LEGO Historian

Here in the 1962 Australia LEGO catalog we see for the first time the new UK style Town Plan Set 810, as well as a 700K wooden box set with the same box top design.... Here is the UK/Ireland/Australia 810 Town Plan set (right) as compared to the set sold in continental Europe and Japan (left)...

Thanks 1974... I love to use the International ASCII table of special characters.... and lately I've taken to using them "in excess"!!! üäößáøàéëæå...... My favorite one so far is a small Hungarian town.... Hódmezövásárhelykutasipuszta .....

1974... it must be nice to be Danish... and live in Jutland!! It is funny how some rare parts are very collectible and high priced... and others are not. I guess if you have a part that is rare AND is in a known popular LEGO set (such as those blue arches from the Modular set)... then they command even more premium prices. I once owned over 200 of the Maersk blue 1x1 round bricks... which I paid 25 cents each for (a bargain!). These were never found in any set... and they all originated from the Windsor England model shop. I needed them to produce the 10 REGINA MAERSK (1954) model ships I was selling a few years ago. The folks who live near Billund are the luckiest of all!! Back in the 1950s and 1960s factory second printed bricks and marbled bricks were sold to factory employees for "øre on the krøne" (pennies on the dollar)... and today these are highly prized by collectors! I wonder what other rare collectibles are still out there to be found! I have seen the circa 1990 castle Monarch's Ghost in 8 different colors... those must be worth quite a bit today as well!

Alois... a bigger problem in the past has not been the language naming for Dutch speaking Belgians... but the name for the Netherlands... even TLG was using the incorrect nomenclature for this.... HOLLAND.... This was the 4 sides of LEGO boxes of 1957-61. The name "Holland" of course only covers the name of 2 provinces of the Netherlands (North and South Holland)... while ignoring the other 10 provinces.

Well the Californian analogy is not quite accurate, since no one uses that. However the use of "FLEMISH" is commonly used in English speaking countries as seen here.... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgium http://www.thefreedi...ary.com/Flemish As someone born in Germany, and who can speak 3 dialects of German (High German, Franconian and Swabian)... I know exactly about the different dialects that are found in many European languages... the difference between the German spoken in Austria and Switzerland is quite different from that of the many dialects spoken in Germany... and likely even a greater difference than the difference between the Dutch spoken in different parts of the Netherlands and that of Flanders. But outside of the Netherlands and Belgium... the Dutch language dialect spoken in Flanders... is known as "Flemish"... to describe it as a dialect spoken in Flanders, whose written form is identical to Dutch, and whose spoken form is very nearly identical. I have no quarrel with that. I just am using the nomenclature that has been used for decades (or centuries) by English speakers everywhere.

One of the earliest British LEGO Ads (1962) shows something that we've seen a lot of lately.... THE PALACE CINEMA.... This is the old version of the modern remake! Another interesting image is this 1962 USA Samsonite LEGO advertisement in the Saturday Evening Post... And here's an ad that was mis-identified as Dutch... it is however (I believe) Norwegian.... 1962... ... and if I'm wrong... someone will correct me!! These images in my newly expanded LEGO DVD download chapter on LEGO Advertising....

Some folks do appear to have an "inside connection"... but Bricklink sellers would NEVER divulge their source... it may get them (source) into trouble or worse... the Bricklink seller would lose their source of rare parts. When I say inside connection... it could be something as simple as LEGO store PAB employees who are savvy enough to know what is really rare... and save those rare parts for their seller friend. Or it could be someone connected with model shops... or as someone has stated "dumpster diving" at a LEGO factory... although TLG rarely throws out parts... unless they are totally useless. Although there is the tragic story of LEGO Australia who (in the late 1990s) threw away 3 dumpsters full of old LEGO inventory that was used as replace parts inventory, that were missing from customer sets.... a truly disturbing story.... About 2 years ago I remember one European Bricklink seller selling (with one buyer buying the lot) of 100 black 1x2x2 classic windows... only ever sold in a few early 1980s train sets. These were 7727, 7730, 7750 and 7810 sets. These windows would likely sell for $25-$50 today... one buyer got all 100 for $1000. These parts could only have been either from model shop old inventory, or a LEGO replacement service company mail order location.

From my longtime Swedish LEGO friend Tore Eriksson... Swedish LEGO Ads of the 1960s and 1970s... 1960 Swedish Ad.... LEGO Idea Book 238.... 1960 Swedish Ad... LEGO spare parts packs.... 1962 Swedish Ad ad for new items... LEGO Wheels LEGO 1:87 Cars and LEGO Hobby Sets... 1968 Swedish Ad.... LEGO Train Ferry Set 343... 1971 Swedish Ad... LEGO Town vehicles... 1973 Swedish LEGO Ad.... LEGO Homemaker sets.. new 1973 sets.... 1979 Swedish Ad... new LEGO Space System sets... These ad will be in the new version of the LEGO DVD download.

