LEGO Historian

Early LEGO in Central Europe

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Well I've sort of almost exhausted the LEGO Norway/Sweden/Finland topic, although I'm still getting new images for my LEGO DVD literally every week! :classic:

Now to focus the LEGO world to the heart of middle Europe... where LEGO has its' highest concentration in the world... especially in Dutch and German speaking Europe.

After LEGO bricks were introduce in Denmark (1949), Sweden (1950, and again 1955), and Norway (1953)... the next LEGO countries were Germany (March 1956), Switzerland and Netherlands (both early 1957).

Lately I have been getting some absolutely stunning LEGO box images from my LEGO collector friends (thanks Francois-Xavier, Jeroen and Diana!), and these really bring out the beauty of the LEGO boxes back then.

Let's start with the Netherlands... when LEGO sales started there in 1957, they mirrored the new LEGO sets in Germany of 1956.

Basic sets were introduced in 8 sizes, all with the same/similar box top designs. These sets were (largest to smallest)... 700/0, 700/1, 700/2, 700/3, 700/3A, 700/4, 700/5 and 700/6. Some of these (700/1, 700/2 and 700/3 have set numbers (with different box designs) going all the way back to 1949. Others joined the ranks along the way.

Here's the medium sized 700/3 LEGO set with a Dutch language top... shown of course are Ole Kirk Christiansen's 3 grandchildren Kjeld (known in the LEGO world as KKK), Gunhild and young Hanne.

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Here's a slightly smaller 700/3A box. Note: after the 700/1 thru 700/6 all were established by early 1953... there was a new "midsize" box introduced... well the numbers were used up... so TLG used a unique "3A" number to differentiate from the larger 700/3 and smaller 700/4 sizes.

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Here is a small Dutch 700/5 Basic Set....

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And here is a Dutch language small spare parts pack box showing the same 3 children...

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From 1955-58 LEGO basic set and spare parts boxes (1955-60 in Denmark) were found in the local language. Among these German, Danish and Swedish/Norwegian are much more common than are the Dutch langauge boxes. These command premium prices over the more common boxes.

For 700 Basic Sets (1955-60)) the local language writing on the box top was:

Denmark: “LEGO Mursten” and “System i leg”

Sweden/Norway: “LEGO Mursten” and “System i lek”

Germany: “LEGO Bausteine” and “System im Spiel”

Netherlands: “LEGO Bouwstenen” and “Systeem bij het Spel”

Switzerland: “LEGO Bausteine” and “System im Spiel” &

“LEGO Briques" and “Systeme dan le jeu”

("LEGO System" and "System in Play")

Note: Unfortunately... because you cannot use a "/" in much of computer coding (it's a reserved character)... it causes problems for labeling the 700/x basic sets... so Bricklink, Peeron, Lugnet and other online databases have some serious issues with the labeling of these sets in their set online databases.

These images are new updates to my LEGO DVD/download collectors guide...

Gary Istok

Edited by LEGO Historian

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Another country that started LEGO sales in early 1957 was Switzerland.

Switzerland was sort of a "whew"... or relief... for LEGO Managing Director Godtfred Kirk Christiansen, and his by then ailing father LEGO founder Ole Kirk Christiansen. When TLG started with the LEGO plastic building blocks in 1949, TLG was copying verbatim... the Kiddicraft Building Blocks of England, first produced by Hilary Page in 1947. Hilary Page had a copyright on Kiddicraft, but it was only in force in a few countries. Switzerland happened to be the first European country where LEGO sales started, and the Kiddicraft patent was in force. However, with the introduction of the new System of Plan, via the Town Plan (Town) System... LEGO had changed enough (even the end of the slotted bricks and thin windows/doors that fit into the slots in 1956) so that a patent infringement was not likely. Also in 1957 Kiddicraft was in shock from the suicide of founder Hilary Page that year. Apparently Mr. Page was overwhelmed by the demands of his company.

Anyway... in December of 1956 Godtfred Kirk Christiansen went to Germany to return his father from a long holiday there (Ole was in very poor health, and was resting in the warmer climate of Germany). Ole and Godtfred stopped off in Frankfurt that December to have a meeting with John Scheidegger, the upcoming Director of LEGO Switzerland.

