Questions tagged [history]
Questions that relate to the history of The LEGO Group and it's products.
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Why was the monorail system discontinued?
I'm a casual Lego enjoyer and decided to research some old sets and found out about the old monorail system.
My question is why was it discontinued? It was a pretty neat system and I could see ...
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What was the purpose of the triangular corner marking and the "points" in Lego instructions starting around 1992?
Around 1992 (possibly, coinciding with the switch from Legoland to Lego System labeling on boxes?), Lego instructions started featuring a triangular marking in the corner of a page. On one side, that ...
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When did bricks start to have the LEGO Group text engraved on them?
Here's an example of a part (17836) that shows this text molded on the underside:
When did bricks start to have the LEGO Group text engraved on them?
And what was the first set to use these?
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Upload 2 old Lego books [closed]
I've scanned 2 old Lego books of images & some instructions and can now see them better on PC. Made all animals on page 9 (in photo) apart from 1 small dog, using Lego I've had for years. Bought ...
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Which bricks are still protected by copyright / trademark / patent law?
In 2010, The European court of justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg validated a lower-court ruling, in favor of Canada's Mega Brands, that Lego's bricks can't be legally protected by trademark law because ...
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If we threw every single LEGO piece ever manufactured into a pile, how big would the pile be?
My cursory research of LEGO tells me that the manufacturing of plastic LEGO bricks began in Denmark in 1947. If we were somehow able to obtain every single LEGO piece ever created since 1947 and make ...
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Was the color variation on 1970's transparent pieces really that bad or are mine unusual?
Having gone through a bunch of old 1970's Lego (I rebuild all my original sets during the Covid lockdown) I noticed that color-less transparent bricks and slopes have a lot of color variation to them.
...
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Which 1x2 brick design is older?
I was trying to rebuild the LEGO Harry Potter Hogwarts Castle from 2001 and I’ve noticed that at some point they changed the 1x2’s model. Which design is older?
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Are there any cases of Illegal Building in an official lego build?
I am defining illegal as it is in this answer, specifically the following
Studs-on-side bricks cannot have their side stud in the hole of a
technic brick
Bricks mounted SNOT style onto Ehrling/...
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What is the history of the set numbers of Lego sets through time?
I was wondering how Lego went from a 4 digit code to a complete family and set of products to identify them like the Creator set, the System set...
Of course part of it is their growth but does anyone ...
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Who designed EV3RSTORM?
I wonder, who designed EV3RSTORM? I have searched on Google but no results.
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When did Lego stop putting small catalogs into boxes?
In former times, all Lego sets used to come with a small catalog. This was either just a single leaflet with an overview of several themes (with a focus on new sets or subthemes), found in smaller ...
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Have LEGO stickers changed materials over time?
LEGO has produced a lot of stickers over the years. In a LEGO discord someone asked
I wonder if LEGO has always used the same adhesive for their stickers, it seems like the colors, sizes, and ...
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What did Lego set instruction manuals look like in the past?
Earliest date mentioned in this link is September 2008. Now knowing the age of Lego makes me want to know: what did Lego set instruction manuals used to look like? Because I am a millennial, that &...
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How old is this brick?
How old would you say this brick is? It has the code 2837 on the inside of it. Any info would be appreciated.
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Which parts do not have the LEGO logo stamped on them?
As noted in this question,
there are very few parts that do not have the LEGO logo included during manufacture.
But which parts are those? Is there any semi-exhaustive list? Does bricklink note this ...
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What was the shortest-lived color?
I've been reading about the history of the LEGO palette, most notably the transitions in gray and pink that have happened over the years where older shades were more or less completely replaced with ...
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How were these building instructions from the 1970s produced?
Have a look at page 7 of the instructions for set 367, produced in the year 1975 (source: Peeron.com):
How were these instructions produced? Were they hand-drawn or computer-generated? If the latter, ...
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Why was 4265 redesigned?
According to Bricklink, there are three versions of the part 4265:
4265a with teeth and tight-fit axle hole
4265b with teeth and loose axle hole
4265c without teeth and loose axle hole
Looking at ...
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By number of distinct colors, what official LEGO set has the most pieces?
A recent question shows the "monochrome" Steamboat Willie set actually contains about 20 colors. I was expecting fewer, maybe a dozen or so at most. So this got me wondering...
By number of distinct ...
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What was the first Christmas themed Lego set?
For as long as I can remember Lego has been making Special Christmas themed sets every year. Advent calendars, Winter village sets, Christmas trains, and on and on.
What was the first Christmas themed ...
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What was or is the longest running Lego set?
What is the longest running Lego set, retired or still in production?
I remember seeing set 7239 Fire Truck in the Lego catalog for years. That fire truck out lived three fire stations (7240, 7945, ...
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Why was LEGO reluctant to use additional colours for regular bricks in former times?
Looking back to what LEGO offered in the 1980s and early 1990s (oh, those memories ...), it looks a lot like LEGO's colour palette had been limited to a small number of colours - unless I'm missing ...
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What Lego set has the most unique colours?
What Lego set, past or current has had the most unique colours (colors) regardless of piece count?
I've found bricklink's color list but I have not found any way to filter sets biased on most colors....
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How many LEGO bricks exist in total?
How many LEGO bricks have been produced in total? I'm asking only about real LEGO, not other brand's "blocks."
This article from Gizmodo puts the number at 400 Billion, but that was written in 2008.
...
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Why do Technic beams have an odd number of holes?
