Tag Archives: winter

History

25 Days of Holiday “Trainvertising” #24: A Window of Wooden Toys

Leave a comment

Since we are one day away from the big day, I wanted to share a very special piece from 1984. This one is from another Christmas card that the UK LEGO Club sent its members. It really captures the spirit of this time of year and is a wonderful scene…There are so many details to soak in.

The main reason I chose this one for day 24 is that the toys in the window display celebrate the early history of LEGO. That’s right; a number of toys in the window display are representations of LEGO’s wooden toys! And yes, one of them is a train. Read on to find out more, and have fun comparing the illustrations of the wooden toys with their brick-built counterparts in the window display!

Wooden Sailing Ship – Image from Miniland.nl
A Red Cadillac-esque Convertible from the 1946 or 1947
Soldier Stacking Toy – From the collection of Richard Bintanja

Wooden Train with “Pop-Up” Figure – Image from Miniland.nl

Images come from my collection, the website miniland.nl and the collection of Richard Bintanja.

History

25 Days of Holiday “Trainvertising” #23: A Greeting Card within an Ad

Leave a comment

Here’s a unique piece of advertising from 1979. This Christmas card appeared in a 5 page LEGO advertistment, printed in the November 1979 issue of the UK magazine, Radio Times. I would have shown the ad in its entirety, but my scanner can’t accommodate it. It features LEGO Christmas cards sitting on a brick-built mantle. This card features 4.5V set 182, which was originally released in 1975. Look at all the cypress trees!

Here is a larger part of the page the image comes from, just for frame of reference.

History

25 Days of Holiday “Trainvertising” #22: Better late than never!

Leave a comment

Day 22 has come a day late, so you will receive two advertising gifts today. It is a good thing I’m not Santa!

This piece is the cover of the Holiday 2004 Shop-at-Home catalog. This cover features the LEGO Legends re-release of Main Street (set # 10041). The cover was nostalgic back then but evokes feelings of nostalgia today, too. It features the wonderful BNSF GP-38 (set # 10133) and the train engine shed (set # 10027).

Unfortunately, I do not have this one in my collection, so I had to cheat a bit. The image comes from BrickLink!

History

25 Days of Holiday “Trainvertising” #21: An action-packed Trainmas!

Leave a comment

Another holiday Shop-at-Home catalog without snow? You better believe it, and there is a lot to love here. Set 4552 (Cargo Crane) is in the middle of building a bridge, while the LEGOLAND California truck ignores the realities of gravity to jump across. It makes like Evil Knieval, hopping across set 3225 (Classic Train). I had every set featured on this cover, with the exception of the construction sets in the background.

Fun fact, the LEGOLAND truck’s trailer wasn’t an actual set, and the stickers for the trailer were available as Shop-at-Home exclusives and, as a result, are quite rare.

History

25 Days of Holiday “Trainvertising” # 20: Santa’s Duplo Train

Leave a comment

Day 20, and we are getting closer to the end! This one comes to us from Germany in 1990 and is just in time for Weinachten. Santa stands by as LEGO figures parade out of his sack of toys. The Duplo train is the focal point in this one, sitting directly in front of Santa’s boots.

History

25 Days of Holiday “Trainvertising” #17: A Super Chief under the tree

Leave a comment

Today’s piece of trainvertising comes to us from the cover of a 2002 Holiday Shop-at-Home catalog. There are several classics here, including the UCS Naboo Starfighter, Fort LEGOredo, and Red Baron triplane. We can’t forget the Santa Fe Super Chief either! This one is pulling some of the cars, which were designed by AFOL, James Mathis.

Models

“He’s a really useful engine, you snow!”: Thomas & Friends for the Holidays

Leave a comment

Flickr user Johnny N. has been kind enough to indulge our childhood fantasies by decorating classic “Thomas the Tank Engine” characters for Christmas! Disclaimer: These are renders, so there are certain parts portrayed in colors which they have never appeared. Now if only Santa would bring us green and yellow train wheels, we would be set…

Click here to view the entire assortment of Thomas characters.

Thomas
Percy
James
Stephen
Culdee