The Misunderstood 695 Bulk Assortment Set
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In the thousands of newspapers I've searched through, LEGO Samsonite sets rarely appeared with normal suggested retail prices through the late 60s and early 70s. 50%+ markdowns on newly released sets were everywhere. Here's a good example from 1971:
Along with this, in 1972, Samsonite announced that they would discontinue the LEGO line.
From these points, it has been assumed that Samsonite, seeing the writing on the wall, created and sent out the 695 Bulk Assortment Set as a means to dump remaining inventory. No two sets ever contained the same pieces, check out this one (outside of its sleeve) from BrickLink:
Many, many blue and black parts! Also note the inclusion of the 4x4 corner brick, the 1x1 round brick with no lip, and half cellulose acetate(the brighter blue) parts and half ABS plastic (the faded blue) parts. These will all be relevant later.
Due to the varied inventory of this set, I've been at the mercy of sealed examples pictured online to see what this set looked like and originally contained. All examples I've found confirm that each contained a unique scattershot of parts. Here is another insightful example from an old EuroBricks post:
More blue and black elements(especially the 2x8 and 2x10 bricks) and 4x4 corner bricks. Also note the inclusion of the green plates and red windows.
You may be asking: "Okay, so when did it release then?" It released as early as 1966 and we can prove it.
Context
First, let's explore the time period a little bit to see what might've been going on. In browsing mid 1960s newspapers, I noticed particular sets seemed to stick around longer than some, some stuck for years on deep discount. An easy example is the 905 Doll Set, but the most stubborn by far were the 1961-65 50¢ supplemental packs (we will explore them more in the supplements section of the site).
As an example, this newspaper clipping from 1963 already has all supplements half price:
Two years later in 1966, this toy store is in the same situation. This one even shows stock numbers, where they have almost one hundred compared to only two of the 905 Doll Set:
And in 1967, the prices go even lower:
But new for 1966 was the revamped "Extra Parts" program. This can be confirmed via this 1966 dealer catalog:
So why did they revamp the line in 1966? Hear it from Samsonite themselves: "LEGO announces a completely new extra parts program.... The number of boxes in the extra parts line has been reduced from 144 to 14, including only the most popular assortments."
I wonder if the reason they reduced the number of unique boxes had anything to do with the sales. Hmm...
Now let's compare the 1961-65 supplements to the 1966 supplements. This is as the line appeared in 1965 (missing the 1:87 cars):
And here is the 1966 line:
Notice anything? The most obvious of which is the complete omission of the 4x4 corner brick, which never appears in a set in the US again. So what did they do with the extras?
Compare the 1961-65 assortment to the sealed 695 sets I showed earlier.
They all contain elements which never reappeared in the new supplements line or in the remaining Samsonite sets, but were instead mainly available through the 1961-65 supplements. Those include: the black 2x8 brick, black 2x10 brick, 4x4 corner brick (any color), and the small green plates.
The inclusion of one part in particular, the 1x1 round without the bottom lip, makes a 1971 release incredibly unlikely. It's hard to say when that piece retired, but considering all Samsonite sets after 1965 had one with a bottom lip (give a year or two leeway to deplete current inventory), 1971 is just too far away.
Compare that with the majority red and white parts you'd get out of the massive 1972 Imagination Sets:
Those 1970s sets almost never contain green parts, red windows, or CA plastic (the exception are yellow parts, but definitely not many blue or any black). Yet it's incredibly common to find them in the 695 set.
It would not make sense for Samsonite to have held onto 4x4 corner bricks, 2xX black bricks, or the green plates for almost five years. Instead, given that supplemental sales were not ideal (to put it in a nice way) and stores were having trouble selling them even at 20% of the original price, and thus likely didn't reorder odd assortmets, *as well as* considering the supplements line was completely revamped in 1966, the real story is very clear: Samsonite took the remaining inventory and got rid of them through the 695 Bulk Assortment Set.
A retailer wouldn't order packs that didn't sell (retailers could request specific 1961 packs via this dealer catalog), so it's very easy to see how Samsonite would've ended up with a surplus of odd bricks. And because the new supplement packs did not contain the same assortment, the factory surplus would've needed to be addressed.
Surviving Ephemera
We also have several newspaper clippings onsite referencing the 695, such as this one from 1966:
An unidentified "Extras" set... at a much higher price than any of the other supplements (sometimes the supplemental packs were referred to as "extras" as well, the price just confirms they are referring to the 695. $6.95 value = 695).
Another from 1967 pictures it outright:
Not only does it give the 695 number, but it gives an image! It also gives the suggested retail price and name, which match the 1966 newspaper.
This isn't a one-off occurrence either, as you can find several examples of this "Extras" set in 1966:
So as far as I can find, newspapers only go back so far as August of 1966.
But there's one element that can be extremely deceptive, one that tricked me when I first wrote this article.
The 695's Pamphlet
In the original version of this article, I concluded a 1965 date based on the dedicated pamphlet for the 695. Such answer stood for nearly six months of LEGO Samsonite research—all until I began collecting retailer brochures.
