Throwback Thursday - Samsonite
Posted by FlagsNZ,
In today's Throwback Thursday article I will showcase some LEGO Samsonite sets from The BLOCKS Collection.
The LEGO Samsonite sets were marketed specifically to North American customers in the USA and Canada by the Samsonite Corporation. They are typically identified as three-digit sets (200 and 300 range).
Read on as I showcase a selection of these sets from The BLOCKS Collection that were available from the mid to late 1960s.
LEGO System by Samsonite
The Samsonite Corporation, an American luggage manufacturer, purchased the rights to manufacture and sell the LEGO system in North America in 1961.
This decision to outsource manufacture and sales also coincided with the LEGO Group's move to become a one-product company: the small plastic bricks were beginning to account for a larger proportion of sales.
This decision to focus on the plastic bricks was also helped when a fire destroyed a portion of the LEGO factory in Billund in 1960. LEGO managers decided not to rebuild the wooden toy division, but instead to concentrate all production facilities on the Lego construction toy system.
Samsonite was looking to diversify its growing company and felt that its experience in plastics and retailing corresponded well with the plastic toy industry. Samsonite opened plants in Stratford, Ontario, and Loveland, Colorado, to manufacture LEGO bricks and established a separate sales force to market the product.
Samsonite relinquished its LEGO System licence in 1973. "Our managerial expertise was better suited to consumer durables than to toys, so we eased out of the toy business", a Samsonite executive stated in a 1976 article in Business Week.
Source: www.company-histories.com - Lego AS - Company History
Image source: www.brickfetish.com - Samsonite LEGO Brochures 1962-1972
244 Explorer Set
On the left is the 244-piece LEGO 244 Explorer Set. The set on the right is an exact copy but with a set number of 462441 and in a plain brown cardboard box.
The LEGO 244 Explorer set was available exclusively through American toy retailer FAO Schwarz.
From 1965 to the early 1970s, Samsonite produced a number of exclusive LEGO sets for FAO Schwarz. Most of these sets were never sold anywhere else.
Note that 244 is the set number and also the piece count for the set. This numbering theme is continued on all these large LEGO Samsonite boxes.
The set on the right was available from 1968 through the Sears, Roebuck and Co mail order catalogue, and they were marketed as such so that they could send LEGO sets out in their original packaging without being in the colourful LEGO-branded boxes.
The artwork on these early boxes shows an early version of the modern LEGO logo. This is the ninth version of the LEGO logo format that was used between 1964 and 1972. It was also the first logo to include the registered trademark symbol.
There is a similar-sized square with five coloured stripes. These stripes represented the limited range of LEGO element colours available during this period.
Note: There is a smudge on my camera lens which affects most of the images in this article. I only noticed this when editing these images.
Under the logo, the box lists the following US patents:
- 3,005,282 - The original 2x4 brick
- 3,034,254 - The roof bricks
- 3,162,973 - An alternate 2x4 brick design
- 3,224,043 - Injection moulding machine
- 3,234,683 - The wheel-bush brick patent
- 3,236,004 - Turntable element
- 3,242,610 - Flexible connector for toy construction sets
- 3,284,946 - Structure including a framed window
The LEGO 244 Explorer set's parts have been divided up into these four slightly opaque plastic containers.
The plain-packaged 462441 set has one grey parts tray.
Both sets came with a small Ideas instruction booklet.
This is the last page of the booklet. It just shows a typical 1960s-styled advertising family ideal.
A LEGO brick house built in three instruction steps!
021 Wheel Set
Released in 1966, the 021 Wheel Set introduced the patented LEGO wheel-bush brick element.
This wheel and connector brick design was patented in April 1966.
This box had internal cardboard compartments.
285 Medium Basic Set and 375 Deluxe Basic Set
The 285 Medium Basic Set was also released in 1966. It included 285 parts.
The parts have been divided up into these square and rectangular slightly opaque plastic containers.
The 375 Deluxe Basic Set included 375 parts.
Samsonite parts
LEGO Samsonite parts were made from cellulose acetate plastic.
When mixing these loose parts there is a distinctive, slightly higher-pitched, sound than when sorting through the more modern ABS bricks.
Here is a view of the waffle-styled plates, and you can see an early interior design of the 1x8 brick.