At this December 1956 meeting Godtfred and Ole were showing off the new 1956 Town Plan Masonite Town Plan board and building models (these were all glued to the board). Also being shown are German 700/1 and smaller 700/5 sets.

Image... from left to right... Godtfred, John Scheidegger, Ole...

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Construction building toys already sold in Switzerland (before LEGO) were often sold in canister sets. So Switzerland, unlike all other European countries, sold the LEGO Basic Sets (starting in early 1957) in cardboard canisters with zinc lids.

The 1957-60 700/3A Swiss Canister Basic Set... with German and French writing...

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Then new canister designs were introduced in Switzerland in 1960. These matched the rectangular basic set boxes sold in the rest of Europe... with the International "LEGO System" label on the outside...

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Then in 1965 new LEGO sets came out throughout Europe... and the unique canister sets of Switzerland were permanently retired, in favor of rectangular LEGO boxes, as found elsewhere in Europe.

Also, Ole Kirk Christiansen, who had been ailing for several years with health issues, survived to the 25th celebration of TLG on August 12, 1957. However, he did not live too much longer, having died in early 1958, at the age of 67.

These images are found in Chapter 5 - LEGO Basic Set (1953-65) and Chapter 73 - LEGO Sales History by Country... in my collectors guide DVD/download.

Edited by LEGO Historian

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Well 1957 was a very busy year for TLG.... in the first half of the year Netherlands and Switzerland came online with LEGO... and Germany came the year before (in March 1956). Germany was TLG's biggest market for many years to come... so getting set up was no easy matter... especially since TLG only had 140 employees by 1957.

I've told this story before... but it bears repeating... LEGO Germany was started by Axel Thomsen. Axel was a Danish compatriot who moved to Sweden in the late 1940s. His talented wife Grete made some doll house furnishings for a young relative. The family raved over the quality of the little designs, and that gave Axel the idea of starting a Dollhouse making company called A/S Lundby. This was named after the town in Sweden that the company was located. Lundby dollhouses are very much a collectors item today, and have a strong internet following. When in 1955 Axel was offered the chance of starting LEGO Sweden, he sold his dollhouse company to his son, and concentrated on LEGO sales in Sweden. In 1956 the opportunity arose to be in charge of the larger LEGO Germany entity, and Axel and Grete moved to Hohenwestedt (in the far north, near the Danish border), the "LEGO Capital of Germany" from 1956-1999.

Here is a picture from January 12, 1956... the "christening" of LEGO Germany... a dinner by Axel (far right) and Grete (far left) for Ole Kirk and Godtfred Kirk Christiansen and 2 other TLG officials....

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Here are some of the first German LEGO basic sets of 1956-57....

A (new to) 1957 700/0 large basic set....

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A 700/2 Basic Set....

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A 700/3 medium sized Basic Set... of the older 1956 type without writing on the sides...

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The small spare parts pack boxes of Germany....

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Just for reference... the only other countries that had LEGO Basic Sets (700/0 thru 700/6) with a local language box top were Denmark (System i leg) and Norway/Sweden... with identical (System i lek) box tops...

A 1955-56 (no writing on the side of the box) Swedish/Norwegian type 700/4 set...

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Here is a 1957 image from the factory in Billund with a worker hand packing the checkerboard layout of 700/0 Basic Sets....

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And here is a 700/3 Basic Set with the hand packed "checkerboard" contents....

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Edited by LEGO Historian

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The LEGO basic sets of the 1950s and early 1960s were all hand packed into the thin cardboard boxes, with a cellophane layer shrinkwrapped over the top of the lower box. The box top was never sealed, and therefore could be taken off to see the contents held in place.... Here are some images from my UK LEGO collector friend Chris Bull, and Dutch collector friend Jeroen Van Dorst...

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These boxes were always packed in a nice checkerboard layout... but not where the long 2x8 and 2x10 bricks were located... nor where the trans-clear bricks were located. However... a Dutch acquaintance (Jeroen) has this very interestinly packed early 1960s box where there is total mayhem in the packing... including a 2x4 black brick... which should NEVER be found in one of these sets. This box shown below obviously snuck past the quality control people. I kiddingly think that this shrink wrapped box was packed immediately after the Billund LEGO Employees Christmas Party... where the packer had a little bit too much potent Danish Cherry Kijafa Wine.... :laugh:

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Actually, the LEGO basic set packers did not do the shrink wrapping... that was done at a separate work station. It could be that the person doing the shrink wrapping may have accidentally disturbed this one box, and the parts fell out. The parts may have been rushed back into the box with little rhyme or reason to where the parts were packed... and when a part came missing... it was replaced with a black 2x4 brick.

