Yellow Castle and other LEGO Sets that Crossed the Atlantic to Sell...

Istokg

 It's things like this set that keep me up at night working on my Unofficial LEGO Sets/Parts Collectors Guide updates even longer!! 

OK... Set #1... the Yellow Castle Set 375.

The 375 Yellow Castle was introduced in Europe in 1978, and it appears in 1980 in UK/Australia. Nothing new or surprising here...





In Canada the 375 Yellow Castle first shows up in the 1981 Canadian catalog.  But it doesn't mention it as being a NEW item.  Hmmmm.   The Canadian version of 375 has bilingual text on the box top... again, nothing new here... except that the box is bilingual and mentions a piece count...





And then it gets tricky....

The USA Yellow Castle set was introduced in 1981 as number 6075 (and earlier European 375 Instructions change to "375/6075" Instructions...

But wait... there's a slight glitch here... such as 375 USA Yellow Castle Sets of 1980... 😲





I never saw this set before... 2 original owners claim that their parents had it special ordered from Europe to the USA... it came with a part count sticker on the box top... and a "Made in Denmark" sticker over the EU text on the side of the box...









And in the box were the 1980 USA catalog (no Yellow Castle mentioned in 1980) and the 375/6075 Instructions (which appear to anticipate the 1981 introduction of 6075 USA Yellow Castle)... but with a 1980 EU "labeled over" 375 box...




Price sticker of USA 375...




So it appears that some Yellow Castles were sold in the USA a year earlier (1980 as 375) than we thought (1981 under 6075)...  🧐

This was a surprise!!  Looks like some American LEGO parents became aware of the existence of the 375 set, and may have inquired with TLG Enfield to ask why it wasn't available in the USA, and wished to order this set.  And so some were likely shipped over from Europe before the 6075 became available in the USA in 1981.

And of course in 1981... the 6075 was introduced in the USA exclusively... with the same 375/6075 Instructions.





More weird stuff I uncovered in the 1980s yet to come... 😳

Huw

Interesting. I wonder how "American LEGO parents became aware of the existence of the 375" before the internet and cheap/routine travel across the Atlantic, though, and why would they have gone to so much effort to import it, probably at a price premium?

Istokg

@Huw Back then lots of folks traveled from the USA to Europe on charter airlines.  I visited relatives in Germany a dozen times (with my mother and sister) from 1979-94 with Germany's Condor Airline, a charter service.  Flights were only about $300 round trip.

Lots of American kids likely went to Germany (and other countries) back then... and saw how great the LEGO assortment was there, compared to the USA (and Canada). 

I remember seeing a stack of 20 7740 Intercity Trains in a Toy Store... and wondered why they weren't sold here in the USA. 😳

TheOriginalSimonB

Plus lots of US military folk stationed in Europe brining things and ideas back home with them.

Istokg

TheOriginalSimonB said:

Plus lots of US military folk stationed in Europe brining things and ideas back home with them.

Good point... also post WWII was a time of great migration.  My family came to the USA in 1958 from Germany.  In 1960 I got a German 700/1 LEGO Basic Set shipped from my uncle at Christmas, a full year before LEGO came to the USA at the end of 1961.  In 1962 my grandfather came over and stayed 6 months with our family... he bought me 20 LEGO spare parts packs... that were colorful and like little treasure boxes. 

My young friends next door, across the street and at the end of the block all got the LEGO bug from me at that point, and had their own LEGO collections within a year... all from seeing what I got in the mail.  So the Atlantic wasn't as wide as one would think for young LEGO collectors... 😉

CCC

It was often the reverse for other toys. My dad used to travel to the US a lot in late 70s and early 80s and used to bring back electronic toys rarely seen here at the time. And Estes rockets. Back when you were allowed to take small explosives in your luggage.

