LEGO Historian

Thanks for sharing that Blondie-Wan!! That is so 1960s Deja Vu!! USA Samsonite LEGO was NOTORIOUS for doing just that. Many of the Samsonite LEGO parts from back then appear to have taken worn molds, and had the logos "re-punched" into them... but taken no care at which angle that the re-punch was done at!! What made that even more unusual was that Samsonite had it's own "open O" stud LEGO logo used on parts... while TLG Denmark had a variation on the new modern stud LEGO logo (still in production today in a slightly different way). So there were all sorts of different possibilities... most of which made the parts look like factory seconds....

Not all LEGO discoveries are ancient (well relative to my age... ).... just today came across ANOTHER newer new discovery... again from Norway!! It seems that back in 1987 there was a boardgame that seemed to be an "Australia Only" game with a unique baseplate... http://www.bricklink...em.asp?S=1575-2 Well my friend Lothar from Germany (my friend who loves digging around Norway LEGO)... just found this from Norway... this same game... but without the basic set parts... and only the box for the game and parts... AND..... no set number?? My guess would be that this was intended as a test run in Norway to see if this would be popular.... it likely wasn't popular... and TLG had leftover unique baseplates (or the mold)... so they shipped the extras to British LEGO Ltd. (Wrexham Wales) who sent them packing to Australia as bonus parts in an Australian 1575 Basic Set. I just got this today.... hot off the press!!! And ready for my next DVD download version that keeps getting delayed with wonderful new additions like this!! ********************************************************************************* Update.... OK... now it looks like it may not be Norwegian after all... just purchased from Norway. The box top has this in small letters.... " 146780-DK/S/SF ". This designates the countries that this was sold in as.... Denmark, Sweden and Finland. Looking at the box top picture, it does indeed appear to match those countries (note the Finnish language is very much different from all other European languages). The instructions sheet may have been local to the country sold (3 different sheets). So this was produced for part of the Scandinavian market, and likely soon retired.... with leftovers ending up in Australia.

Another one of my friend Jeroen's 1:87 vehicle diarama's that he's produced... this one is on a 1960s Town Plan board (#200) with instead of VW vehicles... here we have a pair of 1:87 Mercedes cars. One is a Mercedes 220S, and the other is a Mercedes 190SL convertible... standing in front of a "Theater" made using classic LEGO windows and doors, and a 1950s style printed brick (in script).... One of the interesting thing in this image is that it shows the roof bricks with different textures. During the 1970s and early 1980s the sloped roof texture was much coarser than it was in the 1960s and today. Also, these are 1955-60 style LEGO trees/bushes. These proved to be too fragile for the heavy playwear of LEGO children, and in 1960 they were remodeled to a sturdier thicker design. The LEGO Elm tree on the left was especially fragile, and in 1960 it was replaced by a sturdier Oak tree. However one piece of irony is that photographic images of these trees/bushes can be found in LEGO ideas books well into the 1960s... and the LEGO artwork showing the trees can be found in LEGO catalogs as late as 1975. TLG was very peculiar in such regards... reusing old design artwork and images well beyond their actual use. It's one of the things that make LEGO catalogs of the 1955-75 era so confusing or misleading. More images for my LEGO DVD download updated version....

Well with all those LEGO Showrooms in the 307/1307 variations (LEGO SALG, LEGO VERKAUF, LEGO MYYNTI, LEGO DEALER, etc)... my friend Jeroen in the Netherlands came up with an updated (50 years later) VW Showroom.... There's probably about 4000+ EUROs ($5000) worth of 1:87 LEGO vehicles shown here... with one very special VW Bus.... the green Kastner & Öhler VW Bus (#258).... a very very rare promotional bus made for the largest department store in Graz, Austria's 2nd largest city. This bus was made in the early to mid 1960s, and is very highly collectible on the secondary market by LEGO 1:87 cast car collectors... going for over 1200 EUROs.... This is one of about a dozen very rare European specific labeled LEGO VW Vans and Buses... that go from 300-1500 EUROs. Kastner & Öhler is not only Graz Austria's largest department store... but it is a very elegant and unique building. Here is a quick video on the store... and if you watch closely... you will see a box of LEGO in this video.... http://www.behance.n...-Ohler/11354551 I also love the British LEGO Ltd. version of LEGO 1962-72 Street Lights. From 1962-65 they were spray painted silver, as seen in these examples. From 1966-72 they were just made of gray plastic. The rest of the world had the silver spray painted lattice type mast (had that "Eiffel Tower" look)... and were only produced until 1967. LEGO 1:87 cars are discussed in my largest (65 pages) chapter on the very valuable and collectible car/truck 1:87 Town Plan series of vehicles in my Unofficial LEGO Sets/Parts Collectors Guide on DVD/download.... but it's cars like this promotional one that is discussed in my chapter on Promotional LEGO sets, and others are mentioned in my chapter on Prototype Sets/Parts.