The iconic red 2x4 LEGO brick with the early version of the LEGO logo engraved onto the studs.
Although not seen in any of the elements in this review, it is reasonably common to find some misaligned LEGO logos engraved on the element studs that were manufactured by Samsonite.
You can see that the overall quality of the brick is not quite the same as a LEGO brick made elsewhere. Samsonite's poor brick moulding quality control was one of the reasons that led to their marketing contracts not being renewed in the 1970s.
Parts packs
Supplementary parts packs were another marketing scheme introduced by Samsonite.
The marketing blurb seen on the display stand (in the introduction image) states:
Extra Sales. . . Extra Profits
Lego [sic] dealers are finding the steadily increasing demands for extra parts mean additional sales and profits every month of the year. The various packages which comprise the extra parts assortment feature carefully selected basic parts which add to the building capability of any Lego [sic] set.
Below you can see a few notable Samsonite parts.
- 4x8 Right Curve Plate
- 4x8 Left Curve Plate - upside down
Note that these two parts have not been designed with the stud cutouts on the curved section of the plate.
There is no LEGO branding or mould number on the trees or tyres and the trees cannot connect to any studs.
Patented wheel system
As mentioned earlier, LEGO introduced a patented wheel-bush-brick connector system in 1966.
The Samsonite version of these bricks had three transparent clear bushes inserted into the bricks.
Similar bricks made elsewhere had at least one of the bushes manufactured with a colour.
This is how wheels used to connect in the LEGO system prior to the mid 1970s.
The Samsonite wheel had a brass pin moulded into the wheel. The pins in later versions were made out of steel.
Here is a selection of window elements. The transparent component came attached to the frame.
These parts are very brittle and extremely fragile. You can see the transparent pane has warped in the six-stud-wide window.
Evolution of curved plates
The original 4x8 curved plates had a waffle pattern on the underside.
This later evolved into the more familiar tube pattern, but note that this part still did not have stud cutouts on the curved section.
Only later did the two notches get included in these parts.
Your feedback
The team at the BLOCKS Collection really enjoyed reading all your comments from the first article I wrote in this series.
Please add your comments below about your association with the Samsonite range of LEGO sets.
If you are in Auckland, come and visit The BLOCKS Collection
The BLOCKS Collection is located in central Auckland, New Zealand.
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38 comments on this article
I've got one of those 4x8 waffle pieces! It's a bit yellow now though...
Also the 1st and 7th of the window elements, the two brass-pin wheels, and the brick the wheels attach to.
Neat article
Like the caption "Mom and Dad love it" in the booklet. Appealing to the adult market even then. And to build a whole house in just 3 steps!
Also love the picture of the little girl standing next to the skyscraper. How many bricks did that take build! Is she trying to build it taller than herself?
I love history! Especially Lego history! More of these articles please!!!
@MartyMcFly said:
"And to build a whole house in just 3 steps!"
It's like Meccano!
Uh, it starts with "S". Let's see. Swammi? Slippy? Slappy? Swenson? Swanson?... Maybe it's on the briefcase... Oh, yeah!... Here it is! "Samsonite"! I was way off! I knew it started with an "S" though.
Great article, I remember there were only partial instructions if at all and the ideas book or photo art was very aspirational as would need hundreds if not thousands of pieces from a dozen sets (which the bank of mum and dad would not extend credit for).
@ambr said:
"Great article, I remember there were only partial instructions if at all and the ideas book or photo art was very aspirational as would need hundreds if not thousands of pieces from a dozen sets (which the bank of mum and dad would not extend credit for)."
But I thought Mum and Dad love it!
Crazy how much Lego has changed.
@MartyMcFly said:
"Like the caption "Mom and Dad love it" in the booklet. Appealing to the adult market even then. And to build a whole house in just 3 steps!"
Doesn't look like the three-step house followed the same floor plan that Mom is looking at. And you can't get to any rooms without going through a number of other ones.
@Maxbricks14 said:
"Crazy how much Lego has changed."
Es que para los que nacimos con lego, en la actualidad, hay muy poco de lego...
This was a terrific article! Thank you for sharing that info and explaining these early sets. I Had no idea Samsonite was a LEGO distributor.
I'd often wondered how a luggage company ended up producing and/or distributing Lego sets. Now I know! Also, that tree is one of the most "you'd never know it was Lego if you didn't know enough Lego history" pieces out there.
