Amazing Classic Lego Collection

drdesignz · July 2015

Purchased all at once (by me, this past weekend) from a single collector, this is by far the best example of classic Lego history I've ever seen in one place. The deal of a lifetime, it was agreed to with the understanding that this collection would find a good home and not be parted out. I'm not a re-seller. Nearly everything will be built and displayed one day. I've photographed and researched the entire collection here: http://imgur.com/a/zO6qm. If you notice any errors or know of additional information, I'd appreciate you telling me and will update the album accordingly. Enjoy!

ToddMyers · July 2015

O_o

Unbelievable collection, and amazed that it all (well, except for Unicef) went to a single collector. Insanely jealous right now.

ISDAvenger · July 2015

Amazing. How did you find the seller?

natro220 · July 2015

Awesome! I lucked out similarly a few years ago, a Craigslist seller. One note though, the large Castle is King's Castle, not Knight's Castle.

crazycarl · July 2015

Wow. That was my childhood. I really wish I still had my SP Striker and blacktron!!!

Pitfall69 · July 2015

The fact they they still had all the boxes was amazing. What a great find. Why did he want to get rid of all those sets?

drdesignz · July 2015

ISDAvenger said:

Amazing. How did you find the seller?

Local LUG.

drdesignz · July 2015

natro220 said:

Awesome! I lucked out similarly a few years ago, a Craigslist seller. One note though, the large Castle is King's Castle, not Knight's Castle.

Thanks, I've fixed the error.

drdesignz · July 2015

Pitfall69 said:

The fact they they still had all the boxes was amazing. What a great find. Why did he want to get rid of all those sets?

Can't say.

madforLEGO · July 2015

Wow that is a nice collection with boxes, which are always harder to find intact and in good condition. Hopefully you have all the pieces in the right boxes so building will be easy. Plus it appears like a bunch of sets in that draw string bag as well. Shame you could not get the #106 though.

drdesignz · July 2015

Just added to the album, here are the minifigures found in the bag:

http://imgur.com/aIF1X8N,Hq7TVqF#1

Three dozen Classic Space and nearly all are mint. There isn't a single broken helmet and all graphics are crisp and clear. There are 29 Classic Town, five Futuron, five Castle, one Blacktron I, one Blacktron II, two Pirates, and an Ice Planet 2002 (some are just out of view in their vehicles).

plasmodium · July 2015

That is an amazing haul, especially the UNICEF Land Cruiser! I have to say, those old boxes with the top flaps with previews of the set pieces really made big sets feel special. I wish they still did that.

Captain_Eyebrow · July 2015

That's an incredible find, wow. Thanks for sharing!

ToddMyers · July 2015

@plasmodium -- Given the description by the images, I think that the UNICEF set is the only one that he was not able to obtain.

Crownie · July 2015

I feel kind of bad for the seller, but I guess sometimes you have to move forward with life... I hope you'll treat the sets well. For the sake of every LEGO fan here if nothing else. ;)

Crownie · July 2015

plasmodium said:

That is an amazing haul, especially the UNICEF Land Cruiser! I have to say, those old boxes with the top flaps with previews of the set pieces really made big sets feel special. I wish they still did that.

I have to echo your comment on the boxes. Quality of plastic aside, this is what I miss the most. Does LEGO not realize just how incredible those boxes were? :/

matticus_bricks · July 2015

I wonder, could the change in those box flaps have something to do with security? Maybe they worry about people cutting through the plastic to steal parts, then closing the flap. To the unsuspecting shopper/employee, you might not notice anything was wrong by looking at the box unless you lift the flap. On the other hand, including that flap really helps the buyer determine whether a set has been tampered with before buying.

Anyway, that's an incredible lot, and I am eternally envious of your find! It's encouraging to see that someone kept all of this Lego in such great condition for so many years, especially the UNICEF van. That should be in a museum. I can't even imagine the value of a lot like this.

plasmodium · July 2015

ToddMyers said:

@plasmodium -- Given the description by the images, I think that the UNICEF set is the only one that he was not able to obtain.

Ah, yes, thank you for noticing that! I guess I didn't read the captions too closely. Still, whether he got it or not, it's an impressive haul on the previous owner's part!

