How many of you remember looking through LEGO catalogs as a kid, checking off all the sets you wanted Santa to deliver. If so, the cover of this 1992 U.S. Holiday Shop at Home catalog is sure to rekindle many fond memories!
The boy is looking through an earlier Shop at Home catalog, which prominently features the Metroliner and Metro Station sets on the front cover. I’ve included the cover of that catalog for you to take a closer look.
Some fun artwork from the cover of the 2001 U.S. Holiday LEGO Shop at Home catalog. Palpatine guards a steam engine from the My Own Train theme, introduced in 2001. The tree is decorated with Bionicle masks, and the Sopwith Camel chases down candy cane thief, Jack Stone. There is also a healthy dose of pirates and dinosaurs.
Folowing our first “25 Days of Trainvertising” post, a BMR Facebook fan pointed out an error on the front cover. The cover featured the train from set 4563 (Load and Haul Railroad). Evidently, a 2×4 red brick was missing from the front of the locomotive.
This catalog comes to us from 1994, so LEGO had a fully year to fix the mistake. However, they must have used the same locomotive in this photograph because it is still missing the 2×4 brick! Perhaps Majisto made it disappear.
The image itself is really fun to look at, though. A snow-covered Metro Station (set 4554). Knights on skis. What’s not to love? Throwing the image on a Christmas ornament was also a really nice touch.
1993 was a good year for LEGO…I have fond memories of the Dragon Knight sets. Today’s image comes from the front cover of a 1993 UK Christmas catalog. This one gives Duplo trains some love. Meanwhile, Majisto the wizard has hijacked Santa’s job this year, complete with a sled pulled by three monstrous dragons. Who needs eight tiny reindeer anyway?
The second image is from a French advertising insert. It is a slight variation on the first, but is void of any trains. Still, I thought I’d include it for comparison.
Today’s catalog comes to you straight from 2000. The cover art of this U.S. holiday catalog prominently features the engine from “Freight and Crane Railway” (set 4565), originally released in 1996. This time, Santa takes charge of the controls and ditches Rudolph in favor of everyone’s favorite little astromech droid, R2-D2.
A lot of memorable characters are here, including Johnny Thunder (aka: Joe Freeman & Sam Grant). Emperor Palpatine uses force lightning to shake a package, while Darth Maul is left with nothing but coal to sort through. The Sith may be causing trouble, but Steven Spielberg is calling all the shots.
LEGO makes a Christmas card for its employees each year, and this was the example made to celebrate the company’s 50th anniversary in 1982. It is filled with vintage LEGO goodness, including loads of wooden toys, 1:43 scale Chevrolet trucks, early LEGO building toys and some 1980s LEGO sets under the Christmas tree.
If you look closely, the box of wooden toys contains a special steam engine. Those Chevrolet trucks would also look mighty nice on an O scale layout. LEGO produced wooden toys from 1932 through 1960, following a fire that destroyed the wooden toy warehouse. The plastic Chevrolet trucks were made between 1952 and 1957.
These images originally appeared in the 50 Years of Play book, a LEGO history book given to LEGO employees in 1982. The book is hard to find, but you can read the digital version online via Brickset.com.
Our second post comes straight to you from 2001. The winter was cold, and LEGO’s financial situation wasn’t so hot either. In a partnership that will probably never happen again, LEGO teamed up with Department 56 to release ceramic holiday miniatures. These depicted portions of Santa’s workshop involved in the manufacture of….LEGO toys!
I know, I know….You’re probably asking yourself, “where are all the trains?” While there aren’t any trains per se, the Department 56 buildings and figures often wind up in holiday train layouts. Therein lies the train connection….Hey, I have to fill 25 days, people!
On an unrelated note, I think we can all agree that is some nice brick-built scenery.
P.S.: I promise Monday’s image will contain actual LEGO trains. 🙂
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