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Subject: 
Re: Old LEGO
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.general
Date: 
Mon, 1 May 2000 21:02:56 GMT
Viewed: 
836 times
  
In lugnet.general, Gary R. Istok writes:
I have been thinking about this topic for a very long time.  My take on this • is
that in lugnet.general, the most people will be exposed to the history behind
LEGO.  If we were to make say a lugnet.history, or a lugnet.classic, perhaps a • lot
of people will miss the topics.  I know that there are a lot of other areas of
LUGNET that I rarely venture to.

   I have conceded that this is the best place for historical LEGO posts, and
I am glad to see their has been some discussion of Old LEGO here since I
mentioned the idea of a new group.

The one area I agree on is pictures.  We do need to get more pictures into it.
Until now, I have been extensively referencing other websites, such as Horst
Lehner's and Joe Lauher/Bill Katz Catalog websites.  But there are plenty of
others.

   I have been doing the same, and have downloaded most of the old scans
available on the net - and I am really glad those scans were out there!  They
have helped a lot... so many thanks to Horst, Joe, Bill and others.  The recent
old ads scans were cool, too.  Personally I have a lot of old comic books (70s
- 90s) with LEGo ads, but they aren't as old (and in many cases not as
appealing) as the magazine ads (from the 60s).

John makes another valid point.  The old sets (50's and 60's) are not pictured • very
well in the old catalogs.  This is especially true of early European catalogs.

   Tell me about it!  Finding good quality pictures of the old LEGO box art
seems nearly impossible - except for scanning the actual boxes... and have you
seen the prices of those lately?!  I hope others who have them can contribute
scans of these boxes (in the same way Brickshelf has grown) before I finish
collecting all those boxes myself, because that is going to take a long time, I
am sure.

Here are some of the things I think we need, and a LUGNET location is ideal:

1) a pictorial history of the old 1950's & 1960's parts packs.  These are
(pictorially) very beautiful boxes.  I have 19 different, but I know there are
more.  Today's parts packs are very uninspiring polybags compared to the • beautiful
artwork of the 1956-65 timeframe.

   We have agreed on this in the past, but I've been burdened with so many
non-LEGO projects!  I still want to do this, and think this will be one of the
easiest to complete from your list.  I do have low quality B&W pics of all
these old boxes, but only color scans of the few that I own.  I agree about the
old packaging - it was fantastic, especially the European LEGO (not so much
with the Samsonite stuff).  Although I grew up with LEGOLAND and the very
appealing boxes of the 80s, I must say the 50s and 60s boxes have an appeal
that was lost when photography replaced art.

2) a pictorial history of old 1950's & 1960's regular sets, and when • applicable,
the parts list (these were included in early sets, instructions were on the • box
only).

   I like the pictorial history idea for both Parts Packs and normal sets.  I
also think the Pause database (is that the correct name these days?) can be
updated with a lot of info for these old sets and packs, once we put it all
together.  But for historical informational purposes, I think a pictorial
history site should be more in depth than the Pause database, with a sort of
chronology and tons of pics.  As for the dates covered, I think up to about
1974, the pre mini-fig, pre theme era is what I am interested in covering.  49
- 74 is 25 years, and a good spread, too.  There are tons of appealing sets
from any of those years that are often overlooked and definitely hard to find
info about on the net.

3) a complete catalog reference site, that has USA/Canada, German, UK, Danish,
Swedish, and all other European catalogs from the early era (1956-1972).  This
should include TLC and Samsonite LEGO catalogs.

   I think Brickshelf has a great selection of catalog scans, but I do wish it
had more from the earlier days.  (1)  For catalogs and Idea Books not shown on
Brickshelf, I made some links on my current history pages (they are just a
beginning!) and will attempt to add any other links as I find them.  But, what
we really need are more scans, no matter where they are published!  I can make
links to them where ever they are put.

4) a Town Plan History.  Before there was Train, Technic and all other • systems,
there was the Town Plan (1957-65).  I have the old/new Town Plan boards, as • well as
the resources to build all 9 different Town Plan city scapes.  I would like to
build and photograph/document all the different Town Plan layouts, from the
earliest 1957 layout to the later USA/Canada and UK variations.  And talk • about
some of the specialty pieces (old oil drums from the Danish Esso Service, the
Cyclists/Motorcyclists in the European Town Plans, the very rare Policemen set • from
the early European era that somehow never got listed in any period catalogs, • and
the old trees & shrubs, road signs, street lamps, and Esso Signage/Pumps that • were
the mainstay of the Town Plan).

   I think this is the most exciting of your four outlined ideas.  The Town
Plan was the main attraction of LEGO for so many years, and I am sure there are
many who have no idea of it's existence.  I think if people could see the roots
of LEGO, they would easily become more interested in the early history we are
talking about.   Of course, I would love to see all nine layouts myself, and if
no one else was interested that wouldn't matter!

I am going out to buy a scanner in the next week or two, so I will be scanning • ad
nauseum!

   School's out for summer?!  Glad to hear that - I can't wait to see what
you've got!
   (1) - I've got the scanner, just not the time I wish I had!

Have fun!
John



Message is in Reply To:
  Re: Old LEGO
 
(...) I have been thinking about this topic for a very long time. My take on this is that in lugnet.general, the most people will be exposed to the history behind LEGO. If we were to make say a lugnet.history, or a lugnet.classic, perhaps a lot of (...) (25 years ago, 24-Apr-00, to lugnet.general)

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