MrShinyAndNew · July 2015

What a great collection! So many of my childhood sets are there. One minor correction: set 1974 was available in Canada, as I have it.

piratemania7 · July 2015

It's a great haul - congrats

LusiferSam · July 2015

matticus_bricks said:

I wonder, could the change in those box flaps have something to do with security? Maybe they worry about people cutting through the plastic to steal parts, then closing the flap. To the unsuspecting shopper/employee, you might not notice anything was wrong by looking at the box unless you lift the flap. On the other hand, including that flap really helps the buyer determine whether a set has been tampered with before buying.

I think the issue has more to due with the cost of producing that type of box rather than anything to do with security. I do miss those old style of boxes though. I'd loved going to the store and pinning over certain sets while flipping the top up or looking at the alternative models on the back.

drdesignz · July 2015

I'm glad you all enjoy and appreciate the collection. I enjoy sharing and will continue to update as I open, organize, and build these sets. I've found a few additional surprises so far and look forward to posting them.

drdesignz · July 2015

MrShinyAndNew said:

What a great collection! So many of my childhood sets are there. One minor correction: set 1974 was available in Canada, as I have it.

Thanks for the info. Brickset's database notes it was a US release only. I wonder if that should rather be North America? That also leads me to believe it was not a Target exclusive, since they were not in Canada at the time.

natro220 · July 2015

I doubt it was a Target exclusive, as I got all of those multipacks as a kid and we only had a Kmart in my town until 1994.

LusiferSam · July 2015

drdesignz said:

Thanks for the info. Brickset's database notes it was a US release only. I wonder if that should rather be North America? That also leads me to believe it was not a Target exclusive, since they were not in Canada at the time.

No, this was not a Target exclusive. 1974, like many of the mulitpack bonus sets of the early 90s, was widely available. Clearly I've missed something, how did you come to conclusion that it was a Target exclusive?

@MrShinyAndNew
I've not heard of any of the mulitpack bonus sets being sold outside the US. That's not to say it didn't happen. But owning the set as a kid and living Canada as kid doesn't mean it sold in Canada. Your parents could have easily bought the set in the US and could home with it. It's just as easy that Lego may have wanted to dump these and Canada was an easy market to dump them in.

oldtodd33 · July 2015

@drdesignz I bought a copy of that set new a TRU, so it was not a Target exclusive.

Istokg · July 2015

Sometimes these things become problematic. Samsonite of Canada stopped LEGO production in October of 1988. After that point Canadian LEGO sets were TLG made in Enfield Connecticut (with an occasional Denmark set thrown into the mix)... until production was moved to Mexico.

I know of one retailer in Britain that ordered a copy of the 080 Basic Set (1967-70) from TLG Denmark, even though that set was not sold in the UK. It just so happened a customer made a special request for that set, that was granted by British LEGO via a request to Denmark.

So all sorts of strange things can occur with LEGO sets, and what country they were sold in... or not.

drdesignz · July 2015

LusiferSam said:

No, this was not a Target exclusive. 1974, like many of the mulitpack bonus sets of the early 90s, was widely available. Clearly I've missed something, how did you come to conclusion that it was a Target exclusive?

I never came to that conclusion. It's just a theory I had. I'm just trying to figure out what I have here exactly, as it isn't like anything I've found so far. I know that there were quite a few multipack/bonus sets, whatever you want to call them. The 80's had quite a few:

http://brickset.com/sets/1977-1

http://brickset.com/sets/1978-2

http://brickset.com/sets/1979-2

http://brickset.com/sets/1983-1

http://brickset.com/sets/1967-2

http://brickset.com/sets/1969-2

http://brickset.com/sets/1997-1

http://brickset.com/sets/1999-1

http://brickset.com/sets/1506-1

http://brickset.com/sets/1507-1

http://brickset.com/sets/1510-1

http://brickset.com/sets/1515-2

...which I'm discovering I may or may not own most of. Who knows, because I don't own the original packaging and these were also available individually. It could just be a coincidence that I have almost all of them together without missing a model. But I digress...

