zephyr1934

Anyone know the secret history of the gray era 12v/4.5v system?

By zephyr1934, in LEGO Train Tech

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Dav1d   

Dav1d
Posted
6 hours ago, Carrera124 said:

Part #7 is online, a rather short one because it reflects the year 1981:

Thank you.

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tsi   

tsi
Posted

Hi,

unfortunately I haven't any information about the design team too, but some other nice pictures:

This modul was used in british toy-shops to promote the new 12V trains:

12v-spielplatte.jpg

The picture is from a "Bricks and Pieces", a UK LEGO Club magazine.

... the great TV-commercials for the 12V stuff, like this one:

 

Greetings

ThomaS

 

 

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Carrera124   

Carrera124
Posted
On 21.9.2017 at 11:12 AM, Dav1d said:

Please post on the forum when you add more sections.

 

Not sure if this is still of interest, but there are two new chapters:

#10
https://www.promobricks.de/lego-eisenbahn-10-das-jahr-1984-andere-schwerpunkte/47944

#11
https://www.promobricks.de/lego-eisenbahn-11-das-jahr-1985-die-zweite-welle/48152

Especially the catalog pictures with the sets 1966, 1968 and 6383 should be unknown to most Lego fans.

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Capparezza   

Capparezza
Posted

@Carrera124 Very nice articles. And the pictures from the catalogues, too. Thanks a lot for this little time travel, looking forward to the next issues. Can't wait for the Metro Liner to appear on stage :wink:

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zephyr1934   

zephyr1934
Posted
On 12/9/2017 at 8:02 AM, Carrera124 said:

Not sure if this is still of interest, but there are two new chapters:

 

Definitely still of interest, thanks for sharing the updates

 

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Capparezza   

Capparezza
Posted
12 hours ago, Carrera124 said:

:wacko::wink: I think that should be someone other's task.

Wait, no no no :laugh: I'm not letting you off the hook so easily:

 

Quote

Die nachfolgenden Beiträge zur Geschichte der LEGO Eisenbahn sind eine chronologische Zeitreise durch die Jahre 1978 bis 1991, mit Ausblick in beide Richtungen.

Metroliner is from 1991 ... Hehe :tongue:

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Dav1d   

Dav1d
Posted

There are still some sets from 1986 to round off the 12V train era. The Shell Tank Wagon 7813, Container Depot 7823 and Car Transport Depot 7939.

I remember the dark days of 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990 when there were no new trains, I did think it was the end of LEGO trains.

For the 9V trains I wrote a Bricklist https://brickset.com/sets/list-20985 entitled 'All the LEGO trains from the 9V era'. It is not just a list but gives some background to each set - it could be a start for a more detailed history.

We still did not get any details on the Secret History of the grey/12V/4.5V trains. The amazing thing about the era was that it was one system, today the sets appear to have no thread linking them, just disjointed sets. Who was the LEGO train designer from the 121V era? Is there an interview with him/her?

David    

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Carrera124   

Carrera124
Posted (edited)
On 14.12.2017 at 8:44 PM, Dav1d said:

There are still some sets from 1986 to round off the 12V train era. The Shell Tank Wagon 7813, Container Depot 7823 and Car Transport Depot 7939.

 

Yes, the next chapters will cover this. There will also be a chapter that covers the box redesigns from 1989 and 1990 (in one single case).

On 14.12.2017 at 8:44 PM, Dav1d said:

Who was the LEGO train designer from the 12V era? Is there an interview with him/her?

That would be a task for one of the ambassadors. Anyone knows how to adress this issue to them?

But I think that this will be a hard challenge. The start of the system must have been in 1979 or earlier. That's 40 years ago. If the affected people were in their 20s, then now their age is 60+. If they were older, they surely will have retired ore even died. Always providing that it is possilbe to find out names.

 

Edited by Carrera124
added another quote

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Feuer Zug   

Feuer Zug
Posted

A great set of updates. I am enjoying learning about the old history of this hobby. It also helps me when I come across pieces that I have no idea what their function is/was.

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Dav1d   

Dav1d
Posted
On ‎14‎/‎12‎/‎2017 at 9:33 PM, Carrera124 said:

That would be a task for one of the ambassadors. Anyone knows how to adress this issue to them?

Isn't there a Eurobricks ambassador? - How do we contact him/her?

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BrickMusher   

BrickMusher
Posted

Hei,

 

 have to say "Thank You" for the whole documentation at least. I enjoy especially the scans of my childhoods catalouges.

For me it´s interesting to see the old prices and compare them to todays price. When I remember right about what my parents salary was by that time, I think Lego has become more affordable today than it was back then.

Looking forward to 9V Trains

 

BrickMusher

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Grrr   

Grrr
Posted
36 minutes ago, Carrera124 said:

2 more - very tiny - chapters are online.

Still don't know what to write about 9V :wink: I only own a few of the 1991 news, but not all of them.

And some bonus scans that weren't used in the article series:

http://www.doktor-brick.de/index.php/Thread/8643-Die-Geschichte-der-LEGO-Eisenbahn/?postID=178145#post178145

Thank you for the series.

I am inclined to disagree with your assertion that the change of packaging suggests that the decision to switch to 9V came afterwards. I suspect it's more of a case that Lego purchased new packaging equipment, and removed/decommissioned the old equipment, and as such, sets out of necessity had to be packaged in new style boxes. There are many examples of sets of this era appearing in different style boxes between years of release, moving away from slide-tray cardboard and polystyrene inserts to cardboard and cardboard + inner tray + plastic boxes. 

Moreover, as the accessory sets where to be supplied for a few more years following the 9v launch, it may have been desirable to make the boxes as small as possible so they would be more convininent for mail order delivery, and would take less room on retailers shelves if they chose to continue stocking them for a while.

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Carrera124   

Carrera124
Posted (edited)
14 minutes ago, Grrr said:

Moreover, as the accessory sets where to be supplied for a few more years following the 9v launch, it may have been desirable to make the boxes as small as possible so they would be more convininent for mail order delivery, and would take less room on retailers shelves if they chose to continue stocking them for a while.

Well, but not all boxes were reduced in size. Some of them boxes got bigger for the last 2 years.

The loss of old production equipment may be a valid reason. But if the decision for the new system has been made before, why didn't they just produce a greater amount of the old style and put them on stock?

Edited by Carrera124

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Carrera124   

Carrera124
Posted
On 13.1.2018 at 8:59 PM, Dav1d said:

Isn't there a Eurobricks ambassador? - How do we contact him/her?

I wrote an E-Mail to to the german ambassador. But got no response.

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