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: B-2349

Advertised Part Count(s): 110 pieces

South Idaho Press, November 17th, 1967

First Year Confirmed Available: 1967

South Idaho Press, November 17th, 1967

Most Likely Retirement Date: 1967

The promotion does not appear outside the very limited late 1967 window. There are, however, odd appearances of a set numbered #110 in newspapers, such as this one from 1970.

Last Year Seen Available: 1967

South Idaho Press, November 17th, 1967

Aliases: Special Set

Note: I've assigned "Chevron Station" as its name, as I find that's more immediately identifiable than "Special Set".

Retail Price(s): $1.69 (USA)

Rarity Score (Index): 6/7

Known Box/Packing Variants

While the 110 wouldn't have any box variants (due to the regional exclusivity of the promotion), the box used for the 110 set is the exact same one used for the 93-Piece Set.

Box/Overview

While above I only link one newspaper example, there are several out there for late 1967. The 110 was created as a promotional set in cooperation with Chevron, exclusively available at participating Chevron dealers and Standard stations specifically in Idaho.

The set's box is incredibly simple, though unfortunately we do not currently have good images of the sides, drawer, or back.

box top image

My question, since first learning about this set, is exactly how it came about and why it was so limited. My idea, based on all I've seen/found, is that the promotion we see was a test market of a possible collaboration that was ultimately canned.

During the 1960s, Chevron had an office for their Western Division on 1700 Broadway in Denver Colorado, while Samsonite's executive office was on 1050 South Broadway. So it is not as if they were neighbors, but that Chevron office was responsible for the western US (except California, Oregon, and Washington), including Idaho and Utah, the states we see for this promotion. It is not unlikely for the two companies to have come across each other given their extremely close proximity, conceptualized a "Chevron Station" toy, and opted to test it in a very small market. Otherwise the incredibly limited distribution (only at select Chevron stations along a specific highway in south Idaho) would be bizarre.

Contents

The set included an exclusive Chevron sign. It's plastic with a paper top:

The exclusive sign is very strange considering the limited nature of this set. It may be a reuse, but I've not yet identified any match. Molds were (and still are) very expensive, but it's also clear that not a lot of planning went into the design.

Also interesting is that the included elements all do not contribute to building the station as shown. This is consistent between the two examples we have images for. It appears the set contains all of the 093's elements with an additional 17 pieces to make it possible to build the intended model.