Besides the fact they're not available exclusively through a value/bonus pack, they're also grouped into their own themes. Rather than multiple themes grouped together. So far, the only set from the 80's I can find with three different themes is set number 1974. However, I did eventually find bonus/value packs with multiple themes starting in 1990:

http://brickset.com/sets/1476-1

http://brickset.com/sets/1675-1

http://brickset.com/sets/1722-1

http://brickset.com/sets/1723-1

http://brickset.com/sets/1891-1

http://brickset.com/sets/1967-1

http://brickset.com/sets/1843-1

But, again, the big difference here is these were all available individually.

More value/bonus packs with grouped themes from the 90's include:

http://brickset.com/sets/1993-1

http://brickset.com/sets/4741-1

http://brickset.com/sets/1720-1

http://brickset.com/sets/1721-1

http://brickset.com/sets/1729-1

Looking at all of these on the Brickset database, the majority of them have quite a few owners, so it seems reasonable for me to believe they were widely available, as you mentioned. But set number 1974 only has 17 owners on Brickset, which appears to be the lowest number out of all. And there are only four available currently on Bricklink, with just one sold in the last six months. This leads me to assume it was not widely available.

Furthermore, it is the only set out of this whole list that includes multiple models that were not available individually. And it's in Brickset's miscellaneous category, unlike all the rest, which doesn't have another set that's similar in any way.

That makes me think it's something special. As far as I can tell, after browsing hundreds of sets on Brickset, Bricklink, Peeron, Brickpedia, and Google, set number 1974 is one of a kind.

Additionally, thinking about it now, it seems a bit odd to me that this would be available in Canada. At least, for the same price. It clearly has $9.99 on the front of the box. Products in Canada, at least in my experience, have always had a higher figure. You see this often in books. There's a US dollar price and a Canadian one.

Anyway, I'm trying to learn about the mysterious set 1974 and its origin. The reason Target came to mind is because I know they've had at least one exclusive before, which was mixed-themed and unlike any other set available elsewhere. That was very recent, the minifigure gift set 5004076. I also know that the price tag on my box specifically is from Target, so it's not unreasonable to consider that's where it from. But if people are saying they bought it at Toys-R-Us or K-mart, then I'll take their word for it. It's possible 1974 is unique, but not necessarily exclusive to a single store.

jpeg07 · July 2015

@LusiferSam
@MrShinyAndNew is correct in saying that 1974 was released in Canada as well. I collect 1980s Canadian sets and even after Samsonite no longer produced them, the Canadian sets were notable in being bilingual (Having the words, "Building toy" and "Jeu de construction" on them and having the piece number total in the bottom left. Both were adopted by the US when the sets became tri-lingual, with Spanish included. It was at this point that Canadian sets no longer became unique).
I don't have my 1974 box to hand but I think it also has the word, "Gratis" on the large arrow. Every other piece of English writing will have the French equivalent too (A legal requirement in Canada I think).
There are thus other sets that Brickset has listed as US only which were available in Canada too.

Istokg · July 2015

Ahhhhh.... this discussion is developing into a very informative one..... :)

For the next version of my Unofficial LEGO Sets/Parts Collectors Guide, I have been trying to identify Canadian sets even after the migration of set production from Stratford Ontario to Enfield Connecticut. Even after the end of production in Stratford in October 1988, there were still Canadian bi-lingual sets.... they still mentioned a Stratford Ontario Post Office Box number, even though they were now being produced in Enfield.

I believe that the Fantasia Company (the folks that produced the 800 page English/German LEGO Collectors Guide)... did a great disservice in not separating Canada from USA set production, and just lumped it all together under a NA (North America) heading. This becomes nearly meaningless when many items were not sold in both locations.

Even in the 1970s, when sets sold in the USA had different set numbers as those produced in Canada and Europe/Australia.... Canadian sets had their unique packaging even though they were using the same set numbers as Europe/Australia.... example the London Bus Set.....

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5015319/uploads/editor/30/ob5g1fm9h4pa.jpg

And also the multi-pack sets of Canada (sometimes without a pack number).... were not always sold in both countries... but after 1988.... were often sold in both... but still with unique boxes for Canada..... (although these date to earlier in the 1980s)....