Why do LEGO Technic beams tend to have an odd numbers of holes?
Is it for making it suitable for designing models? Or does the owner of The LEGO Group love either odd or even numbers?
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What's the time on the LEGO clock tile?
I am reasonably confident that this tile is meant to be 2:57:38, but I am wondering if anyone knows why this time might have been chosen?
I also recognize the Disney clocks all have a different ...
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What happened to "LEGO Service"?
In the 1990s, besides the main sets, there were some supplementary sets that were basically just parts collections. At least in Germany, these were offered under the name "LEGO Service", and listed in ...
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Why don't DUPLO figures have yellow skin?
Normal LEGO minifigures have yellow skin in an attempt at being racially neutral.
Why do (modern?) DUPLO figures use normal flesh tones instead of yellow skin? (Set 10895 aside, which has DUPLO ...
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Ordering of Pages in Printed LEGO Catalogues
While looking at some of the scanned LEGO catalogues on BrickSet, I have noticed that the UK catalogues (at least the ones I looked into) seem to be ordered "backwards" compared to what I'm used to ...
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The controversy around clone brands
The origin of the self-locking building bricks
Hilary Page was born in 1904 in Sanderstead, England. Along with several partners, Page decided to go into the toy business in 1932. In 1936, he began ...
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How To Sort Out 3rd Party Technic Clones From LEGO Originals?
I've recently bought bulk parts, and wish to sort out the official LEGO pieces from the inferior quality 3rd party clones.
On bricks I can easily spot-out the clones, becasue they don't sport the "...
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What came first? Print or sticker?
Recently I learned that there seems to be no strategy in the LEGO design about when to use stickers and when to use prints in a given set. My question is what LEGO used first to decorate bricks: ...
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When did LEGO Minifigure Leg mold designs change?
I am trying to identify the changeover dates for different minifigure leg molds. e.g. a figure from 1978 has no visible seams on the legs
figures from the late 1980s have visible seams, but it might ...
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When did Lego switch from 4 to 6 stud width of Windscreen?
All my old sets have cars with windscreen 4 studs wide. No matter if it is a jeep, truck or what - cars was 4 studs, usually 3823 or 2437. Now, in most modern sets, car windshield is usually 6 studs ...
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Are there any books on the history of economic, marketing and design choices of LEGO and the company?
I am interested in the history of economic, marketing and design choices made by the company, that shaped the product line (or individual sets) and the LEGO experience that we all love. Preferably ...
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When did LEGO have a groove in the center tube underneath?
I have a bunch of bricks from my childhood, some have grooves in the tubes underneath, some have the old style bubble logo, some have square holes under the plates. I am interested in general ages of ...
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How big are original LEGO bricks? [closed]
How big are/were the original LEGO bricks? What about those sold in Canada from 1970 to 1985/1990?
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Why are pat pending bricks rarer and treasured more than patented bricks?
My mum and I share a love of LEGO, but she is a huge collector of LEGO with easily 100kg spread across the garage, her room and my nan's garage.
When she gets time to sit down and sort through her ...
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Are there any army-related LEGO toys?
I don't recall ever seen a LEGO tank, a LEGO minifigure figure or any army-related LEGO sets.
I know that there are LEGO toys that imply some level of action/fighting, from police sets, knights, ...
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Does the word Lego have anything to do with Latin verb lego?
When I started learning Latin and learnt the verb "legō" specifically (meaning, "I collect, gather"), I suddenly realized "Oh, so that's where the Lego name comes from!" and it made perfect sense.
It ...
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When was the pink brick released?
I am a student researching Lego for an essay. I was looking at when the first pink bricks were released. I have researched and found that they were initially released between 1949 and 1956 and were ...
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What is TLC's (earlier?) "obsession" with dragsters about? [closed]
When thinking back, it seems that most of the time, Lego Town's racing subtheme featured a so-called "dragster" - a racing car with an elongated front.
This impression is corroborated by checking the ...
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Averaged out, as of 2016, how many shapes has Lego introduced per year since brick 1?
Averaged out since Lego first began selling addictive bricks, and discounting the structural redesign of existing bricks (Like the 2x4. Tubes were added, but it was still a 2x4) how many shaped ...
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Was there ever cadmium in LEGO bricks?
I remember a rumour from my youth in the late seventies / early eighties, that there was supposedly cadmium in older (relative to that time) LEGO bricks.
Searching for LEGO cadmium yields quite a lot ...
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Does anybody have pictures of a minicon?
I first heard of a minicon in this question on LEGO Answers. I have searched in a variety of ways but I can't find any pictures or more than a side-mention of this on the vast Interwebs. There is a ...
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Why was monorail offered the way it was?
There have only been 3 + 2 official monorail sets by Lego. Three monorails:
(Space, Futuron) Monorail Transport System
(Town, airport) Airport Shuttle
(Space, Unitron) Monorail Transport Base
And ...
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Significance of the switch from Legoland to Lego System?
In former times, Lego boxes used to feature a diagonal Legoland label in one corner. (See, for instance, the box of the Space Police I capital ship, set 6986.)
Later on (if I recall correctly, ...
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Why are Technic holes slightly smaller than studs?
We know that Lego studs almost never should be placed into Technic holes because studs are slightly larger and will stress the hole. However, why is there this discrepancy? Surely when Lego created ...
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Does this 2x4 brick exist?
I've been working on a little history project to make a shadowbox/display-type thing of all of the major evolutions of the 2x4 brick over the years. (I know this can get really in-depth, and I'm ...
