LEGO Historian

Selling for only $42-$80 (16 available) on Bricklink... I don't think this is as rare as this guy would like to think....

Joe, Ole Kirk Christiansen's 4 sons took over after he died in 1958. His younger son Godtfred became the Senior Director in his place, while the other 3 sons continued running different parts of the business. On Feb. 4, 1960, a momentous occurrence happened. The wooden toy factory/warehouse burned down. Godtfred's decision to concentrate on plastic toys and not rebuild the wooden toys factory did not sit well with Karl George, Gerhard, and Johannes. So by 1963 Godtfred Kirk had bought them all out, and became sole owner of TLG. Two of the other brothers went off to start a Bilotoy and Bilofix wooden toy company. However... after a few years this folded. And today only the Godtfred Kirk descendents are Billionaires. Here is a picture of Godtfred Kirk's family, from a 1962 German magazine article.... Godtfred Kirk's wife and 3 children... Gunhild (the older sister of KKK), Kjeld, and Hanne (the younger sister of KKK). In 1969 Hanne died in a tragic automobile accident near Billund, where Kjeld was severely injured as well. Godtfred Kirk nearly sold the company within a year of this tragedy, but then kept on. Godtfred Kirk died in 1995 at age 74. His widon Edith is still alive (she must be near 90 by now), as are his elder daughter Gunhild Kirk Johansen, and Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen... who together own Kirkbi A/G, the holding company that owns the LEGO patents and TLG. Kjeld has transfered some of his holdings to his 3 children. Together the family owns over $3 billion in assets. Among Kjelds holdings include a 50,000 acre horse farm in Scotland, and vast oil and natural gas leases in Russia. Gary Istok

Have you evern wondered where some old parts that you may have gotten at a flea market or garage sale... or your uncles old LEGO collection... where they were originally sold from? Until the 1970s, there were a lot of parts that were not sold in all regions. And some parts were only sold in one country.

Yes it does... TLG always had exceptions to just about any rule you try to use to make sense of LEGO set numbers... they try to drive us mad.... and have succeeded!

As I mentioned on my first post on this thread... if it's a "known" exclusive, such as the Weetabix, Danone, Air Canada, Tine Milk, Crest, Pepsi or any other company, then we know the reason... otherwise I don't think even TLG knows why. When the folks who created the Fantasia book collectors guide (English/German)... they asked TLG Archives where these special sets originated. And they were not given an answer either. So it's just one of those mysteries that we'll never get an answer to. Also... of the 22 Space System sets I have in my list... only 6 are listed in the Brickset "Special" category.

Carrera124.... the 1xxx set numbers were not used for Town or Space or Castle... but that number range was used for "Special" sets of all LEGO System types. For example... here is a list of the "Special" Space system sets produced by TLG, what (if any) multipacks they came it, and where sold. Since this info is a table, it likely won't line up very well but be left justified... #1478 M-Tron Mobile Satellite Up-Link (in #1476) 1991 USA #1498 Spy Bot Set (in #1510) 1987 USA #1499 Twin Starfire Set (in #1510) 1987 USA #1507 2 Set Value Pack (#1557, #1558) 1986 ALL but AS #1510 2 Set Value Pack (#1498, #1499) 1987 USA #1530 2 Set Value Pack (#6808, #6848) 1988 USA #1557 Space Scooter Set (in #1507) 1986 ALL but AS #1558 Mobile Command Trailer (in #1507) 1986 ALL but AS #1580 Lunar Scout Set 1986 USA #1593 Delta Spacecraft Set (Persil) 1983 EU/UK #1616 Futuron 2 Set Value Pack (#1620, #1621) 1989 ALL #1620 Futuron Astro Dart Set (in #1616) 1989 USA #1621 Futuron Lunar MPV Vehicle Set (in #1616) 1989 USA #1675 3 Set Pack (Only 1875 is Space) 1990 USA #1682 Space Shuttle Set 1990 USA #1875 Blacktron Meteor Monitor Set (in #1675) 1990 USA #1968 Space Express Set (Can/Ger) 1985 EU/CAN #1969 3 Set Pack (#6825, #6847, #6848) 1985 USA #1974* Futuron Star Quest Set (in #1974 3 Pack) 1989 USA #1977 3 Set Pack (#6801, #6822, #6823) 1983 USA/CAN #1983 3 Set Pack (#886, #889, #6824) 1984 USA/CAN #1999 3 Set Pack (#6807, #6822, #6823) 1985 ALL This info is from a table in my LEGO DVD/download... Chapter 30 - LEGO Classic Space (1980-90). Gary Istok

Yes TLG did buy the Kiddicraft PATENTS... years after Kiddicraft closed shop. Kiddicraft was losing money, and founder Hilary Page commited suicide in 1957. Many decades later during the Megabloks patent infringement trial, Hilary Page's widow said that Hilary died in 1957 not knowing that TLG had used their designs.

