LEGO Advertising: Clocks

Fireheart

I was flicking through the old school style auctions and noticed an LEGO point of sale clock, unfortunately the price went above what I wanted to pay (especially with the 27% fees). But I then searched and found them on  Bricklink (cheaper than the auction).. So my office is now the new home for this beauty..



Minifigure for scale.

On the auction it had them as a circa 1960-1980 LEGO point of sale clock, but I’m not so sure of the age? 

Any info on them would be greatly appreciated..

Astrobricks

This is usually appropriate:
Paging @Istokg

Arpie

I remember these in toy shops always thought it would be cool to own one.  I don't know anything specifically about them but they were definitely still about when I was buying in the early 90s, though of course they could well have been long out of production by then.

omnium

Damn you, @Fireheart! I want one now too :-D

Fireheart

omnium said:

Damn you, @Fireheart! I want one now too :-D

There are two left on Bricklink (although one is chipped) let them moths come out of the wallet and you can have one.. ;)

I think they must have came with some sort of bracket to attach it to the wall, so I’m going to have to make a bracket for this.
 As it’s wall mounted but the hole to attach it is on the top of the display (unless the shops screwed it direct in to the ceiling? )

LusiferSam

I realize this isn't going to help a whole lot, but the logo is the 1973-1998 version. 

So if your auction information is correct then that limits to the 1973-1980.

Fireheart

I have mounted the clock this afternoon, and noticed that the clock working has an original manufacture sticker on and states the company name: nordPlastik, 2391 OXBULL, Uber Flensburg, RUF: (0 46 31) 88 11, West Germany.

nordPlastik was established in 1969.

So with the info from @LusiferSam  on the logo, that puts manufacturing from 1973 to 1990 (unification of Germany).

Cyberdragon

What's the mechansim? Early to mid 1970s clocks would probably have an electromechanical and transistor movement. A quartz electronic movement would be late 1970s onward.

Fireheart

@Cyberdragon , it’s a quartz movement, see below:

Cyberdragon

That's an Emes (German) adjustable 4.19MHz quartz clock (that takes a C not an AA, REEE). Likely 1980s, possibly late 70s.

Fireheart

I thought the battery didn’t fit that well.. :)

Thanks, I’ll make the change.

Istokg

That clock is the 1973-98 logo version... likely from the earlier years.

Here's the 1960-72 version of the clock with the earlier open "O" logo clock.

Fireheart

^ I did want one of those as well, but none were listed on Bricklink currently..

I’ll keep looking though! One will pop up somewhere you least expect to see them. 

madforLEGO

Either clock is pretty sweet actually (as long as it it is working anyway). I would not mind finding one of those at a flea market one day

Cyberdragon

The older ones will most likely be electromechanical, just don't drop it and it'll probably be fine. If it is broke, and you don't want to bother fixing it, there are sites that sell NOS or used battery clock mechanisms of different types.

Depending on the mechanism, they can make odd noises (they could also be quiet). The worst offenders are the mechanical clocks with electric auto-winders (which were made by Emes). Keep this in mind for placement (probably not on the nightstand).