LEGO Historian

The 7100 was called an "Educational Set" (along with a smaller 750 wooden box set)... if you look at the brochure that lists it (on the previous page), it mentions a retail price of $100... with a "special price" of $75 for educational or institutional entities. Below is a 1965 Samsonite LEGO Retailer Order form (dated Aug. 65)... and it mentions both the 7100 and smaller 750 wooden box sets as being available for retailers to sell in their stores.... along with all the other regular LEGO sets and parts packs that were available at that time in the USA. So the 7100 was available via LEGO retailers... whether or not many of them ever carried it is another question. Today, a set like this would not have likely been available thru LEGO retailers... but probably only thru the LEGO Education website. Was the ISD available thru retailers, or only thru S@H?

Well that would certainly explain why.... when I sent a Dutch collector some 1960s era (Samsonite LEGO logo on the studs) small blue plates made of ABS plastic in a bubble mailer. They all arrived broken!

When LEGO was made of Cellulose Acetate (1950s and early 1960s), the LEGO bricks gave off a plastic like (not unpleasant) aroma. Early 810/725 Town Plan sets and 717 (USA/Canada) Junior Constructor Sets were prime examples of this... open the box and you could smell the Cellulose Acetate bricks. Please don't someone now tell me that Cellulose Acetate gas causes cancer.....

Thanks all.... I have an acquaintance who owns the only known (to me) example of that 7100 box. It came with some very pricey items... (a few were found in the 725/810 Town Plan sets) such as 8 VW 1:87 Beetles (260), a Bedford Fire Engine (255), a Bedford Esso Tanker (250) and a Bedford Tow Truck (256).... And here is part of the paperwork that came with this set showing some of the town scene that could be built with this huge set (roadways were not included, these shown are not LEGO)..... Note: some of the models in this large Educational set may look familiar... there were enough parts to build two 717 Junior Constructor Sets, and two 801 Rocket Sets... both Samsonite LEGO exclusives. The 2 red and yellow models are the 717 Junior Constructor primary model, and one of the secondary models.

.... those that have not learned the lessons of "history".... are bound to forget.... (or never to have known....).... Thanks for the dimensions on the Millenium Falcon.... however there is a LEGO set that 99 out of 100 AFOLs.... nay.... wait.... make that 999 out of 1000 AFOLs aren't familiar with.... That is the 7100 set of 1963-65, which was sold in USA/Canada only. Although this set had only a mere 3,250 parts, the box size (in this case a box made of wood).... was.... 83.82cm X 54.61cm X 13.97cm = 63,946 cubic cm. The Millenium Falcon dimensions only add up to 60,389 cubic cm. The VERY RARE 7100 set was one of over 80 wooden box LEGO sets that TLG made, but you will be hard pressed to find more than 5 or 10 in ANY online database.... but all 80+ are shown in my LEGO DVD... Chapter 15 - LEGO Wooden Box Sets (1950-78). And here is the very large and very heavy set in question.... in this 1963 USA LEGO Brochure...

You make a good point... and I bet a lot of lawyers would agree with you..... Imagine choking on a minifig.... unthinkable! lol.....

Imagine picking out a 1970 era 380 Village Set out of a bag full of corn flakes.... unthinkable!! Actually this very rare Danish promotional set (found in my LEGO DVD chapter on over 100 promotional LEGO items since 1955)... would be worth quite a bit in its' original box, since the UK 380 Village Set is very expensive on the secondary market.... Also, it's not unusual to have a set sold almost exclusively in one market, be a promotional set in another market. The very highly sought after 1592 Town Square set was a Weetabix excluisve in Britain/Ireland in 1980, but also sold in Germany a year later among the "Spielzeug-Ring" store federation... and then again 2 years later as a Unox Soup (Unilever Corp.) promotion in the Netherlands in 1983 (with a Dutch box and sticker sheet).

OK... I think I finally found it... Ole Kirk Christiansen married Kirstine Sørensen... does "Kirstine" sound Norwegian?? If not then it's another source with an error, and it would likely be "Kristine". Anyway, she died in 1932 leaving Ole Kirk to watch after his 4 sons.... in 1934 Ole Kirk married Sofie Jørgensen (Danish) and they had a daughter Ulla in 1935.

