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Subject: 
Re: Rarest Regular Lego Part....
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.general
Date: 
Sun, 19 Sep 2004 08:16:04 GMT
Viewed: 
1235 times
  
"Gary Istok" <istokg@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:I49JIE.9Ex@lugnet.com...
In lugnet.general, William Howard wrote:
In lugnet.general, Niels Karsdorp wrote:
Hi Gary,

sorry to hijack this topic, but I have a question out of couriosity.
Do you in your CD also talk about never released prototype parts?
Like the 12 spoked trainwheels and trainbase fronts (as seen in
idea book 241).
These parts, if they still exist, are very rare, too, but not regular.

The Red Ghost Shroud has to be up there at number 1
http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemPic.asp?P=2888

William

When talking about the rarest Lego pieces, it kind of reminds me of
something I
red about the cathedrals of Europe and North America, namely "the number
of
cathedrals claiming to be one of the 6 largest in the world numbers at
least
20". :-)

There are an enormous amount of rare parts in Lego.  I guess one way to
divide
them up would be into 4 separate groups:

1) rare discontinued items (molds likely destroyed):  the clear or yellow
flip-top garage doors (already mentioned), red (flip-top) garage bases
(from
1955-57), black 1x1x2 windows, yellow or gray 1x6x5 windows, white
ponytail
minifig hair, etc.

2) rare items where the molds still exist (TLG could reissue these):  2x10
trans-clear brcks, Maersk bricks, 1x4x5 windows in yellow or green, 3x3
outside
corners low slopes in yellow, 2x2x3 outside corner steep slopes in yellow
or
gray, 2x2 outside corner regular slopes in yellow or blue, 2x2 tiles in
clear,
2x2 windows in black or gray, etc.

3) promotional items: the gold and platinum bionicle masks, etc.

4) prototype items or items never officially released:  50's/60's waffle
bottom
plates in red, black or gray, 60's flat trees and 80's conical/pine trees
in
red, and those (already mentioned) 12 spoke train wheels/accessories from
circa
1970, 1x4x2 spindle fence pieces in red (only found in the 6500 set that
was
never released), red-orange parts (used in Legoland California Golden Gate
Bridge), etc.  This category could be broken down into discontinued
prototype
items and "mold still exists" prototype items.

The list goes on and on.  And just think, with over 30 Lego colors now
readily
available, the potential for new rare parts is mind boggling!  :-)

Gary Istok


Excellent points Gary, but I think that a lot of items in number 2 aren't
necessarily that rare in production quanity, ie some of the listed parts are
produced in quite large quantities, but they're not yet generally available
to the public.

For example, I know for a fact that the Legoland modelshops have many of the
items in #2, such as:
3x3 outside corners low slopes in yellow, 2x2x3 outside corner steep slopes
in yellow or gray, 2x2 outside corner regular slopes in yellow or blue, 2x2
tiles in clear. Plus the amount of Mearsk pieces that the modelshops still
have would make you weep!

Sometimes some of these pieces are made available through Red Letter Days,
VIP visits or even the Pick A Brick stores within the park and the rarity in
the public domain becomes less.
For example, I would lump bricks, plates and tiles in Pearl Metallic Gray as
being as rare, if not rarer than Mearsk colored items as they have never
really been included in sets in basic part types (mostly Bionicle to date
and the 1 x 2 grille bricks in the Sante FE cars).
Recently for a limited time, Legoland Windsor sold some of their overstocks
in the Pick A Brick store at the park and some of the UK buyers made some
available on their Bricklink stores. Still a fairly rare part/color but not
as rare as before.

This is a fascinating subject though. Some of the items I would put in to
section 2 that I have in my collection are:
1 x 2 jumper plates in clear, 1 x 2 x 3 and 1 x 4 x 3 train windows in
various colors such as yellow, tan and brown as well as 2 x 3 and 2 x 4
plates in clear. Of course these parts aren't actually rare in quantity,
only in the number currently in the public domain.


The area that appeals to me most about this subject is the prototype or
never released parts - I love seeing what could have been.

Like the 12 spoked trainwheels and trainbase fronts (as seen in idea book
241).
Are there any photos of these pieces on the web, or any other prototype
pieces?

red-orange parts (used in Legoland California Golden Gate Bridge), etc.
I thought the Golden Gate Bridge at LLCA was regular red? Maybe it has faded
somewhat in the sun, but as far as I remember it is red. Memory may be
failing me now though, so please correct me if I'm wrong.


Richard.



Message has 3 Replies:
  Re: Rarest Regular Lego Part....
 
(...) Snip (...) end Snip What about the Dragon wand that was mentioned some time ago in the castle forum, if I recall correctly, there was someone supposed to be working for LEGO that claimed to have some kind of wand that was going to be used in (...) (20 years ago, 19-Sep-04, to lugnet.general)
  Re: Rarest Regular Lego Part....
 
(...) Hi, have a look in the idea book 241 at brickshelf: (URL) I thing the trainbase front was created as a prototype for the developing of the trainbase for the sets 720 and 721 from 1969. Altough the book was first time in the german catalogue in (...) (20 years ago, 19-Sep-04, to lugnet.general, FTX)
  Re: Rarest Regular Lego Part....
 
(...) From page 110 of _The Ultimate LEGO(r) Book_: "Building the Golden Gate: A special dark orange shade of brick was used to match the color of the real bridge." (20 years ago, 19-Sep-04, to lugnet.general)

Message is in Reply To:
  Re: Rarest Regular Lego Part....
 
(...) When talking about the rarest Lego pieces, it kind of reminds me of something I red about the cathedrals of Europe and North America, namely "the number of cathedrals claiming to be one of the 6 largest in the world numbers at least 20". :-) (...) (20 years ago, 19-Sep-04, to lugnet.general)

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