Pre-production design

[DoubleT]

Well i would had loved if the Vikings had beards like on the prototype...

[phoinix]

i read an interview of a lego vikings designer and he said that the beards were taken of because they thought that the kids wouldnt relate to a viking with beards cause they would feel he was old

[highlandcattle]

I found a few prototypes for LEGO-trains on the net some time ago. These pictures have been on the official LEGO-site, though, and what is here are the biggest pictures I could find.

Oh, and they're all old. Both the Crocodile and the Union Pacific are 12V models, the white/green/black passenger train became the 4558 while the last one never saw daylight. Interesting designs, though. Notice the 1x3x5 doors on the Crocodile and the nose-piece on the red locomotive, as well as the base for the car, which is six studs longer compared to the longest that have ever been available to the public.

That crocodile looks amazing must have *sing* *sing*

[snefroe]

thats a great idea!!that would have been amazing!

i really wonder what the prototypes for classic space looked like :-$

to bad there was no internet back then so it would have been really hard to find and share the pictures!

i cant get enough of these finds! *wub*

hope we can dick up some more!!!

hm... a company this size usually has an archive for these things. However, that may only be accessible for historians doing a Phd on the Lego Group, depending even on the family and the board.

i also wonder why we don't have interviews with designers of the past. Surely several have been retired by now and shouldn't be to difficult to locate. I wonder why 'Brick journal', Lego ambassadors, websites or Lego themselves haven't tried to get them talking about the sets of the 80's. Who came up with the idea of the galaxy explorer? what did yellow castle's prototype look like?, stuff like that...

[Vader]

Man you sure wonder alot sne, perhaps the designers sign confidentiality clauses when they take their respected jobs or perhaps they just dont care after they leave.

Anyway gotta say that this is a refreshing topic, like alot of people i actually prefer the prem designs up to the final versions. The frankenstien monster looks far more fearsome to me and the addition of the studs on the feet is a great idea.

Man i wish lego had of given the vikings their beards, they would of looked so much better.

[ImperialDawg]

the designer of the studio monster figs is also the designer of the batman figs, it is a fun thread to read and you guys can know the story behind the figs. here's the THREAD LINK.

[phoinix]

oh! thats where i found the images my self...thanks for the link..i couldnt remember where it was!!

[Freddie]

Here's the link for the page where I got the train prototype images from. Some interesting stuff to read.

[bdd]

Well we can add these....

[phoinix]

wow! where did you get those from?

(never mind i found the topic..)

[JINZONINGEN73]

Freaky prototype Bionicle sets... images still used on Amazon.de

X D

prototype

vs. actual

prototype

vs. actual

prototype

vs. actual

I really liked the parts on 8757's prototype WAY better.

Edited November 10, 2006 by JINZONINGEN 73

[phoinix]

and here is the prototype pic of the sandcrawler next to the final mondel to compare

prototype on the left..final model on the right..

prototype

final model

[Kikuichimonji]

The back of the prototype looks so much better then the back of the actual model. *Drools*

[natelite]

The back of the prototype looks so much better then the back of the actual model. *Drools*

agreed. and there's a reason for that...it's called "price point". :-) it's so obvious the prototype is way bigger in terms of parts count compared to the final version. it doesn't surprise me that perhaps it was meant to be a $100 set instead of the $140 behemoth final version.

[Hinckley]

These are some early star wars prototypes from the very first release. I can't remember where I got these, but I've had them for years...

I think these prototypes are pretty cool, especially the speeder bikes. I think they are so much better than the final design...

[Starwars4J]

I love the star wars ones, I see some very promising parts...and they were much more brick-built than huge molds :'-(

[Brick Miner]

almost all the prototypes in this thread are better that the actual releases... especially the AR.

id say natlite's "price point" observation is pretty close in most cases... it seems to even apply to the AR base.

- BrickMiner

[oo7]

almost all the prototypes in this thread are better that the actual releases... especially the AR.

- BrickMiner

I disagree, I can't say anything either way about the base but the smaller sets are just bleh. Ugly minifigs, over futurized sub, dumb Aquazone mask, stupid oversized jet propulsion thingie with a robot arm. The Viking minifigs are cooler (not better) but the set design is bad. The colors of

[Axle]

Here's some "Preliminary" train designs.

Passenger train.

Cargo train.

And one Inika.

[oo7]

More prototype pics here

http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=163956

I had another BS folder but now I've lost it. :-(

[Brainbox]

Nice. I'd have liked this as well as what we got. For some strange reason, that crab look surprisingly cute.

I really liked the parts on 8757's prototype WAY better.

8757 is definately better. Apart from the yellow Visorak. 8758 is a bit better as well, due mainly to the inclusion of Keetongu. Although that launcher Keetongu is holding is a bit bad...

[Minifig Lecturer]

the ship is deadly.

i wish they made that :-) all those containers :)

[Lord Admiral Helden Ravensdorn]

How is it that they can make stunningly cool prototypes and completely suck sets?

[sam89]

How is it that they can make stunningly cool prototypes and completely suck sets?

The only prototypes in this thread that I think is better than the final model are the City crane and the Viking Ship. The rest are all equal or worse in my opinion.

[Zarkan]

The only prototypes in this thread that I think is better than the final model are the City crane and the Viking Ship. The rest are all equal or worse in my opinion.

Yeah. The prototype for Angler Ambush was REALLY ugly, and the aquabase prototype has a horrible sub and bad squid. And while the kraken in the second smallest Viking set was cool, the boat was just silly. The final sets overall are much better, IMO.