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Hi folks,
The LEGO CD's are 2/3 mailed out. I got sidelined with a nasty sinus infections
(taking antibiotics), and that slowed me down. The ZMAX (antibiotic) makes me
soooo tired. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
When the first person gets their LEGO CD, please post (to help restore my
tarnished reputation :-)
Something tells me that the European and Australian/Asian folks won't get theirs
before Christmas (due to the holiday Postal rush). But they should be uplifted
with the knowledge that some folks have gotten theirs already.
But I've been spending a lot of time waiting in line at the Post Office (that
Custom form is annoying!) Folks in line must think I have Tuberculosis...
(luckily a sinus infection is not contagious!).
I am so happy that all stamps now are of the sticker type! :-D
Happy Holidays to you all....
Gary Istok
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Sweet! I can't wait, I'm really looking forward to this. Sorry to hear about
your illness and hope you get well soon too.
Take care,
Josh
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Thanks for the update, Gary! I'll be looking for 2/3 of my CD soon.
Wait, that's not right. :-)
Hope the sinus infection clears up quickly - ZMax has been pretty effective for
my sinus infections.
Thanks,
James Wilson
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I tried emailing several weeks ago about getting a copy and received no
response. I remember the first time I tried sending a message, I got stopped by
your spam filter. Is there a easier way to reach you?
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In lugnet.market.buy-sell-trade, Jimmy Park wrote:
> I tried emailing several weeks ago about getting a copy and received no
> response. I remember the first time I tried sending a message, I got stopped by
> your spam filter. Is there a easier way to reach you?
Sorry Jimmy,
I just sent you an EMAIL reply. Your EMAIL made it past my spam filter, but I
somehow overlooked it! (I received a lot of EMAILs that week.) So you're
included!
If I missed anyone else, please let me know!!!!
Gary Istok
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In lugnet.announce, Gerhard R. Istok wrote:
> Hi folks,
>
> The LEGO CD's are 2/3 mailed out. I got sidelined with a nasty sinus infections
> (taking antibiotics), and that slowed me down. The ZMAX (antibiotic) makes me
> soooo tired. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
>
> When >
> Happy Holidays to you all....
Please hand deliver mine to me here in Canton :-)
Chris
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In lugnet.announce, Gerhard R. Istok wrote:
> Hi folks,
>
> The LEGO CD's are 2/3 mailed out. I got sidelined with a nasty sinus infections
> (taking antibiotics), and that slowed me down. The ZMAX (antibiotic) makes me
> soooo tired. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
>
> When the first person gets their LEGO CD, please post (to help restore my
> tarnished reputation :-)
>
> Something tells me that the European and Australian/Asian folks won't get theirs
> before Christmas (due to the holiday Postal rush). But they should be uplifted
> with the knowledge that some folks have gotten theirs already.
>
>
> But I've been spending a lot of time waiting in line at the Post Office (that
> Custom form is annoying!) Folks in line must think I have Tuberculosis...
> (luckily a sinus infection is not contagious!).
>
> I am so happy that all stamps now are of the sticker type! :-D
>
> Happy Holidays to you all....
>
> Gary Istok
Hi Gary,
My Lego CD arrived today in the mail! Great job on putting it together!
I'm very happy to get it and so far I'm really impressed with it. I haven't had
time to go through it completely, but what I've seen is great. It's a wonderful
wealth of information and I encourage any one interested in Lego history to
purchase one!
I am also glad I got the extra CD along with it. I've already enjoyed some of
the pictures you put on it.
Again, I say "Great job"! I'm sure no one realizes just how much work it takes
to put something like that together (not counting the time gathering and
researching it all). I'm just glad I got mine!
Keep up the good work!
Tom Reed
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In lugnet.market.buy-sell-trade, Tom Reed wrote:
> Hi Gary,
> My Lego CD arrived today in the mail! Great job on putting it together!
>
> I'm very happy to get it and so far I'm really impressed with it. I haven't had
> time to go through it completely, but what I've seen is great. It's a wonderful
> wealth of information and I encourage any one interested in Lego history to
> purchase one!
>
> I am also glad I got the extra CD along with it. I've already enjoyed some of
> the pictures you put on it.
>
> Again, I say "Great job"! I'm sure no one realizes just how much work it takes
> to put something like that together (not counting the time gathering and
> researching it all). I'm just glad I got mine!
> Keep up the good work!
>
> Tom Reed
Thanks Tom!!!
I just wish that our European and Australian folks would all have gotten theirs
as quickly, but as you know it takes longer to get there.
I know that you haven't had time to go thru the whole thing.... IT'S 1,265
PAGES!!!!!!!!! :-D (laughing out loud)
This LEGO CD has been the most challenging thing I have done in my entire life
(all 53 years!). I now realize why no one has done it before!! :) I now
realize that the most complex collectibles of all time are 1) Stamps, 2) Coins,
3) LEGO (in no particular order).
