Matthew Hocker

  • Matthew Hocker wrote a new post 7 years ago

    Flickr user Tablizm brings us a super-detailed U.S. Army train. You may have seen this when it was blogged by the Brothers Brick, but I did not stumble upon it until today. I enjoyed looking at it so much that I […]

  • Matthew Hocker wrote a new post 7 years ago

    You may recall the post featuring Steven Spielberg (shared on December 4th). I later discovered that the UK Winter 2000 Shop-at-Home catalog had a similar holiday cover illustration…but with slightly different […]

  • Matthew Hocker wrote a new post 7 years ago

    This image comes to us courtesy of Emil from the UK. Back in the 1980s, the UK LEGO Club sent its members a Christmas card each year. This is one of them! It’s a pretty colorful and well-built scene, probably […]

  • Matthew Hocker wrote a new post 7 years ago

    Today’s piece of advertising comes from the front cover of a 1998 preschool Shop-at-Home catalog. It features a Duplo steam engine pulling a load of classic ’90s Duplo animals, including a bear, giraffe, […]

  • Matthew Hocker wrote a new post 7 years ago

    Yesterday, we shared the cover of a 1994 holiday catalog with you. This time we’re bringing you the cover of a 1994 U.S. Shop at Home catalog. Spyrius and Islanders are back, but the style of the artwork is […]

  • Matthew Hocker wrote a new post 7 years ago

    Freight Rail Runner (set 4564) was the new train set for 1994, and it makes an appears on the cover of this 1994 UK holiday catalog. The Islanders don’t seem to care about the cold, and it appears as though […]

  • Matthew Hocker wrote a new post 7 years ago

    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 […]

  • Matthew Hocker wrote a new post 7 years ago

    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 […]

  • Matthew Hocker wrote a new post 7 years ago

    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 […]

  • Matthew Hocker wrote a new post 7 years ago

    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 […]

  • Matthew Hocker wrote a new post 7 years ago

    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 […]

  • Matthew Hocker wrote a new post 7 years ago

    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, […]

  • Matthew Hocker wrote a new post 7 years ago

    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 […]

  • Matthew Hocker wrote a new post 7 years ago

    “Deck the Load and Hauls with Technic.  Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la.” Trains receive a lot of love around this time of year, especially on the cover of many a LEGO Shop-at-Home catalog over the years. Of all t […]

  • Hi Larry,

    You are correct!

  • Hi Scott,
    I didn’t even think about that and the oddball colors hadn’t even crossed my mind. That’s a pretty good guess but not the answer.

    I don’t think the parts are painted because LEGO did produce parts in […]

  • In the LEGO hobby, people are sometimes divided over the issue of modifying parts. Whether you do or don’t, as long as you are having fun that is what it is all about.

    However, for Halloween I decided to pick a […]

  • This week’s “blast from the past” comes to us from Germany in 1989. In this comic book/magazine advertisement, an SUV narrowly escapes what would have been a deadly collision with the High-Speed City Express […]

  • Background Information on the Article: The following article originally appeared in the March 1984 issue of LEGO Review, the English title of the LEGO Group’s house organ (employee magazine). The article, titled […]

  • Yes, it is the same one.

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