But the Christmas Party anecdote makes for a better story!! :wink:

Edited by LEGO Historian

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These old flat LEGO Basic Set boxes had inserts that "elevated" the single level of bricks held in place by the shrink wrap... so that it didn't move around.

Here's an example of the partitions that came in these boxes....

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And as the printing on the one box shows... you can turn these upside down to use as partitions to store the loose bricks in the box. Unfortunately, most of the old 1950s and early 1960s surviving basic sets are missing these inserts. So having a set with the inserts still intact greatly enhances their value. NOTE: there is an additional piece of cardboard for the central compartment (for the windows, etc.). This central part has 2 cardboard parts... a lower part to raise the level of the specialty parts... and an upper part that is pressed against the lower part. This upper part has raised wings to keep the bricks of the side compartments away from the middle area. It is this upper piece of cardboard that is almost always missing from most all old opened LEGO basic sets.

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And the inside of the box top... there were the rather sparse instructions, and building techniques and ideas....

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Not only does my DVD/download show examples of the box components... but also examples of how the artwork was put onto the boxes. Henk, my good Dutch LEGO collector friend, obtained these very rare and interesting LEGO die stamps... used by TLG with ink to print the artwork onto the cardboard inserts and box insides... very nice!

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One last thing... that's the LEGO "Gnome"... who was found on LEGO box and catalog artwork from circa 1953-63. Two other characters found in some of the LEGO set boxes/brochures were the VW Shadow Man... and the Esso Oil Drop Man.

Here's the VW Shadow Man (along with the LEGO Gnome) found on some VW related LEGO sets...

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Here's the Esso Oil Drop Man found on a select few LEGO product boxes...

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Just as the LEGO Gnome was a TLG sponsored mascot... the VW Shadow Man was a VW company mascot of that era. Ditto for the Esso Oil Drop Man being an Esso corporate mascot. 1963 was the last year that any of these mascots were used on LEGO sets.

Edited by LEGO Historian

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1957 was a very busy year for TLG. Early that year Switzerland and Netherlands joined Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Germany as the next LEGO countries. On August 12 of that year TLG celebrated the 25 years of Ole Kirk Christiansen starting the company. And in late fall of 1957 Austria, Belgium and Portugal also started LEGO sales.

TLG had to make a decision, either to continue with LEGO boxes in the local languages... or to make all have a universal box top.

So TLG decided on (eventually) having all LEGO boxes with the universal "LEGO System" on top.

The first boxes with this new "LEGO System" also had a new box top design. The older 1955 boxtop design with Ole Kirk's grandchildren (KKK, Gunhild and Hanne) was already outdated, since the children were growing fast. So TLG came out with a new nicer Town Plan image box top.

Here is a picture of the box top type as used at Christmas 1957 in (new to LEGO sales) Belgium and Portugal.... the 700/0 large Basic Set with international box top....

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There were new LEGO models shown along the sides of the box top, as well as some of the LEGO 1:87 cars and trucks. Interstingly enough... among the models were VW Beetles (260). These Beetles were first introduced in November 1957, at the same time as this box type. Another vehicle that was shown as a prototype here, but sadly never released, was the Opel Kapitän car (in yellow with a white top) parked in front of the twin towered hotel. This prototype was never actually released as a production 1:87 car. However at least 7 examples are known to have made it out of TLG (3 yellow, 3 red and 1 orange).... today these ($5000+) valuable prototypes are in the collections of Danish, German, Dutch and American collectors.

This closeup of an international 700/5 Basic Set shows a closeup of the very rare Opel Kapitän....

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Even though these sets had LEGO System on the box top... the side of the box still displayed "LEGO System in Play" in all the local languages....

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Starting in late 1957... the new box styles shown above were also sold by TLG in the local language in the countries already having LEGO sales. Here is an example of a German language 700/4 small basic set, which was also sold in Austria when they went online to LEGO sales in late 1957... since German was the common language there as well....

