Times sure have changed. The amount of battery power required for a couple of lights then is pretty much just within a single self-contained brick now.

Well, it’s definitely showcasing that there are lights involved. Models, not so much. And at 4.5v back in those days, I suspect the intensity is wildly exaggerated.

I had this when it was first released. Very sophisticated with its coloured signs and filters, compared with what I had a couple of years earlier (445-2)!

You know, I think that's 122 in the middle upper picture. Two VSotWs in a row!

I can't imagine these are LEDs, so the power requirements and heat output must be no joke.

While I didn't have any of them, I remember several such lighting sets or sets with similar lights in the "Basic" range in the Eighties. Sets like 970 or 816 for example.

I was going to make a joke about putting the tech into Technic but this apparently System so…

I had a later version of this set - 970. I did eventually burn the bulbs out by leaving them continuously on (fed from the 7864 transformer in 4.5v mode rather than batteries). Later, when I had more of the 4.5v light bricks, I used them to light trains with 9v motors by putting two light bricks in series across the 9v supply.

Oh hey, light functions beyond the single standard light brick! An actual useful feature most people would like, compared to the 'smart brick' nobody asked for!

I recently bought a mint copy of this set, and in answer to a few comments...

- No, I haven't noticed any significant heat off them, the filament bulbs are in the middle of 2x2 bricks with a small lens across the front, to put behind the coloured and printed sign bricks.

- and Yes, even though it's only 4.5v they are pretty bright !

I LOVE these old supplemental sets.

@WizardOfOss said:
"Cool stuff! We had a later iteration of this system, 970, and always loved to include light in our builds. We did often use a third party battery holder with penlites instead of C-cells, which made it a lot easier to incorporate it in smaller builds.

Like Atuin, I never noticed any heat either. Also, I have a feeling the bulbs used by Lego were massively overspec'd, as we never had one die, and even last time I checked a few years ago they still all worked fine. Which is a good thing since I don't think there's any (non destructive) way to replace them. I mean, by comparison, the bulbs used by Fischertechnik died regularly, but like with many toys at the time, those were designed to be easily replaced.

And sure, the all-in-one light bricks we have now do have their advantages, but those are also rather bulky, and worse, a pain to operate remotely. Therefore, I think both have their advantages and can very well exist side-by-side. And many other brands now do have intricate light systems that can create spectacular effects simply not possible with Lego. But it all started here..."

The earliest Lego lights actually had replaceable lightbulbs too:
https://brickset.com/sets/245-1/Lighting-Device-Pack

Nice.....never seen those before!

@Atuin said:
" @WizardOfOss said:
"Cool stuff! We had a later iteration of this system, 970 , and always loved to include light in our builds. We did often use a third party battery holder with penlites instead of C-cells, which made it a lot easier to incorporate it in smaller builds.

Like Atuin, I never noticed any heat either. Also, I have a feeling the bulbs used by Lego were massively overspec'd, as we never had one die, and even last time I checked a few years ago they still all worked fine. Which is a good thing since I don't think there's any (non destructive) way to replace them. I mean, by comparison, the bulbs used by Fischertechnik died regularly, but like with many toys at the time, those were designed to be easily replaced.

And sure, the all-in-one light bricks we have now do have their advantages, but those are also rather bulky, and worse, a pain to operate remotely. Therefore, I think both have their advantages and can very well exist side-by-side. And many other brands now do have intricate light systems that can create spectacular effects simply not possible with Lego. But it all started here..."

The earliest Lego lights actually had replaceable lightbulbs too:
https://brickset.com/sets/245-1/Lighting-Device-Pack "
Snap... Still only the best 8 years later!
And no battery box... just a separate 4.5v battery!
Or even stick a couple of 1.5v batteries together with tape! 245-3

@Atuin said:
" @WizardOfOss said:
"Cool stuff! We had a later iteration of this system, 970, and always loved to include light in our builds. We did often use a third party battery holder with penlites instead of C-cells, which made it a lot easier to incorporate it in smaller builds.

