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Found a bag of old LEGO. Is it worth anything?

alioshaaliosha OsloMember Posts: 3
edited May 2016 in Collecting
Hi everyone!

I bought a bag full of lego parts on a flea market on the weekend and while sorting them there appeared to be a bunch of very old (are they?). Are they worth anything? I'm not a collector and was buying it for my kid but those old one don't really fit anywhere anyway so I'd like to sell or exchange them for newer parts if possible.












Ririnettecatwranglerkiki180703

Comments

  • FurrysaurusFurrysaurus Hiding in the kitchen.Member Posts: 156
    looking briefly on brick link, the 2x2 and 2x4 run about 9 cents each.   on the whole, probably worth more effort to sell than what you'd get back.  you could re-list them and see what you get for them.

  • TigerMothTigerMoth Member Posts: 2,343
    edited May 2016
    Furrysaurus said:
    looking briefly on brick link, the 2x2 and 2x4 run about 9 cents each.
    Argh! They're worth a lot more than that.

    These are slotted bricks from the '50s. They're a specialist area outside the area of interest of most collectors, but are highly-sought by those who are.

    Also, a collection of that vintage may have all sorts of other gems in there.

    Wait until somebody who knows about them comes along.
    madforLEGO
  • alioshaaliosha OsloMember Posts: 3
    Thanks! I'll make more detailed photos of all of the items tonight. 
  • iso3200iso3200 97 miles from Brickset TowersMember Posts: 2,055
    TigerMoth said
    Wait until somebody who knows about them comes along.
    Like @Istokg perhaps?
  • SprinkleOtterSprinkleOtter Member Posts: 2,751
    Answer? Yes.

    What are they worth? Good question. What kind of condition are they in? Any yellowing?
  • davee123davee123 USAMember Posts: 814
    Furrysaurus said:
    looking briefly on brick link, the 2x2 and 2x4 run about 9 cents each.   on the whole, probably worth more effort to sell than what you'd get back.  you could re-list them and see what you get for them.

    Well... NORMAL 2x2 and 2x4 bricks, yes.  But these aren't normal, these are the old school Automatic Binding Bricks with slots from 1949-1957 (ish).  You can find these variants explicitly on BrickLink:

    http://alpha.bricklink.com/pages/clone/searchproduct.page?q=brick slotted#T=A

    Of the explicit bricks pictured, it looks like they're roughly:

    2 x 4 Red - $1 - $2
    2 x 3 Blue - $1.50
    4 x 4 Yellow - ? (no pricing)
    2 x 4 Yellow - $1.50 - $2.50
    2 x 2 White - $1 - $2
    1 x 2 White - $1.50

    So, that can be quite a valuable find!  Not many people collect them, but when they do, they're worth a lot more than normal bricks!

    DaveE
    madforLEGO
  • FurrysaurusFurrysaurus Hiding in the kitchen.Member Posts: 156
    ah, apparently i mistook them for bhol04.   as i said, it was a brief look.
  • TigerMothTigerMoth Member Posts: 2,343
    SprinkleOtter said:

    Any yellowing?
    They shouldn't yellow, at least not much. They're made from cellulose acetate which doesn't yellow anything like as much as ABS. Unfortunately, they tend to warp instead, although these seem to be doing well.
  • LusiferSamLusiferSam MontanaMember Posts: 528
    Yes, these are worth a bit.  Disregard a few of the comments, somebody's just shooting their keyboard off.

    The red garage plate is super rare and worth a lot.  Istokg is going to be giddy over this one alone.

    The white 2x2 has no logo and is from '49 or '50.  The rest are block or barbell style logos. The has little impact on value.  Given the color selection this is likely near the end of the slotted brick era.

