Subject:
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Re: The history of LEGO in Norway
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.general
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Date:
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Wed, 23 Nov 2005 03:42:28 GMT
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Viewed:
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2312 times
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In lugnet.general, Jim Hughes wrote:
> In lugnet.general, Øyvind Steinnes wrote:
> > Probably will Gary Istok have this information (but anyone else that have
> > any information is free to answer):
> >
> > From the Norwegian technical museum homepages
> > (http://www.tekniskmuseum.no/no/utstillingene/plast/leker.htm in Norwegian
> > only) I can read that we in Norway was prevented by law to import plastic
> > toys in to the "end of the fifties" (I don't know exactly when). And I can
> > also read that Svein Strømberg A/S had license to produce LEGO in the
> > fiftties, and further it says that Norway was the first country outside
> > Denmark where LEGO was sold.
> >
> > My question is, when did Svein Strømberg A/S start producing LEGO in Norway,
> > and did he export?
> > For how long did they produce LEGO in Norway?
> > Does anyone know when the law about importing plastic toys was changed in
> > Norway?
> > And last question is, was the LEGO sets produced in Norway any diffrent from
> > those produced in Denmark
> >
> >
> > -----
> > Øyvind Steinnes
> > Tromsø, Norway
>
> Oyvind:
>
> I have been doing some research on this topic for my lego history site.
>
> See:
>
> http://www.brickfetish.com/timeline/1952.html
>
> Lego licensed it's toy molds and sold the technical knowledge to Svein
> Stromberg A/S in 1953. Several different toys were licensed, including
> the Ferguson Tractor and the Automatic Binding Brick. Using the licensed
> molds Svein Stromberg set up both a manufacturing and sales division.
> Lego made money through royalties on the molds and the sale of technical
> assistance.
>
> I dont know the date that production reverted back to Billund, although I
> suspect it was around 1956-57 (the same year that Lego began true exports
> to Germany). The sales division continued to operate through Swein Stromberg
> until 1962, when Lego set up its own sales division.
>
> I have tried to do research on these import laws in Europe after WWII but
> have had little success so far. I suspect that there were alot of these laws
> as individual countries tried to re-establish their economies.
>
> As far as I am aware there were no differencves between Danish and Norwegian
> toys of the period. I suspent that Gary would have the authoritive word on this,
> however.
>
> --Jim
Thanks Jim!
Yes Norway was the first country (besides Denmark) that sold Lego. As has
already been mentioned the first Lego sales to Norway were sets that were
produced IN Norway. This production probably continued on into the late 1950's.
By 1958 Denmark was producing Lego for Denmark, Germany, Austria, Switzerland,
Portugal, Belgium and (in late 1958) Italy.
By 1958 Norway was producing Lego for Norway, Sweden and Holland.
Sometime soon after 1958 production reverted back to Denmark.
What complicated this arrangement was the fact that although all basic sets had
the same set number in all countries (#700/0 thru #700/6), the spare parts packs
and model sets did not.
Spare parts pack and model sets had 4 digit set numbers for Denmark, Norway and
Sweden, but only 3 digit numbers for central Europe and Portugal. Then in a
streamlining move, starting in mid 1958 all sets started using the same set
numbers (central European 3 digit numbers).
Here are the first year of sales for early European countries:
Denmark - 1949
Norway - 1953
Sweden - 1955
Germany - 1956
Switzerland - 1957
Austria - 1957
Netherlands - 1957
Portugal - 1957
Belgium - 1958
Italy - 1958
France - 1959
Britain - 1960
The official www.lego.com website timeline is very ambiguous when it comes to
Lego dates, and some will differ from the ones I have listed. But I confirmed
my list with the folks at the Lego Vault/Collections in Billund.
Gary Istok
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: The history of LEGO in Norway
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| (...) Oyvind: I have been doing some research on this topic for my lego history site. See: (URL) licensed it's toy molds and sold the technical knowledge to Svein Stromberg A/S in 1953. Several different toys were licensed, including the Ferguson (...) (19 years ago, 22-Nov-05, to lugnet.general)
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