LEGO Historian

Bayer was not the only German chemical giant that was testing new materials for TLG to replace Cellulose Acetate. It seems that BASF Corporation located in Ludwigshafen Germany (on the Rhine south of Mainz). The BASF bricks are much less plentiful than the Bayer bricks. However here is a selection of bricks that they tested (using the older 1958-62 LEGO logo, and then newer 1963+ logo), some of these bricks are actually made of soft bendable plastic, and all have the LEGO logo on them.

Well this is a very good and very complex question... LEGO set availability "by country". In my Unofficial LEGO Sets/Parts Collector Guide, I show tables for each series of LEGO sets (by System), and here is a cut/paste from my guide on 1980s large Town System sets. This gives you an idea that there is really no rhyme or reason as to why some sets are not sold elsewhere. Nor does TLG tell us very often if a set is only sold in certain areas (aside from Shop At Home)... Even some limited edition sets, such as the 1592 Town Square Set of 1980 & 1983 have a complex distribution. The 1592 was introduced (UK version) in the UK in 1980 as a Weetabix Cereal promotional set. TLG must have had quite a few left over (or did another production run)... since these were sold in Germany by the SPIELZEUGRING retailer organization to their group of independent LEGO retailers starting in late 1980, and also was sold in Canada and Australia in a limited capacity (selling in Sweden has also been suggested, but not confirmed). And then there is the Dutch version of 1592 that was sold in the Netherlands a few years later (1983) as a Unilever Unox Soup promotion. So LEGO distribution is a VERY complex issue.... even today!

Ah yes... the minifigs... yeah... LEGO Alzheimer's kicked in the other day.... aside from the fact that all my Minifigs from day 1 (1978) have ended up in a LEGO landfill unused and unloved in my basement... but you did jar my memory... even back in the early 80s the minifigs had issues with the too thin walls to the minifig arms... also noticed a few leg cracks... But the minifigs were not used for building... and my mind was on parts used in building... and the problem with cracks... no bricks in my collection from that era have any cracks....

I have about 1/3 million parts that date to the 20th century... and they are segregated from more recent LEGO... Not 1 cracked element! Just some small hairline cracks visible on the bases of brittle plastic polystyrene 1x1 trans-clear round bricks. There was discoloration on some of these old parts, especially white parts, but no physical problems... even for items that were built for 20 years and later disassembled. So cracked LEGO items appears to indeed be a modern phenomenon.

OK, I'll bite... Methinks you doth protest too much about people here as being hysterical. I see it as just the opposite... you are being too complacent... If you are wanting for reliable information about why so many here fear Chinese products... look no farther... 2007 (this year is a doozie... it's a sure bet that this was the tip of the iceberg as far as Chinese quality is concerned... http://www.nytimes.c...?pagewanted=all 2008-2014... month by month reliable information... http://www.safekids....CFexFMgodJ0sAgw If that doesn't satisfy you, try these (2007 thru 2013).... http://en.wikipedia...._export_recalls http://www.nytimes.c...?pagewanted=all http://www.cnn.com/2...S/08/14/recall/ http://www.more4kids...r-more-recalls/ https://www.fas.org/...row/RS22713.pdf http://www.info.com/...CFclaMgod9UcAuQ http://www.huffingto...-_n_745316.html http://economyincris...children-danger http://www.bloomberg...oy-recalls.html http://topics.nytime...t_safety/china/ http://money.usnews....-dangerous-toys Is all of this hysteria? I think that people have a very legitimate reason to fear Chinese products... lack of oversight... and a general feeling that some midlevel Chinese managers view profits (or bribes) as a legitimate way of doing business... to the detriment to the children of overseas buyers.... Granted Americans have little in the way to determine what is safe and what is not... and that distrust also carries to the slackers in our own government that let this slip by for much too long. I cannot speak for how things are done in the EU or Britain/Australia, but they too seem to have a lot of issues with Chinese produced goods. But when it comes to toys and children (and yes even adults)... people would rather err on the side of caution... because unless someone here has the deep pockets to send these LEGO minifigs to a lab to be tested... we really don't know??

TLG sold these Chevrolet trucks in Denmark starting in 1952, Norway in 1954, and Iceland in 1955... The trucks came as short trucks.... They came as long trucks.... .... and as Chevrolet wagons in a rainbow of colors and functions....