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5015319/uploads/editor/2k/akevjqcuux65.jpg

Sometimes even Canadian catalogs don't get it right.... the 8858 Auto Engine Set was introduced under the 8858 number in the USA... and according to the 1980 Canadian Catalog, also under the 8858 number.... (page 15 of 1980 Canada catalog)...
http://www.youblisher.com/p/1028569-1980-Canada-LEGO-Catalog/

But what actually was introduced in Canada in 1980? Not the 8858... but the 858 bilingual set....

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5015319/uploads/editor/nv/zdhachumhb8a.jpg

.... although it came with the 8858 instructions..... :#

I'm dying to see what was released in Australia.... the English 8858 or an English language 858...

NEVER, EVER expect anything TLG does throughout the world to every make total sense.... it's why my 2800 page collectors guide is more than 500 pages long!! :o

Sorry to digress... continue on with this fascinating and interesting debate..... I'm all ears..... :)

drdesignz · July 2015

I think it's safe to assume 1974 was also available in Canada, so I've updated the album description. A couple other things I'm trying to figure out:

Out of all the Space minifigures in the bag, there is one red figure with a white moon instead of gold. The figure looks mint, so it's not a faded graphic. It appears to have been printed that way. Does anybody happen to know what the deal is with that?

Something else I find confusing is Bricklink's database shows four sets for Classic Space in 1978. But Bricklink has none.

Good info, Istokg. I'm curious to learn more about the differences between sets around the world. I've noticed some Asian text in the collection, which I'm not so sure I've seen before. Except Shinkai 6500 that I own and other, more recent, Japanese sets I've read about. This stuff is older.

oldtodd33 · July 2015

@drdesignz I see what you are talking about with the missing gold ink on the red space guy, there is some missing from one of the white space men also. The only thing I can say from experience is that the gold is very easily worn off during normal play, so there is some play wear on those two at least. That's why they are so hard to find in mint condition.

drdesignz · July 2015

oldtodd33 said:

@drdesignz I see what you are talking about with the missing gold ink on the red space guy, there is some missing from one of the white space men also. The only thing I can say from experience is that the gold is very easily worn off during normal play, so there is some play wear on those two at least. That's why they are so hard to find in mint condition.

The white one is definitely worn and another one is starting to yellow quite a bit. There are a few more with some minor wear. The red one I mentioned looks fine though. Really good even, except there isn't the slightest speck of gold. Is it possible it was printed that way? I took this closeup picture:

http://i.imgur.com/Soek838.jpg

I know there's no entry on Bricklink. But I think it's weird that the figure would be in such good condition otherwise.

jpeg07 · July 2015

Just an update on my Canadian 1974 set. It actually says, "Special Offer / Offre Speciale, " as you can see in the photo. Lego also produced sets in Brazil during the 80s. I will see if I can find the 6657 Fire Patrol Chopper I have that's made in Brazil.

Great collection to stumble across btw @drdesignz ! Also, Samsonite was one of the countries (if not the only one?) who added space torso stickers to its early Classic space sets before the printed ones became available. Not sure about the gold on the moons except to repeat what oldtodd33 said. It is possible that some would be printed without gold paint and just the white underlay.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5015319/uploads/editor/z5/1g9w4gsy5f3w.jpg

drdesignz · July 2015

That's definitive then, it's not a US-only set. Thanks for posting.

drdesignz · July 2015

drdesignz said:

"Bricklink's database shows four sets for Classic Space in 1978"

That's should have been "Brickset's database", not Bricklink. My mistake.

oldtodd33 · July 2015

The red figure does look very nice. It would be possible I would guess that it made it out without the final gold printing.

jpeg07 · July 2015

I think that Brickset has listed some US only sets (Definitely US only this time because of the numbers) that may have been released a bit early. It's not always that clear since copyright sometimes has the year previous to release. It is notable, however, that the first release of 493 Space Command Center (US version of 926) came with brickbuilt craters. This is presumably because the crater plates on the later releases hasn't been finished yet. Later versions did have the molded plates and Bricklink reflects this. Quite how the stickered torsos I mentioned in my last post fit in to this scenario,, though, I really not sure!

drdesignz · July 2015

I suppose I could have just picked up the box and checked the copyright date. It is indeed 1978. I've never heard of brick-built craters though. That's interesting. This base plate is molded.

jpeg07 · July 2015

Yeah so the copyright may say 1978 but it still could have been released in 1979 (but I really don't know!). It's the same with some sets that had the first articulated minifigs that are copyrighted 1977 but were likely released in 1978 (like 575 Coastguard).
The brickbuilt craters are unique to 493. You can see them if you look at Brickset's image for 493. The later boxes (and possibly instructions) changed this to the molded one.

