! By 1958 the number decreased down to 5 colors (red, white, blue, yellow, clear).... and then it took another 50 years to climb back up again.... But the 1952 colors were.... (as found in Chapter 49 - LEGO Bricks of my DVD download....

Cool, I'd never seen the smokey transparent 2x4 before, I've got a bunch of the later/modern stud and tube clear (well, kinda foggy now actually) 2x4s, but I'd never seen the slotted brick in the clear. What material were they using for that one back then? 1952 sounds a bit too early for mass produced polycarb (at least for toys); cellulose nitrate is a little volatile to produce and store; the material looks like an acrylic resin but the casting would seem like to slow a process and the edges seem too crisp for thermo-pressing; cellulose acetate maybe?

As for anniversaries, I've given up trying to figure out how TLG decides when time began. As far as I'm concerned, MY Lego world began on Dec. 24th, 1969 when I got my first Lego set as a Christmas Eve gift (a fire truck - though my second kit the following year, the 603 vintage car, was more memorable because of the yellow macaroni pieces and the smaller wheels).

[LEGO Historian]

ShaydDeGrai, I believe that all the early (pre introduction of 1963 ABS) trans-clear bricks were indeed Cellulose Acetate. I have mint (tube bottom) early 1960s 2x2, 2x3 and 2x4 trans clear bricks that are quite warped. Put them on a flat surface and they "wobble" quite a bit. Of course, since you are familiar with old LEGO, TLG switched to polycarbonate for the trans colored LEGO bricks (because ABS in its' natural state is not clear, but a milky color),

Well since you mentioned the plastics used... the checkerboard image of LEGO I just posted was Automatic Binding Bricks alright... but these particular ones were not produced by TLG Denmark. They were produced by a Swedish plastics company called Geas Konstharts of Gisvaled Sweden... and sold under the Automatic Binding Bricks name (likely licensed from TLG Denmark) in southern Sweden for a very short period in circa 1950-51, before being discontinued due to poor sales there. Neither Geas (company still exists), nor TLG Denmark have any archival records on this production... but below is the same page of 4 nearly identical catalogs... the upper left being the official TLG Denmark catalog in Danish... the upper right and lower left image being the Swedish produced Geas ABB bricks images of the same 700/1 set from Geas versions of the catalog. And the lower right image is from a Norwegian produced product (from A/S Norske LEGO) called PRIMA, also sold in Sweden (circa 1954-56)... and this catalog is also in Swedish.

The Geas and PRIMA bricks appear to have been made of Polystyrene... with their very polished looking shine to the bricks. Apparently, unlike the TLG produce Cellulose Acetate, the Polystyrene may not have warped.

This is a very complex issue (between TLG Denmark, Geas Sweden and A/S Norske LEGO (the subsidiary of a Norwegian plastics maker called Svein Strømberg & Co.)... that I didn't want to get into here... but you coaxed it out of me...

This is all discussed in rather complex detail (along with the first Norwegian LEGO sets starting in November 1953, by A/S Norske LEGO)... in my LEGO DVD/download - Chapter 2 - Automatic Binding Bricks & PRIMA. Because these first LEGO sets (under the Automatic Binding Bricks and other names)... were nearly identical clones of UK produced Kiddicraft... all recordkeeping at all these companies may have been deliberately suppressed (even though Kiddicraft was NOT copyrighted in Scandinavia) due to the fear of litigation.

Also... the 3rd player in this complex drama of early LEGO... Svein Strømberg & Co. (of Oslo Norway) still exists... and can only say that they did produce LEGO sets... but have little info on what was produced!

Edited January 3, 2013 by LEGO Historian

[LEGO Historian]

As for anniversaries, I've given up trying to figure out how TLG decides when time began.

I had to laugh when I came across this statement.... because even the folks at TLG have some serious trouble trying to figure out how to interpret the difference between LEGO Sales and LEGO Sales Office...

For example... here's the actual years LEGO sales began...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1949 - Denmark

1950 - Sweden (licensed to Geas Konstharts of Sweden)

1951 - Sweden - licensed sales stopped due to poor sales.

1953 - (November) First LEGO sold in Norway, but due to toy import restrictions... molds sent to Oslo, where a Norway company produced their own sets for sale there.

1955 - Sales in Sweden began (combination of LEGO parts from Denmark/Norway were shipped there for Swedish sets).

1955 - Sales in Iceland started when an Icelandic Tuberculosis Clinic produces LEGO sets (as therapy for patients) under the name SIBS (switched to "LEGO in 1961).

1956 - Sales in Germany Started in March.

1957 - Sales in Switzerland/Netherlands started early 1957. Sales to Belgium, Austria and Portugal started late 1957.

1958 - Sales in Italy started.

1959 - Sales in France and Finland started.

1960 - Sales in Britain and Ireland started (via a licensee... Courtauld's Textile maker started British LEGO Ltd.)