    I'll be interested to see what other elements you have there.  The garage pieces in particular.
  • bobabricksbobabricks Vancouver, BC, CanadaMember Posts: 1,840
    Yes that red garage plate, and in nice condition! This is a really cool lot, seems like nothing is warped which is pretty uncommon for these guys. I'm sure you could get a pretty penny for it all as I'm sure there are some who dream of owning it... ;)
  • The_Mad_VulcanThe_Mad_Vulcan SeattleMember Posts: 162
    edited May 2016
    Gtreat find! Can't wait to see the rest of the pics (and Istokg's post).
  • oldtodd33oldtodd33 Denver 4800 miles to BillundMember Posts: 2,559
    Anyone who thinks the old bricks aren't worth anything should see here.  http://www.ebay.com/itm/LEGO-AUTOMATIC-BINDING-BRICKS-700-3-ABB-1949-50ER-1950-MURSTEN-ABB-VINTAGE-RARE-/301958647532?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&nma=true&si=ycjOoSQpAntmUh4KO3xNfSxEI3c%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc
  • LusiferSamLusiferSam MontanaMember Posts: 528
    oldtodd33 said:
    Anyone who thinks the old bricks aren't worth anything should see here.  http://www.ebay.com/itm/LEGO-AUTOMATIC-BINDING-BRICKS-700-3-ABB-1949-50ER-1950-MURSTEN-ABB-VINTAGE-RARE-/301958647532?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&nma=true&si=ycjOoSQpAntmUh4KO3xNfSxEI3c%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc
    I was watching this one and was hoping to get in on this one.  But the price got too high near the end.  Must of what you're paying for is the box, which is in ok shape.  It's missing a number of items, like the cards.  Another thing to note is that was a 700/3 set (the smallest set at the time) not a 700/1 (the largest).   My guess is the 700/1 would have gone for another $500 to $700 more and the 700/2 another $300 to $500 more.
  • IstokgIstokg MichiganMember Posts: 2,254
    @LusiferSam  It seems that the Geas Konstharts company in southern Sweden used the same box for the 700/1, 700/2 and 700/3 sets.  What we see is the 700/3 set with the 60 (2x2) and 60 (2x4) bricks.  With the 700/2 set 72 (2x2) and 72 (2x4) bricks... they put the extra bricks in the empty partition (which otherwise should have had the art cards and the small 8 fold catalog sheet).  With the 700/1 set they still used this same box size and double stacked the empty partition with bricks coming to 84 (2x2) and 84 (2x4) bricks.

    With the Danish 700/1, 700/2 and 700/3 Automatic Binding Bricks set (which have a thicker lettering on the box top than the Geas sets).... they appeared to have more than one box size.

    Getting back to the original poster.... the LEGO slotted bricks from Denmark... will have either no "LEGO" on the underside, a LEGO block letter logo, or a LEGO italicized "dogbone" logo.  The red 10x20 baseplate with LEGO in block letters on the underside dates to circa 1953-55.  The red garage plate is the "crown jewel" of that group of items, dates to 1955-57, and was only produced in some of the 1235 Garage parts kit and 1236 Garage Sets of Denmark, Norway and Sweden.  These are rare, and could command 100 Euros or more, depending on condition.

    Here's a Swedish 1236 with a red baseplate... interesting that the garage door frame is a different shade of red, but they had some color issues back then...
    https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7621/16335347433_13bc5c7839_b.jpg

    bandit778
  • alioshaaliosha OsloMember Posts: 3
    Thanks to everyone for replies! Glad to hear that it's actually worth something.
    I sorted all of the parts and not all of them are from the 50s, there are a lot of roof parts which I assume are pre 74 as they have Pat.pend. on all of them. However they are of two different kinds, one set is darker and the plastic seems to be of better quality and they are in absolutely perfect condition.
    As I said I said, I'm not a collector and not looking to make much profit from them. Hopefully I can sell them all in one or two batches and buy my son a modern set as he will notice that they are gone. 

    Please let me know if more detailed pictures are needed.



















    Hopefully I will not have to overturn every single piece to take more photos.
    madforLEGOSirBen
  • LusiferSamLusiferSam MontanaMember Posts: 528
    The darker red slopes are ABS and the brighter ones are CA.  You should be able to hear the difference when you drop or rattle together.  Totally unused CA is a bit more shinny and will look new longer.  Given the rest of the lot is early 50s and you've got CA slopes, the slopes as a whole is likely from the early or mid 60's.
  • TigerMothTigerMoth Member Posts: 2,343
    LusiferSam said:
    The darker red slopes are ABS and the brighter ones are CA.  You should be able to hear the difference when you drop or rattle together.  Totally unused CA is a bit more shinny and will look new longer.  Given the rest of the lot is early 50s and you've got CA slopes, the slopes as a whole is likely from the early or mid 60's.
    The "more elaborate" sloping bricks (things like the corners) seem to come from set 981. The numbers of each piece match almost exactly. That was released in 1969.

