When did 022 Doll Furniture Release?
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As with the 695 Bulk Assortment set, the 022 Doll Furniture set has a universally agreed date of release. At the time of writing, every online aggregate source will cite a release date of 1965. Some even list an original retail price of $2.75.
However, as we've asked for everything else thus far—where is this information coming from?
The price is rather easy to explain, as it could very well have been a price tag on a surviving example(not conclusively indicative of original retail price, as it could've been a discount).
The year is a little harder to source. Is there a source out there that confirms the release year?
The Full Breakdown
While writing articles and compiling information for this site, I knew I'd eventually have to tackle the 022 Doll Furniture set. Part of its infamy lies in its mysterious origins, as no one has ever located one in a primary source. I never could've imagined, however, after being able to track down so much information on Three Worlds of all things, that 022 Doll Furniture would be my stumbling block.
I'd been spoiled, I should've cherished what I had.
For context, I did dozens of searches in newspapers, catalogs, and even books from 1965-68, specifically searching for this set. Nothing matching. And I'm not the first to look either, as this set is very sought after in LEGO Samsonite's sphere. Regardless, as far as anyone can find, the only record of this set's existence are the surviving examples.
So until those are found, if they can be found at all, where to now?
Well, this is where we have to adjust our strategy. Because direct primary material is simply not available, what proxy sources do we have at our disposal to rebuild the 022's story?
As I didn't have any leads, I decided to first think about how the design of this set fits into Samsonite's catalog going into 1965.
It doesn't, to put it bluntly.
Check out the front of the set. Samsonite has made the deliberate choice to swap LEGO and "Building Toy" with "DOLL FURNITURE":
The decision to move the LEGO logo outside of the red square is unprecedented with Samsonite. There is not a set before or after that dares move the LEGO logo from its home. Even when Samsonite knew they were losing the LEGO license in 1972, they didn't move LEGO logo out of the red box. What gives?
Parallels With the 905
I thought back to the 1965 newspapers I found, those in which the retiring 905 Doll Set was given a capsule of sorts to sell it off. This is covered in-depth in its dedicated article, but I'll give you an abridged version.
After the 905's release in 1963, it was constantly on half-off sales through its life cycle. I've found this variant to be an attempt to salvage sales by pivoting away from dolls. Check out this clipping from 1965 in which the larger words "DOLL SET" have been obscured with regular models, the ad specifically refers to the receiving child as "he", and the price is 50% the original sale price:
In short, everything indicates it to be Samsonite band-aiding the last of the 905s to sell them off faster. It seemed to work too, as the "Special Value Set" only ever appeared in 1965 newspapers.
There are over a dozen examples of that "Special Sale Set" explored in the dedicated article linked above.
905 Doll Set examples without the capsule painfully stuck around, making it into 1966 at even deeper discounts:
Despite regular sales, examples collected dust on shelves and made it into 1968 and even 1969. There are other things to extrapolate the 905's performance as well. Not only when/where it was for sale but also where it wasn't.
The 905 set only ever appeared in major department store catalogs for one year, in 1963 (Canada is the only exception, as usual). The year it released. The Sears exclusive one was no different: it was the only set that did not return to the catalog in 1964.
At this point, you should be wondering something along the lines of: If the 905 Doll Set was not selling well at major discount in 1965, so much so the 905's doll association was haphazardly hidden to target boys via the Special Sale Set, why would the 022 Doll Furniture set exist? Why would Samsonite release a set in a troubled line? Why does the 022 set never appear in any Samsonite or other toy catalogs with all the other LEGO sets? Why is it not even present in dealer catalogs from 1965 and 1966?
We can answer these questions, though unfortunately we can never really know unless previously missed evidence surfaces.
Using Market Context
I think(again, not backed by direct evidence because we simply do not have any) that the absence of this set is partially explained through its change in branding. While Samsonite actively promoted sets to both boys and girls, most toy stores designated construction toys as primarily boys toys, hence the capsule on the 905 set at the end of its life. Check out this advertisement from 1967:
By 1965, LEGO was a household name as a construction toy, so I believe the choice to move/shrink LEGO on the 022's box was a very deliberate attempt to associate the set more with dolls(and thus reach a different market) than normal LEGO kits would due to traditional gender roles of the time (the troubled past with the 905 set, the only mainline set that needed a complete rebrand in 1965, also would undoubtedly influence Samsonite's decisions).
This is also why I believe the 022 not to be pictured with other LEGO kits at any point. It's almost like a reversal of the 905 capsule variant, so rather than the decision to minimize the doll branding, they decided to minimize the LEGO branding.
Following this logic, I originally concluded that if the 022 is to be found anywhere in print media, it would never be found in on any page of a catalog alongside LEGO. Rather, it should be found advertised among mid 1960s dolls and doll houses.
Except... surprisingly that didn't turn up anything either.
