102 Super Value Set
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): 102 pieces
First Year Confirmed Available: 1970
We'll go further into the why for this date in particular later, but for now just note that the first appearances are in April 1970 via this advert:
The Sunday Oregonian, April 26th, 1970
USA Only.
Most Likely Retirement Date: 1971
While print appearances lessen for 1971 (and most are on sale), the 102 was used as a contest prize for the thousand runner-up winners in late 1971, suggesting production continued for more than one season.
Last Year Seen Available: 1972
Transcript Telegram, July 15th, 1972
Aliases: Super Value Lego Set, Samsonite Lego Building Toy, Starter Set, Beginner Set
Suggested Retail Price(s): $1.29(USA)
Note: Actual retail price fluctuated heavily.
Discounted Example(s): $1.33(1970), 99c(1970), 77c(1971)
Rarity Score(Rarity Index): 4/7
Known Box/Packing Variants
There are no known variants of either the outer box or the contents.
Box/Overview
The 102 Super Value Set is one of those footnote sort of sets—it existed. There isn't some crazy new discoveries to be made, nor is it immensely important in Samsonite's story. It's very innocuous and admittedly forgettable.
About the only thing of note right now is that it is that it is the only 1970 set to not include "Some parts in the LEGO System are manufactured in Denmark" either stickered or printed on the box. Check it out:
Which obviously raises questions. At the time of writing, nearly every aggregate source online agrees the set released in 1969, however none provide a citation for that date in particular. I'm not saying they made it up, only that the way it is presented currently is unsupported.
Instead, in late April of 1970, a newspaper ad from Samsonite suddenly appeared, stating specifically "The new Super Value Lego Set..." New, meaning the set had recently released. There are no appearances of the set prior to April of 1970 and an early 1970 release window does make sense, though not without caveats.
For one, it explains why the set would not have the "Some parts...produced in Denmark" disclaimer, as it wasn't being added to sets until mid-to-late 1970 (as we found in Dating Samsonite Boxes). The 102 reached retailers far before that practice began.
Two, the side of the set states "Enter the next Lego 'Make-a-Model' Contest", which means we're between a 1969 and 1970 release date:
We know from Make-a-Model Contests that winners were announced around April of the year following the opening, as well as the first round of winners were announced in April 1969. Which you may think has not ruled out a 1969 release, rightly so. Neither the early 1970 or 1971 announcements have a distinct prize (both feature a trip for four to LEGOLAND on a tour of Europe), so what are we left with?
Ultimately, while we have previously confidently dated examples of sets that leave behind no trace in print ephemera(i.e. 022 Doll Furniture), there is not enough evidence to tout a 1969 release date for the 102 just yet.
An early 1969 release could easily be reasoned, as LEGOLAND opened in mid-1968, so a 1969 set advertising LEGOLAND wouldn't be too farfetched. Unfortunately, however, we have nothing to demonstrably attach this set to anything prior to 1970, so we cannot say in confidence it released any earlier.
What's interesting is that the front text describing LEGOLAND has a parallel source from late 1969. The front of the box reads "A children's fairyland park in Billund, Denmark. It has more than 600 structures, ships, trains, and other exhibits, all made of Lego bricks." In this September 1969 newspaper, it says something fascinatingly similar: "...Legoland, a pint-sized fairyland community in Billund, a village in Denmark on the Jutland peninsula. It has become a favorite stop for tourists. Legoland has some 600 structures, ships, trains, and other exhibits in brilliant colors, all of which are made of miniature plastic bricks."
That quote can be turned into the quote on the front of the box by a few simplifications, with even the number of structures or the ordering of "ships, trains, and other exhibits" matching perfectly. So one is copying the other, but who?
The above newspaper features images of the same harbor scene featured on the front of the 102, just from a different angle (you can see the spots which the images were taken in both pictures), along with other photographs. My guess would be that the newspaper article came first, as it would not only be the source of the text but also the image, seeing that they took many images for the article it is not hard to see how the image for the 102 was derived. Thus reinforcing our 1970 release date, as obviously they didn't travel to LEGOLAND just to take a picture for this set.
The only thing that would disprove the ordering here (that the newspaper came first) is if another prior source appeared which revealed the newspaper linked above was a republished article. Newspaper archives, however, do not reflect this.
Regardless, I've driveled on long enough. The other side of the box is standard Samsonite boilerplate:
The back is a bit interesting as well, as it features no original models but instead some that date all the way back to 1961. We'll cover that more in a second:
And of course the tabs of the box:
Contents
As mentioned before, this set essentially used the same assortment as the 702 Basic Set from all the way back from 1961, just with a few additional pieces. I've not taken the time to identify exactly what's been added, but the assortments are indistinguishable at a glance.