On July 13, 1995 Godtfred Kirk Christiansen... breathed his last. That was 17 years ago today. He was the son of LEGO founder Ole Kirk Christiansen, and the father of current LEGO principal owners Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen and Gunhild Christiansen Johansen. Here is a 1957 image (from my LEGO collectors guide DVD) of the Christiansen brothers and their father (in the middle) Ole Kirk Christiansen. Godtfred Kirk Christiansen, who ran the company for many decades after his father's death at 67 in 1958, is on the right.... And here is the Christiansen family plot... with Ole Kirk in back, Godtfred Kirk in front of him, and Godtfred Kirk's tragic daughter Hanne (who died in 1969 at 20 of a tragic car accident) in front of that.... Ironically... when Godtfred Kirk was still alive... he didn't know that one day the company would have a huge following of AFOLs...

Thanks, I misplaced my "keyboard translation sheet"... but ALT 0248... ø should have been familiar to me (I memorized the German umlauts only üäö) because Svein Strømberg & Co. was the Oslo Norway company that made LEGO for Norway and Sweden from 1953-61. Their LEGO subsidiary was A/S Norske LEGO from 1953-55, and from 1955-61 it was A/S Norske LEGIO. I believe that TLG made them change their subsidiary name.. because they sold non-LEGO products. I remember seeing "MECLINE" building system with "LEGO" on the box. TLG didn't like that, so the Norwegian subsidiary name was changed to "LEGIO".

Here's an idea for your Cinema so far... Since your screens are only 2x thick white bricks, take some 1x2 jumper plates to make a 1x thick wall as the screen (for the 2 sides)... and then either cut out some magazine images... or if you're a LEGO purist, take some old LEGO boxes that you were going to throw away, and cut out 2 images to fit either side of the screens, and voila!! Not only do you have a Cinema, but also some images on the screens. Or, you don't have to use jumper plates to "intent" the screens on either side... and just... with 2 sided tape, or tape that has been made into a circular loop (with the sticky part outside)... affix the images to the screens.

Thanks... when I was researching that... I came across the name Krisitian Sorensen as both male and female name... and that didn't make sense to me. I even checked the best reference I could find... and apparently they had it wrong as well.... http://glsjacksonpotter.blogspot.com/2011/05/biograph-ole-kirk-christiansen-founder.html So I'll have to investigate her name some more... but MANY references have it wrong! And since I have your attention... can you confirm that these printed bricks "could" be found in Norway? GARASJE HOTELL SALG KOLONIAL TOBAKK DROSJE SLAKTER BAKER POSTHUS BANKEN TEATER

This discussion about the Christiansen founding LEGO family... begets the answer to #6... what tragedy happened on Feb. 4, 1960 that changed the way that LEGO did business... That was the day the LEGO wooden toy factory/warehouse burned down. Managing director Godtfred Kirk Christiansen decided to end wooden toy production after that calamity, and his 3 brothers didn't like that decision one bit!! So within 2 years Godtfred bought out brothers Johannes, Karl George and Gerhardt. 2 of the brothers went on to produce a toy called BILOFIX and BILOTOY... but that only lasted a few years. It was this momentous decision in 1960 that set TLG on its' course with the LEGO System of Play, consisting of the plastic brick as the primary toy. Today it is Godtfred's (died 1995) branch of the Christiansen family that are now billionaires... and the family of the other 3 brothers...sadly are NOT. However, many of the members of the extended family have and continue to have jobs with TLG today. My Unofficial LEGO Sets/Parts Collectors Guide (1949-90s) has an entire chapter (73) devoted to the history of LEGO sets/parts sales countries, and the family.