Istokg · July 2015

Yes, nice to see the Canadian version!

As for copyright dates, most of the time they reflect the years they were released, but not always. A good case in point are the first Polybag parts packs 1101-1126. The 4 digit set numbers were started in 1980, and most of these have a 1977 copyright date, so a lot of online databases reflect the 1977 date. But what happened there was these items were first produced (and copyrighted) in 1977, but in a different packaging, and without the common polybag packaging. For example the 1119 Rod/Piston set (as used in the 396 Thatcher Perkins Hobby Set).... was sold by German retailers starting in 1977 as either loose parts from a retailer box under the "19" number, or in other countries such as Netherlands, as mail order under the "Sp.19" number, or in Britain as mail order under the "S.19" number. So when they finally come out under the uniform pack numbers/packaging in 1980... they still show the original 1977 intro copyright date.

Also in some instances sets were released just before Christmas with a copyright date reflecting the before Christmas release date in the Copyright, but not show up in the country's LEGO catalog until the new year... and show up as "NEW ITEM".

There are so many things that TLG does that causes this type of confusion.

Istokg · July 2015

Well I've learned a few very valuable things about LEGO Canada that I am adding to my Unofficial LEGO Sets/Parts Collectors Guide (future updates to the desktop download will continue to be free to current owners). :)

Even though Canadian LEGO production moved from Stratford Ontario to Enfield Connecticut in late 1988, the Enfield plant was still making separate bi-lingual LEGO sets and catalogs for the Canadian market, at the same time that it was making English only sets/catalogs for the USA market. The Canadian LEGO catalogs were also Canada only until 1994. So I am assuming (I may be wrong)... that bilingual sets could have been produced by Enfield until 1994 for the Canadian market and starting in 1995 the tri-lingual common sets and catalogs came into production from Enfield (eventually moving to Mexico).

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5015319/uploads/editor/ck/nunyo23kn22w.jpg

Here is the the USA version of the 1974 set (also produced in Enfield in 1989).

When the Canadian sets were produced by the Stratford Ontario Samsonite plant (until Oct. 1988), this is an example of the marking on the box.....

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5015319/uploads/editor/r8/utqon42xx61a.jpg

In 1989 and 1990 there was still the possibility of a Stratford P.O. Box address, but the sets were produced in Enfield, and as we now can see... often 2 versions... one English one for the USA, and one Canadian in English/French for Canada.

Once the LEGO offices of Canada were no longer in Stratford, they moved them to Markham Ontario (near Toronto).... and here is an example of an Enfield produced bi-lingual box with the Markham office location....

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5015319/uploads/editor/0m/w6p53y0r4sxg.jpg

After 1994, this dual box production in Enfield ended... and all boxes were either bi-ligual or (already including Spanish)... tri-lingual.

I have to thank several Canadians who have greatly helped me understand what was going on in Canada, and the interrelationshis between Canada/Denmark.... and Canada/USA... under both the Samsonite of Canada years and the Endfield years.

Because Canada's population is only about 1/9th of that of the USA, the population of LEGO sets sold there is much less, and therefore (IMHO) more valuable. That's one (of many) things that are not well addressed in online LEGO databases, that I'm currently adding to my Unofficial LEGO Sets/Parts Collectors Guide. A similar undertaking is being worked on for LEGO sets in Asia... and surprisingly enough even for Latin America, where LEGO was first sold in Peru in 1967, and other Latin American countries soon thereafter.

There is still so much about LEGO that is yet to be learned.... :|

LusiferSam · July 2015

@jpeg07
That's good stuff to know. Thanks for the box image. Clearly I've been working off on incorrect information. Even without the box image I said if you're see a bi-lingual box that's definitive it was sold out side the US.

jnorlund · July 2015

Brings back memories. Still...licensed stuff is cool too.