Like Atuin, I never noticed any heat either. Also, I have a feeling the bulbs used by Lego were massively overspec'd, as we never had one die, and even last time I checked a few years ago they still all worked fine. Which is a good thing since I don't think there's any (non destructive) way to replace them. I mean, by comparison, the bulbs used by Fischertechnik died regularly, but like with many toys at the time, those were designed to be easily replaced.

And sure, the all-in-one light bricks we have now do have their advantages, but those are also rather bulky, and worse, a pain to operate remotely. Therefore, I think both have their advantages and can very well exist side-by-side. And many other brands now do have intricate light systems that can create spectacular effects simply not possible with Lego. But it all started here..."

The earliest Lego lights actually had replaceable lightbulbs too:
https://brickset.com/sets/245-1/Lighting-Device-Pack"

My dad (no, not that one) has observed that he thought it was impressive when he had Lego that lit up. (I tell him that I did too, as one of the very first sets that I didn't have to share with my brother was 6780.) I think that might have been what he had, as it came out the year he turned seven.

@TheOtherMike said:
" @Atuin said:
" @WizardOfOss said:
"Cool stuff! We had a later iteration of this system, 970, and always loved to include light in our builds. We did often use a third party battery holder with penlites instead of C-cells, which made it a lot easier to incorporate it in smaller builds.

Like Atuin, I never noticed any heat either. Also, I have a feeling the bulbs used by Lego were massively overspec'd, as we never had one die, and even last time I checked a few years ago they still all worked fine. Which is a good thing since I don't think there's any (non destructive) way to replace them. I mean, by comparison, the bulbs used by Fischertechnik died regularly, but like with many toys at the time, those were designed to be easily replaced.

And sure, the all-in-one light bricks we have now do have their advantages, but those are also rather bulky, and worse, a pain to operate remotely. Therefore, I think both have their advantages and can very well exist side-by-side. And many other brands now do have intricate light systems that can create spectacular effects simply not possible with Lego. But it all started here..."

The earliest Lego lights actually had replaceable lightbulbs too:
https://brickset.com/sets/245-1/Lighting-Device-Pack"

My dad (no, not that one) has observed that he thought it was impressive when he had Lego that lit up. (I tell him that I did too, as one of the very first sets that I didn't have to share with my brother was 6780.) I think that might have been what he had, as it came out the year he turned seven."

"From the desk of Christian With Gifts

To whom it may concern,

It has come to my attention that there are now in this wide and wonderful world, a number of LEGO bricks that possess the capacity to light up. These bricks are, as the youths so succinctly put it, 'lit'. Being a man of no small wordly experience, I am not easily impressed - but on this occasion I would be remiss if I failed to remark on the remarkable.

Signed, your loving father,

C.W. Gifts, Esquire"

Sadly for me, these came out during the darkest part of my Dark Age. If I'd ever seen them, my DA would likely have ended overnight. (In my defense, in the Eighties I was doing trivial things like going through college and graduate school, getting married, and establishing my own household. Still, I'm not sure any of that really brought me more pleasure than 995 or 970 would have, and in any case the cost was hardly prohibitive. Wish I'd known!)

Edited to add: Oops, the only reason I didn't know about 995 was my parents bought me the electric motor/battery box and the big Samsonite gear set instead--but 970 didn't come out until I'd already passed my childhood collection on to younger relatives. Oh, well.

I don't have any original LEGO bulbs but I do have a couple of old toy slide projectors with similar bulbs from 1970s. I just measured the current they draw, it's 0.22A. So at 4.5V, the power is about 1W. Like most toys with lights in from that period, they'll get slightly warm during use but no overheating issue.

@Atuin said:
"Most people don't realize this set brought us the first colored transparent bricks (Tr. Yellow, Tr. Green and Tr. Red).

The printed transparent signs were nice too. The pre 1980s electric system maybe not so much.

EDIT:
Since all the talk about LEDs - those (and the 9V system lamps till the late 90s) were indeed your classic (tungsten wire) light bulbs.
Power efficiency might be really bad, but I never noticed any heat enough to be critical for the surrounding plastic. After all you don't want these to be on for hours (they'll likely break by that type of usage anyways)."

I had the later version - 970 - just don't experiment by running 12v through the yellow light bricks - that does create too much heat and a VERY bright light (albeit very briefly...)