Color variation Slotted

Niels_T

Haven't come around this variation of the blue slotted brick before, it is almost over in maersk blue or what ??

Or am I color blind and this wishfull thinking ;-)

Cheers

natro220

They appear to be "medium blue", and Bricklink lists them as appearing only in a couple brick packs that came out in the '50's.  This is the slotted 2x4 brick page on Bricklink for example: http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemIn.asp?P=bslot04&in=S

Scroll down and you'll see medium blue listed.

Istokg

When I came out with a LEGO slotted brick color chart for my collectors guide 2 years ago... I came across 24 different colors....




That count of different color variations has probably doubled by now.... so no... you're not going blind Niels!!    :)

Bosstone100

Since the slot configuration is different on some of the bricks, I'm wondering if the slots served any real purpose.

Istokg

Yes.... the slotted bricks held the windows and doors in place during construction.

Here are the earliest Automatic Binding Bricks (LEGO) windows/doors of 1949-55...




Here is the earliest known LEGO catalog image (1949-50) showing how the slotted bricks held the windows/doors in place between the slots.  Also the early sets had cardboard "art cards" that you could make a frame around as "LEGO art".

Niels_T

Don't know if to difficult to see but I tried make an example :-)

natro220

Are those the same bricks from your first photo?  These ones look darker.

Bosstone100

Oh ok. I see. So you'd have to have the right bricks with the right slots depending on where you wanted to place and window or door. Lego sure has come a long way since then.

Niels_T

@natro220Same as first picture, but color more correct in first picture, different lightning.

@Bosstone100 Well only once sold at the time, so not that big a puzzle, but no manual's for the first set's so lot's of MOC's ;-)
And there are lots of other slot's and brick variation's to fiddle with :-)
But to my knowledge only those 2 kind of window/door series, come also in other size's

Istokg

The end of the slotted bricks started with the new (to 1955) Town Plan system of play.  Slotted bricks and their windows/doors worked fine with 2 stud thick brick walls.  But when TLG started making small models with 1x bricks.... they encountered a major problem... the windows/doors with wings didn't work well with that thickness of walls, as seen in this diagram of the 1213 Small House set of 1955-63...




The winged windows/doors worked OK when fitted into the slots, or put behind 1x1 round bricks (a far from ideal situation).  But when you look at the side touching the macaroni bricks, the tension by forcing the door/window behind the brick was not unacceptable for building purposes.

So TLG had to figure out a new way in order make 1x construction feasible, and the best way was to add studs to the top of the windows/doors and eliminate the need for the slots in the bricks.

Since TLG never threw anything away... many of the slotted brick molds were retooled, and there is an endless supply of variations of transitional bricks with slot marks, but no slots.

By 1955 the very thin Automatic Binding Bricks windows/doors were being phased out anyway... but the new (introduced 1954) 2 versions of the early classic windows/doors were now obsolete as well.



The tall classic windows/doors with glass, and the regular classic windows/doors without glass were only sold from 1954-56, until the slotted bricks were retired.  Interestingly enough, these came in a wide variety of colors (which sadly the later regular classic windows/doors with studs on top did not).  Here we see many shades of blue, such as the issue with the original poster here with blue slotted brick colors.  There were MANY shades available.

Here is an image of the tall classic 1x6x4 Panorama window (with "LEGO" printed into the glass)... they came in a dazzling number of colors, although some of these have faded over the years.  Windows/doors in orange, green and yellow are very rare, having been produced by the Norway subsidiary for only the Norway Sweden market.  These rare colors can go for 100 Euros or more each!! 



By 1956, with the introduction of the "solid stud" classic windows and doors... only red and white windows/doors were produced.... which continued until some of the yellow windows/doors were added in 1966.  But the golden days of beautiful LEGO windows/doors colors was shortlived to 1954-56.   Images from my Unofficial LEGO Sets/Parts Collectors Guide chapter on LEGO Windows/Doors.