560Heliport

#6000-1 Idea Book has models built from the Castle sets. The book is copyright 1980, and has a statement (I think on the back cover) that 'Castle sets on pages xx-xx not available in the USA'. I'm at work right now, so I can't quote it exactly. But I must have got that book in 1980- I was disappointed that we couldn't get the Castle sets. The sets were not pictured- but the parts were. Swords, shields, helmets... 
I can believe that parents would call or write to LEGO and ask how to get the Castle sets.

jason1976

560Heliport said:

#6000-1 Idea Book has models built from the Castle sets. The book is copyright 1980, and has a statement (I think on the back cover) that 'Castle sets on pages xx-xx not available in the USA'. I'm at work right now, so I can't quote it exactly. But I must have got that book in 1980- I was disappointed that we couldn't get the Castle sets. The sets were not pictured- but the parts were. Swords, shields, helmets... 
I can believe that parents would call or write to LEGO and ask how to get the Castle sets.

I'd totally forgotten about that Ideas book! I remember having it and I think going through the pages at http://peeron.com/scans/6000-1/ in detail is going to be my bedtime reading later!

I'm in the process of preparing to get rid of my #375 (for various reasons) and this tread and that ideas book won't help with that.....

andhe

I'm imagining the classic 1980's movie 'businessman Dad'. Travels to Europe and sees a lego castle that Timmy back home would like but doesn't have space in his brown leather suitcase. When he gets home he discovers they don't sell it in the USA, so gets his secretary to hassle the US lego office to ship one over no-expense spared. Or perhaps he is a salesman for a toy shop and wants to convince his bosses that this is a product they need to be sticking so gets some samples sent over. 

560Heliport

Istokg

 @560Heliport Thanks for finding that!!  Good eye!!

The 6000 Idea Book was sold in the USA from 1980-85.  But apparently since there are so many LEGO Yellow Castle images in that booklet, the first year (1980), which is the version you have... it has that disclaimer about no LEGO Castle System sets... YET... in the USA.

But starting in 1981, when the 6075 Yellow Castle set was introduced, the 6000 Idea Book no longer had that disclaimer... and the idea book continued production without it up to and including 1985.  Here is a copy of the 1981-85 version of the same page...



Here is the entire 6000 Idea Book (1981-85 version) on Peeron...

http://www.peeron.com/scans/6000-1/

This 6000 booklet is likely the best reason why some EU 375 Yellow Castle Sets were brought to the USA in 1980... to satisfy inquiries for this set from parents of children who own the early version of the 6000 Idea Book of 1980.  

Riddle solved! 😊

jason1976

As we're heading down the rabbit hole, would there have been versions of the 6000 Idea Book with that text in Japanese, German, Swedish etc or was it only available in English speaking countries? And if it was, why have that text in it?

There are instructions from that era (e.g. http://peeron.com/scans/7740-1/19) with instruction text and stickers printed in different languages so would this version of 6000 be released in non English speaking countries too?

560Heliport

@jason1976
Yes, on the Brickset main page, "more..." then down to "Library" then Ideas Books there are scans of a non-USA #6000. That version has nine different languages.

jason1976

So they did a multilingual version of the Idea Book, but also did an version in English with reference to it being released in countries where English isn't the first language, but then didn't release it there?

And also released an American only version mentioning sets not available in that country when they could presumably have cut the pages with the Castle sets from it?

My head hurts!

560Heliport

Only the covers are different. To cut the last pages (the ones with the Castle parts), they would have to cut the same number of pages from the front of the book- the cover is one piece, then pages one and two are the same piece of paper as the last two pages, etc. 
I don't know why the international version couldn't have been used in the USA: English is one of the languages in the international version! 

Blockwork_Orange

Does anyone know anything about Playhouse Toys, the store named on the price tag, such as where they were located and how many stores they had.  It seems odd to have another retailer price sticker if people were getting these sets sent by LEGO directly.  Could this be a case of a specific retailer importing the set for just its stores?

Istokg

Blockwork_Orange said:

Does anyone know anything about Playhouse Toys, the store named on the price tag, such as where they were located and how many stores they had.  It seems odd to have another retailer price sticker if people were getting these sets sent by LEGO directly.  Could this be a case of a specific retailer importing the set for just its stores?

I tried several Google searches on the Playhouse Toys, and surprisingly I found nothing.  But since this price sticker is over 40 years old, it may just have closed shop long ago, and no info was available for the internet.  

PDelahanty

Years of introduction for early sets in the US is certainly fuzzy.
https://forum.brickset.com/discussion/38066/possible-different-year-of-introduction-for-an-old-set

LusiferSam

Istokg said:

I tried several Google searches on the Playhouse Toys, and surprisingly I found nothing.  But since this price sticker is over 40 years old, it may just have closed shop long ago, and no info was available for the internet.  

