Striking gold
Posted by Huw,
Nolin, aka Kipper147, reviews a set from the 70s that he recently found in immaculate condition:
Oh the joys of the summer yard sale. Grandpa’s gold clubs, a buzzing CRT television, some lawn-care equipment complete with last year’s lawn clippings still caked on, and the elusive goldmine of finding someone’s LEGO collection that’s “taking up space in the attic.”
For those who are unaware of what a yard-sale is (as I’m not sure if the concept is exclusive to the US), it is effectively a thrift store run from your own yard! They’re a great way to clear out some clutter from, or in my case, a great way to adopt other peoples’ clutter! Occasionally you can find some fantastic LEGO sets and collections that someone doesn’t want – and usually at a good price too!
Introduction aside, this is the story and review of one such set that I found. Enter set number 760 London Bus. Back in the summer of 2012, heading into my final year in high school, I was invited by my buddy and his mom to go looking for yard sales. This is one of my favourite hobbies as it is very similar to a treasure hunt: check the local newspapers and social media outlets for yard sales, get an idea of what will be for sale (the newspaper listings tend to be more cryptic, and more fun!), and then spend the better half of the morning driving around town! This endeavour maybe wasn’t the best planned, as my friend and I are both avid LEGO collectors.
I’ll skip over the treasure-trove of goodies that we found and get right to the chase. At the end of our adventure, we stopped at a locally run pulled-pork restaurant that had an antique store next door. Now this town that we grew up in was a very popular place for antique trade, but it was almost exclusively furniture and art. Occasionally you could find an old board game from the 60s that was missing nearly every piece, but on this faithful day, we found a LEGO set!
The tag on it was asking $20, and I could see that my friend was starting to haggle with the old fellow who ran the store. Well, my friend, you need to be quicker because I happened to have a $20 bill in my hand – which I think is absolutely a fair price! He was mildly disgruntled, but guess who still received an invitation to his wedding and bachelor party?
Now let’s dig into this set review! Set number 760-2: London Bus. This next bit is some information that I’ve compiled about this and similar sets, all from this fantastic LEGO database website called Brickset.com. I’d highly suggest you all check it out, there’s always interesting articles to read and tons of information about LEGO sets!
This set is the American release of set number 384, the latter of which was released in 1973, while 760 was released in 1975. The back of the box seems to have a copyright date of November, 1974. Seeing as how I’m only 25, I was not alive when this set was released, so I can’t say for sure.
When I first opened this box, I thought surely this was a recreation. Someone had found the box and purchased brand-new pieces to put this together. After thoroughly looking the set over, I realised that the pieces are just in immaculate condition!
The Overall build was pretty basic, which was to be expected I suppose. I’ve obtained a few older sets over the years, and I’m always fascinated by pieces that are no longer produced. In some corners of the LEGO community, I’ve heard complaints that too many new pieces are being created and that those pieces are making it easier to build certain things. I wholeheartedly disagree. Just last summer I found a set with a 4x5 plate. And, I can’t say that I’ve seen these following pieces before either!
I find these plates to be fascinating since, as previously stated, they’re not produced any more. The plate on the right is a 6x7 with some wheel well cutouts. That’s crazy! I remember the basic chassis pieces from the ~90’s that had the little lowered section, usually 2x4 that was one plate lower. They were a little difficult to use in builds that weren’t cars. These, though, I believe could find some interesting uses.
The headlight brick I find the most interesting. The back is completely open, so the clutch power isn’t the greatest. I’ve always known the orange brick as a “headlight” brick, but now I see why! I’m assuming that with the introduction of transparent studs, more realistic headlights could be created. Also, having the stud on the front opens up the opportunity for SNOT techniques. The dark-pink brick I threw in there as well for a comparison: just a simple stud-on-side 1x1 modified brick.