1961 - Sales in USA started (via a licensee... Samsonite for USA/Canada)... first sets were produced in Stratford Ont. and sent to USA.

1962 - Sales in Canada started from the Stratford Ontario plant.

1962 - Sales in Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Morocco started (as TLG subsidiaries).

1962 - Sales in Australia started (from sets shipped by British LEGO Ltd. licensee)... new plant in Wrexham Wales opened that year.

1965 - USA production moved from Stratford Ont. to Loveland Colorado.

1973 - USA Samsonite license revoked after litigation (poor sales), LEGO production/sales (by TLG) moved to Connecticut.

1985 - Canada Samsonite license bought back by TLG.

1992 - British LEGO Ltd. (UK/Ireland/Australia) license bought back by TLG.

1993 - First year all LEGO worldwide was produced by TLG.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The above dates are "sometimes" followed by TLG as official dates.. but the USA anniversary date that TLG uses is 1973, not 1961... but Canada's anniversary date is 1962.

Now if you look at the official LEGO website timeline dates... it will be a mixture of "sales started" and "LEGO <country name> started".... mixed together as a very confusing "apples and oranges" comparison.

All of the year information is found in the last chapter of my LEGO DVD/download - Chapter 73 - LEGO Sales by Country, with dozens of old black/white historic images related to early set production and product display for each country.

Edited January 3, 2013 by LEGO Historian

[Legogal]

The inside of a smaller 700/3 set, but in a cardboard box... this dates to circa 1950. Early LEGO sets had the parts hand packed 1 level deep in checkerboard layouts (which was shrink wrapped in place) so that when the box top was removed it showed a very colorful and impressive array of bricks. This 700/3 set has 60 2x2 and 60 2x4 bricks, the medium sized 700/2 set has 72 2x2 and 72 2x4, while the large sized 700/1 set has 84 2x2 and 84 2x4.

This 700/3 has 6 windows each in small, medium and large size, and 4 doors, as well as 2 art cards.

My favorite of all the slotted brick colors is shown here... what I call Peacock Blue....

Wow! That peacock bue color was amazing back then! I think Lego are so successful now because they finally developed a fuller palette of colors, especially the softer on the eyes pastels. Seems like it took about a hundred years for them to offer bricks in colors that females prefer....I hated building houses in the early 90's with my son because of all those blasted red roof bricks and the total lack of color choices besides the basic ones. Thanks for all this fascinating info!

[LEGO Historian]

Thanks Legogal! We both have superb taste in blue!!

Back until after the new millenium, all LEGO colored ABS plastic pellets were produced by Germany's chemical giant.... Bayer Corp. They produced LEGO "test bricks" in 2x4 size in about 100 colors, and many variations/tolerances of the ABS/Polycarbonate plastic (and of Cellulose Acetate before 1963).

A Dutch collector friend Michel collects these Bayer test bricks, and has amassed a collection of over 100 different. These rare and colorful bricks go back as early as the 1960s. Instead of "LEGO" on the studs, some have the letters A-F... to designate the level of clutch power and other brick variables. These bricks, highly sought after by collectors today, are found and discussed in my LEGO DVD/download chapter... Chapter 49 - LEGO Bricks... the subchapter on Test Bricks (which also includes BASF test bricks).

Unfortunately around 2004 TLG switched to buying the uncolored ABS plastic from outside sources, and do the coloration process themselves. This has lead to some significant color quality control issues in many colors... one of which was the violet color used in the first Harry Potter Knight's Bus set. The modern bricks just don't have the same consistency that the colorized Bayer produced ABS plastic pellets did.

Also, love the marblized bricks... in the 1950s TLG produced "factory seconds" marblized bricks for sale as individual 2x4 bricks. These were from plastic pellets "spillage" from the factory floor that was swept together and washed. Since plastic was very expensive back in the 1950s, and since TLG never threw anything away, they were reused as slotted 2x4 bricks of marbleized colors... and sold for 8 øre each in Denmark... whereas a normal 2x4 brick would sell for 11 øre each. Today however.... these marblized bricks command high prices at auction.

Also the first LEGO baseplates were 10x20 baseplates, but almost 1/2 brick in height (they could not be stacked on each other)... These plates also were often marblized in very exotic designs... this one I call "watermelon splat"!

These thin 10x20 baseplates were only produced (in about a dozen solid colors, as well as an endless number of marblized colors... from 1950-53. In 1953 they were replaced by the normal sized 10x20 thick baseplates that COULD be stacked on each other.

Many of the different colors of both the early thin and later thick baseplates can be found in my LEGO DVD/download chapter on baseplates... some exotic colors such as dark blue, beige and powder blue.

With over 10,000 LEGO set/part images in my own archive, I often find that some are not found in the TLG Archives, so I am in constant contact with them, and we often exchange rare images with each other. And collectors from around the world are often sending me more unknown rarities!

Edited January 4, 2013 by LEGO Historian

[Lyichir]

Thanks Legogal! We both have superb taste in blue!!