I have my dad’s old Samsonite sets from when he was a kid. Never been able to sort out which sets he had exactly, what remains doesn’t quite match anything in Bricklink’s database.
My dad grew up with these parts in the 60s. He gave me the pieces to play with when I was a kid, but when I grew up, I organized all the parts back into the sets he once played with. Seeing the pieces again brought him back good memories.
I love these historic articles! Please post more of them. The early years of Lego were fascinating. Thank you so much for your work in making these. :)
You mention the "misaligned LEGO logos" that can be found on Samsonite parts. I bought a sealed Samsonite set on ebay once, and when I opened it, there were a couple of bricks that had studs with different logo styles. My mind was blown!
I don't really have any experience with Samsonite as it was before my time. However, my mother bought my brother a large bulk lot many years ago that included many old themes. I was going through our old childhood box cleaning and sorting the parts when I came across a couple of old 60s or 70s bricks. I'm not sure if it is Samsonite, but it definitely has the same logo as this article. It was a fun little trip seeing how far back our collection went.
Still got a whole bunch of those waffle plates, and probably some more Samsonite pieces like those windows. Even as a kid about 4 decades ago it was very clear some pieces were not ike the others, with basically zero clutch power and often badly warped.
Thanks, I love glimpses of Lego history like this, especially the evolution of various elements.
Those trees that don't have any connections are weird. I assume those were unique to the Samsonite range.
I live close to Stratford, Ontario, where the Canadian factory was located. I heard that "marbled" bricks (where the colour of the plastic was being changed and the brick took on a marbled appearance) routinely made their way out of the factory. I believe that you can still find them in thrift stores in Stratford occasionally, though I have never found any for myself.
Also, many of the sets that I obtained in the 1980s were still made by Samsonite Canada. E.g, my copy of 897, mobile rocket launcher, has "Samsonite" printed on the instructions. According to lego.com, "the Samsonite contract remains in force in Canada until May 1988."
@FlagsNZ said:
"LEGO Samsonite parts were made from acrylic plastic."
To the best of my research, this is incorrect in two ways:
First, the non-ABS plastic was Cellulose Acetate, not acrylic.
Second, not all Samsonite bricks are CA.
Cellulose Acetate was a grossly inferior plastic. It warps very badly over time with heat. Some CA bricks I have still interlock with poor clutch, but many of them are so misshapen they are useless now. However, CA was Lego's plastic worldwide (except for the Swedish licensee, IIRC) until 1963, when it switched over to ABS. However, Samsonite continued to mix in CA parts all the way through 1970. Sets could come with both ABS and CA. Red CA is a completely different color, so very easy to distinguish.
I love me some throwback thursday!
@OneIsLit said:
"I live close to Stratford, Ontario, where the Canadian factory was located. I heard that "marbled" bricks (where the colour of the plastic was being changed and the brick took on a marbled appearance) routinely made their way out of the factory. I believe that you can still find them in thrift stores in Stratford occasionally, though I have never found any for myself.
Also, many of the sets that I obtained in the 1980s were still made by Samsonite Canada. E.g, my copy of 897, mobile rocket launcher, has "Samsonite" printed on the instructions. According to lego.com, "the Samsonite contract remains in force in Canada until May 1988." "
I have a stash of about 15 marbled bricks that were in a bunch of stuff I bought from a former Samsonite employee in Stratford. There were also a bunch of 1x4 bricks from 918 with misprinted dials on them!
I still recall driving through Stratford and seeing the big LEGO logo sign out front of the plant. Now Samsonite has moved their production to a newer facility and I don't know what the fate of the old plant is.
As for the thrift shops in the town, about 25 years ago I found a job lot with about a dozen of the knight's vizors from the yellow castle in it. :)
@AllenSmith said:
" @FlagsNZ said:
"LEGO Samsonite parts were made from acrylic plastic."
To the best of my research, this is incorrect in two ways:
First, the non-ABS plastic was Cellulose Acetate, not acrylic.
Second, not all Samsonite bricks are CA.