3) My mistake... Ole Kirk Christiansen did not marry a lady named "Edith"..... that was his son's wife (mother of Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, and still alive). Ole Kirk, born in 1891 spent his teen years doing his woodwork apprenticeship in Norway. That is where he met his future Norwegian wife.... Kristian Sorensen. They were married in 1916 and returned to Denmark. They had 4 children... Johannes Kirk Christiansen in 1917, Karl-George and Gerhardt Kirk Christiansen in 1919, and finally Godtfred Kirk Christiansen in 1920. Their mother passed away a few years later, leaving Ole Kirk to raise his 4 sons. When Ole Kirk died in 1958, his youngest son Godtfred Kirk took over the company as managing director. Within 4 years he bought out his 3 brothers, who didn't like his preference for plastic over wood for toys. Image (from 1957) from left to right.... Gerhardt, Karl George, father Ole Kirk, Johannes and Godtfred. Image from my LEGO Collectors Guide dowload. For those who thought they had the right answers... check out EBAY "LEGO Guide download".

2) The 7760 Shunter Locomotive is pictured on early 1980s medium sized LEGO catalogs... even in Canada, where the 12V train system and the 7760 were never sold!! The sticker sheet is often the most valuable item in any old LEGO set... but in the 7760 there was one item that was only ever found in that one set (2 of them)... the very valuable 1x3x2 classic window in blue... http://www.bricklink.com/catalogPG.asp?P=31&colorID=7

Here's a couple of very rare sets found in some of the LEGO chapters in my DVD/Download.... Here's a 1960 Danish display window from the DVD/Download.... Here's a very rare 1957-58 Danish Windows/Doors Retailer box for individual parts sales for children....

Thanks Fugazi... I too have not been to Billund, although I Email with the folks there a lot. Because so many AFOLs I know have been to the Idea House, I was surprised that it had limited access. One of the display cases in the Idea House has since been dismantled (parts of it have been found in images around the TLG HQ. Like one of the Dutch collectors said... "why on earth would they dismantle this very historic display"? Well maybe because there are some noticeable errors and omissions that most people wouldn't catch... But I did find a lot of it very useful in finishing some parts of my LEGO DVD!

5) What LEGO tragedy happened on Oct. 30, 1969? That would be the death of Hanne Christiansen, the brother of LEGO principal owners Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, and Gunhild Christiansen Johansen. On that fateful rainy night 20 year old Hanne would join her 22 year old brother Kjeld on an evening to go to a Cinema. Older sister Gunhild (23) did not attend. Supposedly there were others in the car that fateful night, and although the details of who was driving were never released, speculation has it that the driver was the son of one of Copenhagen's largest Department Store owners. Anyway the nearest cinema to Billund (which was too small to have one) was in the larger town of "Give". So on that rainy night, the car in which both Hanne and Kjeld were passengers, skidded off the road on the way home from the cinema and hit a tree. Back in those days seat belts weren't even an afterthought... and Kjeld was severely injured, requiring 6 months of hospitalization and rehab. Hanne, unfortunately died of her injuries. Their father Godtfred Kirk was grief stricken (as would be expected) at having youngest daughter perish, as well as having his only son severely injured. He was so grief stricken for many months, that others in the company had to temporarily take over operations of TLG. Godtfred Kirk was even thinking about selling TLG, his grief was so bad. However, eventually he started his recovery from having lost his youngest child, and nearly losing his son.... and he once again took over the family business, and slowly recovered from his grief. It was a good thing too, because 1970 would prove to be one of the most difficult years in TLG history... the Italian Parliament just passed a bill forbidding the importation of construction toys, and litigation was started against the "underperforming" USA Samsonite LEGO licensee (which TLG eventually won, booting USA Samsonite out of the LEGO business by 1973). So today (after the 1995 death of Godtfred Kirk) there are only 2 branches of the Christiansen/Kristiansen family that own TLG.... the branch headed by Kjeld, and that by Gunhild. Together they own Kirkbi/AG, the Swiss holding company that owns TLG. Here are some 1955-58 spare parts pack boxes (in different languages as well as the international "LEGO System")... that show young Gunhild, Hanne and Kjeld. Hanne has the blue dress with yellow blouse. This info is found in my LEGO DVD....

Fugazi, I re-read the article twice... and if I'm confused, I imagine others are as well... there is LEGOLAND Billund... and then the LEGO Idea House.... what "niche" is this new "LEGO Experience Centre" supposed to cover??

Wow! What a tragedy for Christchurch NZ.... so much beatufiul architecture damaged or destroyed. The great stone and copper spire and tower to your cathedarl has nearly been relegated to a pile of ruin. Good thing it came down away from the church proper. Also saw although the Narthex (front porch) is still intact, the great rose window has been extensively damage. It appears that the scaffold is there to stabilize the remaining structure. I haven't seen this much damage to a church since the images of WWII showing the destroyed churches of Dresden, Nurmeberg and Cologne, and Normandie in France, which for the most part were eventually rebuilt. Cathedrals are no strangers to earthquake damage.... the most famous recent example is the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, where several monks were killed by falling debris in the crypt. Probably the most famous earthquake rebuild was England's Lincoln Cathedral which was destroyed by a rare earthquake in 1185 except for the entrance front and towers, and was replaced to give us one of the glories of English architecture today. Some of the great earthquakes gave some cities the chance to rebuild on a grander scale...such as Lisbon Portubal in 1755, San Francisco in 1906 and Tokyo in 1923. But our sympathy are with the people of New Zealand....

Wow!!! 130,000 LUG members worldwide!!! I just had a news reporter from Pittsburgh contact me on on Friday and was asking about the total number of AFOLs in the world, and I told him that that number was not really known, but I estimated that it was likely over 100,000. But with just the LUG members numbering well over the figure I quoted, the true total number of AFOLs is likely several times that figure. Back when I first got involved with RTL and LUGNET back in the late 1990s, the known number was more liike several thousand... and it appears to have grown exponentially! Hmmm... time to refocus the marketing of my LEGO Sets/Parts Collectors Guide....

The Answer to #8...... Although the ad is not the best scan... it is Australian...

I would have thought that as well... but they were "soft, sharp and pointy"... If I'm not mistaken there were complaints that the last 2001 parts pack with 5 of the Cypress trees... that they didn't always stand up straight.... the trees often had a bend to them. This begs the question though... was TLG using the old softer green plastic on these trees to get rid of the remaining inventory of those pellets? (Remember... TLG never threw anything away). I don't recall ever seeing 2 versions (soft and harder) of the Cypress trees available in Bricklink stores, or mentioned anywhere. But yes... I had heard the complaint of some folks about the trees not standing up straight. And in 2003 the reissue of the Main Street set didn't have the Cypress Trees... they must have already retired the mold... ... the answer to #7... the gray 10x10 (with cross supports)... is this set (my friend Eric Strand recently had this image added to the Bricklink database... although without an inventory... you wouldn't have been able to cross reference it... http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemPic.asp?S=005-1 This very small late 1960s #005 basic set was only sold in a few continental European countries.

Yesiree.... The first mention of a LEGO motor was in a March 1965 USA "Toys & Novelties" magazine... by Samsonite LEGO. It appeared in USA/Canada by late 1965 as #002. What is really interesting about that motor... is that the #002 motor itself is found in a clear plastic housing identical to the #261-#268 1:87 garages. http://www.bricklink...mPic.asp?P=bb20 And the battery box is found in a clear plastic housing identical to the clear plastic boxes of the 1963-65 Architectural #518-#521 parts packs.... with that funky 8x11 gray plate. Although there's no plate in the battery box, the dimensions are identical (8x11), and the plastic box even has that "X" pattern on top. http://www.bricklink...mPic.asp?P=bb21 The first appearance of a motor in Europe coincided with the introduction of the first LEGO trains in mid 1966... using the blue housing (#100 & #101). These were also sold in USA/Canada in train sets... alongside the #002 clear motor, which was also sold in a few of the larger Samsonite Basic Sets, such as the #003 Master Mechanic Set. One final thing... the early Samsonite motor must have been developed in Denmark... those 8x11 boxed (#518-#521) architectural packs were never sold in USA/Canada.... although the #261-#268 1:87 car/garage was sold there... but ironically NEVER shown in any Samsonite LEGO catalog. The discontinuing of the #261-#268 and #518-#521 plastic boxes took place in late 1965... so either TLG reused the molds to make the Samsonite motors... or took the excess inventory of remaining plastic boxes and shipped them to Samsonite (with motor)... as we remember about TLG... they NEVER threw anything away!! Also... as a footnote... the Samsonite clear motors were discontinued in circa 1968. And the last occurrence of the 1:87 clear plastic garages? Ironically they were found in the late 1960s Samsonite #536 Designer Set (with 1:87 car)... 3 were found in the 1969-70 Samsonite #842 Sears exclusive Town Plan... and 4 were found in early versions of the 1970-71 Samsonite #157 4 Car Auto Transport sets (later sets had 4 non-LEGO "Minix" cars without garages). But these were gone from Europe by 1967 (one each was found in the #695 and #696 6 car packs).