Google isn't your friend in this case.  I'm guess Playhouse Toys was an independent toy store.  The US use to have a lot of these.  TRU and later retailers like Walmart have been really hard on the US independent toy stores.

Doing a quick newspaper ad search I found a Playhouse Toys in Texas in the early 80s.  Looks to have been a regional set of stores.  There are others, but the Texas one seems like a strong candidate.

PDelahanty

LusiferSam said:

Google isn't your friend in this case.  I'm guess Playhouse Toys was an independent toy store.  The US use to have a lot of these.  TRU and later retailers like Walmart have been really hard on the US independent toy stores.

Doing a quick newspaper ad search I found a Playhouse Toys in Texas in the early 80s.  Looks to have been a regional set of stores.  There are others, but the Texas one seems like a strong candidate.

In the mid-1990s, I had a web site that listed stores that carried Lego sets and what type of sets they carried.  There used to be a ton of independent toy stores.  They're all gone now.  When I look at the list, Learning Express is all that's left.  Toys R Us, Kay-Bee Toys, Ames, Ann & Hope, Bradlees, Caldor, Service Merchandise, Rich's, K-Mart, Ben Franklin, FAO Schwarz, and a bunch of independent shops...ALL gone.  Target and Walmart didn't have the vast reach back then that they do now.  It's really sad.

TheOriginalSimonB

Don’t forget the 1979 version of the ideas book.  See my pictures in this old thread https://forum.brickset.com/discussion/23968/what-were-the-earliest-non-licensed-named-minifigures#latest

CCC

Blockwork_Orange said:

Does anyone know anything about Playhouse Toys, the store named on the price tag, such as where they were located and how many stores they had.  It seems odd to have another retailer price sticker if people were getting these sets sent by LEGO directly.  Could this be a case of a specific retailer importing the set for just its stores?

I doubt this one is direct from lego. The price label is on top of another price label, and the one underneath looks like it has a comma in the price rather than a dot, suggesting it could have come a European store. At least, the format in the tiny revealed label below appears different to the upper label, suggesting at least it was from a different store.

Istokg

CCC said:

Blockwork_Orange said:

Does anyone know anything about Playhouse Toys, the store named on the price tag, such as where they were located and how many stores they had.  It seems odd to have another retailer price sticker if people were getting these sets sent by LEGO directly.  Could this be a case of a specific retailer importing the set for just its stores?

I doubt this one is direct from lego. The price label is on top of another price label, and the one underneath looks like it has a comma in the price rather than a dot, suggesting it could have come a European store. At least, the format in the tiny revealed label below appears different to the upper label, suggesting at least it was from a different store.

You make a valid point about the price stickers... but the large Enfield sticker on the side of the box, and the parts count sticker on the box top... I believe that tells us that it did indeed go thru Enfield CT.  A retailer (US or EU) wouldn't do that.

CCC

Yeah, looking again there is a little slot in the side of the label and it is exactly the same size as the one underneath. So maybe both from the same store and one was overlaid at a later date with a different price stamp machine. I wonder if the price went up or down.

560Heliport

The bottom price looks like it could be $49.99- which I believe was the RRP. 

Istokg

How about a pair of USA (Enfield) produced sets that crossed the Atlantic Ocean the other way...



Image: Christian

Here we have an advert for Germany's SPIELZEUG RING (German independent toy association).  Both the 6383 Public Works (USA only), and 6391 Cargo Center (USA/Canada only) were sold in select toy association stores in Germany in 1984.

The USA only 6383 was in production from 1981-83, so leftover sets were shipped to Germany, along with new (1984-86) 6391 sets.  No changes were made to the boxes of these 2 USA produced sets sold in Germany, except for the addition of a German price tag.

Brainslugged

CCC said:

It was often the reverse for other toys. My dad used to travel to the US a lot in late 70s and early 80s and used to bring back electronic toys rarely seen here at the time. And Estes rockets. Back when you were allowed to take small explosives in your luggage.

This was my childhood as well. One of the most deliciously painful decisions I've ever had to make in my life was when my dad rang from the US and asked if I'd like the not-available-in-the-UK remote controlled Sand Crawler, or the also not-available-in-the-UK plastic Death Star playset. I was probably about 8 (1980). Not an easy choice, but I opted for the Sand Crawler. I still think I made the right decision.

He also brought an enormous double-tank supersoaker back on one occasion. Needless to say I was the envy of my neighbourhood.

Istokg

Here is another LEGO set that crossed the Atlantic (and possibly the Indian) oceans...

The 1592 Town Square Set was a 1980 UK promo set for Weetabix breakfast cereal.






This UK flag version of 1592 was also sold in Germany as a SPIELZEUGRING exclusive, circa 1981-83, as seen in their catalog...  (Image: Christian)




The UK box version of the box was sold in Germany without any box changes.


Several other collectors claimed that the 1592 also had a limited sale in Sweden and Australia, but I have not found any confirmation.

They UK version of 1592 was also exported to Canada (Samsonite of Canada (LEGO licensee) as a limited Sears of Canada department store mail-order set...




The Canadian Sears box was identical to the UK/Germany box (both produced in Denmark), but with the addition of a Samsonite of Canada sticker on the side of the box...








Then in 1983 Unilever Corp. sold the Dutch version of 1592 set (with Dutch flag and signs) as a UNOX cereal promotional set...







One Dutch LEGO collector told me the anecdote that when he and his 2 brothers were young, their parents sent away enough UNOX soup labels to qualify for 3 1592 sets.  What was interesting about this was that when the sets arrived at his house... there were 2 Dutch 1592 sets, and 1 UK 1592 set.  The UK version must have been leftover from the 1980-82 UK (and elsewhere) promotions.

Now wondering if and where the 1592 set was sold in Australia and Sweden??  🤔

Images from my digital Unofficial LEGO Sets/Parts Collectors Guide.

Istokg

Getting back to the thread topic of Yellow Castle Sets, I just found another interesting anomaly... this time with the Canadian 375 Yellow Castle Set... which was produced by Samsonite of Canada (LEGO licensee there until 1988).

The USA 6075 Yellow Castle, and the rare early 375 USA Yellow Castle sets, as well as the 375 Yellow Castle sets of Continental Europe, UK and Australia... all had the same identical packaging in common.  Namely that there was a box top flap that opened (northward) showing the box contents in a single 4 partition molded gray plastic, sealed with a single sheet of molded plastic as seen in this MISB 6075 set...




However... the 375 Yellow Castle sets of Canada (Samsonite) had English/French bilingual text on the box, and also had no front flap to open up to see the contents.  The Canadian 375 had 2 end flaps to open and remove the inner packaging... 




And the contents of the Canadian 375 had no single molded gray plastic tray inside, but instead had 2 separate cardboard boxes with open tops... (Images: Innis Mason)




Samsonite of Canada (1962-88) went off on their own when it comes to LEGO sets and packaging, and there are a HUGE number of variations of Canadian sets as far as packaging goes, as compared to LEGO sets elsewhere.  There were some sets sold in Canada, which were shipped from Denmark, and had same packaging, just an extra sticker to mention Samsonite of Canada.  

So many variations.... LEGO Mayhem!  🙄

madforLEGO

Istokg said:

How about a pair of USA (Enfield) produced sets that crossed the Atlantic Ocean the other way...



Image: Christian

Here we have an advert for Germany's SPIELZEUG RING (German independent toy association).  Both the 6383 Public Works (USA only), and 6391 Cargo Center (USA/Canada only) were sold in select toy association stores in Germany in 1984.

The USA only 6383 was in production from 1981-83, so leftover sets were shipped to Germany, along with new (1984-86) 6391 sets.  No changes were made to the boxes of these 2 USA produced sets sold in Germany, except for the addition of a German price tag.

Ahh, memories... I remember wanting all of these sets as a kid, and my brother getting the motorcycle shop, AND they did not need to have a crime being committed at the establishment in order for LEGO to make it a set.

leguy

Has anyone encountered imported Fabuland sets before?  The seller here has two for sale (#3673, #3714) and sold another (#3664):

https://www.ebay.com/usr/bekizoo

The fact the stickers are used to cover over the barcodes suggests that they were mail ordered direct from LEGO.