349 Mini-Wheel Construction 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: F-8012
Advertised Part Count(s): 195 pieces
First Year Confirmed Available: 1971(USA)
Most likely a USA exclusive.
Most Likely Retirement Date: 1971(USA)
The set would not have been produced beyond the 1971 loss of the LEGO license.
Last Year Seen Available: 1971
Aliases: Construction Vehicle Set
Retail Price(s): $8.50(USA)
Rarity Score(Index): 5/7
Known Box/Packing Variants
There would not be any variants of this set as it released the same year it retired.
Box/Overview
Unfortunately it is very difficult to track this set in particular in surviving sources. Currently the only source onsite that references the set is the above 1971 FAO catalog, but that does not mean the set was an FAO exclusive. One copy that I own has a John Wanamaker price tag, and BrickTrains showed another copy with a Target price tag.
The reason the 349 is harder to identify than most other Samsonite sets is the "construction" name. A lot of ads for basic sets will use a generic name like "construction set", which makes it hard to tell the difference.
The set is made up of several new for 1971 and existing mini-wheel models, though with Samsonite substitutions. For now, we'll cover the US box art. Probably the weirdest thing about this set is that the reds are consistently washed out on even new examples:
Contents
As mentioned above, the 349 had several substitutions by Samsonite. The most infamous of which are the red and black waffle bottom 4x8 plates. This set also used 2x2s with a LEGO logo, the yellow with all black printing and the blue with all white printing.
I do own a complete example, but unfortunately it's sealed and I don't have the heart to open it. So I can't be much help in the picture department in this case:
