When did Lego Space theme start?

[Space78]

I'm sure the experts here can answer this, or maybe this is controversial?  Brickset.com lists the first U.S. Lego Space sets as year 1978:

462 Rocket Launcher

483 Alpha-1 Rocket Base

487 Space Cruiser

493 Space Command Center

Item 2855028: Exclusive Spaceman Magnet has the printing "...in space since 1978"

However, the European versions (897, 920, 924, 926) are listed as 1979 sets, and the U.S. version of the Space Cruiser includes the bricks printed "LL924".

So, I'm confused on when Lego produced the first sets in the Space theme.  Can anyone enlighten me on this or point me to a thread/site where this is explained?

Thanks!

Edited October 12, 2023 by Space78

[Murdoch17]

I believe they staggered the release: some countries / regions got them in 1978, others in 1979 - probably due to limited factory production capability. Also at this time, LEGO's business in the USA was handled by Samsonite (the Luggage maker) - as in they marketed the sets and had different numbers than the European counterparts.

Does this answer you questions @Space78?

[Space78]

8 minutes ago, Murdoch17 said:

I believe they staggered the release: some countries / regions got them in 1978, others in 1979 - probably due to limited factory production capability. Also at this time, LEGO's business in the USA was handled by Samsonite (the Luggage maker) - as in they marketed the sets and had different numbers than the European counterparts.

Does this answer you questions @Space78?

This entry at Brickpedia states the Samsonite license in the U.S. ended in 1972, and I've read that elsewhere.  So, I don't think that really answers my question.  Further complication is that the original instructions for a couple of the 1978 U.S. sets I own have "copyright 1979" printed on them.  Another observation is the 1978 U.S. Lego catalog available here does not list any space sets.

A logical conclusion here is the initial space sets were designed in 1978, introduced in the U.S. in late 1978, but were not introduced in Europe until 1979.  In that picture the 1979 copyright on the instructions for a 1978 U.S. space set is still odd.

[Space78]

Doing a bit more digging, Lego has a history page on their site that clearly states Space was one of the original three themes started in 1978.  The history page further states:

"The LEGO Group launches the LEGO minifigure in 1978, and thus the minifigure naturally is a part of the LEGOLAND Space theme launched that same year."

So, the interesting (to me) question remains, why was Space launched only in the U.S. in 1978?  Why do sets produced in 1978 for the U.S. market have printed instructions with a 1979 copyright?

[AmperZand]

On 10/12/2023 at 8:32 PM, Space78 said:

Doing a bit more digging, Lego has a history page on their site that clearly states Space was one of the original three themes started in 1978.  The history page further states:

"The LEGO Group launches the LEGO minifigure in 1978, and thus the minifigure naturally is a part of the LEGOLAND Space theme launched that same year."

So, the interesting (to me) question remains, why was Space launched only in the U.S. in 1978?  Why do sets produced in 1978 for the U.S. market have printed instructions with a 1979 copyright?

My understanding - and I can’t substantiate this, it’s just something I heard - is that one of LEGO’s US employees defected to a competitor and LEGO was terrified that they would bring out similar toys ahead of LEGO. So LEGO rushed the release of their Space line in the US. One thing I do know because I remember it at the time is that Space didn’t come out until 1979 in the UK which fits with that. I believe that 1979 was the original worldwide release date.

[Operacion Saturno]

The legend says, 4 classic space lego sets were released first at the christmas of 1978 in America to compete with tente. The rest of Classic Space were relesed on europe on 1979.

[Space78]

All that seems possible.  It's also possible Lego just printed the copyright date on the US instructions as 1979 anticipating that would be the worldwide launch of space.  On the other hand the US set number is also on the instructions, so it would have had to be a separate printing anyway.  Still a mystery...