Lego dacta

MinifigsMe · June 2011

I keep coming across dacta sets on eBay and can't make up my mind about whether they're good buys or not, as there's not much info out there on them. Few or no reviews on here and rarely more then one image for each set. Anyone know of a good resource?
Post edited by @Matthew -21/06/11 09.19 BST - Reason for Edit: Moved to 'Collecting'

madforLEGO · June 2011

I think This sites databases, Bricklink, or Lugnet really...
Not many shots of these as most are seen on the box cover (as they were meant to be built into many different things not just what was on the box.. Just like there aren't really many instructions as there are 'example' cards for the actual building (not vehicle, which I think does come with instructions) sets.. I saw someone on eBay selling with of the vehicle sets for only 50 each but I missed out on them.. I am sure that person is now trying to sell them for 275 bucks or something like that.

I was lucky and got a lot with the 9364 Hospital in it... Not very many Dacta sets are super, most are collections of Lego sets that were sold individually.. With the exception of the older Dacta people sets (that had old motorcycles in them and even white pigtails)
I really wanted the hospital sets and there was a dacta set that was like a town square type of set that I found on eBay that was still sealed packs...

Si_UKNZ · June 2011

Well I can verify that this is a fantastic set, although I cant be bothered *ahem* dont have time to do a review of it;
http://www.brickset.com/reviews/?set=9349-1

Also, did u know Dacta sets are designed in the UK, in the NorthWest. Not sure if that's for everywhere, or if each region does its own DACTA. (my irrelevant snippet of the week)

Matthew · June 2011

Also, did u know Dacta sets are designed in the UK, in the NorthWest. Not sure if that's for everywhere, or if each region does its own DACTA. (my irrelevant snippet of the week)

Where in the North West do you know?

rocao · June 2011

You'll find more ratings and notes on the sets at LUGNET: http://guide.lugnet.com/set/?qc=dacta/system

In general, since the DACTA line is targeted for education in classroom settings, the sets have high piece counts but those pieces typically aren't meant to be a large cohesive set. Many sets have interesting and rare elements. For these reasons they have appeal to builders and collectors, but are less known and desired by mainstream LEGO fans so the aftermarket buying pool is smaller, but bidding often is more fierce.

jonboy2000 · June 2011

IMO they are not good buys. I looked into getting a few of last years sets but the price per piece was very expensive. At the time Dacta would not sell them direct. It took at bit a research to find companies that sell them. They are generally sold through companies that supply schools with educational equipment. You can find a list of them on the lego website in the learning section, but some don't sell the whole range. If you buy in bulk they did offer a discount but once you add on the VAT the price just wasn't worth it(for me anyway). The person at Dacta I spoke suggested phoning back in 6 months(this was about a year ago) as they were going to start selling them direct.
Not much help on the review front but hopefully this may help a few die hards that like to have every set!

MinifigsMe · June 2011

Thanks for the info peeps. I think some of the early years (duplo style) sets look really nice, but I think I'll resist some of the other ones.
I thought the numbers on this duplo set would be good: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/LEGO-DACTA-9540-Early-Maths-Numbers-Set-4-BNIB-/270760311248?pt=UK_Construction_Toys_Kits&hash=item3f0a9279d0#ht_500wt_1193

btw, this is what caught my eye
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/LEGO-9322-Town-Developers-Set-Home-School-Build-BNIB-/190532669597?pt=UK_Construction_Toys_Kits&hash=item2c5ca1d09d#ht_500wt_960
It's probably great if you don't have much lego, but I suppose after you've accumalated a lot it will seem a bit un-needed

madforLEGO · June 2011

Watch Amazon.com too, occasionally sellers have the new 'dacta' sets up and usually have price breaks.. you can also check legoeducation.com as well.

Si_UKNZ · June 2011

Where in the North West do you know?

DACTA Ltd, 101 Ridley Wood, Bryn Lane, Wrexham, LL13 9UT
... Technically welsh wales, but close enough.

Weird actually, Dacta appears to be a seperate company that licences Lego.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RM_plc
It just says theyre distributors but I understand they put sets together ie design sets too.

bluemoose · June 2011

I don't think LEGO have used the 'Dacta' branding since about 2001; recent sets are all branded 'LEGO Education', but the fan community tends to still call these 'Dacta' as a hang-over from the old name. I don't think the Research Machines owned 'Dacta Plc' is anything other than a distributor for LEGO's educational products. As I understand it, all the LEGO Education products are designed in Billund or the US, and all production is in the Czech Republic (at Kladno).

Si_UKNZ · June 2011

A neighbour of my sister who lives not a million miles from wrexham said their company puts together the educational sets, so I assumed it must be at this location althought Ive not actually asked. My sister sometimes builds sets for the photo shoots.

MrBerre · November 2011

I'd really love this one: http://www.amazon.com/Legos-Education-9386-Doors-Windows/dp/B003A5RTHO/ (mainly for the roof tiles)

But the only seller that is willing to ship to Europe ends up charging me €80+. Same for the one entry on eBay: a good price, and then horrendous shipping costs. Only one entry on Bricklink and again: way too expensive.

Brickset doesn't even have a pic of this set: http://www.brickset.com/detail/?Set=9386-1 !

Lego dacta

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