Perhaps I was a little harsh... I probably shouldn't have said SNOT an jumpers were "gimmicks"... but just that LEGO sets have become excessive in their use (not the jumpers, but definitely the SNOT).... When I saw the new (2008) 10184 Town Plan set... I thought... wow nice... but then I looked at the OCTAN gas station and saw that they were using the 6x6x9 trans-clear panel for the curved window as a SNOT. I've always been critical of the LEGO window "system"... which until 1986... there really was one. (9 window types that were interchangeable and compatible). The original "LEGO System of Play" of 1955... meant that the "system" was having a common group of parts that complemented and enhanced the buildability of LEGO structures. TLG came out with the 12 different (13 actually but one was redundant) sloped bricks in the late 1950s... and also the 9 different windows in 1956. With these you could make roofs of all types (hip and multi-gabled), as well as use the different classic windows together either all of one type or in combinations, for everything from house windows, store windows, office building windows, even cathedral windows... But as the number of LEGO parts increased, this interchangeability had decreased. I agree that it's for the best that TLG is reducing the number of parts... but sometimes you wonder "what were they thinking" when they replace the standard 2x2 macaroni brick (that you used to be able to stagger), to one now that can only be stacked on top of each other... thus reducing the possibilities. In my 40+ years of collecting... I never had a problem with the old macaroni's.... But I digress... the major complaint I have is that with the window system... you mix the new 1x2x2 and 1x2x3 flat front windows with the back of headlight bricks... I've just been spoiled with using real windows all along! Although SNOT has been around (in very few instances) in some LEGO idea book models... it really wasn't until about a dozen years ago that they really took off as being part of regular LEGO models. Granted SNOT was around in LEGOLAND Miniland models back to the beginning in 1968. I was "giddy as a schoolgirl on prom night" when I first saw the new 3x3 convex corner low sloped brick come out in the Architectural series Robie House... but now wonder how long it will take for that part to come out in other colors. I realize that more will come... but probably not in a lot of colors... and that's what I mean by a lack of "system"... it would be great to get those out in red, blue, black and gray ASAP. Maybe in my middle age I'm getting impatient... I remember back when the first 2x2 45 degree sloped brick in trans-clear came out about 30 years ago... I thought to myself.... "great... now when the outside corner slopes come out I can make a "glass pyramid or skylight"... and be satisfied with a 2x2 trans-clear tile for the peak. Well 30 years later I'm still waiting for that part.... I remember the first time I saw the jumper used... back in a 1980s traveling Kmart store LEGO display model. For a low sloped roof, they didn't have 2x2 and 2x4 peaks in yellow back then... so they used yellow 1x2 jumper plates with 1x2 yellow tiles along the top to simulate a peak. That was my first view of the jumpers used like that. Later I too used them in one or two buildings... but not excessively... although whatever looks best is the litmus test for those parts. Here is an example of a building I built back circa 1993... before Bricklink and online LEGO auctions... it was my red Gothic Cathedral... red because it was the only color back then that I could get enough arches and other specialty parts that would create what I wanted to build. In this building... I use only 1 SNOT technique... the stained glass window over the entrance. Gothic window tracery is very conducive to SNOT. I guess my biggest beef about SNOT and jumpers, is when they're used because TLG never made that part in that color or as part of that system... more than for their use as a way to improve your MOCs.