002 Motor Pak
General Information
The following information has been collected from original newspapers, catalogs, and magazines, some of which are freely available for reference below. The rest can be found in the site’s gallery. No aggregate catalogs (BrickLink, Brickset, etc.) were used.
Advertised Part Count(s): N/A (4 pieces for battery box, motor, and two wires)
First Year Confirmed Available: 1965 (USA)
The Indianapolis News, December 8th, 1965
1965 (Canada)
Stratford Bricks helped me immensely here. Canadian appearances of the 002 in advertising are very rare, only being corroborated by surviving examples and pack-in paperwork. I'd venture to guess, as the Canadian 001 has provenance in 1965, the 002 released in 1965 as well.
Most Likely Retirement Date: 1968 (USA)
The 002 does not appear in major department store catalogs in 1968 and was replaced by the 107 Reversible Power Unit.
Last Year Seen Available: 1968 (USA)
The Mercury, January 15th, 1968
Aliases: Motor Pak, Battery Motor Pak
Retail Price(s): $4.95 (USA) / $6.95 (With Batteries) (Canada)
Discounted Example(s): $3.98 (1966), $3.39 (1968)
Rarity Score (Rarity Index): 3/7 (Taking into account finding a working example)
Known Box/Packing Variants
The 002 Motor Pak has three box variants, four depending on how specific you are. There are also at least two variants of the motor/inner tray, as well as different versions of the motor itself. The short and sweet is that the brass version (right) is 1965-66 and the steel version (left) is 1966-67 (known via postmark on one of my copies, discussed below):
The inner insert also changes. Bottom is 1965-66 version, top is 1966-67 (these are US dates). Colors of the top will vary:
There is a mailer variant used for Sears in 1965, as BrickTrains owns one with a Sears stamp. For 1966+, it was used for Imaginations Inc. It is possible it was used in other mail-order fulfilments, but there is currently no evidence of such. It uses the same tray and pieces, only the outer box is different:
The back of the box will distinguish which version of mailer box it is. This one belongs to Imaginations Inc:
And finally, the Canadian box:
Box/Overview
Introduced in 1965, the 002 Motor Pak was a significant step in LEGO's history, as it marked the first motor in the LEGO System. This set and its components were exclusive for North America. The 002 Motor Pak was produced as a companion set to the 001 Gears.
The motor and battery box were produced using modified molds from the European 1:87 garages and architecture set boxes. If you're interested, the Motor/Battery Box article goes more into the history and minutia of the production of these elements in particular (or will go into it, as I've not yet written it. I'll link it here when I do).
Similar to the 001 Gears, the 002 Motor Pak uniquely has the set name and number on all sides of the box:
Also notice on the back that when the picture was taken, the cover was not all the way down:
It could be because the above image uses a prototype version of the motor, but I also wouldn't blame the photography department as the quality on the finished motor in particular is not great.
And for the mailer version, there is nothing on the sides, only the front and back:
The shipping label is postmarked February 21st, 1967, meaning the promotion began in late 1966. It was purchased in a lot with a 005 Discovery Set, both of which could be ordered directly from Imaginations Inc. I'm unsure what the turn around was, as these could've been ordered within a week or several months before the postmark date.
I should also be mentioned that my 002/005 lot came with an inspection sheet, which very likely belonged to the motor pak.
And finally, I should also point out the mailer box is of a similar design to the plain box 001 Gears, which also originated from Sears. The only difference is that for that set, we only know it sold for in 1965, but could've had other distribution channels.
This is how the mailer box was advertised in the 1966 Imaginations Inc promotion:
Contents
The set came with a motor, battery box, and two wires. The two wires consistently had red plastic parts to hold the leads. The red lead wires were never fused as some later wires were. They are often found broken:
More information on the motors and battery packs can be found in their dedicated article.
Should I collect this set?
I'm very much compelled to omit this section from this set as there is not much to say.
If you're interested in the set and want a working example, take extreme caution. All of the elements in this set have several points of failure and are not hearty. I'd venture to guess less than 40% of surviving examples still work. They're all nearly sixty years old, so there's an element of understanding.
I own five of these motors and only one currently functions, and my definition of function here is being very nice. And it's funny, the example that works is one of the more beat up ones. The ones that have been kept in their box and coddled were not safe, and were likely put back into their box because they stopped working.
I have even found a family trying to reach out to Samsonite about a broken motor in early 1968. Whether or not it arrived in the described condition, it did not last more than a few months:
Compare that with the motors LEGO introduced with their train system in 1966, it's rather hard to come across a completely dead one. LEGO was the one who designed these motors, as they did with all LEGO elements sold by Samsonite, so the fault is not on Samsonite.
I think the 002's box design and images are rather lovely, but trying to get a working motor isn't really worth the headache in my opinion.
