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.

Instructions: H-1953

Advertised Part Count(s): 277 pieces, 278 pieces

1963 Spiegel Christmas Catalog

The Saginaw News, September 6th, 1965

First Year Confirmed Available: 1963 (USA & Canada)

1963 Spiegel Christmas Catalog

1963 Eaton's Christmas Catalog

1905 (Canister Variant) Exclusive to:

Sears & Spiegel only in 1963.

USA Only.

905 "Special Sale" Variant only in 1965

USA Only.

Most Likely Retirement Date: 1965 (USA & Canada)

I've written an extensive article about the debacle surrounding the 905's retirement in the USA, you can read it here (it also covers the "Special Sale" variant in detail).

1965 (Canada) While the 605 Wheel Toy continues through the late 1960s in Canada, the 905 makes its last appearance in Canadian catalogs also in 1965 and doesn't return for 1966, making it the only Canadian set of the original 1961-64 wave to retire at the same time as in the US:

1965 Eaton's Christmas Catalog

Last Year Seen Available: 1969 (USA)

The Buffalo News, December 2nd, 1969

Aliases: Doll Set, Build-A-Doll Set

Retail Price(s): $4.95 (USA) / $5.95 (Canada)

Discounted Example(s): $2.49(1965), $1.99(1966), $2.69(1968), $1.27(1969)

(This site is home to a large collection of 905 discounts, just search "905 discount" in the search bar in the Gallery. Note that it is only a fraction of what all is out there...)

Rarity Score (Rarity Index):

Tube Version: 4/7

Canister Version: 6/7

Special Sale Version(with capsule): 8/7 (none are currently known to have survived)

Known Box/Packing Variants

Similar to the 605 Wheel Toy, the 905 had a canister variant exclusive to Sears and Spiegel. It may have been available at other retailers. The canister variant was introduced in 1963, but unlike the 605 Wheel Toy, the 1905 never returned to catalogs for 1964 or 1965.

Instead, it was replaced by the 1610 Super Wheel Toy. There are no known differences between the 905 and 1905 beyond the packaging.

The Canadian 905 only differed by having its price below its set number, while the US version did not include a price at all. I doubt there are any other Canadian variants of the 905.

There was also another variant of the 905 (USA only, as far as I'm aware) dubbed the "Special Sale Set" that only appeared in 1965 ephemera. It is discussed further below:

Box/Overview

The 905 Doll Set inherits its tube directly from the 705 Basic Set's tube introduced in 1962. It had a black 10x10 baseplate to cap the top and included enough pieces to build any of the models shown on the box or in the instructions.

The 905 has a unique element to it though, as it stands as a very firm attempt by Samsonite to enter the girl's toy market. Regardless of Samsonite's own marketing, construction toys such as LEGO were predominantly advertised to and kept within the boy's section of toy stores in the 1960s, which would've made it exceptionally hard for girls to feel included or be marketed towards beyond the doll association seen on the box:

box top image

What I find most interesting about the 905 is that it was seemingly developed by Samsonite themselves in response to the 605 Wheel Toy. One was going to market to boys, it made sense for Samsonite to have a set to market to girls. Which is fascinating as there was no adjacent kit for the 905 in Europe (unlike the 605). I view the 905 as advanced insight into Samsonite's unique marketing direction with LEGO, and it reflects very well their aggressive expansionist mindset of the late 1950s - mid 1960s.

Below is the 905's bottom compared with a 702(left), 705, and 605. The Canadian box probably looked very similar except an inclusion of "$5.95", though it's interesting that the 905 is notably different from the 605 here:

The canister version simply reuses the 905's box art:

The 1905 was opened using a string, which often inflicts heavy damage onto the canister. My copy has thankfully(somehow) avoided that fate:

As the canister version was only available in 1963 and the capsule version was only available in mid to late 1965 (while also considering the marketing failures/shifts), both variants are considered extremely rare. The Special Sale version likely has very few if any remaining copies (due to the nature of the capsule being a late addition and it needing to be removed to access the contents). Thus it has earned a rank above 7/7 on the rarity scale in my opinion. I'm very confident it existed even if we don't have any surviving examples, as the capsule would very easily be lost or thrown away. There is also ample evidence for the motivation of the capsule (as it hides "DOLL SET" with a truck, plane, train, and boat), and it is incredibly unlikely for Samsonite to have created such just for newspaper adverts, especially considering very little of the text would be remotely legible when printed.

I do doubt that examples, if they truly did exist, sold with the large "Special Sale" banner. There are several newspaper ads of the capsule without that banner (as well as showing different angles), so at the very least, I'm confident in the existence of the capsule at retail:

As far as I know, there are no surviving examples of the Special Sale variant, and I'd be shocked if any turn up. I've written an entire article on it and why it existed: The Unknown 905 Doll Set Variant

Contents

My set contains mainly cellulose parts, but that is to be expected with blue/black parts from 1963-1965. Both were likely purchased in 1963 and are close to complete (at least as complete as you can consider a Samsonite set):

Both assortments seem similar, and the piece count stayed consistent enough where they both likely carried the same inventory across sets.

Also similar to other tall box tube sets (705, 605, 905), the 905 will have inserts at the bottom of the box elevating the parts. It is most likely to keep the bottom of the box from bulging from the weight of the pieces, but it could also have been a way to make the box seem more full upon first opening.

Historical Examples

There's many interesting pictures of the 905 from the 1960s, though the prototype 1905 canister should be shown. It's not much different from the final product, but still worth noting:

Also the original version of the 905's box can be seen in a 1963 Canadian SNAP magazine (C-1965 on brickfetish):

And I'd also like to point something else out, as it doesn't exactly fit within the other sections. Remember how the 905 Doll Set was the only set to retire in 1965 in Canada, at the same time the US retired all 1961-65 sets? All other sets continued production in Canada until 1967. Why?

Because Loveland opened in 1965, Canada's production turned independent from the US. They then made the decision to not produce the 905, which further corroborates the cited difficulty the 905 had selling. Interestingly, along with this, Canada also stopped producing Jumbo Bricks also in 1965. I'm curious if that was a sales thing as well or if it was a thing in which Samsonite only owned one mold and had to choose which subsidiary would produce them.

Interesting to think about.