One of the most beautiful basic sets ever produced was the Britain/Ireland/Australia ONLY 600/1 Basic Set of 1962-65. Back in the 1960s the predominant LEGO colors were red and white. So what to do with all of those blue and yellow bricks being churned out by British LEGO Ltd. in Wrexham Wales? Well one answer was this 600/1 set. All the basic sets in the first half of the 1960s had a box with blue accent colors (and red/white bricks)... so British LEGO Ltd., created a somewhat different set to highlight the different part colors...

And here's a 5 piece 1958 Belgian 235 Garage Pack (with garage baseplate, garage door, 2 counterweights and doorframe)... as a bilingual set with different languages on front and back... The (Walloon) French side... The (Flemish) Dutch side...

Thanks Rob! Adam Reed Tucker, the LEGO Architect, got his download, and replied to me that the first time he looked at it, he just wanted to browse thru it and see what's in it (2800 pages, with over 6000 images) without reading the details... he said a "quick browse"... lasted 6 hours!! heheheh....

Well Alois, I have to differentiate between the Belgian Dutch (Flemish) and Netherlands Dutch dialects that TLG themselves have given to some of their products... in both versions. The 1959-61 Cellidor (Cellulose Acetate) brochure that TLG released in 10 languages on 1 leaflet... shows both Belgium Dutch and Netherlands Dutch versions (not sure which is which?)... And the 238 Idea Booklet (1960-63 for the early version)... comes in a Dutch version for the Netherlands... and a Flemish Dutch version for Belgium (as well as French version for Belgium). Here is 1 page of that Idea Booklet... Belgium version... Netherlands version.... So TLG forces me to differentiate between the Dutch Dutch... and the Belgian Dutch (Flemish).... Images from my LEGO DVD download.

The other early LEGO parts that were produced by British LEGO Ltd. were many of these parts... In 1966 TLG switched LEGO flag production from smooth base to tapered base, as seen in this wavy flag of Australia (image upper left). This was the first year that Australia had its' own flag. The flags with tapered base were different for continental Europe that they were for Britain/Ireland/Australia. Those produced by British LEGO stating in 1966 had a smooth top, while those produced elsewhere continued to have a rounded top (comparison, image lower middle). Starting in 1973 (until 1980) the 939 Accessories pack with 6 straight flags 2 sticker sheets with 6 flags, LEGO trees, and the new tall road signs. In Britain, Ireland and Australia this 939 pack contained a 3rd smaller sticker sheet that contained the flags of Ireland and Australia. This 3rd sheet (image middle right) was not found elsewhere. Also British LEGO created their own design for the Esso Station pumps and standing sign. From 1960-62 British LEGO sold the Denmark made continental European version with the 2 red poles on either end of the pumps, and the cross shaped sign. Starting in 1962 British LEGO made a different set of gas pumps with a central white light, and 3 outer gas pums. The new to 1962 British LEGO Esso sign had a curved top pole. These were made from 1962-65. From 1965 to 1967 British LEGO switched back to the continental type of Esso sign/pumps. The reason for this has not been fully explained. However since Esso was being retired in continental Europe at the end of 1965 (in favor of the newe Shell Station), TLG may have shipped British LEGO a large part of their remaining inventory of Esso parts, thus rendering no further need to produce the British version. By 1967 the Esso Station was retired in Britain as well (last found in the UK 810 Town Plan Set). Also starting back in 1962 was new UK style street lights. Those of continental Europe, USA and Canada were of the silver girder style. Those of Britain, Ireland and Australia were of a UK style that also had a silver painted finish. Starting in 1966 these street lights were no longer painted, but came in a gray unpainted plastic instead (image lower right). And finally the Esso Service Station was discontinued as a standalone 310 set in 1966, and in the Town Plan 810 set in 1967. But by 1965 (for whatever reason)... British LEGO started producing the curved right and left 4x8 plates (by this time they were circle bottom) with a double "notched" base (similar to macaroni bricks). These unique notched 4x8 curved plates were only produced by British LEGO, and were finally discontinued by 1967 (as they were elsewhere when the Esso Service set was discontinued). This image (lower left) shows this rare British LEGO version. All of these parts and their story are covered in my LEGO DVD chapters on LEGO Gas Station & Garage parts, and Town Plan parts and accessories.

From 1960-62 Britain/Ireland probably did not sell LEGO road signs. The 1960 and 1961 UK LEGO catalogs show them, but says "Coming Shortly". Here is an image of the 1961 UK catalog showing that... Then in 1962 when the Wrexham Wales plant went online, and Australia started sales.... they produced the first British LEGO type road signs, along with this box below. There are 2 things wrong with this box image below... the road signs are not the new UK type... but the old continental European type. Also... they show black stripes. No LEGO road signs (continental European or UK) ever had black stripes. So this was another error. Well for whatever reason... this box was with the 232 number was what the UK road signs came in from 1962-65. Finally from 1966-72 the correct road signs were shown in the 432 UK style box seen in the first post.