LusiferSam · July 2015

@drdesignz
Oh, I misunderstood. Sorry about that.

1974 should be grouped with the other bonus packs. It's just a mistake that it's theme is labeled as Miscellaneous. It is very clearly a Bonus Pack/Value Pack. Someone should ask Huw or the admins to correct this.

That's very odd only 17 people on Brickset claim ownership of this set. If you look at the individual sets the numbers make more since. It maybe that people own the three sets that make up 1974 and didn't click that box. I wouldn't read too much in to that. The other thing is people do lie about what they own. There are some Samsonite set that be really surprised about if as many people own them as claimed.

I believe 1974 was the first multi-theme bonus pack. The early value packs are a single theme, like all town or all space. The older ones were made of regular released sets. The newer multi-theme packs were normally made of exclusive sets. These bonus sets would only be available for a single year and then be replace by the new the next year. 1974 would start a trend that would run for the next several years.

I remember seeing most of these at our mall's local toy store as a kid. I got 1476 and 1967 as a kid. I really wanted 1675 and 1891 but those sold out or were discontinued before I got them. I remember not really wanting 1974 because I wasn't into Town or Space that much at that point. Sometime happened to that store in '94, because I never saw the '94 bonus packs. It was change of owner or something because the whole store changed. The Lego section got smaller and store had at different vib.

SumoLego · July 2015

drdesignz said:

oldtodd33 said:

@drdesignz I see what you are talking about with the missing gold ink on the red space guy, there is some missing from one of the white space men also. The only thing I can say from experience is that the gold is very easily worn off during normal play, so there is some play wear on those two at least. That's why they are so hard to find in mint condition.

The white one is definitely worn and another one is starting to yellow quite a bit. There are a few more with some minor wear. The red one I mentioned looks fine though. Really good even, except there isn't the slightest speck of gold. Is it possible it was printed that way? I took this closeup picture:

http://i.imgur.com/Soek838.jpg

I know there's no entry on Bricklink. But I think it's weird that the figure would be in such good condition otherwise.

I think I have the same figure. It's not faded one bit, but has no gold.

plasmodium · July 2015

Maybe there was just a batch or two of misprints back in the day that didn't get the gold printed on them.

khmellymel · July 2015

Ahhh, I thought I was going a bit nuts as there was a multi-theme multi-pack that I used to own back in the day that is marked US only (on Brickset), and I could have sworn after weeks of looking at it in a Real Canadian Superstore I finally convinced my mom to get it for me (with help from my dad ;) ). I thought I was making up that memory...

drdesignz · July 2015

LusiferSam said:
It's just a mistake that it's theme is labeled as Miscellaneous. It is very clearly a Bonus Pack/Value Pack. Someone should ask Huw or the admins to correct this.

I'm not so sure. It might be intentional, if it's true it's the only value pack with sets unavailable individually. Although it would still fit in in the assorted > bonuse/value pack category.

That's very odd only 17 people on Brickset claim ownership of this set. If you look at the individual sets the numbers make more since. It maybe that people own the three sets that make up 1974 and didn't click that box.

My mistake. This is a detail I missed. It does appear many people own it.

I believe 1974 was the first multi-theme bonus pack. The early value packs are a single theme, like all town or all space. The older ones were made of regular released sets.

This is correct, as far as I can find.

The newer multi-theme packs were normally made of exclusive sets.

I don't know if this is true though. I've looked extensively and bonus/value packs generally contain sets with their own set numbers, suggesting they were not exclusive to the pack and were available individually.

1476

1675

1722

1891

1967

1723

4741

1720

1721

1729

1900

drdesignz · July 2015

4127417

78660

78677

79974

4127417

4288478676

20-4

21-3

22-3

23-2

I did eventually find one more that seems to be unique. 1843 does not have individual set numbers for its two models. As far as I can tell, and have found so far, there are only two value packs that contain exclusive models, 1974 and 1843.

LusiferSam · July 2015

This is a great discussion, but I think I've highjacked thread away from what it started as. We should start a new thread to continue this discussion about the bonus packs as I have a number of comments.

Amazing Classic Lego Collection

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