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): Unknown

Surprisingly, I cannot find a contemporary source for this. You're at the mercy of the internet. It was likely 180-200 pieces, similar to its predecessor.

First Year Confirmed Available: 1965(USA)

I’ve written an extensive article about the 1965 wave in particular.

USA Only.

There is no evidence of a Canadian release. Instead, Canada kept the 605 (similar to how they kept the 610 in production) until 1969.

Most Likely Retirement Date: 1968 (USA)

Appearances of the 021 after 1967 are rather sparse and it does not appear in 1968 catalogs, but does appear for full price at a JCPenney in 1968. That, coupled with its appearance in the revised for 1968 idea book but not 1969's, indicates a 1968 retirement.

Last Year Seen Available: 1968 (USA)

The World News, December 30th, 1968

Aliases: Wheel Set, Wheel Toy Set (this only happens in 1965 due to prior marketing materials being confused by retailers)

Retail Price(s): $4.95 (USA)

Discounted Example(s): $4.47 (1967)

Rarity Score (Index): 2/7

Known Box/Packing Variants

This set was not available in Canada, instead the Canadian market kept the 605 Wheel Toy in production in 1966-1969). So there was no Canadian version.

This set is also uniquely exempt from the ~1967-68 refresh that removed age ranges from boxes, which would imply an earlier retirement of the 021 than other sets that retired in 1968 but did recieve an updated box(such as the 003 Master Mechanic Set). Due to the reasoning above, however, I've left its retirement date at 1968 for now.

There are no known variants.

Box/Overview

The 021 Wheel Set released in 1965 as a direct replacement of the 605 Wheel Toy, adopting the new drawer/sleeve and numbering format while keeping the same relative piece count.

Similar to how the 605 Wheel Toy and the 905 Doll Set released as companion sets in 1963, the 021 Wheel Toy and the 022 Doll Furniture were (at least planned to be) their replacement sets for 1965. As the 022 Doll Furniture doesn't appear in any LEGO Samsonite catalogs/brochures, the 021 Wheel Set was otherwise alone, except occasionally it was seen with the 610 Super Wheel Toy.

It's a very basic set, following the same conventions other 1965 sets share:

box top image

The sides are both the same:

The drawers have unique text not shared with other most 1965 sets:

The exception is the 022 Doll Furniture set, the only set to share similar text, strengthening the connection between the 021 and 022 beyond their numbering. Here's the 022's drawer, just for comparison:

Contents

The set contains the usual assortment expected from 1965 sets. Earlier I mentioned the set as being the 605's direct successor, but that should not imply that the inventories of the two sets are similar. 1961-64 assortments were vastly different from 1965-71 assortments.

Shown below are three examples. I've reorganized the left and middle example below, but the right example was left as I received it. All are very likely close to if not complete, though remember these are guides and not to be taken as law:

Should I collect this set?

The 021 Wheel Set was among the first boxed examples I managed to get my hands on. While the parts inside are very basic and there's not a whole lot of story to tell, I'd recommend it as a biased party.

I've not talked about it elsewhere, but there's a certain allure to these boxes, no? Obviously the 022 Doll Furniture has my absolute favorite box top, but there's something so humble about the 021's box top, something that scratches an itch in my mind. It's an incredibly simple model, fair, yet I cannot help but marvel at the pieces and lighting. It's just something so alien, so unreal.

full image