I'm working on finishing up an new collectors guide... one that I really didn't want to start, but once I got into it, it became an obsession. 1:43 scale LEGO trucks and wagons are the general same scale as the "O" Train Scale. And like the "O" scale trains... the actual scale number is a matter of interpretation... just as the nearly same size (and compatible) LEGO Minifigs. The 1:43 LEGO trucks were produced from 1952 until about 1957. They show up in a 1956 Norwegian LEGO "Bilparade" vehicle catalog, but by the time of the August 1957 25th Anniversary of LEGO book... they are noticeably conspicuous by their absence. The 1:43 trucks all have one thing in common... they are all Chevrolet trucks. And they have a knob on top of the cab roof that can be held to steer the truck as it is being pulled along (the front wheels turn using this knob). These 1:43 trucks also have a long steering cable that can be attached to that knob on the truck cab. This long steering cable has a small steering wheel at the other end. Here is a 1950s 1:43 Truck set, which contains a truck cab, attachable trailers (short trailer, long trailer, short 2nd trailer) and a long steering column. This very colorful boxed set is probably very familiar to many LEGO folks, since it is picured in many LEGO books, such as the 1986 WORLD OF LEGO TOYS, and 1998 ULTIMATE LEGO BOOK, and others. In this image, the boxed set is surrounded by 7 different LEGO logos. For some odd reason there is a wide assortment of LEGO logos on the different boxes that make up these 1:43 Chevrolet Trucks.... This image is going to be the cover image of my upcoming new collectors guide (as a download). More images coming!

Stuart9, those Patents, are the itemized list of the LEGO patents across Europe (not UK). They are itemized by country, so that those same boxes can be used for all countries. The UK boxes (produced in Wrexham Wales) didn't include that list, they didn't find a need to include patents for countries that their box would not be found in. Also there is another variation on those UK basic set (and spare parts) boxes. Starting in late 1964 they discontinued the word "System" in yellow script on the outer box logo. It just said "LEGO" on a red background. This version was sold until 1966, when a new series of sets and parts packs were introduced in the UK. And in the continental box style (made in Denmark), this style of boxes was introduced in 1960. The first boxes had blue set numbers on the sides of the box. Soon after their introduction, the writing was switched to yellow. So here are some examples from continental Europe, with the early 1960 version on top, the rest all later....

One last thing Stuart9.... the British LEGO Ltd. versions of the 700/x boxes has an additional feature... those round white circles on the sides of the boxes. They are meant as a location for putting the set price. Denmark produced continental box versions are missing those.

I know that there are many new people that start collecting LEGO every day... and currently sustain the exuberant market for relatively recent, and certainly NOT rare LEGO sets. But I wonder just how long this can last, and how long the market can absorb this collecting mania. I am reminded of the Tulip craze of the 1630s, the Hummel figurine craze of the 1980s, the Beanie Babies mania of the late 20th century, and most famous of all, the Baseball Card bubble of the mid 1990s. Here's an interesting and sobering article on baseball cards... and how even Wall Street investors were extolling the virtues of Baseball Card investment... http://www.slate.com...ard_bubble.html What is happening today is that you see sales prices on Bricklink, and suddenly everyone things that this is a great investment. Perhaps over the short haul... but long haul... I would not place all my investment dollars into modern, unlimited set releases... Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen is worth $7.3 billion dollars for a reason.... he's making a LOT of money off of a lot of LEGO sales... and folks are jumping on the CMF and Modular band wagon in ever growing numbers....

Hi Stuart9.... The difference between these 2 sets... both sold in the UK.... is timing.... The set with the yellow haired girl inside (with patents listed) and with the red/gold foil "MADE IN DENMARK" dates to 1960-62, when British LEGO Ltd. was still getting established (they started in 1960).... and were still importing basic sets and spare parts packs from Denmark. All the 700/0, 700/1, 700/3, 700/3a and 700/5 sets from Denmark for continental Europe (and for UK for 1960-62) had the blond haired girl on the inside box top. This image matches that of the continental European 810 Town Plan set. The set with the brown haired girl inside (without patents or label) dated to 1962-65, after the Wrexham Wales LEGO plant was in full production... producing the British version of the LEGO sets (which didn't require a label mentioning where it originated from). Here are the inside box tops to the.... Denmark produced 700/x basic sets (top image). UK produced 700/x basic sets (middle image). Denmark produced 3xx model sets (bottom image). The inside of your box tops also match with the box top of the 810 Town Plan sets of continental Europe (left, Denmark produced), and Britain, Ireland, Australia (right, British LEGO Ltd. produced).... One last thing.... the 700/0, 700/1, 700/3, 700/3A and 700/5 basic sets were produced in either continental Europe or Britain. There is no 700/2 set (it was discontinued in 1957), and the 700/4 and 700/6 sets were only ever produced for continental Europe (from Denmark), and therefore will NEVER be found with the inside box top with the dark haired girl. Also, LEGO spare parts pack boxes for Britain had the same scenario... "MADE IN DENMARK" stamped (not foil) on the side of the box from 1960-62, and "MADE IN GREAT BRITAIN" stamped on the side from 1962-65. Stuart9... do you have my LEGO DVD/download? It would come in very handy.....