Some of the younger members here may not be aware of these windows. I’m lucky enough that my father kept the LEGO that he had as a kid, so I’ve been well aware of these windows, and have gained a pretty large disdain for them. Every time I’ve used these windows, I’ve found that the clutch power was terrible, the little wedges that go between the studs on the lower bricks seemed to break, and the frame itself seemed to keep breaking on me too. Not to mention the windows getting punched out and not having a way to replace them. That being said, I was pleasantly surprised when I started fiddling around with this set and I found that these work great. They still feel a little fragile, but the clutch power on these were fantastic!
Another one for the younger crowd (and another throwback for the older crowd!) is the metal axle wheels. Somewhere I’ve got a slightly different variant of this, but basically, the 2x4 brick has a little hole on all 4 sides that these metal axles fit into. The rubber on these tyres is notorious for drying out and hardening. I’m not sure what they’ve done differently with the newer tyres, but I’m glad they did!
I found some interesting details in the bricks that we don’t really see much any more. The 1x4 bricks in the centre have some marks on the edge which I can only assume have something to do with how they were moulded. The pieces are all in great condition, look brand new, and have great clutch power, and these marks are pretty uniform. The 1x2 slopes (and all the others in this set) have a texture to them. I remember some of the old Rock Raiders sets having this texture on the 2x2 slopes, but the one’s I’ve noticed recently are smooth.
When I first opened the box for this set, I was shocked to see that the stickers were still intact! It looks like the sheet might have been bent slightly at some point (looking at the sticker on the top of the sheet) but they still look great. I have no idea if these are the same stickers from the 90s that would tear apart as you tried in vain to remove them, and I also don’t know if they’re still sticky. I have no intention of removing them from the sticker sheet.
I was equally impressed that the instructions are basically perfect as well! There’s a slight hole between steps 5 and 6, but the edges and corners are crisp and it all folds together nicely as well.
All in all, this is a decent set. There weren’t really any building techniques that were interesting, only a few neat pieces. And sure, I just recently put together 75277-1: Boba Fett, which is a significantly more intricate and complex set than 760-2: London bus, but this set is about 45 years old. LEGO has made at least a couple improvements in the last 4 and a half decades.
This set is a fantastic preservation of what LEGO was like 20 years before I was born. I’m still not sure how the individual pieces were packaged. Were they loose in the box? Was the set already built? I find it really odd how perfectly the finished set fits in the box. There’s hardly any extra space. Were older sets designed to be placed back in the box once they were constructed? Maybe I’ll find another old set next time I’m on a yard sale treasure hunt that’ll answer my questions!
138 likes
43 comments on this article
As someone who was a child during this era, as I recall, the parts were sold loose in the box.
Also known as 384. Mine isn't in quite such good condition, but then it has been in the family since new...
https://www.flickr.com/photos/26565770 @N02/17463206584/in/album-72157624419577249/
The "headlight brick" is actually a tiny window.
I love these vintage sets! Personally, I probably wouldn't have even opened it, prefering to keep it 'Mint In Sealed Box'. I have quite a few Transformers that way as well, always tantalizing me with their immaculate unspoiled condition. But I applaud your opening of this set, and I do like seeing all those pieces that haven't been produced in decades. I got my older cousin's Lego when I was still a kid myself, back in the '80s, so to me all those are still very familiar pieces, but unfortunately I myself sold all of my Lego when I entered my Dark Ages back in the '90s.
Great find, great article. My own passion for vintage Lego was ingnited by finding a Black Falcons Castle 6073 boxed in a charity shop priced £6.50...your white headlights are in fact windows and featured in sets up to 1980. Your side markings are indeed moulding pips, and a great way to identify the period of manufacture along with other clues such as mould numbers, pat pend, pat pend obscured, part number or plain, relating to the marking found inside the bricks. Again great find... unused sticker sheet is the holy grail.
@jackiebritton said:
"As someone who was a child during this era, as I recall, the parts were sold loose in the box. "
I'm pretty sure about that as well.
Just wondering how these sets were sealed. The smaller boxes had some not-fully-cut cardboard that sealed them. Did the slightly-larger-than-average ones all have cellophane?