I could not have completed it without some really wonderful support... from the
folks in the Billund Archives (Kirsten Stadelhofer), to many very helpful and
knowledgeable AFOLs worldwide.... such as Eric Strand (Texas), Clark Stephens
(California), Jim Hughes (Ohio), Dave Shifflett (California), Kurt Richter and
Ben Beneke (Germany), Manuel Cueto (Colombia), Phil Traviss and Steve Scott
(UK), Klaas Meijaard (aka Greenman, Netherlands), Luca Giannitti (Italy), and
Christian Servant (France).
I've also been helped (mostly images) by Luis Baixinho (Portugal), Thorsten
Wilhelm (Germany), Gianluca Morelli (Italy), Henrik Thane and Morten Frost
(Denmark), and John Patterson (USA). And then there is a special thanks also to
Rene Hoffmeister (Germany), who has permitted me to use some of the LUGNET
images.
I could not have done this alone! I applaud all of these folks (and more) that
have contributed to the expanded knowledge of the LEGO hobby.
Thanks all,
Gary Istok
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In lugnet.announce, Gerhard R. Istok wrote:
> Hi folks,
>
> The LEGO CD's are 2/3 mailed out.
> When the first person gets their LEGO CD, please post (to help restore my
> tarnished reputation :-)
My 2/3 CD's arrived today in New York, 26 December 2006.
So far I am utterly impressed. Even with 1/3 of the CD's missing. haha
This is definitely a masterpiece to be proud of forever. Excellent work by all
the collaborators on this fine project.
__Kevin Salm__
LUCNY
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In lugnet.announce, Gerhard R. Istok wrote:
> When the first person gets their LEGO CD, please post (to help restore my
> tarnished reputation :-)
I was not first, but mine arrived right before the holiday (made for a nice
surprise) and I must say, I am impressed as well. The amount of 'stuff' you got
onto all of these is just great.
Wonderful job and well worth the wait.
Thanks,
J-
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Thanks Jason and Kevin (and all)!
It's amazing at how complex early LEGO really is. If you look at how even today
old gray and old brown elements still show up in new sets mixed in with the
old... I call that an anomaly (something that is not what is expected). With
old LEGO, take that anomaly and multiply it by 100 times, and you kinda
understand how complex it can get.
For you folks who have the CD, just look at the 2x2 and 2x4 bricks section of
the LEGO Bricks chapter. Just trying to sort thru the different brick types and
when they were produced is difficult. Even though the first ABS plastic
elements were sold in 1963, the last of the Cellulose Acetate didn't see the
light of day until about 1971 (in the USA).
And why did the rest of the world switch literally overnight from waffle bottom
plates to circle bottom plates in 1962, when waffle bottom plates were found in
USA sets as late as 1971 (sets #157 and #349)? What makes that even more
surprising is that waffle bottom plates use up 1/3 more plastic than circle
bottom plates.
That can only lead to one conclusion... TLG sold all their unused/slightly used
waffle bottom plate molds to USA/Canada Samsonite in 1963. This may explain why
Samsonite basic sets have a mix of waffle bottom and circle bottom plates from
1963-71.
If it weren't for the hundreds of early LEGO "anomalies", the LEGO CD would only
be about 1/2 the size that it is!
Gary Istok
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(canceled)
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Hey Gary,
I got my CDs today and they are awesome! I spent about 45 minutes just browsing
and I learned a bunch of things I didn't know. Can't wait until I can spend
some serious time going through this. Thanks for all hard work you've put into
this book. It will be a major community resource for a very long time.
Josh
PS. I just wrote a brief review on http://www.brothers-brick.com/
I hope that is okay with you.
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Hey no problem Josh, I am glad you like the CD so much!
When I first finished it and added all the PDF Bookmarks, I thought that it
didn't seem that big??? But then I realized that with so many huge chapters, it
all adds up!
Did you guys like the way I introduced many of the Systems (Early Classic
Castle, Early Classic Space, Homemaker, Duplo) with the early prototypes, early
sets, and early idea book pictures that predate these LEGO Systems? I wanted to
give you folks a background into what predated the introduction of each of the
LEGO Systems. Ditto for how LEGO Gears predated the Technic System.
And then there are some really interesting promotional sets that predated the
Weetabix and Maersk sets of the 1970's. I wish I had that 1967 British
Kellogg's Town Plan set and the 1970 British Kellogg's Legoland Town set! They
are huge!! And the first one even includes a LEGO motor. No Town Plan set ever
had a LEGO motor before!!
Some of my favorite chapters are the wooden box sets and the Minitalia sets.
The wooden box sets are the least understood of all LEGO sets. No doubt, most
survive unidentified, since they were separated from their Content List (the
only easy way to identify them) decades ago!
And those Minitalia sets are soooooo cool, aren't they? They were the
prototypes to modern LEGO windows/doors. Did you notice that green cardboard or
plastic roof piece (shown in my website LEGO CD Photo Gallery as the green roof
of a red church). A very unique LEGO element!
And then there are the USA/Canada Samsonite LEGO department store catalog sets.
These sets were very mysterious (not found in any LEGO catalogs) until the
Sears, J.C. Penney, FAO Schwarz and other mail order department store catalogs
started sharing their secrets. My favorite set of the department store sets is
the #842 Sears Town Plan set. Only USA set that ever had a Shell Service
Station. And ironically this set was only sold as mail order, and came in a
brown cardboard box!