Cellulose Acetate was a grossly inferior plastic. It warps very badly over time with heat. Some CA bricks I have still interlock with poor clutch, but many of them are so misshapen they are useless now. However, CA was Lego's plastic worldwide (except for the Swedish licensee, IIRC) until 1963, when it switched over to ABS. However, Samsonite continued to mix in CA parts all the way through 1970. Sets could come with both ABS and CA. Red CA is a completely different color, so very easy to distinguish."
Thanks for the clarification. I have edited the article accordingly. This was my mistake.
Great Article! interesting to see how far things have come. But these have also their very specific charm. Again. Great article! Thank you:)
"eased out of the toy business" (by dropping Lego) sounds a bit like the guy who passed on signing the Beatles...
I love these kinds of articles, and this one is so thorough and well-documented - thank you!
RE the 021 Wheel Set, having recently gone through a fair number of old light gray tires just to assemble a decent-looking set of 4 in good condition, I find it strangely comforting to see from the box cover photograph that even when they were brand new they looked terrible. :-)
Another excellent article David. Great to see some items from Then BLOCKS Collection being appreciated internationally. I look forward to getting more out for you to write about. Regards Vaughan
From what I remember from Gary the reason Samsonite lost the Lego license was because of poor sales figures not because the logo was crooked on the molds. Lego would send Samsonite used, worn out or damaged molds to make parts with and they frequently needed repaired before use.
@oldtodd33 said:
"From what I remember from Gary the reason Samsonite lost the Lego license was because of poor sales figures not because the logo was crooked on the molds. Lego would send Samsonite used, worn out or damaged molds to make parts with and they frequently needed repaired before use. "
Yes. You are correct. Samsonite's sales never matched the huge success that LEGO was having in the European market. The poor quality of the Samsonite moulded bricks also played a part in the relinquishment of the management contract.
@The_Blocks_Collection
Thanks, Vaughan. There is obviously an appetite for more historic LEGO articles here at Brickset.
I wonder if Samsonite produced sets are kept in the LEGO Vault at Billund? Do they have all of them MISB?
@FlagsNZ said:
" @The_Blocks_Collection
Thanks, Vaughan. There is obviously an appetite for more historic LEGO articles here at Brickset."
I know I want more!
@AllenSmith said:
" @FlagsNZ said:
"LEGO Samsonite parts were made from acrylic plastic."
To the best of my research, this is incorrect in two ways:
First, the non-ABS plastic was Cellulose Acetate, not acrylic.
Second, not all Samsonite bricks are CA.
Cellulose Acetate was a grossly inferior plastic. It warps very badly over time with heat."
And if any CA bricks survive the rigours time and heat just keep them well away from hydrogen peroxide, unless you want them to turn banana shaped before your eyes!
@sjr60 said:
"And if any CA bricks survive the rigours time and heat just keep them well away from hydrogen peroxide, unless you want them to turn banana shaped before your eyes!"
I am almost afraid to ask how you know this!
@Blockwork_Orange said:
" @OneIsLit said:
"I live close to Stratford, Ontario, where the Canadian factory was located. I heard that "marbled" bricks (where the colour of the plastic was being changed and the brick took on a marbled appearance) routinely made their way out of the factory. I believe that you can still find them in thrift stores in Stratford occasionally, though I have never found any for myself.
Also, many of the sets that I obtained in the 1980s were still made by Samsonite Canada. E.g, my copy of 897, mobile rocket launcher, has "Samsonite" printed on the instructions. According to lego.com, "the Samsonite contract remains in force in Canada until May 1988." "
I have a stash of about 15 marbled bricks that were in a bunch of stuff I bought from a former Samsonite employee in Stratford. There were also a bunch of 1x4 bricks from 918 with misprinted dials on them!
I still recall driving through Stratford and seeing the big LEGO logo sign out front of the plant. Now Samsonite has moved their production to a newer facility and I don't know what the fate of the old plant is.
As for the thrift shops in the town, about 25 years ago I found a job lot with about a dozen of the knight's vizors from the yellow castle in it. :)"
Stratford is my hometown. I had family that worked at Samsonite back in the day and employees could buy bags of end of run production scraps for $5. I used to get so much LEGO this way when I was a kid from all themes that were being made there. The old factory is still there, it is now a mould injection factory for auto parts.
I had a go at building the three-step house in LeoCAD, and came up with 542 pieces added in 17 steps. And it doesn't look like it should be too hard to source the bricks, should I decide to...