Incorrect Set Details on #338 Ambulance

LusiferSam

#338 Ambulance has some incorrect set details associated with.  Under Also Known As, it says Taxi Station - Patrick Pig Is Fabuland's Taxi Man.  This is for a totally unrelated set, Blondi the Pig and Taxi Station, but on that has the same set number, 338. 

Huw

Thanks. Duplicate set numbers are the bane of my life!

Istokg

@Huw... once I finish mapping the 1949-65 700 numbered sets... then you can pull your hair out... 80 sets and counting... far worse than I ever imagined!!  :-O

Huw

Have you found out why so many sets were given the same number?

LusiferSam

A lot of has to do with difference between US sets and rest of the world.  Samsonite didn't always check or care what Lego was doing in Europe and vice versa.  The issue became more widespread after the Samsonite license ended in the US.  LEGO System Inc. (the US subsidiary) and rest of TLG did seem to know or care what the other was doing.  It is speculated that LEGO System Inc. used different set numbers to keep Samsonite Canada from importing sets to the US.  Often these numbers hadn't been used in the US before and there was no reason to believe this would cause issues 40+ years after the fact.  The practice seems to have ended around 1982 or 1983. 

One of the last duplicate set numbers I know of is 6083. World wide 6083 is a Ninja set for 1998, Samurai Stronghold.  But in the US 6083 is the Knight's Joust.  There maybe others after this but as to why this is still an issue this late is baffling.

Huw

6862 was the last troublesome one, https://brickset.com/sets?query=6862, AFAIK.

My question was more to do with the number #700. Why 700, and why not use other numbers?

Istokg

The 700 number issue was due to the fact that in the earlier years LEGO was more than just bricks... there were wooden toys, plastic (non LEGO system) toys, etc.  Each toy type had their own numbers.

Such as the non LEGO System plastic toys were in the 1xxx number range...





The 1:43 Chevrolet Trucks had the 9xx series of numbers...





Some wooden toys were in the 4xx range...





The LEGO System basic sets were all 700/x set numbers until 1965...



But by 1955 LEGO toy numbers started getting really scrambled up, and many non System toys had numbers all over the map, and LEGO system model and supplemental sets started with 13xx and 12xx, later switched to 3xx and 2xx.  

LEGO Mayhem!

Istokg

The 1956 Norway catalog shows basic sets as 700/x and smaller sets and parts packs as 12xx.  In Denmark and Norway there were individual bricks sold by retailers... also using 700/x numbers.  Very confusing until 1966 when things would have started making more sense, but Samsonite got in the way!!  ;-)

Huw

Very interesting, thanks.