Current slope pieces actually do still have a texture, but its a lot less pronounced these days. I have no idea why Lego textures that family of pieces like that, but some old Megablocks I have doesnt and it looks just... wrong, somehow.
Thank you for sharing, I aways wondered if there was an earlier version of the current creator London bus. Interesting how the black stairs go into the floor of the upper level rather than leave a hole, maybe single width plates didn't exist then only double? Curious how the build is not that different from the Harry Potter night bus 75957 (less one level).
Thank you, Nolin, for the article and pictures. Very entertaining!
While I never had that set, I did have the plates with the cut-outs as well as the wheels with the metal pins around the time the set was current. Perhaps there were other sets that had those parts.
When I was a LEGO-loving child in the 80's, my neighbors owned this set. They were frequent travelers to London and not at all LEGO fans otherwise. Every time I would visit their house I would look at this set displayed on a shelf with other souvenirs from England. I don't recall every seeing it for sale in stores in my town. The set had a mystique of the unobtainable and unique for me!
Ah, the days when one sticker covered multiple bricks. Meaning if you wanted to take it apart fully you either had to rip the sticker (not happening!) or you just had to leave that little block of bricks permanently stuck together.
Wise decision leaving those stickers on the sheet.
@GeordiePaul said:
"Ah, the days when one sticker covered multiple bricks."
The dreaded STAMPs: STickers Across Multiple Pieces (or Parts)!
I own this exact same set! It kinda got passed down my family though
There was an earlier London Bus than 760-2 in 1978, there was first 313-1 in 1966, I found a mint still sealed 313 last year.
https://brickset.com/sets/313-1/London-Bus
I got this set, plus 192 Policemen, 456 Spirit of St. Louis, and 491 Formula 1 Racer, from my parents for Christmas 1978. My mom opened each box, stuffed it with polyester stuffing (like for pillows or plush animals), retaped the boxes, and put all four into a larger, flat box, like a larger LEGO set... or like what a sweater or some other piece of clothing might come in. I hated getting clothes when I could be getting toys, ideally LEGO! My aunt and uncle also gave me 456, but that was okay- more LEGO pieces! I always felt the texture on roof bricks was meant to represent the texture of asphalt shingles.
@magmafrost said:
"Current slope pieces actually do still have a texture, but its a lot less pronounced these days. I have no idea why Lego textures that family of pieces like that, but some old Megablocks I have doesnt and it looks just... wrong, somehow."
It's meant to simulate the structure of actual roof tiles.
Very interesting Article. Thankyou. I too seem to vaguely remember the various old pieces, presumably acquired 2nd hand by my parents for me. I remember the detachable metal wheels and 2x4 bricks. Brilliant Idea really as once they went to the smaller wheels it took a long time for them to become detachable again. Also as you can see in the pic they had 4 holes so you could have them a 2x4 or a 4x2 wheel brick and therefore have a wider track. I had some of the windows, but not the lights. I wonder why they made the special plate pieces?
One like this just sold for £125 on ebay - and the stickers had been applied!
Congrats on your find! I've been to many yard sales over the years, and have rarely struck LEGO gold. I once stumbled upon 8632 Swamp Raid for 10.00, which I figured wasn't bad since it looked complete (it was) and had box, instructions, and Minifigures. But by far the best yard sale find in my collection wasn't even of my own doing. My mom had gone to a city-wide yard sale and called me up to say "hey, I found a really cool old LEGO set for your nephew!" So I begged her to bring it over so I could see it. It was a mint condition 6396 International Jetport, which she'd purchased for 15.00! It's currently sitting beside 10236 Ewok Village (and several other sets) and has a platoon of Stormtroopers awaiting orders from Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine on the runway. Oh, and I did feel bad for hording my nephew's loot so I got him a Halo set - which he's more into anyway.