Your most welcome 4everLego.... I've spent about half a century collecting LEGO... and have always loved sharing my collector knowledge! Nobody.... there are a few things that keep me from turning this all into a book.... 1) 3000 page book is cumbersome.... hehehe.... 2) the moment I have it printed it becomes already obsolete... because one of the dozens of LEGO friends from around the world (mainly Europe).... finds something else that they don't know about in the LEGO Archives in Billund... and I have to add it to the next version. By keeping it a DVD download several things happen.... 1) it becomes a living/growing document that will be free to current owners that already have this on their Computer desktop (PC or Mac) or I-pod, or I-phone... 2) I can keep expanding it whenever more items are available at no cost to those who already have it.... 3) the one time purchase price is about only 40% of what a one time book would cost.

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.

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...

Hey heymikep.... I have several old time collector friends that might very well be interested in your LEGO items... especially the 1:87 LEGO cars.... I'll send you a Private message tomorrow... Since you're new here... Private messages send a confirmation to your personal EMAIL ID, and you click on the link to take you to the message in Eurobricks.

It's the closest description I could come up with that describes a brick that you cannot see thru... but yet when held up to the light.... light passes thru it...

Blondie-Wan.... you must be psychic!! http://www.ns.umich.edu/new/releases/21645-newly-unearthed-ruins-challenge-views-of-early-romans

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

No offense taken dcastdeclan... I haven't yet gotten another image from the owner of this beauty of a brick... when I do I shall post it here.

Hehehe.... OK Erland, you think I'm dreaming... in a fantasy world... guess again... http://www.brickwiki...wiki/Gary_Istok I've been a LEGO collector for nearly 54 years... and have written a 2800 page Unofficial LEGO Sets/Parts Collectors Guide (1949-1990s)... with another massive collectors guide for the years 1990s-Present in the works... I don't have time right now to give other credentials right now... but I am in monthly contact with the LEGO Archive/Collections. Kirsten Stadelhofer, the manager, is my contact there...and we discuss rare and current LEGO items monthly. Whether it's the Cellulose Acetate, Polystyrene, ABS, or even Bakelite..... I do know a lot about LEGO... Whether it's the first 24 colors that LEGO came in in Cellulose Acetate from 1949-56.... The 4 major LEGO font styles.... (with the new font found in nearly a dozen variations) The Bakelinte LEGO Automatic Binding Bricks made by Geas Konstharts of Gislaved Sweden from 1950-53.... of which TLG has no record of these... The different types of trans-clear Cellulose Acetate and Polycarbonate plastic used over the last 50 years... Whether it's the test bricks of Bayer Corporation... The test bricks of Bädische Analin und Soda Fabrik (BASF).... Or bricks in colors people have never even seen before... Or different 2x4 brick molds... here's only 17... but i'm up to 42 already.... So with 54 years of collecting and 3/4 million bricks and 7 years of research.... I do know quite a bit about LEGO... So no... I am not in a fantasy world when I say that quality has suffered. LEGO colorization has suffered since Bayer stopped pre-mixing the color pellets for TLG (anyone who has the original Harry Potter Knight Bus will attest to that).. And then there's the minifigs made in China.... But I do know that LEGO production quality has suffered somewhat... maybe not the molding... but at least the brick handling processes... especially after seeing some of these damaged bricks. From 1973-2003 total quality has remained constant. Before 1973 USA Samsonite LEGO quality was awful... almost factory seconds. And in continental Europe quality got better in 1958 with the new tube bottom bricks... it got better in 1962-63 with Cellulose Acetate replacing ABS plastic (although in the USA some Cellulose Acetate was found until 1970). Also in 1973 when TLG removed the cadmium from red and yellow bricks... quality remained the same... but the red and yellow colors got brighter. But I never remember hearing as many complaints about LEGO back in the late 1990s and early 2000s, as I do today. So somethings need fixing... I may not be able to identify the problem... but there is a problem. Gary Istok

I keep all my older parts (several hundred thousand, 1990s and before) segregated from the newer LEGO... and I have to say that NONE of my older LEGO has ever had this type of damage found here. Yes the "Y" markings are found even in older LEGO... but color issues and damaged parts are something that is generally unknown to unused older LEGO elements. Of the 1/4 million parts that I have prior to the new millenium... only about 5 have any noticeable issues... 3 of which were insufficient plastic in the mold to form a complete piece.

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

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!! 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)....

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. 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! And starting in late 1958 this box design replaced all the local language boxes... In 1959 TLG established an in-house photography department... and several other box styles joined this box type into production throughout continental Europe.

The USA/Canada (1961-65) Town Plan Set 725 has this one image as the set instructions.... Back in the 1960s LEGO sets didn't have the "one level at a time" instructions... you really had to use your wits to build models....

The recent Bricklink Forum discussion mentions that it is gone worldwide...

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.... Or at the same fair... with him holding up his (his 1960 image) 1961-67 continental European 200 Town Plan board... ... or him holding up the (his 1961 image) 1962-67 Britain/Ireland/Australia version of the 810 Town Plan Set.....

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... 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... )....

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".... 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.....

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.... 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.... 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.... 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.... 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)... 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... 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... 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... 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. 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.

Two more unique color trans Bayer test bricks... from my Dutch friend Maxx... Trans-clear light blue... and Trans-opaque light blue...

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.... 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. And the inside of the box top... there were the rather sparse instructions, and building techniques and ideas.... 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! 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... Here's the Esso Oil Drop Man found on a select few LEGO product boxes... 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.