So far the best part of my project to build the 6080 King’s Castle has been getting to dig into my old LEGO stash. Since I’m still waiting for my BrickLink delivery, this is mostly what I’ve been doing. Completely unrelated to LEGO Castle – since the first castle was released in 1978 – but perfectly related to my LEGO rediscovery journey, I stumbled onto some of my father’s old bricks from the 1960s. Only the second full decade for LEGO, and the first decade in my native Finland, the 1960s were an interesting LEGO period where many things were familiar, but also a lot was different and still only taking shape.
There are three major 1960s LEGO differences that I’d like to point out. I’m sure most AFOLs are familiar with these. First is the lack of minifigures and a completely different scale of building. It is evident in these 1960s LEGO windows and doors:
While LEGO did use a variant of that square window still in the 1980s, look at those doors. They are only three bricks tall (most of the windows in the photo are two tall) and do not open. I also have some large three tall windows that could be used as display windows, but they have been quite bent over the years and would require some refurbishing before use. This points out the second major change: physical differences. In the 1960s LEGO still used a softer plastic for some of its pieces. The window design is also quite open from the bottom, so it lacks the solid frame modern LEGO windows have – hence most of my 1960s windows and doors are a little bent.
Later, and indeed in the 1980s, similar LEGO windows used a slightly sturdier structure and the hard acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) plastic that became a signature LEGO feature during the 1960s. That is not the only physical difference between new and old, though. Over the 1960s LEGO was still evolving the locking mechanism and basic structure of the bricks. For example, the long, single-wide bricks were mostly hollow and only locked by their sides. Thus, they seem quite flimsy and loose by modern LEGO standards. On the upside, they featured localized prints. I don’t remember ever seeing Finnish LEGO texts since, not even on stickers – and these were not stickers:
Also, earlier LEGO plates used a square locking pattern on the bottom, which is very loose too, or at least has become very loose over time. Apparently this changed over the course of the decade, as I have 1960s LEGO plates with both the old and new locking patterns. The new pattern makes for a much tighter fit. Note though, that the rounded corners in the plates (even in the ones with the new pattern) do not have the now-usual dents, so they can not be placed over larger plates as modern LEGO plates with rounded corners can.
Due to these differences, I believe, many of my early 1960s bricks have suffered more than newer LEGO bricks have. Not only because of their age, but because of the differences in molding and plastic. Clearly newer LEGO can take more of a beating and that is one of the reasons why LEGO has such great replay value – for generations to come. It lasts. This is why I’m a little worried to see TLG (the LEGO Group) use soft plastics again in some of their current speciality pieces, like certain LEGO Ninjago and Kingdoms weapons and minifig masks. The next generation opening a box of such soft pieces in a decade or two will suffer the consequences. TLG, tread carefully on this one, please. (Note: You can click the images for larger versions.)
The third major difference, comparing modern LEGO and the 1960s, were the LEGO cars:
The blue truck shows no model number other than a LEGO logo, but the grey car (ironically the grey is even bluer than bley), reads “Pat. LEGO pend VW 1500” (patent pending, LEGO, Volkswagen 1500) in the bottom. Worldbricks is a little sporadic on 1960s LEGO catalogs, but I managed to find a mention of a 267 Volkswagen 1500 in garage (Google that phrase and many more links and images pop up) from the 1965 LEGO catalog. I guess there is or was a transparent garage brick for it somewhere, but I couldn’t find it. The 1:87 car is really small, smaller than your average Matchbox car. The rolling wheels in the cars are metal and the bodies look plastic. Doors do not open.
The truck is apparently in 1:90 scale, yet still larger than the sedan. The 1961 LEGO catalog suggests this may be model 253. The trailer is probably not from this truck, but a separate 254 model (minus its front wheels). The actual cargo bed of the truck is missing. Under the grey car is a weird 1960s LEGO garage baseplate, perhaps part of the 236 Garage or more generic 235 Garage base with automatic door. It is strange seeing such small LEGO model numbers now, but of course these were still the early days for LEGO. Below, the 1960s cars next to my son’s 4441 Police Dog Van (2012):
As a child I remember comparing these small cars to the LEGO minifig cars of the late 1970s and early 1980s and finding the small ones quite silly. Now, as an adult, I do appreciate them a bit more. There is the nostalgy factor of course, but also the idea that you could build your LEGO cities in a more realistic scale, where the cars were small like in real life and not almost single-story high like the modern minifig cars are. Of course the downside was the lack of car building and minifigure play, which are not insignificant omissions – still, I think the LEGO Architecture series might benefit from cars of this kind.
