348 Mini-Wheel Car and Truck 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.
Instructions: H-5113
Advertised Part Count(s): 211 pieces
First Year Confirmed Available: 1970(USA)
Most likely USA only.
Most Likely Retirement Date: 1970(USA)
This was a tough call. Currently there are no catalog appearances of the set in 1971, nor any newspaper ads that aren't heavily discounted. This date may be subject to change depending on future evidence.
Last Year Seen Available: 1973
Tampa Bay Times, December 6th, 1973
Aliases: Mini-Wheel Car and Truck Set, Mini Car and Trucks
Retail Price(s): $6.66-$8.00(USA)
Discounted Example(s): $4.79(1970), $3.77(1971), $3.99(1973)
Rarity Score(Index): 4/7
Box/Overview
Before 1970, there was a heavy emphasis on larger vehicles using their larger wheels, but the vehicles were not exactly within the same scale as other pre-existing LEGO system elements like windows and trees. Thus, the mini-wheel.
While these models are not of Samsonite's own design(as is typical with most of the model maker line), this combined set is. Only the White Car and Camper is exclusive to this set in North America, the rest could be obtained via the 360-363 vehicle sets or the 347 Fire Station("exclusive" being used extremely loosely, as all the parts used were available elsewhere):
The green blemish near the fire truck's door seems to not be a one-off mistake and appears on other boxes:
The back of the box is your standard affair with 1970s Samsonite. Notice the printing of the "Some parts...manufactured in Denmark" printing instead of the sticker:
And the sides of the box are all the same:
Contents
The set contains enough elements in order to complete the intended models:
Immediately upon opening, however, you are greeted with one of the strangest Samsonite prints ever created:
Mostly only known to have happened in the 348, instead of a black grille Samsonite decided to use the red from the ambulance on the car's grille as well as to also substitute the silver grilles for white(that example can also be seen with the 347):
Samsonite being Samsonite.
Historical Examples
While a lot of post-1965 sets simply do not have anything for this section, the 348 does.
If you look at the 1970 dealer catalog on brickfetish, you'd notice the 348 has a very different delivery van and a slightly different fire truck than came with the final set:
Presumably, we're looking at an early version of the set. Why does this typically not happen for Model Maker stuff? Two reasons.
For one, this bundle set is of Samsonite's own creation, so it required them to take photos themselves instead of reusing the international versions.
Two, prior to 1970, any time Samsonite released a set from the international catalog, they released it a year later(for most examples). 113 Motorized Train 1966 compared to 1967 in North America. 116 Deluxe Motorized Train Set 1967 compared to 1968. The 080 Ambassador Set took two years, 1967 compared to 1969. Even the 345 House, new for 1970, had already been previously available.
It wasn't until the 347 Fire Station, which released in 1970 everywhere, that the US was synced up with the rest of the world. Hence why a prototype version of the delivery van and fire truck can be seen here, as we're once again privy to the development process rather than seeing an already developed and tested product being rereleased.