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): 630 pieces

Set Box

First Year Confirmed Available: 1970 (USA)

1970 Marshall Fields Christmas Catalog

USA only.

Most Likely Retirement Date: 1971 (USA)

The 630 appears in the 1971 Dealer Catalog as well as at JCPenney in 1971.

Last Year Seen Available: 1972

Courier Post, October 26th, 1972

Aliases: Diplomat Set, The Diplomat (my personal favorite)

Retail Price(s): $15.95 (USA)

Note: $15.95 seems to be the RRP for the 630, however currently only one source actually lists it as such (the other being John Wanamaker later claiming a $18.99 RRP). Most examples, even in 1970, are on sale and none agree.

Discounted Example(s): $10.88 (1970), $13.50 (1970), $11.95 (1971), $9.00 (1972)

Rarity Score (Index): 5/7

Known Box/Packing Variants

As the 630 released in 1970, there will be no variants of the outer box. Most, if not all examples will have unprinted drawers and fray, single-piece trays:

Box/Overview

The 630 Diplomat is in the same situation some other specialty sets fall into, where it is popularly cited to be an FAO Schwarz exclusive. It never appears in any FAO catalogs, instead appearing at Shillitos, Skaggs, JCPenney, John Wanamaker, and Marshall Fields. At least as far as I've been able to find, there may be more.

As a result, the 630 has a very unique story compared to other LEGO Samsonite sets. I'd previously written an extensive article about the 630 and its purpose, but I've since pulled it from the site. Originally, I correlated it with a seemingly 1970 retirement of the entire supplements line, in which it lined up incredibly well. However, now having seen the 1971 Dealer Catalog with the entire supplements line still available, I've since retracted that and moved everything here.

But here's the thing—without the clean explanation, there's still a lot of unique questions to answer. The set has just too many oddities to have been a normal release, at least initially, so I give an abridged coverage of the 630 below.

In 1970, two separate stores (that were not owned by the same holding company) share the same unique description for the 630, which would indicate it comes directly from Samsonite's own marketing:

"Giant array of the most wanted parts, including baseplates, windows, doors, wheels, and [wheel accessories/more]..."

The description of the set's assortment as being "the most wanted parts" is a very strange choice and is highly indicative of a specially composed set. It is also missing entirely from the 1970 Dealer Catalog, which is only true for:

a). retailer exclusives b). institution/promotional sets c). inventory clearance sets

We know it wasn't option A or B, as mentioned above we have adverts of it appearing at a diverse range of retailers in 1970 including drug stores. It could've just been introduced far too late to appear within the 1970 catalog, as the 630 appears in the 1971 catalog, but the fact that almost all appearances of the 630 in 1970, the season it released, are at steep discounts... something doesn't sit right with me.

The front of the box is especially odd, as it uniquely is the only 1965+ LEGO Samsonite set to omit the rainbow bars on the front. It does so for very oddly colored, and hard to read, generic text:

box top image

It's also important to note these models on the front were made from a very unique assortment of basic parts, especially note the number of 4x8 and 6x8 white plates on the left model. The assortment is so unique that models created from the 630 are immediately identifiable from every other Samsonite model.

Also important: the 630's box is the 1965-68 615 Basic Set's box, so not every model shown on the box originated with the 630's assortment. Here are the sides of the 630:

And here's the side of the 615:

Well what about the back?

Why is the 630 reusing box art? Why is the 630 making all these weird, unique formatting changes? Why does it not appear in the 1970 Dealer Catalog, but does appear in the 1971 Dealer Catalog?

My thought is that it is yet another inventory clearance set, or at least was intended as one originally, and there is a clear intent to do so.

Think of all the choices we outlined above that are anomalous, choices that differentiate it from every other set available at the time. Even another set that released in 1970, the 311 Remote Control Car / Truck Set, does not deviate this much from the typical box format.

While I've left this very open ended, I foresee a resolution still being possible for this set. I also welcome your own interpretations.

Contents

My example of the 630 contains mainly basic bricks (seemingly more than it should have). There could be other sets mixed in, after all the box is absolutely jam packed, but some odd pieces appear.

For one, the 6x8 plates in grey, but it's an open, loose example and you never know what's happened in the last fifty years since its original purchase:

I thought it was nice the previous owner organized and labeled the bins. Don't see that too often.