1967 Newspaper Clippings
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Note: This article was composed when I was simply gathering evidence for the archive, far before I'd began proper research or committed facts to page. I've left it generally as is, as it is an excellent reflection of my mindset as well as our ground up approach to information on the site, wherein we let the evidence lead us to the conclusion rather than lead the evidence to our conclusion.
Also note this is not nearly all the newspaper clippings we have onsite. The rest can be accessed via the Gallery.
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To start, let's see what 1961-65 sets are still hanging around:
Star Phoenix, April 6th, 1967. Canadian sets are always a bit more difficult to identify due to their unique price structure, but these are at least 1961-66(remember, Canadian range) sets as the updated line had not yet released in that market(it released later in 1967):
Fort Lauderdale News, April 27th, 1967. 1961 supplements are still around and have hit a price floor:
The News Tribune, October 30th, 1967. The 725 Town Plan has made it late into 1967 still on store shelves. Remember this set was retired in 1965:
The Patriot News. This store still had fifteen 1961 supplements in 1967. Not doing too bad compared to other stores:
Anaheim Bulletin, November 9th, 1967. It's unknown which LEGO set this is referring to and whether it's actually one from the image, but it's another appearance of that image from 1961.
The News Tribune, December 4th, 1967. The 704 set is also still around in 1967, note that LEGO is the "Building Toy" and not the LEGO System:
The Messenger, November 9th, 1967. The Oxydol LEGO promotion has begun again. Note this one shows the box art and piece count is provided:
Des Moines Tribune, November 15th, 1967. This one gives an image and identifies what that "Extras" set from 1966 was. We'll cover that set more later in The Misunderstood 695 Bulk Assortment Set:
South Idaho Press, November 17th, 1967. A Chevron exclusive set is released in Idaho and was heavily advertised in newspapers:
The Fresno Bee, December 10th, 1967. An extremely rare appearance of a Model Maker set, 316 Farm Tractor. The box art shown is the European version, not of the North American version:
The Vicksburg Post, October 18th, 1967. The 001 Gears sales continue, half off in this one:
The Miami Herald, December 3rd, 1967. At least the 120 Small Basic Set and the 285 Medium Basic Set are on sale. Unsure if the 021 Wheel Set pictured is part of the sale:
The Ann Arbor News, December 1st, 1967. A normal ad, showing images of a 450 Deluxe Basic Set, 120 Small Basic Set, 003 Master Mechanic, and 004 Master Builder.
Tampa Bay Times, December 17th, 1967. Several Model Maker and two 615 sets. I've not yet identified what sets these are:
Albuquerque Journal, November 11th, 1967. Check out this clipping from New Mexico, talking about a test market for a 451 piece LEGO set with a storage case. It also mentions what stores are planned to carry it:
Albuquerque Journal, November 19th, 1967. This clipping provides the context that the storage case set mentioned above is the 502 Deluxe Basic Set:
Spokane Chronicle, November 23, 1967. But this paper from Washington, just four days later, mentions another storage case set. This could be the blue Loveland case and not the same set as above:
Fort Collins Coloradoan, October 15th, 1967. This is a rare find, a job listing for the Loveland factory, specifically for the LEGO division of Samsonite:
The Chicago Tribune, January 14th, 1967. A job listing for a regional sales representative. Interesting that the sales representative job listings from before have since dried up and this is what I'm finding:
The News, February 23rd, 1967. Here's the announcement of their eastern regional sales manager. This is not the same region as the listing above, but is interesting that the sales side of things is restructuring:
Vidette Messenger of Porter County, November 9th, 1967. This is an article about LEGO as a company, not LEGO Samsonite. I was impressed with how well researched this was, as I've found a number of American papers who published blatantly incorrect information like "Samsonite got their LEGO license in 1963", but to be fair, the below article may be a verbatim republication of information from an external source:
