Vintage set of the week: Basic Building Set, 3+
Posted by Huwbot,
This week's vintage set is 50 Basic Building Set, 3+, released during 1976. It's one of 15 Basic sets produced that year. It contains 382 pieces.
It's owned by 207 Brickset members. If you want to add it to your collection you might find it for sale at BrickLink or eBay.
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19 comments on this article
I would not call that building in the upper left basic, it's quite unique.
Least basic basic building set we've had on this feature.
@Maxbricks14 said:
"Least basic basic building set we've had on this feature."
It does build the most basic double-decker bus Lego has ever made, though.
Gee, that building with the two towers is an interesting piece of architecture.
The vehicle to the left of the Lego Logo reminds me of 60407 (Double Decker Bus Sightseeing Bus) minus the extra height.
I like how this set includes both architecture and vehicles.
Somehow I survived having this as my first set.
@Prairiebricker:
Sure. If you can't do one thing well, you can at least do two different things. I guess.
On the bottom right, would you consider those white pieces that the boy is holding and some in the cart as large pieces of mail? Must be junk.
I suspect this may have been my first set - I have the yellow ladder (which was my favourite piece) and most of these figures and bricks in my box of Very Old Lego.
Okay but those parrots in the bottom left are actually pretty impressive. That’s some neat capturing of their rounded shape despite having limited curvature to work with
@PurpleDave said:
"Somehow I survived having this as my first set.
@Prairiebricker:
Sure. If you can't do one thing well, you can at least do two different things. I guess."
Do you really dismiss this set? It looks rather awesome even today, and that box gives so many inspiration to build whatever you can imagine. That double tower looks great and those birds look even better.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: For kids this is just peak Lego, leagues better than the 4+ stuff they have today (well, apart from the minifigs). Mostly just basic elements in just a few colors, but what you can do with that is only limited by your imagination.
This was my very first LEGO set (although I had played with LEGO bricks, TENTE, and other chinese makes before, from my older brothers). But this was truly my proper first LEGO set. And what a blast it was in a time we didn't ask for gifts let alone choose them! It was just my mom's observing how this kid spent hours around building blocks :) And what a (different) blast it is now when nostalgia and memory of the loved ones kicks in, namely my much missed late mother :( I WANNA GO BACK!!!
Brings back memories. My first set was 40. Well, I guess I am old.
Those birds are fantastic for the time, considering the colors and pieces.
Definitely a relief that the 3 pictures on the left are numbered. Who knows what it would have turned into if it had been built in the wrong order!
@thor96 said:
" @PurpleDave said:
"Somehow I survived having this as my first set.
@Prairiebricker:
Sure. If you can't do one thing well, you can at least do two different things. I guess."
Do you really dismiss this set? It looks rather awesome even today, and that box gives so many inspiration to build whatever you can imagine. That double tower looks great and those birds look even better."
Yes, vehemently. This was our first sets. As in, my brother and I each got our own copy (not the only time that ever happened, but probably the only time it wouldn't fit in a Christmas stocking). Second sets were miniquins, and third sets were proper minifigs. Once the boxes were gone, this ceased to even be a set, and just became "parts we don't use that often unless we're trying to make a really large building that we probably don't have enough bricks to complete anyways, so it's all going to end up back in the tub when we give up and decide to do something different".
Whether you think this is peak LEGO, or you think this is exactly the reason why maxifigs gave way to minifigs, probably depends on what you consider to be "play". Part of the reason I don't post many pictures, or participate in build contests is because they feed into "I built this" = "play". And part of the reason I do so many displays is because I get to arrange little scenes all over a layout (most of which I didn't have to build). For me, the build experience is separate from the play experience. I build sets because I like the model. I build MOCs because I like solving puzzles. But when I was a kid, the point of building was to have things to play _with_. And this only worked for me when I was a very, very, very young kid who had nothing better to compare it to.
@ineedabrick said:
"This was my very first LEGO set (although I had played with LEGO bricks, TENTE, and other chinese makes before, from my older brothers). But this was truly my proper first LEGO set. And what a blast it was in a time we didn't ask for gifts let alone choose them! It was just my mom's observing how this kid spent hours around building blocks :) And what a (different) blast it is now when nostalgia and memory of the loved ones kicks in, namely my much missed late mother :( I WANNA GO BACK!!!"
Mucho ánimo :-)
This was the largest of the 5 basic building sets that year, although hard to see where the additional pieces went.
@ambr said:
"This was the largest of the 5 basic building sets that year, although hard to see where the additional pieces went."
You had to imagine them.