More sprockets than gears, I’d say.

Bring back bricks with holes everywhere!

@TheOtherMike said:
"I was thinking recently that it would be cool to build a contraption that included every kind of gear Lego's ever made, and not just as decoration, but include every one of them in a functional way. Old gears like this, Technic gears that haven't been made in ages, splat gears, the works."

GBC module?

@PurpleDave: See, you say that; then Mike Myers shows up...:D

Also, never had these; but I knew a friend who did. It's funny how Lego recycled the axel part (albeit using black plastic instead of white), and moved to grey plastic gears (for 'Technics'). In all honesty, I wish TLG would bring back the tank-tracks from this period, w/the studs on top of the treads. And now that I think about it: would those 'splat-gears' that TLG created 'now' be the successors to the gears in this set?

55 years ago. Replacable cables in different lengths, no app needed, cool box with window and nice presentation, free-build ideas., ...

@brick_r said:
" @PurpleDave: See, you say that; then Mike Myers shows up...:D

Also, never had these; but I knew a friend who did. It's funny how Lego recycled the axel part (albeit using black plastic instead of white), and moved to grey plastic gears (for 'Technics'). In all honesty, I wish TLG would bring back the tank-tracks from this period, w/the studs on top of the treads. And now that I think about it: would those 'splat-gears' that TLG created 'now' be the successors to the gears in this set?"

I never saw any of these old gears in person, but they came to my mind immediately when I saw the splat gears.

With packaging as cool as this, that silly full stop doesn't grind my gears too much.

I recognise the motor parts from the motorized trains from the previous decade. Cool to see them survive up to the proto-technic period. At least, that's what I call these early gears, axles and 2x4 bricks shot full of holes.

In my experience it's a hit or miss whether the milky axles actually fit with technic parts, but it was clearly a predecessor of some kind.

@brick_r said:
"And now that I think about it: would those 'splat-gears' that TLG created 'now' be the successors to the gears in this set?"

No, there are probably at least a dozen different gear-type systems that are all designed to do largely different jobs. There’s the main gear family (for with the crown gear is the only way to switch to a perpendicular orientation). The bevel gear allows both regular and perpendicular orientation, but isn’t really designed to interface with the regular gear family (there are issues with gear spacing between these two groups). These sprocket gears could function as normal, but are also designed to engage with a chain system. The splat gears are really intended to be placed against a flat surface. They’re designed to be low-profile, which means they don’t have much contact between the teeth, and are likely to slip if they’re in the open air. The teeth are also designed to engage with a line of studs, so I don’t think they’d work well as bevel gears (though I don’t know if these sprocket gears can work like bevel gears either).

Not included in this set:
- Guilty Gears
- Gears of War
- Top Gears
- Metal Gears, Solid