What a find! Garage sales are always worth checking out. My greatest find was 6991-1 Monorail Transport Base with the box and instructions for $5. Imagine the look on my face when I later checked the prices on eBay.
for $3 I found:
6880: Surface Explorer
6950: Mobile Rocket Transport
6870: space probe launcher
6927: All-Terrain Vehicle
6929: Star fleet voyager
and
6970-1: Beta I Command Base (with no baseplates)
worth $330 according to brickset
My best find was 8880 Super Car (no box or instructions) but fully complete and assembled for $10 CAD at a local thrift store.
Nice find! I personally don't normally look for LEGO at garage/yard sales (I have a bit of a thing against used LEGO), but you found this one still sealed? Awesome!
Perhaps my best yard sale story was finding a complete Willa the Witch (Fright Knights) figure from two separate sales across a few years. One haul of pieces gave me the dress brick piece, which I never had a use for, but a couple of years later, another haul gave me her head, hat, cape, and torso all put together. Both were in the area, so I wonder if it was the very same minifigure split up and I managed to find both halves after the owner cleared out the rest of their collection, or if it was even more coincidental than reuniting the same figure and I somehow completed one figure from two owners' pieces. Since I love witches and she was LEGO's first, the luck and the character made her my most prized minifigure. I also consider myself very lucky to have gotten the caped version.
How is this with minifigs?
Every now and then I go to Bricklink and buy some old pieces I had never seen before just because I find them curiously faszinating, like those oddly shaped plates, or basically useless (from a MOC standpoint) parts that are only interesting because they come in very rare colours.
I long nursed dreams of finding some rare toy at a yard sale...but I was usually (and naively) on the prowl for convention/club exclusives. Never went looking for Lego though.
So cool to see this again. My father owns this one!
Earlier this year my elderly parents gave me about 20 sets we had from the 1970’s. This was one of them. All the stickers were mostly worn off but all the pieces were there. It was surprisingly tricky to build - putting the plates over all those windows while trying to keep them lined up. Lego would never do a build like that these days.
Great review of a great old set. Thanks for sharing.
Found 7722 Steam Cargo Train at flea market yesterday. In great shape with instructions for $20. I love the hunt. Thanks for sharing.
I got this set in 1974. I was at a sleepover with my sister at my grandparents. My aunt took us out to the store and we could pick something out, I picked the London Bus and I still have it.
My brother had this set. The stickers are paper, and most of them cross multiple parts. If you were to ever put the stickers on, you'd pretty much have to be planning to park that thing on a shelf and touch it as rarely as possible. The stickers won't disintegrate, but they will wear away at the edges, and there's really no way to disassemble it once you've applied the stickers. And I absolutely _HATE_ that style of window. The bases never stay seated because they're completely open on the back.
Anyways, I made a much better version, scaled to minifigs, in 2012 (designed it while watching the closing ceremonies to the London Olympics). It's 8-wide, and uses over 500pcs (not counting the 16.5 minifigs or the horse). Someday I want to build a Knight Bus based on that design.
Outbidding your friend when garage-saling together? Not cool bro. All I gots to say about it. Aside from that, I also remember how some slopes and other pieces used to have a different texture to their edges. I miss that. It always made me think of shingles on a roof.
My grandma found a bag at a yard sale full of lego and gave it to me.
It had a compete 7473: Steel Sprinter vs. Mutant Lizard, 8722: Kazi, and part of some exo force set.
Fantastic find. I like to restore vintage sets from bulk. I found parts of that bus with the stickers on it on a bulk purchase I made, knowing that the bus was in there, and away I built. I try to stay true to the original parts down to the original plastic. I'm that much of a purist. I've done that with many of the early sets we own, from the 347 Fire Station (because of the baseplate), both 351 Gravel Depot & 360 Gravel Works, 353 Terrace House WITH both antennas. Out best "barn find" was spending about $65 and coming up with approximately 24 sets from the late '80s-early '90s (6543 Sail 'n fly Marina, 6547 Century Skyway, 6387 Coastal Rescue Base, etc.). Happy hunting!
Unfortunately, in Asia, where a lot of people live in apartments and condos, there aren't any yard sales.