Then I realized the 695 was not just for eliminating stock of parts. There was yet another thing it was getting rid of: its pamphlet:
It's hard to demonstrate in this format, I'd even missed it on my physical example, but the "SPECIAL OFFER OF EXTRA BRICKS" text is physically stamped on the page, separate from the actual printing. Same with the "VISIT YOUR LEGO DEALER".
Why is it like this?
Starting in the 1950s, Samsonite distributed pamphlets for retailers to use in their store. Presumably, instead of a retailer stocking whatever item was being advertised, they would collect these and send them to the manufacturer, serving as a supplier for the consumer. There were so many styles and colors Samsonite cases were produced in, it would've been difficult for even the largest retailers to have a full, stocked inventory. Thus, let the consumer decide what to order.
Typically, one has a store name (and possibly address/phone number) stamped on the front, an order blank, and a form number without any letters in the 22XX-24XX range.
The earliest I've found, from some time in the early 1950s, is 2234.
This practice was adopted for Samsonite's LEGO starting in 1961, with the earliest LEGO one being 2355. Again, note that the store name is not printed but stamped manually. This one is from 1961 as it omits patent information, something that all new-for-1962 materials have:
We then have 2369. It is possibly from 1963, but I don't know for certain yet:
Then 2385 for 1964. Notice how slowly the number increments over several years, as these form numbers were kept separate from other Samsonite products:
And finally, we have the 695's instructions: 2407. Based on the design, comparing it with the earlier examples used in store, its original purpose was clearly as a retailer pamphlet. As it is the last in the LEGO sequence, and none exist for the 1965+ lines beyond this one, it is extremely likely Samsonite used the 695 as a quiet offload of these pamphlets as they were discontinued. Note that the exact place where the 695's text is stamped is where the store name was traditionally stamped on all previous examples:
So originally, I claimed a 1965 date as I didn't understand that the pamphlet wasn't originally made for the 695. Instead, as the creation date of 2407 doesn't necessarily date the release of the set, I've since switched to the much stronger 1966 date of release for the 695. A 1965 date of release is still possible, just not evident, and we rely on what is evident.
I've preserved some of my original argument in the quote below. Please note that it is only provided here for preservation, NOT because I still agree with it:
"Instead, a 1965 existence of the 695 is demonstrated another way: its pamphlet! It shows prototype 1965 sets as well as the 610 Super Wheel Toy, which only happened in 1965 documents (indicating it was prepared before the 1965 wave released)."
All of this is why I feel the 695 earns the title of "Most Misunderstood Samsonite LEGO Set", as every element of it requires immense context of Samsonite as well as their LEGO production to understand. It isn't as if I've had to completely readjust my position, only that I had to come back and clarify limits and mistakes as I've learned more. That is what this site is designed for, and what we should strive to do in our lives. It's okay to have misunderstood something, but it's not okay to pretend that you've always understood something.
All in all, now we can show that the 695 Bulk Assortment released as early as 1966 and was around until late 1967. That's as far as I can show, at least in terms of dates.
So what's left?
One thing that always intrigued me is the exclusive tray that came with the set, in a material and style that never reappeared again. Here's an empty example to give a better idea of what the tray looks like:
It's a very odd style too, not like anything produced for Samsonite's LEGO before or since. The exact dimensions are 29.5cm x 14.5cm x 5.5cm.
The most curious dimension, the one that made me think there's something here worth looking into, is the height of the 695 set: 5.5cm. This does not match any Samsonite box from 1965 onward.
So where could it have come from? Well, remember who's making it—Samsonite! Look at this vintage Samsonite Streamlite beauty case:
It's a match! I'm not sure the exact timeline this case with this tray was produced (I've seen 50s and 60s), but it's unmistakably the same tray and that's what I was interested in. It first confirms that they didn't create this tray for this set, instead reused an existing one. It also speaks against a 1970s release, as the tray better fits the 1966release window.
Print Color
Lastly, I want to take a look at the outer sleeve. It is in the 1965+ style, though uniquely printed with turquoise printing. The color varies between copies, but they're all some form of blue:
As a warning, this is where we get into the realm of farce, as I have don't exactly have the means to prove this next point. But one should wonder, why the weird blue printing? I'd think it was simply cheaper to print with only one color, but why blue, something completely unique to this set and never seen again? My first inclination is to ask, well, where has there been a lot of blue printing? Ah, the 1961-65 sets!
Every side(along with the bottom and inner box of the flat box sets) has a majority blue color scheme, a style that almost went extinct with the discontinuation of the 1961-65 sets. The only exception is the 041 Pre-School Set, which alone could explain what they did with leftover blue ink. But it's still possible, emphasis on possible, that the odd blue prints on this set are a result of trying to make use of that ink, especially since this is a one-off set.
It's an idea, but not anything I'm very confident in. Unless something new is discovered, that's about as far as I'll go.
Even so, I'm very proud of everything else we've compiled and laid out about this set. It's not every day so many questions can be put to rest.