Back until after the new millenium, all LEGO colored ABS plastic pellets were produced by Germany's chemical giant.... Bayer Corp. They produced LEGO "test bricks" in 2x4 size in about 100 colors, and many variations/tolerances of the ABS/Polycarbonate plastic (and of Cellulose Acetate before 1963).

A Dutch collector friend Michel collects these Bayer test bricks, and has amassed a collection of over 100 different. These rare and colorful bricks go back as early as the 1960s. Instead of "LEGO" on the studs, some have the letters A-F... to designate the level of clutch power and other brick variables. These bricks, highly sought after by collectors today, are found and discussed in my LEGO DVD/download chapter... Chapter 49 - LEGO Bricks... the subchapter on Test Bricks (which also includes BASF test bricks).

Unfortunately around 2004 TLG switched to buying the uncolored ABS plastic from outside sources, and do the coloration process themselves. This has lead to some significant color quality control issues in many colors... one of which was the violet color used in the first Harry Potter Knight's Bus set. The modern bricks just don't have the same consistency that the colorized Bayer produced ABS plastic pellets did.

Also, love the marblized bricks... in the 1950s TLG produced "factory seconds" marblized bricks for sale as individual 2x4 bricks. These were from plastic pellets "spillage" from the factory floor that was swept together and washed. Since plastic was very expensive back in the 1950s, and since TLG never threw anything away, they were reused as slotted 2x4 bricks of marbleized colors... and sold for 8 øre each in Denmark... whereas a normal 2x4 brick would sell for 11 øre each. Today however.... these marblized bricks command high prices at auction.

Also the first LEGO baseplates were 10x20 baseplates, but almost 1/2 brick in height (they could not be stacked on each other)... These plates also were often marblized in very exotic designs... this one I call "watermelon splat"!

These thin 10x20 baseplates were only produced (in about a dozen solid colors, as well as an endless number of marblized colors... from 1950-53. In 1953 they were replaced by the normal sized 10x20 thick baseplates that COULD be stacked on each other.

Many of the different colors of both the early thin and later thick baseplates can be found in my LEGO DVD/download chapter on baseplates... some exotic colors such as dark blue, beige and powder blue.

With over 10,000 LEGO set/part images in my own archive, I often find that some are not found in the TLG Archives, so I am in constant contact with them, and we often exchange rare images with each other. And collectors from around the world are often sending me more unknown rarities!

From what I've heard, part of the reason Lego switched from pre-dyed granulate was specifically because it had previously had to be sourced from a single company. This meant that any issue in the supply chain (for instance, an accident or problem at the Bayer plant that caused a shortage of granulate, or a decrease in quality) would impact Lego's own production. By dying the plastic themselves, Lego can buy extra dye or plastic from one of their suppliers if another fails them. Color variation is still a slight issue, but it's nowhere near as bad as it was back in the days of the first Knight Bus. And this way Lego can be more in control of whatever issues do arise, so that they can take steps to rectify them instead of having to rely on their suppliers to work out their own problems.

[LEGO Historian]

Bayer is one of the largest chemical companies in the world with 112,000 employees in over 50 countries (1/3 in Germany). I doubt that they produce polymers and plastics at just any single plant. Bayer has been producing LEGO Cellulose Acetate and later (1963) ABS pellets for over 50 years, and I've never encountered a LEGO brick that has had color issues until TLG discontinued the relationship. That's when the problems began. Granted they are not as serious today as they are with the Knight's Bus set... but they still have color issues that plague production.

Also, it's not just about color... Bayer also tested LEGO bricks for such things as clutching power and determining the strength of parts. In recent years there have been some issues with the clutch power of some parts, and the issue of 1 x 1 x 2/3 wedge slopes having cracks show up in large numbers, also adds to the problem of farming out the purchase of plastics they buy.

I do believe that the real reason for TLG going out into the market to buy their non-colored ABS (and polycarbonate) pellets has to do with cost cutting. When you bid on the open market, you can always negotiate a better price than being beholden to a single source. And I would assume that the cost of the plastic would be a significant part of TLGs cost cutting measures, since they had a few years of losses (red ink) in the early part of the millenium.

Edited January 4, 2013 by LEGO Historian

[Front]

Using precolored plastic is a logistic nightmare, which surely had to be abandoned if LEGO were to survive.

[LEGO Historian]

Using precolored plastic is a logistic nightmare, which surely had to be abandoned if LEGO were to survive.

You know, when there were only 5-10 colors of pellets, as was the case up until the late 1990s, that was probably not a big problem. But now that the TLG color palette exceeds 40 colors, it very well likely would be.

[Boxerlego]

The Multi color bricks look neat. They should make skittles like that.

[Leo604]

The Multi color bricks look neat. They should make skittles like that.

They'd probably taste weird, though.

[splatman]

this one I call "watermelon splat"!

I totally remember that day! Over there on Bricklink. A few years ago. I really gave it a Splat!