These are, of course, not the only differences between 1960s and more modern LEGO. For example, I found some interesting looking, two colored LEGO bricks from my father’s collection. First I thought they were holed for wiring light bricks through them, but again the catalogs set me straight. These are axle bricks for 1960s LEGO wheels:
Funny thing is, looking at the 1960s catalog pictures and my inherited – mostly red and white – 1960s bricks, I realized I had never actually seen these old models built. Sure, I used the bricks in my own designs, but I had never seen any original LEGO models from that era. What a treasure trove the Internet is. Worldbricks seems to even host some 1960s LEGO instructions. Perhaps as a future project I will try to recreate a vintage 1960s LEGO model. But enough of ancient history for now, back to the LEGO Castle!
22 Responses to LEGO from 1960s
[…] I was toying around with my father’s 1960s LEGO, it occurred to me that in my household there are LEGO from three distinctly separate eras: first […]
[…] the brick-build purist might protest and long for times gone by. As I had recently written about LEGO from 1960s on this blog, I asked my father which particular sets he had as a child – since all I have […]
[…] closely, you can see a familiar blue truck next to the building on the right, also note the included town board underneath. As for the girl, […]
[…] generation to the next. Indeed, some thirty years ago it was me building up my father’s old 1960s LEGO – and my son has played with those […]
[…] pictures of LEGO from 1960s illustrated how the locking mechanism and structure of the bricks was still evolving then. In […]
[…] the bottom of each brick to the round studs that cover the brick underneath. Thinking back to my father’s old LEGO, this is how most of those vintage sets were […]
[…] the heck out of them. In fact, they even designed, shipped and patented many variants of the locking mechanism to keep copycats at bay. And by all appearances, their efforts were quite successful for many […]
[…] the heck out of them. In fact, they even designed, shipped and patented many variants of the locking mechanism to keep copycats at bay. And by all appearances, their efforts were quite successful for many […]
[…] Lion Knight’s castle, the second Quest for Inter-City train, playing with my father’s 1960s LEGO, visiting museums or even ranting about 1990s LEGO, seeing and understanding how LEGO has evolved […]
[…] had forgotten all about this great little detail. LEGO used to be so local in those early days, when their world was smaller. But when we built our first train together with […]
[…] distinctly marked by the dominance blue, red and white colors in its bricks and designs (and those quirky little windows, metallic trees and miniature cars) – was topped off by the introduction of LEGO DUPLO in […]
[…] It wasn’t all that long ago when it was me at a similar age pouring through my father’s 1960s LEGO. Thanks to this hobby I now remember my own child-parent interactions a little better. Safe to say, […]
[…] the past I have written about my father’s old 1960s LEGO, I also posted some photographs from the Billund LEGO museum showing this era. Also related to this […]
[…] to note how many small details in the construction of the pieces were different back then (see a past story for some more notes). Unlike the 1970s and 1980s LEGO that is pretty much the same as you can buy […]
[…] PDF File Name: Lego from 1960s | quest for bricks Source: questforbricks.wordpress.com » DOWNLOAD « […]
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[…] to the fact that every single piece of LEGO ever made in the company’s history still fits together, theoretically a person with access to the vault could combine every single set to create a […]
[…] to the fact that every single piece of LEGO ever made in the company’s history still fits together, theoretically a person with access to the vault could combine every single set to create a […]
[…] to the truth that each single piece of LEGO ever made within the firm’s historical past still fits together, theoretically an individual with entry to the vault might mix each single set to create a […]
I have 6 of the small garages with cars that were my sons in the 60s. Your site is the first I have ever seen them referred to. Always believed he was not the only child to have them.
Still have my 1960s lego. They were a more serious hobby type toy back then. HO scales cars and buildings. More architectural related. Later Legos seem to evolve in more whimsical toy like product. No true scale etc.