Yes and no..... I am only aware of Samsonite "retooling" their molds. I am not aware of TLG doing so. They just basically retired molds. However, TLG has this propensity of surprising us with what they've done in the past. Finding strange bricks is not unusual. When TLG switched from slotted bricks to hollow bottom bricks in 1956 (with the coming online of German to LEGO sales)... there were some hybrid bricks produced... that had the smooth slotted type underside (with the LEGO logo printed in large letters), and with the LEGO logo on the stud as well (prior to 1956 the logos were underneath... starting in 1955-56 they moved to the studs). So some of these "transition" pieces had logos on both top/bottom of the brick. Another quirky feature that they might have is the logo rotated 45 degrees on top... so that ALL the logos on the brick might be facing one of the long sides of the brick, which goes against the normal way they've done it (facing a short side).

Ah a neighbor! (St. Clair Shores here...) Samsonite last carried LEGO in 1972 in the USA, 1985 in Canada.... you won't even find anyone at Samsonite that will remember it....

I think that Samsonite took their worn down LEGO molds, and had them retooled, where just some of the studs were retooled. There are many bricks that not only have some stud logos rotated, but also have 2 different logos on the same brick. Of these LEGO logos... the upper right and lower left can often be found on the same Samsonite LEGO bricks... sometimes one will be rotated... Note: the present LEGO font comes in at least 1/2 dozen different minor variations.

Yes... not all the test bricks had only lettering on the studs. There were also normal LEGO logoed bricks, and they as common as the lettered bricks. Why these have normal logos is unknown to me.

This image is from a 1970 USA Samsonite LEGO Retailer Catalog.... and shows the spare parts packs that were available from USA retailers as countertop displays....

No, the C brick are just a valuable as any other ones. I just got an EMAIL from my Dutch friend Maxx3001... who stated that although the clutch power of C was used (A thru D tested clutch power).... the final brick used was known as 8F... which means the F brick with 8 "Fs" on the studs. I have to do some more research to find out what a 7 versus 8 stud brick difference is, as well as the use of F bricks (note there are no E bricks). With so much about LEGO sets/parts/accessories to study... I always left my European friends Maxx3001, Sven, Olaf and Arnoud to deal with the Bayer bricks. Also... there were some BASF test LEGO bricks as well. I don't know enough info about why there are BASF (Bädische Analin und Soda Fabrik) bricks. Their HQ is located in Ludwigshaven on the river Rhine not far from Heidelberg (I have visited their HQ in 1983). They are another chemical giant, as we all know... Oh... and there were some of these Cadmium laced bricks sold in USA/Canada... but only in the late 60s and early 70s. When the switch happened from CA to ABS in circa 1963, there was a LOT of red and yellow CA in the Samsonite inventory... so much so, that some late 1960s sets still have CA parts in red and yellow. This is why I hypothesize that (and this is only my own hypothesis, and not been confirmed) perhaps a cargo container of red and yellow CA pellets were shipped from Europe to Samsonite for use in USA/Canada Samsonite LEGO sets. The reason I think this is because for other brick colors, the switch in USA/Canada was very rapid, as it was in Europe. And also because some retired molds were likely shipped to the USA... where waffle bottom plates were produced as late as 1971, ditto for hollow bottom with cross support 1x6 and 1x8 bricks (retired in Europe by 1964). Notice in this 1972 Samsonite Retailer catalog image... the 1x8 bricks in the barrel organ are all old hollow bottom with cross support bricks...

Wait... are you saying that because of laws that the Chinese manufacturers always follow stringent guidelines? That they never put lead into other toys imported to the USA? That they've never tainted baby food for their own consumption, that they've never tained Heparin... a blood thinner? That all Chinese products are like German products... made to high quality??

