LEGO Historian Posted April 4, 2013 I usually post over in General Discussions, but this topic was more LEGO Town related. Many folks think of old Town sets as those from the 1990s .... but really old LEGO means the 1950s! The first LEGO Town System sets came out in 1956. (Actually there were 4 very tiny buildings on 4x8 or 6x8 plates in 1955, but they fit into small parts pack boxes.) The first real Town set was an Esso Service Station Set of 1956... #1310 (Denmark, Norway, Sweden) and #310 in the rest of Europe. Here are 3 versions of the Esso Service Station boxes (bottom to top... 1956, 1958, 1960).... Then in 1957 new sets came out.... #306/#1306 VW Service Set (lower left)... #307/#1307 VW Showroom Set (lower right)... #308/#1308 Fire Station (with printed brick in local languages, upper left)... and the #309/#1309 Church Set... In the past year some new variations on the old Esso Service Station set boxes have been found.... these 1956-57 set boxes were used in Denmark (top, Esso Service), Germany (middle, Esso Wagenpflege), and Sweden (bottom, Esso Service, different box color).... These images are found in my Unofficial LEGO Sets/Parts Collectors Guide available as DVD/download (for your desktop viewing pleasure).... with 2,800 pages and over 6,000 historic and modern images.... still available in AmeriBricks Bazaar. Future download updates will be free to current owners! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hrw-Amen Posted April 4, 2013 I remember those old style garages, I am certain I have some of the base plates for them still. I find it is lost in fuzzy midst of time as to how they actually worked. If memory serves you had to push the car onto them and something was pushed down which released the garage door, but it is a very long time since I operated one. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LEGO Historian Posted April 4, 2013 (edited) I remember those old style garages, I am certain I have some of the base plates for them still. I find it is lost in fuzzy midst of time as to how they actually worked. If memory serves you had to push the car onto them and something was pushed down which released the garage door, but it is a very long time since I operated one. Yes those fuzzy mists of time were my earlier years! lol.... The garage kit, available as a 235 parts pack (1955-70)... had a baseplate with a pushdown front... which caused the garage door to open... because the back counterweights make it heavy enough for the door to rest in the open position. There were 5 parts in this arrangement.... 1 garage baseplate... 1 garage door frame, 1 garage door, and 2 garage counterweights... which once inserted into the back of the garage door would likely never come out again.... http://www.bricklink...Pic.asp?S=235-2 Ironically the plain 236 garage set... also produced from 1955-70... came in 8 different box types! Also... those early LEGO Town System sets... flat box sets with the parts nicely placed into inserts.... they can fetch $500-$1000 easy!! And the rarer (Swedish, German) Esso sets... even more! Edited April 4, 2013 by LEGO Historian Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lightningtiger Posted April 4, 2013 Don't forget that those sets were HO scale hence they could be used in HO scale model railway layouts. At least I have a tow truck though minus it's metal hook......cost 20 cents at a Sunday market. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LEGO Historian Posted April 4, 2013 Don't forget that those sets were HO scale hence they could be used in HO scale model railway layouts. At least I have a tow truck though minus it's metal hook......cost 20 cents at a Sunday market. Yes... those HO scale Town Plan 1:87 vehicles are also very very pricey... especially the rarer colors or models. From 1955-64 they produced Bedford Trucks... and from 1964-70 they were Mercedes trucks. The cars were introduced later (VW Vans in 1956, VW Beetle 1957, VW 1500 Limousine, Mercedes 190SL convertible, Karmann Ghia, Opel Rekord, Ford Taunus 17M, Mercedes 220, Fiat 1800, Citroen, Jaguar, Morris Marina and Vauxhall Victor Estate were all produced in the 1961-67 era. And in rare colors these could be very very price. The most I remember seeing was a black Fiat for $3235 on Ebay (about 1/2 dozen known) a few years back. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lightningtiger Posted April 4, 2013 Ouch, for a black Fiat.....I know where an Esso tanker is for around 25 dollars Australian....in good condition. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Artifex Posted April 5, 2013 I wish there was a Lego VW Beetle in one of the next sets Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rriggs Posted April 5, 2013 Interesting and nice to see lots of petrol stations - and even a car showroom! That's one I don't think has been repeated? However, I would not say that these were the first LEGO Town sets although they were clearly based on buildings you would find in towns. These were the original LEGO System sets but it wasn't until Legoland branded sets were first released in c.1978 that there was a clear distinction made between Town, Castle and Space. Cheers Rog Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rick Posted April 5, 2013 Interesting and nice to see lots of petrol stations - and even a car showroom! That's one I don't think has been repeated? Well, there's 6390 Main Street (and 10041), which has, what seems to be, a car showroom. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LEGO Historian Posted April 5, 2013 Interesting and nice to see lots of petrol stations - and even a car showroom! That's one I don't think has been repeated? However, I would not say that these were the first LEGO Town sets although they were clearly based on buildings you would find in towns. These were the original LEGO System sets but it wasn't until Legoland branded sets were first released in c.1978 that there was a clear distinction made between Town, Castle and Space. Cheers Rog The discussion about when the different LEGO Systems started is a long and very complex issue. The 1978 introduction of the Minifig was not the beginning for LEGO Town. Actually the Town Plan... the first of the LEGO systems was introduced in 1955.... and until 1962... Town Plan was the only LEGO System. In 1966 the Town Plan evolved into a slightly different Town System (still based on the 1:87 scale).... and in 1971 new town sets were sold under the Legoland name. In late 1962 the first Architectural sets (750, 751, 752) were introduced, but were unpopular and discontinued in 1965.... so that first iteration of Architecture was a shortlived system. Late 1965 was the introduction of the first predecessors of Technic... Samsonite Gears... which was followed in 1970 by European Gears (800-814 series).... and in 1977 Expert Builders (Technic). In summer 1966 the LEGO Train System was introduced in Push and 4.5V... with 12V coming out in 1969. Although LEGO Space was introduced in late 1978... the first space sets were a USA Samsonite Space Rocket (801) in 1964, then the 358 Rocket Base of 1973, and the 367/561 Moon Landing Set of 1975... under the Legoland heading. Although LEGO Castle came out in 1984... it was still under Legoland in 1978-79 when the Yellow Castle (375/6075) and Knight's Tournament (383/6083) came out. So there were many LEGO "Systems" from 1955... when "The System" was first introduced with the Town Plan... until 1978 and beyond... Cheers, Gary Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
toorayay Posted April 5, 2013 Well, there's 6390 Main Street (and 10041), which has, what seems to be, a car showroom. The red building in Main Street was a garage. This was one of my first sets as a kid, and I've been considering doing an updated version of it to fit today's LEGO standards. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rriggs Posted April 5, 2013 The discussion about when the different LEGO Systems started is a long and very complex issue. The 1978 introduction of the Minifig was not the beginning for LEGO Town. Actually the Town Plan... the first of the LEGO systems was introduced in 1955.... and until 1962... Town Plan was the only LEGO System. In 1966 the Town Plan evolved into a slightly different Town System (still based on the 1:87 scale).... and in 1971 new town sets were sold under the Legoland name. In late 1962 the first Architectural sets (750, 751, 752) were introduced, but were unpopular and discontinued in 1965.... so that first iteration of Architecture was a shortlived system. Late 1965 was the introduction of the first predecessors of Technic... Samsonite Gears... which was followed in 1970 by European Gears (800-814 series).... and in 1977 Expert Builders (Technic). In summer 1966 the LEGO Train System was introduced in Push and 4.5V... with 12V coming out in 1969. Although LEGO Space was introduced in late 1978... the first space sets were a USA Samsonite Space Rocket (801) in 1964, then the 358 Rocket Base of 1973, and the 367/561 Moon Landing Set of 1975... under the Legoland heading. Although LEGO Castle came out in 1984... it was still under Legoland in 1978-79 when the Yellow Castle (375/6075) and Knight's Tournament (383/6083) came out. So there were many LEGO "Systems" from 1955... when "The System" was first introduced with the Town Plan... until 1978 and beyond... Cheers, Gary Yes, there are different LEGO "systems" and TLG have thrown the words system and town around for a great many years and generations of products but I have not seen anything branded as Town before the introduction of minifigs and the yellow Legoland brand in 1978. Before this the earlier minifigs (no arms) and the metal car sets formed parts of town plans and were clearly town based sets but weren't branded as Town anywhere I've ever seen. Cheers Rog Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LEGO Historian Posted April 5, 2013 (edited) Yes, there are different LEGO "systems" and TLG have thrown the words system and town around for a great many years and generations of products but I have not seen anything branded as Town before the introduction of minifigs and the yellow Legoland brand in 1978. Before this the earlier minifigs (no arms) and the metal car sets formed parts of town plans and were clearly town based sets but weren't branded as Town anywhere I've ever seen. Cheers Rog I understand where your coming from... a catalog labeling... but even then it's not an exact science. The first actual labeling of separate LEGO Town, LEGO Space and LEGO Castle didn't happen until 1979... even though 1978 was the year of the Minifig intro. In 1978 there was only 1 Castle set (375) and just a few late 1978 Space sets... so there was no need to separate them via the separate labels until 1979. As with everything that TLG does... there's rarely a nice clean start/stop time of LEGO... Even with how their labeled in databases... for example LUGNET has... starting in 1970.... LEGO > Legoland > Large Vehicle LEGO > Legoland > Small Vehicle LEGO > Legoland > Building and starting in 1978 all vehicles and buildings show up as.... LEGO > Legoland Town Gary Edited April 5, 2013 by LEGO Historian Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bizzy Posted July 26, 2013 Hi all, new here. I made a bulk purchase over the weekend, which included 2 Lego System Cars in Extremely good condition, no packaging. One is the VW 1500, and the Other is the Karmann Ghia. Both vehicles are the light grey color, I believe only second in rarity to the black versions? Any info would be great to validate. Also included in the lot were 4 Wiking vw 1500's, 2x dark blue, 1 White, 1 Dark Red. All 4 have tinted windows, all in fantastic condition. I have not seen to many of these for sale in North America ( Lego wise), but did pull up a couple of sales from Europe, and was only able to find 1 light grey vw 1500 for sale in Germany..buyer asking 150+ for it, no packaging, and it is in nowhere as good of shape as mine. Do they really command that type of $? Thanks. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