Brickfactory and Peeron... although Peeron has been on life supports for some time now... I'm not even sure they still keep up their catalog pages with new ones... But those are not PDFs... just image (page) downloads.... But I can see why you'd want a PDF... modern catalogs are pretty lengthy...

Here's a Belgian 261 Spare Parts Set taken apart. Since Belgium is bilingual Flemish/French... the printed brick only has the VW emblem on it.... (Image from Looris of Switzerland) Here's a closeup of the brochure that came with this small pack. This is a Dutch (left) and Danish (right) example... (Image belongs to Jeroen of Netherlands.)

Agreed... also with mid year releases, catalogs now become too dated too quickly. I remember how the years 1964-66 were strange years for LEGO catalogs in Europe. There were 3 catalogs in 2 years... 1) a Jan. 1964 to Oct. 1964 catalog, 2) a Nov. 1964 to Apr. 1965 catalog, and 3) a May 1965 to Dec. 1965 catalog. Then when 1966 started up again... there was a later version of the 1966 catalog that had LEGO trains and motors.

I guess LEGO catalogs became a victim of TLGs success. All sets since day 1 in 1949 had catalogs (except for some reason there was never a 1953 LEGO catalog produced... just a 4 page idea booklet that came with the sets). Early catalogs were just 1 sheet of paper... with info on the front and back... and it wasn't until 1964-65 that catalogs started getting bigger. By 1967 they were 16 pages. In the 1970s all sets came with at least a mini or medium sized catalog, and larger sets had the full sized ones, sometimes folded in half, other times not. By the 1980s even larger sets may have had only a medium sized catalog... as LEGO catalogs became much more voluminous, as well as more costly to print. ... and today we don't see full sized catalogs or even medium sized catalogs, except from the LEGO retailer. I know that there were some exceptions with some sets, with TLG there always are! But with the advent of the internet and online LEGO Shop at Home... I guess the need for LEGO catalogs isn't as great as it once was...

When Godtfred Kirk Christiansen was on one of his famous North Sea/Baltic Sea ferry boat rides in the 1950s (where he got the idea for the now famous LEGO System of Play), he met an executive from British textile/chemical manufacturer Courtauld's Co. It was via this chance encounter that TLG started the first LEGO sales in Britain and Ireland in 1960 via a license to the Courtauld's Co. (similar to the Samsonite Corp. getting the USA/Canada license). Courtauld's had exclusive license to produce LEGO for Britain and Ireland starting that year... under the name British LEGO Ltd., and until they had their Wrexham Wales Courtauld's plant set up (by 1962)... all LEGO sold in Britain and Ireland was imported from Denmark. In fact the set and parts pack boxes would have "Made in Denmark" printed in small letters on the early boxes. In 1962 the Wrexham plant was up and running, and that year was also when the first LEGO sales in Australia started. The sets for Australia were all imported from Britain. The Courtauld's group kept the LEGO license until TLG bought it back from Courtauld's in 1992-93. By then TLG was a major toymaker, and easily able to handle the additional strains of production for Britain, Ireland and Australia. Whether or not this "buy back" was friendly or not, is unknown. The USA buyback of the LEGO license from Samsonite was unfriendly, and required a court challenge (1970-72), while the Canada Samsonite license buyback (1985) was friendly (well as friendly as possible since a Wall Street brokerage firm had bought the parent company). Anyway... British LEGO Ltd. had made some very interesting and unique LEGO sets and parts during the 23 years they had the LEGO license. Here is an example... British LEGO produced their own version of LEGO road signs from 1962-72... Image (from my German LEGO collector friend Lothar)... in my LEGO DVD/download. There is an additional (20th) road sign not shown here... the left pointing blue arrow sign. of the other 19 signs, 4 are unique to British LEGO... the "30" speed limit sign (only produced in a later Weetabix set as a stickered sign), the "T" sign, the roundabout sign, and the "M1 Motorway" sign. Gary Istok

So far I've been showing the model set boxes from the 1950s (except for the 261 parts pack, which dates to 1957-62). In 1960 all the box designs were remodeled using a box top photograph, instead of the artwork images. Here is the 1960-64 307 Showroom Set, which continues the tradition of showing "LEGO" on the box top (although the VW is now missing)... but the printed brick inside still continues the tradition of using the local language name. In this instance it is in German, so this box is from either Germany or Austria... (Image from my Belgian LEGO collector friend Rohnny). The 307 set was discontinued in the early 1960s. In some countries it was discontinued by 1963, in others by 1965. The 307/1307 sets were never sold in USA or Canada.

