Subject:
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Re: Samsonite LEGO in 1960s SEARS catalogs
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.general
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Date:
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Sun, 5 Dec 2004 19:38:15 GMT
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Viewed:
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930 times
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In lugnet.general, Allan Bedford wrote:
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In lugnet.general, Eric Strand wrote:
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In lugnet.general, Allan Bedford wrote:
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Eric,
Thank you for helping bring this bit of LEGO history to our attention.
These are great scans. The ads are so much fun to look at and imagine what
it might have been like as a young kid seeing them for the first time.
They are just about 10 years or so before my own childhood LEGO years, so
they are not pictures that I have seen before.
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Yes, I’ve looked through your folder several times. Not every item every
time, but on each visit I take a look at a few more of the old sets.
Growing up in Canada, most of my childhood LEGO sets are marked ‘Samsonite’.
Luckily for me, my parents allowed me to keep not only all of the original
instructions but also almost all of the original boxes.
About six years ago my wife and myself moved to Stratford, Ontario... home of
the Samsonite plant from which all of the Canadian sets originated back in
the 70’s. I have since met people whose parents worked at the plant back then
or have other memories of the old LEGO days. There are still people who talk
about being able to go to the factory and buy pillow case sized bags of
factory seconds for next to nothing.
As an interesting side note, finding LEGO at a yard sale in Stratford is
nearly impossible. It seems all these years later the people around here seem
to still value this product and keep for new generations. And that’s not a
bad thing I guess. :)
Thank you again Eric for sharing all of these great images with us. Can I
ask... where do you find them all? Not one source I’m sure, but what type of
sources do you use to gather them from?
Best regards,
Allan B.
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Allan,
I can’t speak for Eric, but yes he has found a whole new genre of Lego items,
namely Samsonite Lego catalog sets, which are not found in any Samsonite
catalogs. Eric keeps an eagle eye on EBAY, and surfs the net looking for new
stuff.
Much of what you see in his Bricksehlf site will also be in my Lego CD. I
purchased a few things on EBAY that he found (and then contacted me). One item
in particular (which he has in his Brickshelf site) is a 1965 picture of the new
USA Samsonite Lego plant in Loveland Colorado (built of Lego bricks). That page
was from a 1965 Toys and Novelties magazine. Besides the picture and
announcement of the new plant, the article also mentions (possibly for the first
time anywhere) the upcoming NEW Lego gears and motor. Incidentally Lego gears
and motors were produced for the very first time in USA/Canada for Samsonite at
Christmas 1965. The European motor didn’t come into production for a few months
(in mid-1966 when Lego trains first came out), and as far as gears go, in Europe
gears didn’t come out for another 5 years, in 1970 to be precise.
Eric also “rediscovered” the 4th (unknown) Town Plan set. The first 3 were of
course the 1) continental European and 2) British versions of #810, and the 3)
USA/Canada #725. This previously unknown Town Plan is #842, and was produced
around 1968-69 as a Sears mail order (only) item.
Good job Eric!
Gary Istok
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: Samsonite LEGO in 1960s SEARS catalogs
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| (...) Yes, I've looked through your folder several times. Not every item every time, but on each visit I take a look at a few more of the old sets. Growing up in Canada, most of my childhood LEGO sets are marked 'Samsonite'. Luckily for me, my (...) (20 years ago, 5-Dec-04, to lugnet.general, FTX)
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