Vintage set of the week: Ambulance
Posted by Huwbot,
This week's vintage set is 338 Ambulance, released during 1970. It's one of 12 LEGOLAND sets produced that year. It contains 74 pieces.
It's owned by 216 Brickset members. If you want to add it to your collection you might find it for sale at BrickLink or eBay.
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29 comments on this article
Well, this one feels more like an ambulance than the other ambulance that year. 600-1 That one looks like a station wagon.
So,how were those doors done? It looks like dual-molding, but Lego didn't have that back then. Were they just molded in trans-clear and then painted over?
@TheOtherMike said:
"Were they just molded in trans-clear and then painted over?"
Yes. And they had much better colour matching than today's printed parts (although they were quite prone to scratching / flaking)
@MCLegoboy said:
"Well, this one feels more like an ambulance than the other ambulance that year. 600-1 That one looks like a station wagon."
It's really strange they had two sets, similar in concept, nearly identical in color scheme, of the exact same name in the same year. Seems like a recipe for consumer confusion!
So did Lego ever get in trouble from using the Red Cross symbol in old sets?
@Norikins said:
"So did Lego ever get in trouble from using the Red Cross symbol in old sets?"
It's really interesting that you brought that up because I was considering bringing that up since I just learned about that today through Cinemare Sins. And no, that is not a typo, it's literally a parody where a guy literally goes painstakingly through episodes of My Little Pony and finds all the flaws. One of them was that the design team had to change designs for a hospital after the episode aired to comply with the Red Cross and the unauthorized use of their symbol.
@MCLegoboy said:
" @Norikins said:
"So did Lego ever get in trouble from using the Red Cross symbol in old sets?"
It's really interesting that you brought that up because I was considering bringing that up since I just learned about that today through Cinemare Sins. And no, that is not a typo, it's literally a parody where a guy literally goes painstakingly through episodes of My Little Pony and finds all the flaws. One of them was that the design team had to change designs for a hospital after the episode aired to comply with the Red Cross and the unauthorized use of their symbol."
If you think the red crosses on this set and 600 might be an issue, check out the photo AND NAME of 6523, 623, & 626-2.
Another pre-minifig car that looks huge compared to 4w Town or City cars but not so big compared to modern 6w City trucks and 8w Speed Champions, or the 8w Ghostbusters ambulances.
It's really amazing how designers use of parts to intricately sculpt life-like sets. ;) I think the designer on this one also doubled as a Lego accountant! A five-year old with an hour to spare could get this done.
Really loving the SNNOT technique on this one (Studs NOT Not on Top)
@MCLegoboy:
Contrary to what many think, Ecto-1 isn’t a hearse. It’s a “combination car”, which can serve as both a hearse and an ambulance. These used to be popular with rural funeral homes because they could do some side business as an ambulance service in markets where there weren’t any dedicated ambulances. By 1979, they were a thing of the past, though. Not only were the base cars used for these conversions growing smaller due to two separate oil shortages in 1973 and 1979, combined with federal regulations in 1979 that required increasing the amount of equipment an ambulance could carry, but combination cars no longer met the new federal regs in the US, and were replaced with basic panel vans, which have since been largely pushed aside by ones with an expanded cargo box.
@Norikins said:
"So did Lego ever get in trouble from using the Red Cross symbol in old sets?"
I remember hearing somewhere that the Red Cross clamped down on Lego's use of their symbol circa the late 1980's (?).
It's probably why we didn't get a tribute in 2018 to the first female minifig, credited as the nurse in 606-1 (1978).
@michaels_afol: "Late '80s?" So 6380 slipped in just under the wire, then.
That’s a lonely blue cylinder with closed stud up there.
I understand why LEGO opened up the studs in pieces like this to permit bar or axle connections but something about the closed studs like this speak to me.
While at first glance this doesn't look that spectacular, when it comes to its decoration it actually is. It's not just those partially painted doors, but also notice they made two separate sets, one with the cross on the white part, and one with the cross on the glass. And also the big cross on the side, not a STAMP as I would have expected, but actually 2 separate printed pieces with half a cross each! And printed all the way to the edge, without a gap! This would be unthinkable nowadays!
