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+--- Thread: Automatic Binding Bricks / LEGO Mursten (/thread-24571.html)
Automatic Binding Bricks / LEGO Mursten - N. W. Perry - 2021-04-22
Automatic Binding Bricks
Sets 700/1, 700/2, 700/3 (1949) — the very first!
These models are arguably the first "official models" ever. While instructions weren't yet included in the original LEGO sets, these three houses appear in the catalog of 1950 as examples of what could be built with each of the three basic sets.
However…as far as I can tell, they actually couldn't be built from those sets, at least not according to the listed contents. Maybe some of them could, but at least with 700/1, the model uses more 2x4 bricks (115) than are included in the set (84), and there aren't enough 2x2's left over to substitute for them. And that's not even accounting for the available color selection and slot configurations…
This, of course, assumes that these are meant to be full, 4-sided models—and they really must be, or the roofs wouldn't stand. (I'm not even sure they would in the first place!) So I've guessed at what the two hidden sides might be, as well as the color scheme. These were two-tone colorized B&W photos anyway, and the color selection was not fixed in those days—you were limited to whatever colors you got in the box! So that's also conjectural.
But in any event, it's an interesting glimpse into what the building process would have been with these very oldest bricks, available in only two sizes and two slot configurations—and with no real clutch power at all, despite the name!
(See the original catalog images here.)
700/1 - Automatic Binding Bricks (1949) - N. W. Perry - 2021-04-22
700.1-1 - Automatic Binding Bricks.mpd (Size: 11.49 KB / Downloads: 2)
OMR compliant: Yes
Errors: None
Done with LDCad 1.6d
700/2 - Automatic Binding Bricks (1949) - N. W. Perry - 2021-04-22
700.2-1 - Automatic Binding Bricks.mpd (Size: 9.44 KB / Downloads: 2)
OMR compliant: Yes
Errors: None
Done with LDCad 1.6d
700/3 - Automatic Binding Bricks (1949) - N. W. Perry - 2021-04-22
700.3-1 - Automatic Binding Bricks.mpd (Size: 8.73 KB / Downloads: 2)
OMR compliant: Yes
Errors: None
Done with LDCad 1.6d
RE: Automatic Binding Bricks / LEGO Mursten - N. W. Perry - 2021-04-26
LEGO Mursten
Sets 700/1 thru 700/6 (1954) — first instructions!
These seven sets (with the inclusion of 700/3a) were the first to include any kind of building instructions for a specific model, again showing a house that could be made from the parts of each set. The instructions weren't a separate sheet, but were contained in the catalog of 1954 showing all seven sets. (Images of that catalog can be found at the same link as in the first post.) These instructions showed a ground plan view of the first layer or bricks, as well as views from four sides of the finished model.
As before, there's some doubt whether these models could actually be built, as pictured, from the parts in each set. Probably the overall parts count was sufficient, but it would depend on having the correct selection of each different brick size, color and slot configuration. There isn't a lot of information on the exact inventory of these early sets, so the part counts I'm using are still largely conjectural.
So these might be another candidate for the title of first "official models", as they represent the first buildable instructions that correspond to particular sets—even if you might have had to augment those sets with some "suppleringsæsker" or "løse murstener"!
700/1 - LEGO Mursten (1954) - N. W. Perry - 2021-04-26
700.1-2 - LEGO Mursten.mpd (Size: 9.25 KB / Downloads: 3)
OMR compliant: Yes
Errors: None
Done with LDCad 1.6d
700/2 - LEGO Mursten (1954) - N. W. Perry - 2021-04-26
700.2-2 - LEGO Mursten.mpd (Size: 8.68 KB / Downloads: 4)
OMR compliant: Yes
Errors: None
Done with LDCad 1.6d
700/3 - LEGO Mursten (1954) - N. W. Perry - 2021-04-26
700.3-2 - LEGO Mursten.mpd (Size: 8.05 KB / Downloads: 3)
OMR compliant: Yes
Errors: None
Done with LDCad 1.6d
700/3a - LEGO Mursten (1954) - N. W. Perry - 2021-04-28
700.3a - LEGO Mursten.mpd (Size: 5.36 KB / Downloads: 2)
OMR compliant: Yes (though MPDCenter does not seem to recognize "700.3a" as a valid set number)
Errors: None (the two 6x3 windows are transposed in the finished model catalog picture)
Done with LDCad 1.6d
700/4 - LEGO Mursten (1954) - N. W. Perry - 2021-04-30
700.4 - LEGO Mursten.mpd (Size: 5.19 KB / Downloads: 3)
OMR compliant: Yes
Errors: None
Done with LDCad 1.6d
700/5 - LEGO Mursten (1954) - N. W. Perry - 2021-05-01
700.5 - LEGO Mursten.mpd (Size: 3.67 KB / Downloads: 2)
OMR compliant: Yes
Errors: None
Done with LDCad 1.6d
700/6 - LEGO Mursten (1954) - N. W. Perry - 2021-05-01
700.6 - LEGO Mursten.mpd (Size: 3.3 KB / Downloads: 2)
OMR compliant: Yes
Errors: None, although that one exposed slot at the bottom just kills me!
Done with LDCad 1.6d