Classic LEGO Sets: Hobby Sets
Posted by Huw,
This week's installment on classic LEGO sets, published slightly later in the week than usual due to the Exo-Suit coverage, has been contributed by TechnicNick.
Hobby Sets were an early attempt by LEGO to engage a more mature audience; they were bigger, more detailed models than previously offered, and the boxes they came in were beautifully illustrated.
Think of them as the new Mini Cooper’s granddaddy, built with basic bricks and a little blocky; but an early example of the idea that LEGO bricks can be more than just a toy. They can be used to build something nice that can be proudly displayed. The inner sleeves of the boxes were intended to be used as display stands.
Slow sellers when new, these are rare and collectable now.
The first three sets, launched in 1975, were two very vintage cars and a decidedly un-vintage Formula 1 car.
392, the F1 car, is my pick of these – it looks a lot like a Tyrrell of the era. Really it’s a pile of blue plates in the rough shape of a car, with an entirely yellow engine (!). It still looks pretty good, especially the one built at six times the normal size and displayed at STEAM last year... You’ll find a used one for around £40 in good condition; more if you want the box. There is just one sealed example on Bricklink right now, and that’s £175. Don’t fancy paying those prices? Build it from your collection – they’re all basic pieces, after all.
The second wave in 1976 consisted of two motorcycles, another vintage car and a striking red and blue steam engine.
The bikes really were a bit too blocky, but the 395 Rolls Royce set was the best of the vintage cars, and I have fond memories of the one I was given all those years ago. It’s a pretty little thing, and there’s enough detail to make it a nice ornament. Those white spoked wheels were only made for this set and the 391 Renault, and it’s well worth tracking one down just for those. You’ll find a 395 used for around £50, or how about the single new one on Bricklink for a scarcely credible £400! That’s a pretty speculative price, I’m sure...
396 served as the flagship of the range, for the time being anyway, and was really rather impressive in its oddly proportioned, multi-coloured way. It’s coloured like a toy, yet has ambitions to be a display object in which it partly succeeds. If something like this was done now with more muted colours that weren’t available then, and the wheels were not too small, or the cab too long, it might work. As it is, it’s rooted very firmly in its era, and that’s where its charm lies. You’ll find one for around £80 used, or £200 new. They came with a large fold poster depicting the model and these are a rare find now. Happy hunting!
1977 saw no new Hobby Set releases, due to the introduction of a line called ‘Expert Builder Technical Sets’ which hit the spot that Hobby Sets missed...
There was a last hurrah in 1978, and it was really quite magnificent. 398, the USS Constellation, consisted of nearly 1,000-pieces; a huge count at the time, and it was a very convincing micro-scale model of a ship the Americans used to kick some British butt in the War of Independence. It sold better on one side of the Atlantic than the other... I have one sat proudly on display; this was the one Hobby Set that truly succeeded in its aim of being an object to be proud of.
It was re-released as 10021 in 2003; the only difference being the substitution of the discontinued 1x1 classic windows for headlight bricks.
In either form, it’s still the best ship model that LEGO have ever made. Find a used 398 set for around £120; there are none available new. A 10021 is a third less, but you want those classic windows, don’t you?
The strange thing about all these sets, with the exception of the F1 car, is that they’re all models of old stuff; surely kids, and teens for that matter, are mostly more interested in things that are of the moment. They might also be more interested in models that do things, like the early Technic sets (I’ll be getting to those...) or models that fit into a Town layout; for which all of these are far too big.
So that’s Hobby Sets. Ahead of their time as an idea, but very much of their time as models (with one exception). All of them with a hefty dose of vintage charm.
1 like
17 comments on this article
Great trip down memory lane! thanks TechnicNick
I have set 390, the 1913 Cadillac. Or rather, an instruction manual and loads of pieces laying in an old box together with random crap.
I have them all and I adore them. This is what Lego is all about: building beautiful things with regular bricks. Even in 30 years, children will still be able to build these while all the 'magnificent' models of the last ten years contain many specific or rare bricks or colours.
Great read. I might have put 329 on there as the great grandaddy and for me choosing between 395,391 and 390 is always hard. My might picked 390 as it's a Cadillac. Price as always been a bit of a barrier for me to get into these sets.
A quick note on the USS Constellation. It wasn't used in the American Revolution, but during the War of 1812 (maybe be known by a different name in the UK) and the Barbary Wars. She was a sister ship to the more famous USS Constitution. After she was decommissioned a second USS Constellation was build using some of the old timbers. It's the second ship the Lego model is based on.
Great article Nick. I have the Renault and the Thatcher Perkins but both sadly in a very used state. Great display models that evoke nostalgia for old skool LEGO even though I owned neither as a child.
"This is what Lego is all about: building beautiful things with regular bricks. Even in 30 years, children will still be able to build these ... "
This year I have been part of three exhibitions with the old 1970'es sets - the Hobby Sets among them. And I've had the same discussion a lot of times. Truth is that you can't build any of these old sets with your brick-collection, unless you have a collection of a lot of speciality bricks from the mid-1970'es! Most of the wheels, attachments for wheels, tyres, windows and "headlights" haven't been produced since 1981, and only a few windows and transparent bricks existed into the 1990'es.
If you have a collection with a lot of bricks from a certain "generation", then you can build a lot of sets from that generation. There are more different types of bricks today, and most sets contain more different bricks than they did back then - but the specialty bricks are always special for a certain generation - that changes every ten years or so.
The Model Team sets are great examples of this - you can't actually build them from todays bricks, just like you won't be able to build the VWs or the Mini Cooper from bricks from ten year old sets ...
I did bought the 10021, just because I love ships and it was cheaper than a origanal version.
The other sets I've seen a live in my uncle's house. Great models, but not much of my interest.
Nice to read these kinds of article's.
I'm Dutch and member of the Lego fan club "De Bouwsteen" [the building brick]
In our clubmagazine there is a chapter cold "Uit de oude doos". [from the past...or so]
They show the old sets in the articles from then. Very nice to see, that these 30-40 years old sets are still playable and loved.
Now I'm waiting for an article about FABULAND. That was my start for becoming an AFOL.
I still remember my first set. 3634 Charlie Crow's Carry-All
I still have it. To bad Fabuland is Old Skool/out of production. It was high playable. And the minifigs where awesome.
As my user name suggests I'm a big fan of the Hobby Sets. It was rebuilding 390 & 395 that got me out of my dark ages. 396 I have in bits and will rebuild one day. Thanks for a trip down memory lane
Thankyou @LuciferSam for the info. Thanks for your comments guys, glad you enjoyed this nostalgia-fest.
I love my norton 393 . Probably the most difficult Lego set I've built. Vague instructions and single contact connections that are quite fragile. But it's proudly displayed on my desk.
Neat sets.
These are definitely before my time, but looks like they fill the same niche as Model Team did. I do There was also a Model Team F1 Racer, 5540, a very cool set in its day. The white bricks on mine are slightly yellowed from sitting in my dorm room window for most of a year.
At the time I had the Rolls, the Cadillac and the Harley. I was probably 8 or 9 and I loved them!
Years later I bought the Norton, the Renault and the F1 car all used. I never got the Constellation. Like Huw said, you really want the windows so I didn't bother with the rerelease.
My prize find was the Thatcher Perkins new in box in a shop in Germany for the original price. That was back in 2000 or 2001. Those things don't happen much anymore...
Great review, and wonderful to get a glimpse of some of those old sets. As far as why the subjects were all of very old things instead of modern? There could be a number of reasons. I'm guessing part of it might be that the line saw greater success in the newly surging North American Lego market. 1976 was the US Bicentenial, so the period from around 1975 through 77 or 78 saw a huge US interest in the past. From sailing ships to steam and on. Plus the "current" or "modern" period of the middle to late 70's really really sucked.
That train engine probably has a bit more going on with it. I am not sure if that shade of blue was ever used on a real engine (some British ones maybe? That is the same color as Thomas the Tank Engine?) but in the US at that time period it pretty closely matched the art in the beloved children's book "The Little Engine That Could".
I suspect that in going for an older audience Lego was also trying to leverage their concept of families building things together. And the more classic old things were something that could more easily cross generations.
I think I'll consider getting the re-issue of the USS Constellation. It looks great and much simpler than the wooden ship models with the complicated rigging. It's only about $20 or or so above the $100 mark figuring at ten cents per piece.
As a fan whose going into the "dark ages" these "hobby" sets might fix that problem. Models that sort of look model-kit-esque, but no messy glue or paint, or a hobby knife that I occasionally accidentally cut myself with.
Fantastic article. This series that has been going on the past several weeks featuring old(er) sets has been really interesting, especially since I'm part of the 'younger generation'. As to your closing paragraph; I'm a teen and I am very interested in "old stuff", probably more so than things "of the moment".
I'm just surprised Huw and some of the other Brits here tolerated the comments pertaining to the American War for Independence. ;-)
Interesting points everyone, as to why these probably did better in the US. @Telcontar, us Brits pride ourselves on not being sore losers! Thanks for your comments everyone.