The beginning
There was never set up an own LEGO production in Sweden back in the 1950's. It was all imported from Norway and Denmark, starting in 1955 with the introduction of the "LEGO System". However some LEGO was made in Sweden, just not in the usual way, and with multiple manfuacturers being involved. The first starting in 1950...
Geas Konstharts in Gislaved
The contract between LEGO and Geas. (Credit: Gislaved Industrimuseum)
At the 29th of April 1950 a contract was signed between the Swedish plastic manufacturer "Geas" (owner was Gustaf Ambjørnsson) and LEGO in Denmark. Geas was going to loan the moulds for the "Automatic Binding Bricks" from LEGO to make their own bricks. An important word here is "loan", as this was not a license agreement, compared to Norway and Iceland. The bricks and sets technically not being LEGO are still very collectible today. After all they were made using the same moulds and were made in some interesting colours not seen elsewhere.
The contract agreed upon two loan periods, 1st of May to 1st of June, and 1st of July to the 1st of August. It is unknown if all the bricks were made in this short period, or if more loan periods were agreed upon later. The same mould was used by Norway in 1953, meaning it very well could have been used in Sweden up until then.
After the contract with LEGO went out, Geas was not finished with plastic building bricks. They set out to make and design their own based on the Automatic Binding Bricks. These bricks and sets were sold under the name "PRIMA". We will take a closer look at those below, under the "Sweden - Bricks" section. It is unknown how long PRIMA was in production, but they are fairly rare. So a few years like the Automatic Binding Bricks seems likely. It is believed that the moulds for the PRIMA bricks were bought and retooled by BYGGIS, but this will be a story for another time.
BRIO
BRIO on the left, LEGO on the right.
The BRIO and LEGO connection is something we know very little about, so if someone has something to add then please let us know.
Ivar Bengtsson founded the company in 1884 and the name BRIO was in use from 1908 when his sons took over. They made wooden toys since the 1800's! Beating LEGO by over 30 years. However, it was not until the 1940's that they started mass-producing toys for sale.
Sometime during the late 40's or early 50's LEGO and BRIO start making the same toys out of the blue. There are some minor differences, but they are clearly the same toys just with different logos. Was this a cooperation between LEGO and BRIO? During 1945-1952 there was an import stop on toys to Sweden. Could this have something to do with it?
On the picture you can see a ladybug and a steamroller, but there were many more, around 10 in total!
AB Lundby
"Lundby" named after an area in Gothenburg, Sweden, where the business was located, started making doll houses in the late 40's. It was started by Grethe Thomsen together with her husband Axel Thomsen. From 1953 it was run by a man named Bror Åsberg.
Their first cooperation with LEGO may have been a castle which they designed. LEGO sold that exact same castle, just painted a little differently. It is likely it was manfuactured by Lundby and sold as LEGO in Denmark. In the early 40's LEGO did make a doll house, but it does not seem like Lundby existed at that time, or else they likely would have had a hand in it.
Shipping label showing LEGO and Lundby.
In 1955 Lundby became the LEGO agency in Sweden for distributing sets mostly imported from Norway, as LEGO in Denmark had their hands quite full at the time. Their cooperation on the castle may have been the leading factor in them being chosen as the Swedish agency, since they then already had a hand on the inside.
Although there were no production of LEGO in Sweden, Lundby did help LEGO make one product. The 700/K wooden storage boxes. They are often even marked with "Made in Sweden".
LEGO must have been happy with the work Lundby put in for them, because in 1956 Axel Thomsen is hired as the general manager for LEGO in Germany! By 1960 Germany was LEGO's largest foreign market.
In 1959 LEGO establishes their own sales company in Sweden and the agreement with Lundby ends. Bror Åsberg who was the general manager of Lundby is hired to run the new sales company.
LEGO also has some information about the cooperation with Lundby on their website: www.lego.com
Elvin Plastic
Ammunition for the plastic LEGO gun.
Another Swedish company with a relation to LEGO. "Elvin Plastic" made the small plastic LEGO gun at the end of the 1950's or the early 1960's. The plastic guns are marked LEGO, but the "Made in Denmark" text on them was changed to "Made in Sweden". Moulds would not be changed/retooled if they were out on loan, so Elvin Plastic likely bought the mould from LEGO. LEGO at the time was focusing on their plastic bricks, and other plastic toys and wooden toys were not a priority.
Maybe Elvin Plastic bought more moulds from LEGO and made other toys? We do not know yet...
Here is a picture of the Elvin Plastic LEGO gun in original packaging: Elvin plastic gun
Sweden - Items
Here are some of the unique sets and items for the Swedish market. (Pictures will follow)
Sweden - Bricks
Here we will look at the various bricks and parts made in Sweden and how they can be differentiated from other LEGO bricks. (Pictures will follow)