Granted, I'm not exactly familiar with where dolls would've been popular in the 1960s, but I checked all the major department stores that had Christmas catalogs readily available(Sears, JCPenney, Montgomery Ward) from 1965 and 1966 and found nothing. Of course these sources aren't comprehensive or representative of all that was available at the time, but I was still surprised to turn up empty handed.
I turned to newspapers, omitting "LEGO" or "Samsonite". Nothing. I sifted through tons of archival media and museum collections(found two very interesting Samsonite LEGO models in a Colorado museum that are worthy of discussion, but that's a topic for another day). I truthfully could not find a single mention of this set anywhere. I found two surviving retailer models before I found anything about the 022 Doll Furniture set. Mind boggling.
Pivoting the Search
So where do we go from here?
Well, it'd help to narrow our search a bit. As we've generally learned to question catalog sites, can we confirm the 1965 release year?
Yes and no. Yes in that I have evidence that strongly indicates a 1965 release, but no in that I do not have the components to prove it succinctly and absolutely. Things are going to get complicated.
You know I'll explain.
The front of the box shown earlier is actually my copy of the set—I'm very fortunate to have a copy on hand. This set in particular is incredibly difficult rare on the secondary market.
The parts within, while I think they're interesting and can be informative, should not be considered the main evidence when dating the set. It's pretty easy to handwave contents as being circumstantial/misleading, as collections mix together. We want our reasoning to be as strong as possible, so I looked at the box.
Consider this: the 1965+ style of box was pioneered by the first wave of 1965 sets(all of which released and were demonstrably available in 1965, proven elsewhere on the site). The 022 Doll Furniture is not present in this early picture among prototype boxes(this scan is the insert inside the 695 Bulk Assortment Set):
Let's compare the 022 with some of the other sets from the 1965 line that I have on hand: 120, 205, 021, 375, and 450. Here is the one side of the drawers, take some time to note the set number of each and compare text:
Then the sides:
Notice anything? Notice how there's one set in particular that the 022 set seems to match with?
The 021 Wheel Set!
In a weird way, it makes me a little emotional. The 1963 605 Wheel Toy was released with the 905 Doll Set as a companion, almost always pictured next to each other throughout 1963:
But by 1964, that association began to fade away. Both sets were often pictured separately in newspapers(many catalogs outright omitted the 905 set while keeping the 605 Wheel Toy).
And new in 1965 to replace the 1961 line was a new line of sets. Several can be directly correlated via price and (approximate) piece count. The 703 became the 120, the 705 became the 205, 708 became the 285, 711 became the 375, 105 became the 041, and the 605 Wheel Toy was the 021 Wheel Set.
I've made this little graph to demonstrate such:
I can't currently know for certain they produced the 022 Doll Furniture set in 1965 alongside the 021 Wheel Set, but given the above association, it feels right. After all, why would Samsonite uniquely omit the 905 from this pattern, only to bring it back later? Especially considering how much trouble it had selling beforehand.
Going along with the numbering scheme, it also follows very well when you consider the companion sets. The 001 Gears and the 002 Motor Pak. The 003 Master Mechanic Set and the 004 Master Builder Set. As these were the "special" sets that were assigned a special number rather than using piece counts, it makes sense that the 021 Wheel Toy(which always confused me as to why it had that number) and the 022 Doll Furniture set are assigned the numbers they have.
You may be wondering why they added 20 to the number and then started incrementing again, I am too. However, it appears this is a pattern, as remember the 041 Pre-School Set and 042 Jumbo Brick Pull Toy are also companion sets new for 1965 and were given the same treatment.
It's interesting, however, that both the 022 and the 042 sets are very rare compared to their counterparts, as you'll readily find many, many examples of both the 021 and 041, but not their companion sets. Good luck even finding a surviving box for the 042 Pull Toy.
Let's finish looking at the boxes. Compare the back of the 022 set with the back of the 021 set:
All the wording is consistent(even the dash, as the 001 Gears and 002 Motor Pak use the m-dash).
My set also has glue on the bottom of the trays. It's unclear exactly when Samsonite stopped gluing the trays in the box, but that feature is indicative of an early release rather than much later in the 60s.
...so is that it?
Essentially, yes. Unless new evidence arises(which I suspect is still possible), we have strong indications that the 022's box was developed alongside the 021 set. The same happened with other specially numbered sets (001 with 002, 041 with 042, even 003 with 004, etc.).
So why is 022 missing from all print media?
While we've been in speculative territory all this time, I'm warning you this is where we get into the real speculation. Don't get me wrong, we're still relying on the facts of the case, don't think I'm tossing out a careless guess for the sake of an answer. Trust me, everything we set up before is relevant to this next section; there's a method to the madness.
Because of the association of the 021 and the 022's numbers, it is reasonable to assume they were both planned together(possibly as early as 1964). Otherwise, considering the companion set numbering approach, it would be rather strange to have a lone specialty set planned to be numbered 021 without 022 just for one to appear later.