The 307/1307 set and 261 parts pack printed brick... VW SALG VW was Denmark/Norway VW FORSALJNING was Sweden VW VERKAUF was Germany/Austria VW DEALER was Netherlands/UK/Ireland/Australia VW VW VW was for Belgium/Switzerland

This image (from my Dutch LEGO collector friend Jeroen) shows 3 of the 261 spare parts sets for the 307/1307 VW Showroom Set. This consists of a 4x8 waffle bottom plate, a 1x8 VW printed brick (in the local language), a (260) 1:87 VW Beetle, and the (usually warped Cellulose Acetate) 3x8x3 Showroom window "box". The #261 Spare Parts Set for Germany... This spare parts set was first introduced in November 1957 as #1261 in Denmark, Norway and Sweden, and #261 elsewhere. However... the banderole paper band around the 4 LEGO parts... which tells us in the local language what this is.. never mentions a 261/1261 number on the band. So there is no way to ever distinguish a 261 from a 1261 pack!! The 261 in the foreground is in Dutch, and has a 1x8 "VW DEALER" printed brick. The two 261 sets in the background are in Danish, and have 1x8 "VW SALG VW" printed bricks. This same brick was sold in Norwegian 261/1261 sets. The 260 1:87 VW Beetle car can come in one of over 25 different colors/shades in the 261 set (ditto for the 2 car models found in the 307/1307 set).

The 1307 VW Showroom set instructions for Denmark/Norway.... The 1307 VW Showroom set instructions for Sweden.... These instructions (inside of the box top) match the printed brick on the box top. There is a 1307 also for Germany... with VW VERKAUF. I just got these instructions today from my German collector friend Lothar. Here we see the unique Showroom window box. These are found in the 307/1307 VW Showroom sets and also the 261 VW Showroom parts pack. These are always made of Cellulose Acetate, and are notorious for always warping... and becoming almost unusable in a build. The 1307 set was introduced in 1957 in Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Germany. By 1958 TLG decided it was a bad idea to have individual boxes for each country/language... so they switched over to the 307 box (same box top design)... with a simple "VW LEGO" showing on the box top building artwork... with the printed bricks of the particular country being in the local language inside the box... or (in the case of multi-lingual Belgium and Switzlerland) using the universal "VW VW VW" brick!

Thanks for your LEGO DVD/download order Rob! Some of the parts shown here won't be ready until the next version of the download... which should have been done by now... but as ALWAYS the case... when I'm ready to complete something... a whole lot of new (old stuff) comes flooding in... I just got a whole lot of rare items from Norway and Sweden to add... as well as some very interesting info on LEGO by British LEGO Ltd. (1960-92), a Courtauld's subsidiary licensee of LEGO. Also working on updating all my chapters with LEGO information from Asia. But when that version is ready, you'll be getting another free download (on into perpetuity...). I have some of the trans-clear larger parts (1x6x3 windscreens, 2x2x2 slopes)... that all have a milkier color than the very crisp trans-clear modern LEGO parts. Apparently the additives they used in the 1980s era made for a milkier look to the trans Polycarbonate parts than they do today. Rob, your DVD/download should be on its' way in a few minutes! You can download it to your Mac or PC, I-Phone and I-Pad (all of these if you wish!). Merci! Free resends if you have virus issues or a new PC!

dvsntt... if only I knew the answer to your last question?? I would have had one by now... From time to time some of the model shops require parts that we don't see anywhere else. I'm assuming that's the case for this Japan only (so far) 4x10 trans-clear brick. I have noticed from time to time other parts show up in a single location... such as the 1x1 round bricks in Maersk blue all originated from the Windsor England LEGOLAND model shop. What I don't yet fully understand is the fact that the number of some parts produced for the model shops... the production run for those must be quite small. This would therefore be quite costly for TLG to produce in their factories in Billund, Czech Republic, Mexico and China.... since they're always telling us that anything under 100,000 parts for a particular production run... is simply not worth the trouble... Also, there are some LEGO parts produced in LEGO sets over the last 64 years that were only produced for or by specific countries. The 2x8 and 2x10 bricks above are an example (USA only). And then of course there are the test runs... I wish TLG would produce more test run parts for release to the collectors. But that doesn't appear on the horizon. Here's another image of some modern parts released from the last year. Unfortunately I wish that TLG would release some of these in greater quantity (these may likely be model shop surplus)... because some of these go for quite a bit of money on the secondary market... somebody is making a killing.... Also there's a chapter in my DVD/download that is strictly LEGO parts only produced for specific counries... (over 100 parts listed). One example would be this 1x6x5 window frame... only sold in the USA in yellow (1982-83) in the 5235 Schoolroom Homemaker Set, and in gray in 2 Maersk Truck sets... $$$ http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=3761 Gary Istok