Also fun to see how they made that stretcher so that it wouldn't get stuck on the studs, without the use of tiles. And those tiny windows as headlights...
@MeisterDad said:
"That’s a lonely blue cylinder with closed stud up there.
I understand why LEGO opened up the studs in pieces like this to permit bar or axle connections but something about the closed studs like this speak to me."
Really? What does it say? ;-)
@Murdoch17 said:
"Really? What does it say? ;-)"
Dude!
"Really? What does it say?"
"LEGO" of course!
@MeisterDad said:
"That’s a lonely blue cylinder with closed stud up there.
I understand why LEGO opened up the studs in pieces like this to permit bar or axle connections but something about the closed studs like this speak to me."
I always understood that LEGO had to open up the stud due to some health & Safety thing regarding small children potentially choking on small cylinders and such cylinders had to become hollow both ends.
@LegoStevieG said:
" @MeisterDad said:
"That’s a lonely blue cylinder with closed stud up there.
I understand why LEGO opened up the studs in pieces like this to permit bar or axle connections but something about the closed studs like this speak to me."
I always understood that LEGO had to open up the stud due to some health & Safety thing regarding small children potentially choking on small cylinders and such cylinders had to become hollow both ends."
Mega Construx out here choking kids in current year 2022.
@LegoStevieG said:
"I always understood that LEGO had to open up the stud due to some health & Safety thing regarding small children potentially choking on small cylinders and such cylinders had to become hollow both ends."
Yes, anything small and round considered a bit too close to being a sweet.
Quite appropriate that it's on the top of an ambulance... Something for the child to build on the way to hospital, and complete once the missing part has been recovered!
@Murdoch17 said:
" @MCLegoboy said:
"Well, this one feels more like an ambulance than the other ambulance that year. 600-1 That one looks like a station wagon."
It's really strange they had two sets, similar in concept, nearly identical in color scheme, of the exact same name in the same year. Seems like a recipe for consumer confusion!"
Even more confusing when 373-2 was released the following year, along with a few others, with updated grills.
" @sjr60 said:
Even more confusing when 373-2 was released the following year, along with a few others, with updated grills."
373-2 was the set I had as a child in the 70's. My dad drove ambulances at the time so this probably swayed their decision when buying it for me!
That stretcher in the back of 338 is a really nice design, even if there were no figures to occupy it! I was also surprised at the use of six 1x2 plates rather than two 1x6 plates, but apparently the latter weren't introduced until 1977!
@michaels_afol said:
" @Norikins said:
"So did Lego ever get in trouble from using the Red Cross symbol in old sets?"
I remember hearing somewhere that the Red Cross clamped down on Lego's use of their symbol circa the late 1980's (?).
It's probably why we didn't get a tribute in 2018 to the first female minifig, credited as the nurse in 606
It's funny then that the employee Christmas gift for 2018 actually has a nurse with a red cross on her torso.
https://brickset.com/sets/4002018-1/Employee-Christmas-Gift
https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=973p25newc01&idColor=1 T=I&C=1"
Edit: and two more vintage minifig packs from 2010 and 2012.
@TheOtherMike said:
" @michaels_afol: "Late '80s?" So 6380 slipped in just under the wire, then."
Can't forget 6356 in 1988...
@Murdoch17:
“Mmm, mmbl mmmb, mm mmmbl mmb mmb!”
It’s hard to understand anyone who’s speaking with their mouth closed.
@LegoStevieG:
I’d heard that about the Y-stud minifig heads, but now they’re just as chokerific as the old solid stud versions, with recessed studs. I assume they never gave them fully hollow studs because kids would be legally obligated to mount those on spears if they did.
I actualy have this set from my early years.
This and 373-2 (with the simpler front grill to save 10 pieces) are the only sets which have these red cross doors, which tried to be extra authentic by having the red cross appear on the white door for the sides, but on the windows for the back, rather than just one design.