Exactly Joe!! In 1947 Hilary Page of England started making Kiddiecraft Bricks... which TLG created their own verision of. The same exact bricks (only 2x2 and 2x4) and early doors/windows. What makes it even more blatant... is that TLG created the same exact spare parts packs using the same box design. No wonder they didn't use the "LEGO" name on their product or boxes until 1953.... a name by the way... of which they were extremely proud to put onto their other wood and plastic toys.. By 1954 TLG no longer resembled Kiddicraft (with the introduction of additional bricks (1x2, 2x3, 2x8, 2x10)... and a new set of windows. One thing about having just 2 sizes of bricks (2x2, 2x4)... means that you can produce them in 2 dozen colors (and to think we had to endure decades of mainly red-white-blue-yellow bricks after the early 1950s...

I just put a copy of my LEGO DVD chapter on the earliest Automatic Binding Bricks (LEGO) sets/parts of 1949-54... onto Youblish... http://www.youblisher.com/p/600446-LEGO-DVD-Download-Chapter-2-Automatic-Binding-Bricks-PRIMA/ I take LEGO back to DAY 1... something that the TLG Archives are still very sparse on information for. Here is a 1952-53 700/5 basic set. There is only 1 known of this set so far... this one... in the TLG Collections in Billund. LEGO Archive image... There were 4 types of the earliest LEGO sets... 1) 1949-53 Automatic Binding Bricks - Denmark. - TLG. 2) 1950-51 Automatic Binding Bricks - Sweden - Geas Konstharts licensee. 3) 1953-54 Automatic Binding Bricks - Norway - Svein Stromberg & Co. licensee. 4) 1954-55 PRIMA - Sweden - Svein Stromberg made sets for Sweden, but didn't use the LEGO name. Starting in 1953 in Denmark, and in 1955 in Norway and Sweden... the "LEGO Mursten" (LEGO Bricks in Scandinavian languages)... were sold with the LEGO name on the box. This early TLG box is a 700/3 and dates to 1949-50... note it has 2 wooden partitions in the box... Some folks may ask the question... why did TLG use the Automatic Binding Bricks name on their bricks for a few years? Likely answer is that they were worried about the Kiddicraft bricks (UK) that they copied... and that they might be sued... so they didn't use the "LEGO" name on the box for a few years. This may also explain why the LEGO Archives are so sparse on Early LEGO... can't subpena something that doesn't exist. Cheers, Gary Istok

Fugazi... I never did answer 2 of your questions... 1) that rose window is the North Rose of Chartres Cathedral in France. Chartres has the most complete medieval stained glass collection of any cathedral in the world. The other question you asked was about those 1950-69 street signs. They were all decals. Some early ones from 1955-57 were sticker type though.

Hi legotrainfan... you ask some very good questions... and I did some checking... but I've not found a lot of answers... The 1917 King's Catapult was part of a 3 pack special (3 packs in 1). The other sets are more mysterious. Sometimes TLG does release sets midyear... and they're not in catalogs. But must of what you've identified are 1xxx and 2xxx sets... and those number ranges are for special release sets. For some sets, a special is a particular retailer (such as a Target exclusive), others are for a particular product (the 1592 UK Weetabix Town Square... and the 1592 Dutch Unox Soup Town Square). But it's those that have no relationship to any exclusive.... those special sets that are hard to place. Sometimes it's just a way for TLG to get rid of specific parts... other times it's just a last minute whim. I wish I could answer more on this topic... but if TLG doesn't tell us (which they usually don't)... and if we can't find the specific reason... then it's just a "special set" for no reason that we can figure out. Sorry I can't get more specific.....

Back in the early days of LEGO (1950s, 1960s, 1970s)...TLG produced a lot of glued display models for retailers in Europe. TLG would provide retailers a catalog of models that came out each year for retailers to purchase for their display windows. One of the more popular of these catalogs was the 1959-60 "Blue" Retailer Display Catalog... as seen here... http://www.redshift.com/~shifflett/lego/blue_form/blue_form-Pages/Image0.html http://www.redshift.com/~shifflett/lego/blue_form/blue_form-Pages/Image1.html http://www.redshift.com/~shifflett/lego/blue_form/blue_form-Pages/Image2.html http://www.redshift.com/~shifflett/lego/blue_form/blue_form-Pages/Image3.html http://www.redshift.com/~shifflett/lego/blue_form/blue_form-Pages/Image4.html http://www.redshift.com/~shifflett/lego/blue_form/blue_form-Pages/Image5.html Here is an image of one of the other display items... a masonite 1960 Town Plan Board with all the models and cars/accessories glued onto the board (some of the buildings actually have screws bolting the building down to the board).... Another display item from1961 is this Cotswold Cottage model house.... Another item from a 1958 display catalog is this image of a Dutch strip mall... These display items are usually small and can be held by hand... but TLG also produced traveling exhibition display items that were much larger, such as this British LEGO Ltd. LEGO copy of the front of Englan's York Minster Cathedral.... All of these items are from my Unofficial Sets/Parts Collectors Guide DVD/download still available in Eurobricks Bazaar!