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The large 700/2 basic set was suddenly discontinued in 1957... however when the new box type was introduced in late 1957... TLG must have had some empty 700/2 boxes left over after the set was discontinued... so TLG papered it over in Dutch... and sold out the rest of the 700/2 inventory in the Netherlands from1958-59 (the only countries to sell it after 1957)...

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These 700/2 sets in this Dutch language box style are extremely rare and very valuable.

The new boxes with the local languages were also used from late 1957 onward in Denmark (System i leg) and Norway/Sweden (System i lek). Here is a Danish 700/3A box...

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By late 1958 all the new LEGO boxes with local language box tops were slowly being replaced with the international LEGO System box tops in Germany/Austria, Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. (Note: Switzerland continued selling the older style German/French canister sets until 1960). This would then match the international LEGO System box tops already being used in Belgium and Portugal.

Here is a 1958-60 LEGO Retailer Catalog display stand image... showing the new LEGO System basic sets (among other model and parts pack sets of that era).... and they are (starting left to right)... Top Row... 700/4, 700/0, 700/5... 5th Row... 700/1, 700/3A, 700/3, 6th Row... (middle) 700/6... the 700/2 was by this time retired...

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However... Denmark was the exception to the rule. Rather than join the rest of LEGO Europe switching gradually to an international LEGO System box top... Denmark continued to use "System i leg" for their box tops. Perhaps this was due to TLG being proud of this being a Danish product.

But anyways... the only "smoking gun" piece of evidence that I was able to find that this is true... was a Christmas 1959 window display of a high end Danish Department Store - Chrome & Goldschmidt... in Copenhagen. The photograph of this display window cannot be mistaken for an older window display... since it shows the new (introduced fall 1959) cardboard Town Plan board...

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So the first LEGO countries with "LEGO System" on the basic set box tops were Belgium and Portugal in late 1957... followed by Germany, Austria, Netherlands, Norway and Sweden in 1958... and finally Denmark in 1960.

If you've followed this story closely... you'll come to realize something that I did long ago... you CANNOT put the story of old LEGO from the 1950s and 1960s into an online database... and expect to really understand it from that context. :wacko:

Old LEGO (LEGO Mayhem as I fondly call it)... is so very complex... that one almost needs to add a history to each set to make some logical sense of it all. :wink:

Edited by LEGO Historian

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Great pictures and detailed information as always but you might want to refrain from calling one of the kid "KKK". In some parts of the world (mostly USA) KKK is usually associated with Ku Klux Klan, a group who is known for hatred of the non-Whites and cross burning. The group have been greatly frowned on by majority of people who believes in race equality.

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Great pictures and detailed information as always but you might want to refrain from calling one of the kid "KKK". In some parts of the world (mostly USA) KKK is usually associated with Ku Klux Klan, a group who is known for hatred of the non-Whites and cross burning. The group have been greatly frowned on by majority of people who believes in race equality.

No no no no.... every one in the world of LEGO toys knows 4 acronyms... TLG, AFOL, SNOT and KKK. I did however preface my first mention of him in this thread with his real name... but in 7 years of producing my collectors guides (first as a short CD, but now as an all encompasing DVD)... no one has ever questioned the use of KKK... no matter how politically incorrect it may seem to the USA audience (non-USA collectors... the bulk of my collectors guides, have never questioned it). It's easier to label him as "KKK" than to have to answer continually why his last name isn't spelled with a "C".... :wink:

Also... at the LEGO HQ in Billund, he is known as KKK to the folks who work at TLG. Of course, in Denmark... the meaning of KKK has a whole other connotation!

.... and speaking of acronyms... sooner or later someone will be offended with SNOT..... :look:

Edited by LEGO Historian

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I guess it's become standard that KKK in LEGO terminology refers to Kjeld, and I get it - no worries.

But as a non-white US citizen, I just wanted to throw my voice out and agree with Lego Otaku - it's a sensitive issue in the US. If you were working with a big publisher here, they'd probably force the switch to "K^3" (Sorry, can't type K-cubed at the moment) or "Triple K" for audiences here. And I don't think everyone "knows" the acronyms inherently, they're learned. Younger fans who, especially in the US, exist in the full spectrum of racial demographics may be confused in the onset and I think it is not an issue that can be simply dismissed as trivial. Then again - what can he do - it's his name.