And then there's my personal favorites... the Town Plan sets (1960-68). Those
sets were very expensive back in the 1960's (equivalent of $250.00 today).
__________________________
One day I wish to meet KKK. I want to ask him if he remembers this about the
Town Plan boards of 1959-early 60's.......
Here's a picture of KKK and an unidentified girl posing for the 1959-60 Town
Plan board in early 1959:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=949958
Well within a year KKK and that same girl had to wear the same clothes and pose
themselves in the same position (check the girls hand holding the brick, and
KKK's curl of hair in front) for the 1960-68 Town Plan board:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=949442
You can tell that both KKK and the girl are older on the 2nd Town Plan board.
And you can also see the 2nd board has a seam (for folding in half) going thru
the board from the building on the left, diagonally towards the right. This
board was the regular Town Plan board. In the earlier picture, there is no seam
going thru the board, since that board was a prototype one piece board.
It's these little things that I discovered that made the LEGO CD a lot of fun
much of the time to work on.
So much to view, so little time! :)
Gary Istok
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In the next week or so I will be coming up with a list for the LEGO CD folks
that contains all the unique LEGO parts by country/region.
What this means is that many LEGO items from 1949-80 were not sold in all
locations. There were some items that were only sold in one or in a few
countries, and not everywhere. This list will give folks an idea of what
countries they can find specific LEGO elements in (or should I say where they
originated from).
Here's a quick list of just a few of the many categories and items that will be
listed. The total list could be 5-7 pages. The information is being culled and
summarized from the LEGO CD...
USA Only -
1) Gray, red, black 4x8 waffle bottom plates
2) 25x50 gray baseplates
3) 2x8 and 2x10 trans-clear bricks.
USA/Canada Only -
1) 50x50 green roadway baseplates.
2) 50x50 green baseplates.
3) 4x4 black corner bricks.
4) 1x1, 1x2, 2x2, 2x3, 2x4 Cellulose Acetate Bricks in Green.
5) 1x1, 1x2, 2x2, 2x3, 2x4 Cellulose Acetate Bricks in Yellow.
Denmark Only -
1) 1x1 round bricks w/ Esso Oil stickers.
Germany Only -
1) 2 piece Masonite 1950's Town Plan board (from #700 Wooden box top)
Sweden Only -
1) Yellow flat bottom road signs (1955-68).
2) 1960-61 Left Driving Town Plan Board.
Denmark, Sweden, Norway Only -
1) Slotted Bricks
2) Windows For Slotted Bricks.
Continental Europe Only -
1) 8x11 gray plates (bottom to Architectural parts packs #518-#521).
2) 1950's LEGO Trees/Bushes.
3) Hollow Bottom Bricks.
4) Classic Solid Stud Windows/Doors.
Britain/Australia Only -
1) UK style Left Driving Town Plan Board.
2) UK style flat bottom road signs.
3) Flip-up garage doors in solid yellow.
__________________________________
I am not yet sure how I will distribute this list. It may be by EMAIL.
Stay tuned.
Gary Istok
P.S. This list will be especially useful for the folks on Bricklink!!
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I don't know if Gary is aware of this, but Clark Stephens has set up many photo
galleries on Brickshelf that feature many old sets and bricks. I have used it
on occasion to verify old stuff:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?m=ClarkCorner
It takes a while to click thru everything to find all the good stuff, but well
worth a look-thru
__Kevin Salm__
LUCNY
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Kevin,
Clark was sort of a "consultant" to the project. I am very familiar with his
website, and gave him a few heads up on images. He has the best collection of
printed brick images anywhere. Ditto for the LEGO flags and everything else.
Gary Istok
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I had a slight problem with a few of the LEGO CD's, so there was a delay in some
mailings for folks who ordered in the middle of December. About 25 of the CDs
had a faded image in the light scribe image. So rather than waiting longer for
the replacement CDs, I decided to go ahead and ship the faded image CDs.
The folks who receive them also got a card saying that a replacement CD will
arrive in the mail in about 10 days (at no cost to you!). The CDs with the
faded image are fully functional. When you get your replacement CD, you will in
effect have 2 LEGO CDs.
If you don't know what to do with an extra one, you could always give a copy to
the local library! :)
Thanks for being patient!
Gary Istok
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I probably should have clarified that I only had problems with the early antique
finish LEGO CDs, and NOT the full color versions that can be ordered on:
www.geminisystems.com/lego/
Gary Istok
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Is it just my machine, or is that domain/machine not accessible right now?
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In lugnet.market.buy-sell-trade, Michael Shiels wrote:
> Is it just my machine, or is that domain/machine not accessible right now?
Oops, Gary you made a typo, the link should be
www.geminisystems.net/lego not .com
Keep on bricking,
dave
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Hi Gary,
I still got no answer from my mail, did you receive (at least) my payment? I
sent it from gb(at)biffuz.it
Best regards,
Gabriele
--
gb(at)biffuz.it
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WOO-HOO!
It's Christmas all over again!
Great job on this CD - looks awesome! Thanks, Gary!
Peace and Long Life,
Tony Alexander
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