375 Basic 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): 375 pieces
First Year Confirmed Available:
1965 (USA)
I’ve written an extensive article about the 1965 wave in particular.
1967 (Canada)
1967 Eaton's Christmas Catalog
Most Likely Retirement Date: 1971 (USA)
The 375 set was a permanent member of the basic set line introduced in 1965 and was in continuous production until the cancellation of the LEGO license. It appears in an idea book used throughout 1970-1971.
1972 (Canada): Currently, there is no evident production in Canada continued after 1972. The newspaper clipping below is a good example of the unreliability of newspapers on blind faith, as they are only indicative of inventory on shelves and not necessarily immediately reflective of changes in production.
Last Year Seen Available: 1973 (Canada)
Edmonton Journal, December 18th, 1973
Aliases: No. 375 Basic Set, Deluxe Basic Set, 375 Piece Set
Retail Price(s): $8.95 (USA) / $10.95 (Canada)
Discounted Example(s): $7.88 (1966), $6.99 (1971), $3.99 (1972)
Rarity Score (Index): 2/7
Known Box/Packing Variants
As with other US 1965 sets that were produced into 1971, the 375 Basic Set has several box variants. Estimated dates of production are given below to help date examples. Note the list below is likely not exhaustive:
1965-66 boxes will have a drawer/sleeve style box, two patents, and "AGES - 4 TO 9".
Then in ~1967-68 it had a drawer/sleeve style box, two patents, and "FOR ALL AGES".
In ~1968-69, it had a drawer/sleeve style box, eight patents, and "FOR ALL AGES".
For ~1969-70 there should exist a tabbed box/single piece gray tray, eight patents, and "FOR ALL AGES". "Deluxe Basic Set" will appear on the set's sides as well, but I do not have an image to show. It's possible one doesn't exist because the 375 took longer to port over to the plastic tray due to its unique size. Either way, examples should exist with "Some parts...produced in Denmark" stickered somewhere on the box, those examples belong to 1970.
And finally for ~1970-71, it was given the printed "Some parts...produced in Denmark" disclaimer:
The set has at least one Canadian version. This image is from 1971:
We also had a plain box version from JCPenney for 1970-71 (though this is absolutely not the actual assortment):
Box/Overview
Despite having been continuously produced in the US from 1965-1971 alongside smaller sets like the 120, 205, and 285 Basic Set, the 375 is slightly more uncommon in the wild nowadays. It doesn't necessarily have to do with the size of the set (as the 450 set is far more common than the 375), but may be indicative of retailer or consumer interest. As retailers could order sets they wanted, and there was no incentive to order all basic sets, it is possible the 375 set was skipped over by many both retailers and consumers in favor of other basic sets/preferred assortments. It's an idea.
The 375 Basic Set carries a similar design as other basic sets from 1965.
Contents
As usual, the image shown below is a general guide, not to be taken as law.
The example pictured below should be a 1965-66 version, though the inclusion of the black tires is unheard of for early sets. Typically, gray tires are expected in North American basic sets produced from 1963 to around 1970 (aside from model makers), but this could easily be explained as a substitution by the previous owner of the set:
