223 Adventure 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): 223 pieces
First Year Confirmed Available: 1968(USA)
1968 Bon Marche / Pomeroy's Christmas Catalog
USA Only.
Most Likely Retirement Date: 1970(USA)
Makes its last known catalog appearance in 1970 alongside discounted listings. A tabbed box variant is known so production must've took place in 1970.
Last Year Seen Available: 1971(USA)
Tri City Herald, October 13th, 1971
Aliases: Adventure Set, Lego Set
Retail Price(s): $5.00(USA)
Discounted Example(s): $3.09(1970), $2.90(1971)
Rarity Score(Index): 4/7
Known Box/Packing Variants
The 223 Adventure Set has two versions.
The 1968-69 version with drawers:
And a (much rarer) tabbed box version for ~1970(it's hard to see, but notice how the "Some parts...manufactured in Denmark" has been added to the logo):
And a somewhat better image of the tabbed box:
Box/Overview
The 223 Adventure Set is a basic set popularly cited to be an FAO exclusive. While it did appear in 1968-70 FAO catalogs, it also appeared at a number of other retailers between 1968-70 including(but not limited to) Dayton's, Shillitos, Sibley's, Skaggs, Bon Marche, and The Broadway.
Suffice it to say, the set was not exclusive to one retailer.
With that out of the way, the 223 is a unique set in that it was an odd addition to the LEGO line. New for 1968, it set the standard for basic sets going forward, though it was not Samsonite's own creation, it is a North American release of the European 033 set.
Notice how, since the 223 has images on its sides, Samsonite has moved the "Building possibilities grow as your Lego collection grows" text seen on pre-1968 sets to the box top:
The back of the box uses text that was commonly found on the back:
Because of the new approach, it's also one of the few sets that did not change the sides of the box when it got a tabbed variant:
Contents
The set was a basic assortment of parts. Below is an example from 1968:
