Sets in which the box / packaging changed during production run?

cbaker1974 · October 2012

I came across something interesting today. I have a few of set #8037 Anakin's Y Wing that I bought a few years ago on clearance at Walmart. When I was going to pull one to list it online for sale, I noticed that half of my boxes looked normal, with the normal Lego seals on the ends, and the other half had different looking seals with arrows running along one edge of the box (the seals did not have the familiar lot number on them either and the tape was of a different quality). As I've been selling my sets this year, I have run across a couple of tampered boxes and caught them before shipping them out, and with the "different kind of seals" I was rolling my eyes since I was sure I was dealing with more tampered boxes.

I decided to open one of the sets expecting to see the minifigs missing, or a bunch of megablocks inside...but no, there was the full set! Then I realized this was a flip-up lid (with perforations on the side) - an old-style box. I wasn't expecting this at all since I had sets even older than this one which used the normal side seals rather than seals on the front and the flip-up lid. Has anybody else seen sets like this where the packaging style changed during the course of the production run? I tried checking bricklink and they don't list different box styles in their inventories.

Oakenmold · October 2012

POTC set teh captains cabin has a tiny box and normal battle pack box. Both have the same inside just the size of the box differs

bmwlego · October 2012

I remember coming across small SW Battlepack boxes at around the time of Brick Fair 2010 or 2011 down in Virginia. A fellow I LUG NY member told me that these were test boxes to see how placing battlepacks in smaller boxes would impact sales.

CCC · October 2012

8028 Mini Tie fighter has come in three different packets.

Lego_Lord_Mayorca · October 2012

Well, if you go back to 2003 and 2004, you will see quite a few Star Wars sets changed box designs dramatically during their production runs. In 2003, sets like the Mos Eisley Cantina came in the standard (for the time) blue box with the border on the left-hand side of the front that had the set name, number, and piece count. In 2004, that set's box changed dramatically to note the release of the original Star Wars trilogy on DVD in September. Now, the box was a black starfield with "retro" silver borders around the front with a name plate indicating the set was part of the "original trilogy collection". My Millennium Falcon from that year is one such box.

Box variations during a production run were even more commonplace in the early 1990s, when the transition was made (at least here in the USA) from the yellow "Legoland" boxes to the blue "System" boxes. Sets seemed to be longer in production back then, so (for example) #6542 Launch and Load Seaport, while initially a 1991 "LEGOLAND" box release, would change in 1992 to a "Lego SYSTEM" box. It would be continued to be produced that way well into 1994 (it still shows up in Lego [email protected] catalogs that I have from the winter of that year, plus the one I own is from 1993 per the mini catalog that came with it).

I'm sure that the entire list of sets that had packaging change during the production run is rather daunting, and I don't presume to know the full amount of what changed. I can only offer what I remember and own from my own collecting experience.

LusiferSam · October 2012

Going back a bit I know that 6086 and 6989 both had name changes.

6086 was known as Dungeon Master's Castle when it was first released. It was changed to the Black Knight's Castle after some legal problems with copyright holder of Dungeons and Dragons (I guess Dungeon Master is trademarked) . Personally I like original name better. Black Knight's Castle is a bit of a unimaginative name. That and I have the box that says Dungeon Master's.

6989 start out as the Mega Core Magnetizer, but was changed to Multi Core Magnetizer. I don't if a reason was ever given for this change. I think my box is the Multi Core version.

Going back even further I know a number of sets from the 50's and 60's had a number changes to boxes and inventories depending on the year they were sold and who sold them.

rocao · October 2012

^ my guess would be "Mega" was too close to Megabloks

rocao · October 2012

A number of sets in production during 2010-2011 will have the older large boxes and the refreshed smaller footprint box. http://www.brickset.com/news/article/?ID=1163

Lego_Lord_Mayorca · October 2012

Also, thinking back to my BIONICLE days, certain canister sets changed labels during a production run for special promotions. I know in 2003, the Rahkshi sets started appearing with "Shadow Kraata" labels on certain sets around the time of the release of the Mask of Light movie. In 2004, the Vahki canisters changed to advertise a "Vahi Mask of Time and Disc of Time" included with the set, also to promote that year's BIONICLE movie, "Legends of Metru Nui". Then, in Japan, various small sets like the Turaga and Bohrak Va, came repackaged to advertise in inclusion of various sweets.

jadeirene · October 2012

There are some sets that have both the taped seal edge boxes and the perforated punch tab boxes. I've gotten #9490 Droid Escape and #9491 Geonosian Cannon in both type of boxes.

Sets in which the box / packaging changed during production run?

Comments

Shopping at LEGO.com or Amazon?

Howdy, Stranger!

Quick Links

Categories