Subject:
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Re: History of wheel and tire designs
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.general
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Date:
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Fri, 30 Mar 2001 18:45:45 GMT
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Viewed:
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540 times
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I will check some of my old 1962-64 LEGO Wheels and wheel sets (#314, 400, 401,
402), but I think what I state below is fairly accurate:
LEGO wheels first came out in 1962. The oldest wheels had the red 2x2 wheels
with gray tires, and white 2x4 bricks as axles. The underside was either clear
or red (I have booth). I will check my oldest sets to verify this. I too have
examples of the tires in gray and tan. TLC also came out with the 4x4 wheels
with same colors as the 2x2. In the late 60's they came out with the large
spoked wheels (the 4x4 size) also only in red (with the gray tires). But in the
70's they made both red and white large spoked wheels. The small spoked wheels
that came out in the late 60's/early 70's (2x2) size were only produced in red
(never in white). The LEGO Trains had 5 different 2x2 size spoked wheels (3 red
varieties/2 black varieties) that were different than the ones used in the model
kits.
As a general rule of thumb, all sizes of tires were gray in the 1960's and black
in the 1970's. The 2x4 axle bricks were white with either clear or red bottom
in the 1960's, and were black with clear bottom in the 1970's.
Most of the old LEGO wheels are a dime a dozen (value wise), but the large
spoked wheels are highly sought after and command quite a premium on the
secondary market (they haven't been made in 25 years!). This is because the
were used in many of the highly collectible mid 1970's Model Builders kits (390,
391, 395, 396). I've seen the large spoked wheels going for up to $10-12 per
wheel!!
Gary Istok
David Lewis wrote:
> Can anyone (who didn't have a twenty-five year dark age) point me to info or
> give me a quick history of Lego wheels and tires? The wheels I remember
> from childhood (late sixties, early seventies) had a short brass colored
> axle that was inserted into one of four holes in a 2x4 brick what had a
> clear plate on the bottom, and some inner workings to hold the wheel secure.
> The tires were thick grey rubber and had no tread, but had (I think) grooves
> on the sidewalls that went around the circumference of the tire.
>
> When did the sets move to the plastic axle on a plate or brick that snaps
> into a hole in the wheel (I realize there's still some variation today)?
> Were there intermediate designs? I've seen wheels like the old style, but
> with black rubber tires with "tread". When did those come into use? How
> well did these older wheels and grey tires hold up? If I bought some today,
> is there any possibility that the grey tires are in decent shape?
>
> Thanks,
>
> David
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: History of wheel and tire designs
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| "Gary Istok" <gistok@umich.edu> skrev i meddelandet news:3AC4D458.BEEAD6...ich.edu... (...) wheels (...) Are you sure about the tires? I'm almost certain that my first wheels had beige ('off-white') tires, and the gray ones came later. Looking at my (...) (23 years ago, 31-Mar-01, to lugnet.general)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | History of wheel and tire designs
|
| Can anyone (who didn't have a twenty-five year dark age) point me to info or give me a quick history of Lego wheels and tires? The wheels I remember from childhood (late sixties, early seventies) had a short brass colored axle that was inserted into (...) (23 years ago, 29-Mar-01, to lugnet.general)
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