    I imagine the rest of the sloping bricks were similarly in "parts packs" - roughly half from the early 60s (for the CA) and the rest from about the same time as 981 - so 1970-ish. With the slotted bricks, that gives three buying periods spread over 20 years.

    Looking at this little haul, I have to wonder where the rest is; I feel that there's more to be found.
  • IstokgIstokg MichiganMember Posts: 2,254
    Actually with 3 of the ABS 2x2 double convex slopes having a 1950s style LEGO font, all the slopes are likely from the 280-283 parts packs (1958-65)... with ABS ones dating from 1963-65 after the switch to that plastic.  Even after the switch to ABS, sometimes ABS parts are found coming out of older 1950s style molds.
  • TigerMothTigerMoth Member Posts: 2,343
    Istokg said:
    Actually with 3 of the ABS 2x2 double convex slopes having a 1950s style LEGO font, all the slopes are likely from the 280-283 parts packs (1958-65)... with ABS ones dating from 1963-65 after the switch to that plastic.  Even after the switch to ABS, sometimes ABS parts are found coming out of older 1950s style molds.
    The trouble with 280-283 is that they contain far too many corners, particularly convex ones.

    For some reason I thought there we four convex/corners when there's only two. That points to them coming from 481. In fact, the numbers of everything then match with just three bricks missing (a convex corner and two 2x3s). Throw in a 480, and you've got all the darker slopes neatly covered. That's too much of a coincidence.

    The lighter ones are presumably CA, and some indeed appear to bowed. Again the problem is finding sets that contain enough of the right bricks without too many of the others to imply that lots of them were lost.

    It's complicated by the fact that parts packs like 480/481 came in different versions, apparently in different countries.
  • IstokgIstokg MichiganMember Posts: 2,254
    Yes.... 1966 British LEGO Ltd. continued production of the 480-481-482-483 (Building Toy labeled) sloped bricks that matched the earlier 280-281-282-283 bricks.  But in continental Europe they merged the 280-281-282-283 sets into two sets... 480 and 481 (LEGO System labeled)... and later in the 1960s the EU 480 and 481 became the 980 and 981 (with slightly different part counts) until 1972... and the British LEGO 480-481-482-483 continued production unchanged until 1972.

    LEGO Mayhem!

    I can see the logic in assuming it's the 481 (EU - LEGO System) sloped bricks pack among the parts as seen in the images above.
  • pharmjodpharmjod 1,170 miles to Wall Drug, USAMember Posts: 2,912
    All of a sudden I feel like I just wandered into the LEGO version of the Highlander... There can be only one.
  • SumoLegoSumoLego New YorkMember Posts: 13,713
    edited June 2016
    Something like this?



    And I'm not indicating a bias for @TigerMoth or @Istokg.  Even in crude 'Paint' nonsense, I couldn't get the shirt to look correct.
  • AanchirAanchir United StatesMember Posts: 2,897
    pharmjod said:
    All of a sudden I feel like I just wandered into the LEGO version of the Highlander... There can be only one.
    I suppose not to be confused with this LEGO version of the Highlander. :P
    catwranglerpharmjod
  • Stuart9Stuart9 WorcestershireMember Posts: 27
    Nice little find, nothing unusual in the slotted bricks but not too common.
    The garage plate is certainly the best of the lot possibly followed by the red 10 x 20, the earlier version of this piece.
    Good range of slot variations too, an excellent starter collection if you are tempted.



  • ImABrickManNowImABrickManNow BrickyMcBrickMember Posts: 270
    I say keep them there old and cool
  • Stuart9Stuart9 WorcestershireMember Posts: 27
    My favourite Lego bricks, especially the marbled versions.
    I've been collecting them for a couple of years now.
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