Catalogue library expansion
Posted by Huw,
As well as our near-complete database of LEGO sets, we also host one of the most comprehensive and high-quality collections of LEGO catalogue scans on the Internet.
While in lockdown, my daughter has scanned my paper 8" square UK catalogues from 2000 to 2011 which now means we have an almost complete set of them from 1966 to 2011. There are a few second-half-of-year ones missing from the 2000s because by that time they were hard to find and I don't have them in my collection. You'll find pictures of those we are missing after the break. Perhaps you can help fill the gaps?
There is also an assortment of US Shop @ Home catalogues from the late 1990s available now, too, thanks to EamonnMR who made them available at archive.org.
I have more to add, digital copies of some from 2012-2020, in the coming days.
I hope you enjoy flicking through them!
Do you have these catalogues, in English? Get in touch if you'd be willing to lend them to us to scan. Thanks!
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42 comments on this article
There goes my afternoon...thanks Huw :D
Thank you!
And thanks to your daughter!
Makes for a nice trip down memory lane. Thanks for this!
Fantastic! Some of the mid eighties ones make me feel very nostalgic.
Lego catalogs were so important for me, such a huge source of inspiration! Specially between early/late 90's, the backgrounds and scenarios created always inspired my MOCS, still do I must say, I have 2 major creations from a train layout that appeared on a 1996 catalog, I always tell this fact to my afol friends.
I fell feel that nowadays they are more focused on the product, not so much in the context or possibilities to expand the builders experience with Lego itself.
Oh great, more retired sets to add to my Wanted List lol. Thanks to you Sir Huw and to your diligent offspring :)
I wish TLC would raid their archives and release HD versions of their older Dioramas. some of the pirates and Space ones were fantastic, back in the late 80s early 90s and would make great wallpapers...
This is a super amazing addition and a huge thanks for this ,drooling again as I did over the few I saw as a kid, sorry but the old small stuff is cringy looking but the bigger ones have held their own
I've got a few cataloges, which u need?
Yeah, I still have all those catalogues as well, I've kept them all (going back to the late 80s. Of course, the older ones aren't really in great condition anymore, but, yeah).
^^ I've added pictures of those we are missing to the article.
I've always loved these LEGO catalogues. As a kid I could spend HOURS browsing through them and dreaming about all those sets neither my parents nor I could ever afford. I've held on to all of them and have a quite large collection of catalogues from the late eigthies to now.
Perused them only last week on an extensive trip into memory lane...
Being born in 1984 my fondest memories of looking through those catalogues are from the early nineties - considered by many to be one of LEGOs golden ages.
Thank you (and your daughter) for making these available!
Awesome job Huw. Thank you for all of your hard work to keep improve the site.
Weren't the 8x8 square catalogs rectangular in the US (not 8x8)?
^ Yes. They were not as comprehensive and have not been available for some time.
Many many thanks to your daughter !
Ohh, I love catalogues! So many memories.
Excellent work by Huw’s daughter. Those late 70’s/early 80’s catalogues really make me nostalgic. Lego may have been more simplistic back then but it certainly wasn’t inferior when it comes to playability. I’ll be spending my lunch break at home looking over there in greater detail.
Great job Huw and daughter! The shop at home catalogues are also much appreciated. Will you maybe upload also German catalogues? What I like about them is the listing of retail prices too.
@Huw if we have scans of catalogs not in the brickset database where can we submit them? I scanned my USA Shop at Home Holiday ("Holiday Express") 1995 catalog recently. This catalog was instrumental in getting me into LEGO. It features some nice alternate building instructions for 6175 Crystal Explorer Sub.
Completely unrelated to the article, but I had to write it down or else I'd forget. Any of you ever wondered why Lego city hasn't had a town hall set (excluding the modular one), with a mayor? After all it is Lego CITY.
These new ones are so great for me as these were right in the middle of my dark ages and I have not had a chance yet to see any of them. My collection of catalogues stops in 1997 and starts again in 2014 or thereabouts. Much appreciated.
Ah, I used to a lot of Lego catalog/club magazine/store calendar/instruction collecting back in the day. Now it's mainly just instructions, but I'll still hang onto catalogs when I get them in the mail.
Also, I didn't use the internet much when I was younger, so my main source of seeing new sets was in the catalogs. I must admit that it'd make me a lot more excited seeing them in the catalogs, because I was always super eager for the next one (and vice versa) :D
Thank you! I used to look forward to getting hold of these catalogues that appeared in Fenwick's department store in the 80s during January and February.
Excellent! Thanks to all three of you for your covid contributions! ;-)
I have some LEGO.com that I got off BrickLink a couple years ago and I may be able to scan them at some point. The ones I have that aren't already on here are:
1996 Holiday (Holiday Magic – a different edition from the one on here)
1998 Summer
1998 Holiday (Holiday Magic)
1999 January
2000 January
2000 Summer
2000 Fall
I have some Russian catalogues.
Supposedly, it is not count, though.
I literally had them ALL from 2008 onwards, sadly my mom threw them away about 5 years ago. (They were in italian tho, so they wouldn’t have been useful anyways).
Ah, I have all of the ones you require, though they're not in English unfortunately!
YOWZERS!! I've been happily hanging out at Brickset for the better part of a decade now and I had no idea that all this existed!! I obviously need to click on more buttons... if I find that you also have a draft beer dispenser hidden in this thing I will pass out...
Great collection. I’m gonna ‘binge’ them all tomorrow.
Just a thought... wonder how much of all the old stuff from sixties n seventies is in landfill and how much has been ‘rescued’? Probably a lot still in lofts too. Just had a great idea for a short story...
In case someone is interested: last year I upploaded what I have from 1977 - 2003 at Bricksafe. (46 cathaloges and some other stuff.) Most of it in spanish or swedish.
@Huw said:
"^^ I've added pictures of those we are missing to the article."
I have 2006 in Dutch...
Nice, I’ve lost a lot so since I was in the LEGO Club, so much this should be fun!
I miss when catalogs and leaflets were part of sets.
I know some sets show in instructions now but it's not the same as the 80s and 90s.
Thank you Huw and thanks to your daughter! I just love catalogues. I believe I have all the missing ones but only the Polish and German versions (and some other countries but not the UK sadly).
If only teachers would allow me to do book reports on these. No other book did I ever study so closely as these catalogues throughout the 90's. Their pages followed me into my dreams. Thanks for the great nostalgia trip this afternoon.
Those early US catalogs always had contact info for "Susan Williams".
There was never a real "Susan Williams" at Lego, was there? That was code for "I got your contact info from the catalog", wasn't it?
my first catalog was in 2006 when i was 6. I started collecting it since 2009 and reread it sometimes for nostalgias sake
@John_Rhodes said:
"YOWZERS!! I've been happily hanging out at Brickset for the better part of a decade now and I had no idea that all this existed!! I obviously need to click on more buttons... if I find that you also have a draft beer dispenser hidden in this thing I will pass out... "
LOL mate this is classic :-)
I have the 2008 2HY and 2009 2HY catalogue, but my version is Trading-UK version. That should be English version for Asia countries. Do you want the scan?
@Huw , I apologize for being late to the party, but I have a collection of US shop @home and LEGO Club magazines that I believe is complete from late 2002-mid 2011 (plus a couple others). If that’s something Brickset would be interested in, I’d be happy to send them your way.