#1053 LEGOLAND – EXCAVATOR 604-2 (1971)

I got this box in a lot of good old toys, all with their packages and, although used, in good conditions. I was not looking for this model especifically, but I think it is cool, now that I am becoming an AFOL (Adult Fan of Lego) because of my children.

I like the way this box is designed. The model is complete and includes very basic bricks, the ones used by the toyline in the early 70s. The only part which is a bit different is the front shovel of the excavator. and a 2x2 basic brick in blue with a LEGO sticker on it. They are all original, except maybe the towing hook counterpart, which does not belong to the set. The previous owner probably just put it in the box to play with whatever load was available on the next game.

Unfortunately, the instructions sheet is missing. I had to look for it online.

Te retail price of this set was of around 3 euro (in whatever currency you were using at the time), which is amazingly expensive for such a small set of pieces... Lego was always a very expensive toy.

Note that the tractor cannot carry any figure, as the minifigures were introduced later in time (in 1978, although other type of minifigures  was available from 1975 onwards). Those years, there were cars, vehicles and houses, but they were only playable “from the outside”, so to speak, except for some garages or other buildings were you could place a vehicle inside. There was a homemaker series, where the sets depicted interiors, a bit in a dollhouse style: kitchen, school, bureau... Scale was variable from one set to the next.

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: EXCAVATOR (Ref. 604-2)
• Year: 1971
• Company: Lego (Denmark)
• Size: Around 10 cm long

#157 TEKNO – JAGUAR „E“ TYPE (Ref. 926) (1961)

Tekno is a toy maker from Denmark. Its founder was Andreas Siegumfeldt, a plumber from Copenhagen, who started producing construction games in 1928 and model cars in 1945, being one of the most renowned die-cast makers in Europe and a direct competitor of Dinky, Schucco or Gama.

Andreas Siegumfeldt

In 1953, the company celebrated its 25^th anniversary. By this time, the company was already producing many different cars, but also trucks and other vehicles. In their catalogue there were also miniature kitchenware and wooden toys, produced in associating with the Swedish company Brio. With occasion of this anniversary, a small brochure was printed with much information about the company, including pictures of Teknos factories, design studios, toy fairs and so on. It is very interesting. Take a look at it here (specially if you understand Danish). 

 

The Jaguar model I am presenting is an amazing cast, and it was available in white, cream, light blue, red and met. dark grey decorations, and there was also a hardtop version of the car. Tekno is known for the great number of variations in colours and decorations. It was also one of the first companies to produce promotional die-cast models by decorating its models with stickers including the most different types of products, for example, Amstel beer or the Politiken Newspaper.

As it often happens with local toy manufacturers, Tekno offered some unique, never done before models, and this included some Saab and Volvo cars. It seems that Tekno inspired some of its models in already existing Corgi or Dinky toys. It is also known that Joal and Auto Pilen reproduced Tekno models. Dalia-Solido bought in the 60s some Tekno original tooling, so some models were also reproduced by this Spanish brand.

Tekno still exists nowadays. In 1972, the company was sold to a dutch firm named Vanmin, BV. And Tekno Toy continued as a firm in the Netherlands. Later the “Toy” was removed from the name, since the models Tekno builds now are expensive and high quality reproductions of trucks, not intended for children.

 

Going back to the car, note that doors, bonnet and trunk of the car are practicable, and the front wheels can be oriented in one or the other direction. It also comes with windows and windshield, spare tyre, detailed motor… all great details. It is also very important to make attention at the windows and bonnet, which are extremely fragile, and is mostly missing or broken. I own this same model made by Joal, but unfortunately in a very bad shape. The model, however can be seen in a catalogue in this entry.

I bought this model boxed a few months ago, but the box belongs to another model, a Mercedes with almost the same reference number. I leave the images here, and I’ll wait until I find the model that fits the box to make another review.

 

 

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: JAGUAR „E“ TYPE (Ref. 926)
• Scale: 1:43
• Year: 1961 (discontinued 1972)
• Company: Tekno (Denmark)
• Size: 10 cms

#80 LEGO – WEEKEND HOME (Ref. 6370) (1985)

I guess there are many Lego fans out there. I was never a Lego collector, I just own a few sets from the 80s. Since Lego is one of the most popular toys ever, and even today it’s among the most popular toys, it’s difficult for me to imagine it as a collectible item. It’s simply a too large collection to seriously think about collecting each reference. I like them more as a toy, a large set of random pieces to build anything that I want.

I recognise the idea is great, since it’s a toy both for boys and girls, there are so many themes, that every child can choose their favourite: City, Pirates, Medieval, Futuristic, Star Wars, Sports… and also many other series like Technic, Duplo, Ninjago, Bionicle…

The plastic blocks were invented in 1949, although the company exists since 1932. Between those years, the company also had construction blocks, but they were made of wood. The history of the company is very well documented, so this time I’ll talk about trademark infringement. It was not so long ago, that the Canadian company MegaBrands was exonerated from copying the construction block from Lego for their MegaBloks toy-line: first in 2006, by the Supreme Court of Canada, and then in 2008 by the European Union’s High Court of Justice, after the lawsuit was accepted by the OHIM (Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market).

In the first case, the Canadian patent for the Lego blocks had expired in 1988, so the 25M US$ Lego claimed as damage, were dismissed. In the second case, the European court tried that Lego blocks “merely performs a technical function and cannot be registered as a trademark”, and therefore should be available for everybody. Since this judgement, many companies have copied Lego blocks, with different qualities and sets.

A story that is not very well known, and that was only available on the internet in Spanish until now, is that Exin was already judged in the 80s for copying the block system for their toy-line Tente. The judgement took place in Israel, were Lego and Tente shared the market of construction toys. Lego wanted to reduce the concurrence in this country and in all the others in which Tente was present. It is believed, that Lego chose Israel for being a far country, and that Tente/Exin wouldn’t be able to afford the costs of a trial there.

The High Court of Israel judged similarly to the European High Court of Justice, and Exin was not guilty of infringement of copyright. If it had been judged the opposite, Tente would have needed to pay copyrights to Tente, what would have made the toys more expensive.

Tente was not merely a copy of Lego: since its creation in 1972, Exin improved the original idea and obtained several international patent registries. Compared to Lego, a Tente piece could be connected to another one in up to three times more ways. One system was not compatible with the other one, even though the bricks had absolutely identical dimensions.

After the closure of Exin, the rights of Tente were bought by Borras, that kept the line until 2007. Now it has disappeared, but another construction systems, like TecniToys' Construblock are available in the spanish market. Tecnitoys is the company that currently owns the rights of Scalextric and that has between their most important leaders members of the Arnau family, founders of Exin (Lluis María Arnau is the current R&D manager). Construblock sets are compatible with Lego.

Since the article is longer than I expected, just a few words about the Weekend Home set form 1985. It includes 177 pieces and two minifigs. It is specially interesting since the house includes a kitchen, a bedroom plus two more rooms and in the garden, a barbecue. The worst part is the side of the house, that doesn't look that well. The bike is also a great complement.

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: WEEKEND HOME (Ref. 6370)
• Toy Line: Lego City
• Year: 1985
• Company: Lego (Denmark)
• Size: 25 x 13 x 12 cm
• Scale: 1:48