But after the 1964 Christmas season, it would've been apparent that the 905 Doll Set was simply not selling. Hence why the capsule was added and why the marketing direction switched to primarily boys in 1965.
So my belief is that in early 1965, sometime before the 695 Bulk Assortment was produced(as that set shows the 1965 prototypes and omits the 022), it was decided to "test market" the 022 Doll Furniture set in a new attempt to break into the girl's market and expand sales. That would explain the omission of the 022 from even 1965 dealer order forms and the prototype boxes.
We do have an example of Samsonite test marketing, as according to the below newspaper, they test marketed the 502 Deluxe Set With Storage Case in 1967 in Albuquerque before the larger 1967 release:
It makes sense in terms of approach as well. As Samsonite's sales never reached the glamour of the European markets, coupled with the 905's troubled history, it would make sense to try something new and test it thoroughly before committing.
To support Samsonite's struggle to enter the girls market(as well as to show their continued intent to do so after 1963), the 1965 005 Discovery Trial Offer pamphlet specifically says "Make no mistake, Lego is not only a 'boys' toy, girls love Lego, too!".
Where might've the 022 set been test marketed? Well, I reached out to someone who knows an original owner of a 022 Doll Furniture set. They (supposedly, as obviously I have no way of confirming this) got it from the Fort Collins area.
That's about twenty minutes from Loveland(where Samsonite's LEGO dedicated factory opened in April of 1965). Definitely an incredible lead if true.
Why test market the set?
As I said, if after the 1964 Christmas season the 905 wasn't selling well, it might've been decided to move forward with developing the 022 set and see if their new approach sold differently. That difference is important, as the 021 Wheel Toy is essentially its predecessor, the 605 Wheel Toy. Same price point, similar part count. The 022 Doll Furniture is an entirely new product, which is a telling indication that the doll models did not work.
The test market theory is also bolstered by the fact that all 1965 boxes(very rough prototypes and finished boxes pictured together) are present on the 695's pamphlet—all except the 022's box. If the 021 and the 022 were truly developed alongside each other, the purposeful omission of 022 is also telling.
My copy of the set includes a 1966 catalog(as it references the 1966 "Extra Parts" program), but even if it was original to the set, for me it does not invalidate the test market theory.
For one, if it truly released for Christmas 1965 to a limited number of stores, but it was decided not to continue production, Samsonite could've simply used up what remained into 1966, hence my copy.
Or another idea is that Samsonite simply tested again for Christmas 1966. It'd make a lot of sense, as they went through all the trouble of designing, finalizing, and packaging the set. It wouldn't really make sense to give up after only one season. An established pattern is more telling than a fluke, and the girl's toy market was nothing to handwave away.
Of course it depends on where you look, but it's just the fact that the set is the only set ever absent from everything we've salvaged. The fact that the set has entirely unique design decisions/features. The fact that it is an incredibly rare set, possibly harder to get ahold of than Samsonite's short lived 1961 flat box variant of the 705 Basic Set. Also consider the 905's capsule variant and shift in marketing. Also worth considering the anecdotal memory that the set came from Fort Collins, a place very close to Loveland.
Other Possibilities
While that's all well and good, I want to make sure we've taken the right path and not just the most convenient one.
I don't think it could've been a promotional item, as it wouldn't exactly make sense to produce an item for promotion that has a proven reluctance for consumers. I also thought that it might be a companion intended for 905 Doll Sets left in stores going into 1966, as the Doll Furniture aspect would compliment that well. The major issue with that, however, is that I cannot see a reality in which toy stores would want an expensive $4.95 set to compete with the existing 905 Doll Sets that they already have, sets already on 50%+ discounts. Remember $4.95 is ~$50 in today's money.
Could it have been a retailer exclusive, without the whole test market theory? The possibility is always there, but there's things that make me weary. One, people have been looking for this set long before me. If it isn't in any major department store catalogs or never even advertised in newspapers(this is one of the only Samsonite set I couldn't find pictured/mentioned in a newspaper), where else would it be?
Two, a much stronger point, I think it would be difficult to convince a retailer to take on the set as an exclusive, as any toy store that carried LEGO at any point during 1963 to 1965(which would be most at that point) would've had experience with the 905 Doll Set and likely would not have been happy to take on an exclusive version of it. Remember at neither Sears or Spiegel did the exclusive 1905 Doll Set return for Christmas of 1964.
Could it have been a mail order set, similar to the 005? While both the 005 and 022 are absent from all mainstream LEGO print media in 1965, only the 005 left plenty of evidence of when it was available, how it was advertised, and how it could be obtained. The 022 is the odd one out.
Wrapping Up
For now, while I'm not very satisfied that I've gotten my answer, but I have exhausted every possible avenue in thinking about this set. I'm confident in concluding a 1965 release date, but I'm left wishing for some semblance, some shred of surviving acknowledgement that the 022 Doll Furniture set was even real.
Right now, if we didn't have the ones that survive, we wouldn't have known it existed at all.