Very nice building! The earliest Chinese LEGO building ever built by TLG was the "Peking City Gate".... "Stadttor in Peking".... (back before the westernized name change back in the 1970s to Beijing).... http://www.redshift.com/~shifflett/lego/blue_form/blue_form-Pages/Image2.html This is from 1959-60 continental European Retailer Display Catalog in my Unofficial LEGO Sets/Parts Collectors Guide on DVD/download. Gary Istok

Welcome aboard John!! It might be more fun buildiing for you if you first "parted out" the large pile of bricks/parts into separate set groupings. There are 2 major sets of online LEGO databases that have an inventory of the parts for each set. They are Bricklink and Peeron. Here's Bricklinks Pirates page.... http://www.bricklink...=S&catString=61 Click on the set you want to build... click on the "View Inv" (view inventory) in the upper right of the set page... and you can work from this to separate parts for the particular set you want to build. That's much easier than going thru the instructions... and going thru the big box of parts for every step. By separating the parts first... you will make the building part more enjoyable and less tedious. Also, if you are missing a lot of parts to a specific set, you won't find out half way thru the build... you'll know in advance. Cheers!

Just found out from my Japanese friend Yoshihiro... that in Japan the LEGO licensee was... 1962-68 Asahi Corp. 1969-77 Fujisho Corp. And that in 1978 TLG took over LEGO sales there. 1978-91 Nihon LEGO K.K. (A sales subsidiary of LEGO A/S.) 1991-Present LEGO Japan Ltd. (A sales subsidiary of LEGO A/S.)

Hahahahah... no that's the 138 "Electronic Whistle" Train... a VERY pricey and collectible set from 1969. Even the whistle/electronic unit alone (in a MISB box)... has sold for up to $500!!

I just signed up for Youpublisher, and have put my Unofficial LEGO Sets/Parts Collectors Guide.... Chapter 73 - LEGO Sales By Country.... onto Youpublisher for all to see. Ever wanted to know when each LEGO country first started LEGO sales? The official LEGO Timeline on the LEGO.com website is a confusing muddle of information... since they mention first LEGO sales... and LEGO sales offices opening... apples and oranges... since the 2 items don't always happen the same year... and are sometimes several years apart. Here's a view of the last chapter (73) of my LEGO DVD/download that is still available on LEGO Bazaar as a handy 2,800 page desktop download... Lots of historic LEGO images shown here... http://www.youblishe...les-By-Country/

German born, and living most of my life in the USA... I was pretty much ambivolent about the change... but I did have empathy for the folks over in Europe. I was thinking to myself.... "why are they being so blatant about it with the American flag and all?" And then last week I posted a link to this forum on 1000steine, and the cut/paste of the link still said "Eurobricks"... so I was wondering... "what's up with that?" I was thinking did these Admins loose their marbles? lol.... I guess so.........

One other thing that is very interesting about Japan was the LEGO Train System. During the time (1970-78) that OLO was selling in Japan... regular LEGO was also for sale. The LEGO push and 4.5V trains were sold in Japan. But the 12V trains were not. 12V trains came out in 1969, and the 1969 Japanese catalog does NOT show 12V trains. Neither does the 1972, 1975 nor 1979 catalogs. However... the 1970 Japanese LEGO catalog does show the introduction of 12V trains and train accessories... Japanese collectors are not aware of the existence of 12V blue track era trains. So what likely happened is that the 12V trains and accessories were displayed in 1970 LEGO Japan catalogs alongside push and 4.5V trains... but it is probably likely that the Japanese licensee Fujisho Co. thought the 12V Train System too expensive to sell in Japan, so they were never actually introduced... beyond an appearance in the 1970 Japanese catalog. All very interesting. So far 12V blue track era trains WERE sold in Continental Europe... but were NOT sold in Japan, Britain, Australia, USA and Canada. More fodder for my collectors guide!

Wonderful building and carriage!! But what I really like is your use of a factual historic tide turning even to add a historic conctext to your diarama The Brick Avenger! Wonderfully composed. Henri IV that enigmatic King of France.... who only got to the throne because his 3 brother-in-laws (Francis II, Charles IX and Henri III) all died prematurely. Ironically Catherine di Medici the powerful wife of King Henri II... watched her 3 sons become king, one at a time dying early... only to have her daughter Margaret's husband Henri IV (of Navarre) become king from 1589-1610. Henri IVs time in France had a foreboding beginning in 1572 when he married Catherine's daughter Margaret... within a week of the marriage (while many thousands of Protestants were still there in Paris for the celebrations)... Catherine started the St. Bartholemew's Day Massacre... in which thousands these same Protestants in Paris and elsewhere in France were slaughtered for several weeks throughout throughout the country. The Hugenots and the war of religion in France culminated in the 1610 assasination of Henri IV, but not before he established the Bourbon Dynasty in that country (following with Louis XIII, Louis XIV, Louis XV, and Louis XVI). A very tumultous time in France indeed....

Very nice Snaillad!! When I saw your MOC... I immediately recognized it as the Carlisle.... I have a book on Miami Beach Art Deco architecture... and this confection is in there. You even got the Terrazzo floors down pat! Back in the 1990s when I got that Art Deco book... it was the time of the LEGO Paradiso line of sets... and I thought how cool... now we can make a South Beach hotel!! Just never got around to it.... The Spumoni colored pastels, as well as the more neutral tones in the Carlisle, are what make Miami Beach so inviting! Great job!! For anyone wanting to make an Art Deco Miami Beach MOC... this book is an invaluable source of history and images... http://www.amazon.com/Deco-Delights-Preserving-Miami-Architecture/dp/0525483810

I understand where your coming from... a catalog labeling... but even then it's not an exact science. The first actual labeling of separate LEGO Town, LEGO Space and LEGO Castle didn't happen until 1979... even though 1978 was the year of the Minifig intro. In 1978 there was only 1 Castle set (375) and just a few late 1978 Space sets... so there was no need to separate them via the separate labels until 1979. As with everything that TLG does... there's rarely a nice clean start/stop time of LEGO... Even with how their labeled in databases... for example LUGNET has... starting in 1970.... LEGO > Legoland > Large Vehicle LEGO > Legoland > Small Vehicle LEGO > Legoland > Building and starting in 1978 all vehicles and buildings show up as.... LEGO > Legoland Town Gary

The discussion about when the different LEGO Systems started is a long and very complex issue. The 1978 introduction of the Minifig was not the beginning for LEGO Town. Actually the Town Plan... the first of the LEGO systems was introduced in 1955.... and until 1962... Town Plan was the only LEGO System. In 1966 the Town Plan evolved into a slightly different Town System (still based on the 1:87 scale).... and in 1971 new town sets were sold under the Legoland name. In late 1962 the first Architectural sets (750, 751, 752) were introduced, but were unpopular and discontinued in 1965.... so that first iteration of Architecture was a shortlived system. Late 1965 was the introduction of the first predecessors of Technic... Samsonite Gears... which was followed in 1970 by European Gears (800-814 series).... and in 1977 Expert Builders (Technic). In summer 1966 the LEGO Train System was introduced in Push and 4.5V... with 12V coming out in 1969. Although LEGO Space was introduced in late 1978... the first space sets were a USA Samsonite Space Rocket (801) in 1964, then the 358 Rocket Base of 1973, and the 367/561 Moon Landing Set of 1975... under the Legoland heading. Although LEGO Castle came out in 1984... it was still under Legoland in 1978-79 when the Yellow Castle (375/6075) and Knight's Tournament (383/6083) came out. So there were many LEGO "Systems" from 1955... when "The System" was first introduced with the Town Plan... until 1978 and beyond... Cheers, Gary

This is nearly 3 WAR & PEACE volumes... and you would like a documentary.... Holy crap! No one has that much time!! I know that LEGO architect Adam Reed Tucker did a speed reading thru my download... and it took him about 4 hours just to browse it without reading..... I have to go back and find out which images are missing... I hit my 200 Flickr limit... and rotate images... but I forget the unintended consequences that has with images here on Euro/Ameribricks.... they disappear... now I have to repost the missing ones! Rubberninja... I'm open to ideas... not sure if yours is feasible... but I'm all ears if you think so??

Yes... those HO scale Town Plan 1:87 vehicles are also very very pricey... especially the rarer colors or models. From 1955-64 they produced Bedford Trucks... and from 1964-70 they were Mercedes trucks. The cars were introduced later (VW Vans in 1956, VW Beetle 1957, VW 1500 Limousine, Mercedes 190SL convertible, Karmann Ghia, Opel Rekord, Ford Taunus 17M, Mercedes 220, Fiat 1800, Citroen, Jaguar, Morris Marina and Vauxhall Victor Estate were all produced in the 1961-67 era. And in rare colors these could be very very price. The most I remember seeing was a black Fiat for $3235 on Ebay (about 1/2 dozen known) a few years back.