Those markings on the side of the bricks are indeed mould pips. In those days the plastic was injected into the side of the mould, but that area was always a weak point so the bricks would split along that side.
Nowadays if you look closely the plastic is injected into the top of one stud in the bricks. It's a much stronger area with more structure around it to stop it from breaking, plus the clutching mechanism of assembly compresses the stud rather than placing tension on the outside half of the clutch. You can tell which stud it is because the LEGO text in the stud will have a little dot in the middle of it.
Great catch, with box and everything. I have got lucky once over an online buy. I got almost 20 city sets, large ones too, like 6543: Sail N' Fly Marina and 6571: Flame Fighters for about $100. It was truly a once in a life time opportunity.
Great article! I have the UK version (384 - see the Brickset set page for my review) which I put back together a few years ago for my daughter to play with. It survived that encounter and is currently the favourite of my 2 year old son and is holding up nicely :)
This was my first Lego set. I no longer have most of the pieces, sold in the late 1980s in a big box of assorted Lego (fool), but I kept the plates with cut-outs. I don't think I have ever found a use for them in the subsequent 30 years but I do still have them!
@magmafrost said:
"Current slope pieces actually do still have a texture, but its a lot less pronounced these days. I have no idea why Lego textures that family of pieces like that, but some old Megablocks I have doesnt and it looks just... wrong, somehow."
The texture on the sloping bricks was because they were originally sold as roof bricks and texture was supposed to represent roof tiles.
@krklint:
The set had a price sticker on it. The friend was trying to haggle with the person running the yard sale to get a lower price. This person was willing to pay the sticker price. I could see that going either way, but it would largely depend on whether or not the person running the yard sale was even willing to negotiate below the sticker price. Some will, and some would rather hang onto it and try again the next time they run a yard sale.
@Rare_White_Ape:
Huh. Hadn't really ever thought that through. I always thought it had more to do with the unsightly blemish, or just that molds wear out and they're not always duplicated precisely. However, there's another benefit. With a top-down injection, the plastic will descend to the bottom of the part like a curtain. When injected from one end, you'll get one flow coming in along each side, and a third coming over the top. Where they meet, you'll see a Y-shaped scar, often referred to as a "flow line". The plastic at that point has travelled the longest distance past the mold gate. As it travels, it will be losing heat to the mold, so it will be the coldest plastic in the mold when the flows run into each other. The polymer chains will bump into each other, but won't have much chance to entangle each other, and you'll end up with something closer to heat-welding than proper injection molding. So, that Y-shaped scar will also be a stress point where the part may be prone to breaking. On rare occasions, you might even get a short shot where the three flows didn't quite fill in the mold cavity, so they're not even fused together.
But now I'm wondering if that had anything to do with the change they made to the double-cheese wedge. Previously, the pips were located on either end, so with many builds it was possible to hide the pips as long as you had some pointed in each direction. Now the pip is on the back face, so they're all basically identical, and it's impossible to swap them around to hide the pips. Either the back face is hidden, or it's visible (and so is the pip).
Now any time they relocate the pip, I'll have to start paying attention to how the shift can impact flow lines and structural integrity. Some parts are a lost cause. Minifig torsos will _always_ have flow lines because of the holes where the arms mount. Like a river passing an island, the flow has no choice but to split in two and recombine on the other side. If the mold temp is just a bit too cold, the part will look like it formed properly (no air gaps left in the mold cavity), but the two flows won't fuse properly and the torso can crack in the armpit area when stress is applied.
I have found that for every great find at a yard sale for LEGO, you see about 100 where the people selling the LEGO think that they are running a sale for millionaires and think their hodgepodge of LEGO is worth 300 dollars. eBay has ruined what could be many a great find of LEGO lots. The last LEGO lot I got for a great deal was about 10 years ago.... on eBay.
The bus in brand new condition is a great find. My brother had one, with stickers but it suffered wear and tear over the years when we were kids, but managed to find another one from a friend that he was going to rebuild.