Yes... the "C" bricks were the ones chosen. It had the right amount of "clutch" power that TLG was looking for among LEGO bricks. One amazing thing about this almost endless supply of colors is that in the 1962-65 era there were only 6 colors of LEGO bricks available... red, white, blue, yellow, clear and (starting in 1962) black. Gray and green were only available as baseplates and small plates (green small plates were only sold in USA/Canada). But when the switch to ABS plastic happened, there was an additional item that later became a problem. The red and yellow ABS bricks from the 1963-73 era were a darker color than the ABS LEGO bricks that came later. Apparently red and yellow were difficult colors to produce, and Bayer needed a heavy metal additive to produce steadfast color in those 2 colors. However, the heavy metal used was Cadmium... a toxic metal to humans. However the Cadmium in red and yellow ABS bricks would not leech out of the plastic, and was therefore considered safe for children at that time. But by the early 1970s TLG realized that LEGO bricks that made it to landfills (an appalling idea huh?) could at some point contaminate them. So in 1973 Bayer started producing a "Cadmium-free" red and yellow ABS plastic that was not quite as dark as the earlier bricks. So that ended that problem...

OK, just did some LEGO theme translations from German to English for a German LEGO collector, and as I'm sooooo nosy... I dug up some new dirt about LEGO.... It seems that all those old LEGO Bayer test strikes that show up in Germany are pretty much from one specific point in time. When TLG switched from Cellulose Acetate circa 1963, TLG had the Bayer chemical corporation do all the test work to find the new plastic... which ended up being ABS. Well this testing went on for quite some time until TLG was satisfied, and the result of all this testing was quite a large assortment of LEGO test bricks, in a wide array of colors, and a wide assortment of different "clutch power" of the bricks. Bricks that had "A", "B", "C", "D", "E" and "F" on the studs... and these identified the different types of tested clutch power, as well as a few other durability factors. By the time the final test was over in 1964, Bayer had quite a lot of test bricks at their Leverkusen HQ, near Cologne in NW Germany. Well, like TLG, Bayer never threw anything away... so at Christmas 1965 Bayer gave bagfuls of these beautiful test bricks to their employees at the Leverkusen HQ. So now decades after the 1965 giveaway, these Bayer test bricks still find their way to Flea Markets all around Cologne. And this is how the large colorful collections of Bayer test strikes found their way into European LEGO collections! Here are images from my Unofficial LEGO Sets Parts Collectors Guide - Chapter 49 - LEGO Bricks.... These bags of mixed Bayer bricks (not original bags) from my friend Maxx3001 in the Netherlands... Here are some of the Bayer test bricks from Maxx3001's collection.... And here are some Bayer test bricks from my German collector friend Olaf....

I just started another new LEGO DVD download chapter... this is only a few days old... and has no text yet. Lots of LEGO Retailer custom order items for LEGO stores. 60 years of LEGO retailers.... By the time I'm done with this chapter, it will be at least 30 pages long.... http://www.youblishe...-Store-Chapter/ Also... all new future updates are free for current owners.... Here's a 1958 LEGO retailer image...

All of the regular Canadian basic and model sets have the same parts count as USA or European sets, whichever is an applicable comparison. However when you compare exact price sets, such as 1960s spare parts packs, which are 50 cents in USA and in Canada, then you find piece count differences. Here are the spare parts packs available in the 1960s in the USA, along with their parts count... And here is the Canadian list of spare parts packs... almost always with a lower part count... Most all other LEGO sets of USA/Canada are part count based (such as a model set)... and would always have the same parts count. But besides spare parts packs... this Kraft $1.00 promotional set is another one that has this part count difference. I've checked over 100 other LEGO sets common to both USA and Canada, and they contain the same parts... although the packaging will vary.

Nice work Jodawill... but when it comes to building fancy LEGO furniture... Eric Harshbarger, a LEGO acquaintance, is hard to top. This is one of his LEGO masterpieces is this Grandfather clock, standing next to him... So when you're building digital... think big!!

Here's one that was purchased by a Dutch seller from a UK Toy Shop... the glued display model from the mid 1960s was a combination of ABS and CA parts. As is the case with all the white waffle bottom and early circle bottom large plates, they were made of a different much duller plastic. This can be seen in the 2x8 white plates used as railroad ties during the blue train track era (1966-79)... not ABS, not CA, but a different plastic that also had a tendency to yellow.

One of my German LEGO acquaintances, Olaf from Germany, came across what he said were Modulex cufflinks. Since he posted these on Flickr... I've been mulling it over on whether these "diminutive" brick 1960s cufflinks were actually representative of Modulex... or whether they were just smaller sized 2x4 LEGO bricks... since a full sized 2x4 LEGO brick would be too large for cufflinks...