Although the plastic building brick that made Lego one of the most successful toy companies of all time originated over 65 years ago, it would be a few years before Lego started churning out the building sets that inspired the models that many of us grew up with. But even back in 1972 you could see the humble beginnings of some of Lego’s most iconic sets and toy lines in this retro catalog.
This digitized version of the 1972 Lego product catalog comes courtesy of Samuel Liltorp Johnson, the design manager of the fan-submitted Lego Ideas product line, who shared the images through its Twitter account. It’s a look back at Lego before the arrival of its popular space ships and pirate ships, and long before licensed properties like Star Wars saw ships like the Millennium Falcon recreated with plastic bricks. Believe it or not, this 1972 catalog is officially 50 years old now, and despite the comparatively simple models it contains, it still makes us want to dig out our Lego bins.