ANYWAY - that isn't why I came here - all I wanted to comment on really is how I would love TLG (or someone) to reprint the cylindrical canisters. Love the design - those would sell like crazy in boutique stores. I also really like the cardboard inserts inside of those boxes. Maybe a CUUSOO Set with all of this stuff in it?

Thanks again for Historian sharing these photos.

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Thanks WaysOfSorting... similar canister sets were produced as several different sets as Sear's and Eaton's exclusive Samsonite LEGO sets in the USA/Canada... such as the 1605 Wheel Toy Set of 1964...

1605_wheel_toy.jpg

Unfortunately these Samsonite LEGO department store exclusive sets didn't have the top coming off, like with the Swiss sets... but they had a string that you pull near the top of the canister, which would wreck havoc with the papered exterior of the canister... and the top would only come off a few times before messing up the entire container... thus making this mess (which most of these sets are like to day... :sceptic: )....

706_lego_system.jpg

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And speaking non-acronym-inally of Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen.... here he is 55 years later holding up the (1957 image) box with his image on it.... from LEGO Fanwelt 2012 in Cologne Germany, from my German LEGO collector friend Sven.... :classic:

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Or at the same fair... with him holding up his (his 1960 image) 1961-67 continental European 200 Town Plan board...

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... or him holding up the (his 1961 image) 1962-67 Britain/Ireland/Australia version of the 810 Town Plan Set.....

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Edited by LEGO Historian

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The 1957-58 LEGO spare parts boxes by country...

Upper left Italy, upper middle left Belgium, upper middle right Switzerland, upper right Germany/Austria.

Lower left Denmark, lower middle left Portugal, lower middle right Netherlands, lower right Sweden/Norway.

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In 1958 TLG decided to switch to only using "LEGO System", as it had done in Portugal starting in late 1957 (and on the basic set boxes as well). But Italy, which came online to LEGO in 1958, already had the boxes printed up, so it had Italian spare parts pack boxes.

By 1959, when France and Finland came online to LEGO... all boxes came in new box styles with only "LEGO System"... and as the local language box inventory was used up... the switch to LEGO System continued.

Of these 8 box types 3 are considered common... those of Germany/Austria (System im Spiel), Denmark (System i leg) and Sweden/Norway (System i lek). The other 5 box types are much scarcer, and would command premium prices over the more common 3 box types.

Since I had to photoshop 3 separate sets of images together (thank you Henk, Diana and Jeroen!), and because of the rarity of many of these boxes, this is the first time all 8 box types have ever been seen together in one public image! :sweet:

And starting in late 1958 this box design replaced all the local language boxes...

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In 1959 TLG established an in-house photography department... and several other box styles joined this box type into production throughout continental Europe.

Edited by LEGO Historian

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Thanks Ralph!! Much appreciated!

The sad reality is that on many of the boxes I use in my collectors guide DVD/download (such as most of the ones shown here) I've had to do some serious Photoshopping to show the boxes as they originally might have been. Over 50+ years so many of these boxes have suffered much damage, such as tears, tape marks, discoloration, and that most wretched of disfigurement.... ballpoint pens!! :sceptic:

Of the spare parts pack boxes of the 1957-60 era I've only shown the outer sleeve designs for the different countries. Here's some images of the side of the inner "drawer type" box that the sleeves fit around. These particular ones are all Danish, and date to 1956-60. There are no brick sizes larger than 1x2 for a reason... Danish retailers had a pick-a-brick wooden box where loose bricks were dumped into for Danish children to buy one at a time. This process was not done elsewhere, except in Norway for a few years (1953-57)....

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Edited by LEGO Historian

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I noticed a difference in the Dutch boxes: some say 'systeem in het spel' while others say 'systeem bij het spel'. Can you explain the difference? I don't mean the difference in meaning, which is not much, but why they used different slogans.

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Alois.... I have long ago noticed this difference... and it shows for both Dutch and Belgian boxes and paperwork.

For box tops it always shows "Systeem bij het Spel" from 1957-58. Then starting in 1958 TLG started using either/or Systeem bij het Spel and Systeem in het Spel. But box tops ALWAYS show Systeem bij het Spel... the sides of boxes for the international "LEGO System" boxes always shows "Systeem in het Spel".... and LEGO paperwork in different languages varies with both showing up. It appears that generally the old LEGO items have Systeem bij het Spel and newer items show Systeem in het Spel... but like with all things LEGO related... some things seem to contradict this rule! :sceptic:

Here are examples of both... (note the inside of the small box is a small LEGO spare parts pack box size free promotional box).... why TLG switched from using one to the other? That is a mystery to us all!!

