TLG Individual Parts Sales - Unknown to USA/Canada

[LEGO Historian]

When TLG started LEGO sales in Europe, they sometimes sold LEGO in ways that were never available to kids in USA and Canada... that was individual parts sales (these were limited in UK/Ireland and Australia to mail-orders).

When I visited the toy stores of Europe in the late 1970s and 1980s, I thought it was soooooo cool to have the retailers pull out a box (usually wooden, sometimes cardboard or plastic) of spare parts that you could buy individually. But this was not the "sales model" for toy stores in USA/Canada... where toys were sold pre-packaged. It's really too bad, since picking the parts (like Pick-A-Brick today) was a great way to buy JUST what you wanted.

Here's a little piece of the history of that way of buying LEGO that most of today's AFOLs know little to nothing about. I devote a very large chapter of my Unofficial LEGO Sets/Parts Collectors Guide (Chapter 43 - Service Packs and Individual Parts Sales (1950-90) to these interesting variations in buying LEGO.

The LEGO Train System was introduced in 1966, with the 4.5V trains. Then in 1969 the 12V trains came out (never in USA/Canada, and not yet in UK/Ireland/Australia).

Here is an example of an early 1970s continental European Retailer box (wooden) and the contents list and contents....

By the late 1970s the contents changed, some items were put into plastic bags, while others remained loose in boxes such as this one. NOTE: this is a box I put together of parts that I purchased in Germany (1979-85) as loose parts. Note the nice train windows!!

This was put together from memory, based on several retailer boxes....

Back then the continental European retailers had these large wooden boxes either behind the counter, or under the LEGO sets shelf, for individual sales. Some of these parts were placed in plastic bags in groups. By 1980 all the parts came out in Service Pack bags numbered 1101-1147 (more numbers came later in the decade, and there was a complete number revamp by 1987).

However many of the 4 digit service packs have 1977 copyright dates, even though they originated from 1980. The reason for this was because early parts were sold loose or in unmarked plastic bags, and starting in 1980 in preprinted LEGO bags with the appropriate number and bar code...

Here is a 1978 German Spare Parts List....

..... and by 1980, these same numbers were used, but with the "11" prefix... so black train wheels #10 became black train wheels Service Pack #1110 in 1980... but still with a 1977 copyright date....

Here we see several early plastic bags that LEGO retailers sold some of their items in prior to 1980 (plain plastic bags), and later (starting in 1980) the beginning of official Service Packs. This shows 3 #19 packs (top of image) of 1977-79, and 3 #1119 (bottom of image) Rod/Piston Service Packs of 1980 and beyond.

As I mentioned individual parts and even early Service Packs were not available in the USA and Canada. This was partly to do with the fact that USA/Canada toy retailers generally didn't handle toy sales in this way... but also because LEGO trains were rarely sold in either USA or Canada... and if they were, it was only the push trains or 4.5V trains... never the 12V. So there was also no pressing need for spare parts or expansion parts, like there was in Europe.

In Britain/Ireland/Australia the same general parts were available as in continental Europe... but only as Mail-Order items. Also some continental European countries did not sell these spare parts or service packs thru the LEGO retailers... but only thru the local countrys mail-order service (the Netherlands and Italy were mail-order).

All of these and many many more individual LEGO parts items are found in my 50+ page Chapter 43 of my DVD/download guide. It makes for a fascinating read, especially for USA/Canada folks, who were unaccustomed to Service Packs and Mail-Order until long after Europe and Australia.

Cheers,

Gary Istok

Edited August 15, 2013 by LEGO Historian

[caperberry]

Ah those lovely yellow pages. I'd pore over them as a child in Australia, but never ordered anything. I'm unsure why I didn't; much as I desired spare parts I guess I didn't have a strong enough need for things.

It's much the same with PAB walls now; coming across something I need happens far less than finding something I want. Either way, I now have sufficient pocket money to buy ;O)

[LEGO Historian]

Caperberry.... those lists were white from 1970 until 1976... and then in 1977 they started coming out in yellow from that point forward.

Here's the 1972 Australian spare parts list...

I've created many tables of part numbers by country in that LEGO DVD chapter... sometimes TLG would drive me crazy because a certain part would be numbered... #12 in Germany, #Sp.12 in Netherlands and Italy... and #S12 in UK/Ireland/Australia. Usually the numbers matched up... unless it was a 12V train item... then UK/Ireland/Australia would have a different part under that number. I've got pages and pages of tables put together for both individual parts and spare parts packs... differentiating the parts, and the parts counts.... very maddening....

[caperberry]

Makes sense, I was 6 in 1977 so the yellows have dominated my memory :0)

I haven't got to that chapter yet. I'll remember your pain when I do

[LEGO Historian]

Makes sense, I was 6 in 1977 so the yellows have dominated my memory :0)

I haven't got to that chapter yet. I'll remember your pain when I do

Not surprised... that's Chapter 43... Just getting past Chapters 40, 41 and 42.... the parts packs chapters is probably going to be brutal... That's 134 pages of every spare parts pack imaginable... I did a calculation that with every box type possible, there are over 11,000 spare parts pack boxes that you could collect! During the most productive years... 1963-65, there were 138 different available... in 15 box designs!

[medib]

these are real interesting. I remember they had service packs through Samsonite Canada in the early 80's. Free shipping on items, but it took painfully (at least it felt like that)

a long time to get the items (4 to 6 weeks shipping).

[LEGO Historian]

these are real interesting. I remember they had service packs through Samsonite Canada in the early 80's. Free shipping on items, but it took painfully (at least it felt like that)

a long time to get the items (4 to 6 weeks shipping).

medib.... were these the ones for Canada? These images (from Jan K.) are from the Billund Vault, and are Canadian (Copyright date 1980)... I was wondering if these were the Shop-At-Home varieties that you were referring to... .thanks!

[caperberry]

these are real interesting. I remember they had service packs through Samsonite Canada in the early 80's. Free shipping on items, but it took painfully (at least it felt like that)

a long time to get the items (4 to 6 weeks shipping).

The modern upscaled version is LUGBULK which painfully takes 4 to 6 months! But with greater rewards :0)

[jonwil]

I just wish I could convince my LUG that its worth the effort and work that goes into LUGBULK, I can think of quite a few things I would love to buy in larger quantity than you can get easily in sets/from Bricklink...

But they dont seem to be interested :(