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Images are from my LEGO DVD/download... chapters on LEGO basic sets, LEGO model sets, LEGO promotional sets, and LEGO instructions & idea books.

Edited by LEGO Historian

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Here is a bilingual German-French 1958 Swiss LEGO catalog... very simple... 1 sheet, 2 sided....

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From 1955 until 1972 a very large amount of LEGO production was put into the spare parts packs, as can be seen here. One entire side of this 1958 Swiss catalog was dedicated to spare parts packs.

The most spare parts packs was in the 1963-65 era, when 138 different spare parts packs (including all different brick/part colors) were sold. This number was reduced to only 66 by 1966, and down to only 10 spare parts packs in 1973. TLG never again had such a large number of spare parts available as they did in the 1955-72 era.

Edited by LEGO Historian

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Very interesting topic, thanks for putting all this effort into this.

BTW, it's cool to see the Belgian box has two languages on it.

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Thanks once again for your many informational contributions.

I like the title of this thread. It sounds like it could be discussing ancient stone bricks recovered at an archaeological site, as might have been used by Neanderthal FOLs.

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Thanks once again for your many informational contributions.

I like the title of this thread. It sounds like it could be discussing ancient stone bricks recovered at an archaeological site, as might have been used by Neanderthal FOLs.

Blondie-Wan.... you must be psychic!! :wink:

http://www.ns.umich.edu/new/releases/21645-newly-unearthed-ruins-challenge-views-of-early-romans

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1960 was a big year for TLG. All the LEGO boxes were remodeled... everything from the small spare parts packs to the model sets all the way up to the basic sets. The irony in this remodeling was that set and parts pack numbers did NOT change... just box designs. There were a few other changes along with this... one was that LEGO trees and bushes changed... the 1960s versions were more sturdy and less fragile.

The Cypress, Pine, Apple, Birch trees and Evergreen bushes were all remodeled into more sturdy thicker designs... and the 1950s Elm tree was replaced by a fuller 1960s Oak tree. Another change was the 1950s Town Plan board... in either soft plastic rollup, or hard wooden Masonite (Hartfaserplatte in German) were replaced by a bifold cardboard Town Plan board in 1960 (September 1959 to be exact).

Here is a stacked image of the new to 1960 Basic Sets. (Note: the reason why some of these have blue lettering on the sides has never been explained by TLG.) These sets were sold in Continental Europe by TLG, and by British LEGO Ltd. in Britain/Ireland and (starting in 1962) in Australia. USA (1961) and Canada (1962) had 3 similar sets, but they had different set numbers (705, 708 and 711 instead of 700/x numbers found elsewhere).

The set numbers found in continental Europe still followed the pattern used in the late 1950s... with (largest to smallest)... 700/0, 700/1, 700/3, 700/3A, 700/4, 700/5 and 700/6. And another continuation... was the fact that the 700/2 set (retired in 1957) was still retired and the number still not used. As mentioned Britain/Ireland/Australia followed the same set numbers as continental Europe... with the exception that 700/4 and 700/6 were not sold there...

10767304183_caea2db15e_b_d.jpg

Edited by LEGO Historian

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My German LEGO collector friend Lothar has put together a nice assortment of the 8 different box designs the 700/x range of sets had gone thru from the earliest of 1949, until the last of the 700/x sets were produced in 1965... to be replaced by a new series of basic set numbers that FINALLY didn't start with "700".

Here in Lothar's image (found in my DVD download)... we see the different sets over the years in 3 different sizes... the 700/3 medium sets... the 700/1 large sets and a very large 700/0 set. Up until 1960, each of the different sized basic sets in the 700/x range of sets had basically the same box top image. But starting in 1960, each box size came in a differen box top image design... with many of them coming in more than 1 image variation.

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I love these posts on Lego history. They are really fascinating. I think you could make a great book from this

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Thank you for the posts LEGO Historian! I love all of the examples of the old packaging!

I like the pic of Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen holding the boxes that he was on as a kid with an iPhone in his had. He could have no more imagined that phone or the future of Lego when the photos for the boxes were taken.

Thanks again!

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