Answers.Body: <p>The earliest LEGO sets did not have any kind of instruction manuals, since they were sold as sets of building blocks, without any specific models in mind.</p>
  <p>Exmaple: <a href="https://brickset.com/sets/700-12/Automatic-Binding-Bricks" rel="noreferrer">Set #7002, Automatic Binding Bricks from 1949</a></p>
  <p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/0YukK.jpg" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/0YukK.jpg" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
  <p>In 1955, the first sets have arrived that were intended to be built as some specific model, like <a href="https://brickset.com/sets/1237-2/Service-Station" rel="noreferrer">1237-2: Service Station</a></p>
  <p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/GvNFE.jpg" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/GvNFE.jpg" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
  <p>I can't find any instructions for this one, but two years later the <a href="https://brickset.com/sets/1306" rel="noreferrer">1306: VW Garage</a> had four steps on the inside of the box to aid in building:</p>
  <p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/g6fha.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/g6fha.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
  <p>A newer example from 1965 is the <a href="https://brickset.com/sets/320-2/Airplane" rel="noreferrer">320: Airplane</a> set, which had <a href="http://peeron.com/scans/320-2/" rel="noreferrer">a four pages long instruction manual</a> of which two pages were inspirational images of alternative builds:</p>
  <p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/ubVi0.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/ubVi0.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a>
  <a href="https://i.sstatic.net/lpee3.jpg" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/lpee3.jpg" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
  <p>Jumping another ten years ahead to 1975, we see that <a href="http://peeron.com/scans/253-2/" rel="noreferrer">the instruction manual</a> for <a href="https://brickset.com/sets/253-2/Helicopter-and-Pilot" rel="noreferrer">253-2: Helicopter and Pilot</a> has a whopping 3 pages dedicated to the main build:</p>
  <p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/B0y0x.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/B0y0x.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a>
  <a href="https://i.sstatic.net/cqPDU.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/cqPDU.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a>
  <a href="https://i.sstatic.net/zeYdA.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/zeYdA.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
  <p>Further 10 years into the future, a representative set would be <a href="https://brickset.com/sets/107-2/Mail-Truck" rel="noreferrer">107-2: Mail Truck</a>, whose <a href="http://peeron.com/scans/107-2/" rel="noreferrer">assembly instructions</a> do not differ significantly, just get a bit more detailed:</p>
  <p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/dyUAJ.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/dyUAJ.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
  <p>By 1990 we get to the most complex style yet, with stepwise part lists and insets in insets for the Technic and the similarly complex Model Team lines, like for example <a href="http://peeron.com/scans/5590-1" rel="noreferrer">the instructions</a> for <a href="https://brickset.com/sets/5590-1/Whirl-and-Wheel-Super-Truck" rel="noreferrer">5590: Whirl and Wheel Super Truck</a>:</p>
  <p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/4rZdw.jpg" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/4rZdw.jpg" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
  <p>From there the style is basically unchanged, and the trend is to use fewer pieces per step, sometimes &quot;sacrificing&quot; a whole step just to show the model being flipped or rotated.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2020-09-23T09:52:28.053Z
Answers.Text: Though, even in the 90s they really didn't do stepwise part lists generally, only for Technic and, judging from your example, Model Team. But even the biggest normal System sets didn't have these throughout pretty much the entire decade. Still nice and exhaustive answer.
Answers.UserDisplayName: Rauy
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2020-09-23T10:36:19.580Z
Answers.Text: @ChristianRau Thanks, updated the answer with your point.
Answers.UserDisplayName: zovits
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2020-09-23T10:46:47.153Z
Answers.Text: Interesting tidbit is that until the late 90s these instructions were entirely hand-drawn.
Answers.UserDisplayName: Phil B.
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2020-09-23T11:02:41.337Z
Answers.Text: @PhilB. That sounds incredible! To think that all steps for all instructions, including the most complex Technic sets of LEGO history (8880,8480, 8448) would be hand-drawn... Where can one learn more about this?
Answers.UserDisplayName: zovits
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2020-09-23T11:10:09.120Z
Answers.Text: @zovits As mentioned under the question, there will be a free online presenation by LEGO on building instructions tomorrow that might be worth checking out. Maybe it will go into the history a bit more.
Answers.UserDisplayName: Rauy
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2020-09-23T11:59:14.020Z
Answers.Text: @zovits of course, up to the 70s-80s all instructions for making *real* engineering would also be hand-drawn. People went to the moon in rockets hand-built from hand-drawn plans. The profession of "Technical Draughtsman" may be a good place to learn from?
Answers.UserDisplayName: pjc50
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2020-09-23T12:23:35.700Z
Answers.Text: @pjc50 That's all right, I just thought the LEGO employees might have used an ever-expanding library of different parts depicted from different angles and used those graphical components to build the images seen in a step. I presumed they then copied the whole and added the changes needed for the next step by adding more pre-drawn pieces and deleting occluded parts. Or I'd have expected they used plotters, or similar electro-mechanical tools instead of drawing every stud, gear tooth and axle hole by hand.
Answers.UserDisplayName: zovits
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2020-09-23T20:05:06.810Z
Answers.Text: @zovits, it's likely that they would have had stencils for the more complicated parts like tires, but there wouldn't have been complete pre-drawn pieces.
Answers.UserDisplayName: Mark
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2020-09-23T09:48:30.203Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2020-09-23T10:35:38.927Z
Answers.LastEditDate: 2020-09-23T10:35:38.927Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: zovits
Answers.Body: <p>Based on my experience throughout pretty much the entirety of the <strong>90s, they didn't really look all that different back then regarding the style</strong>, what you would call the &quot;Auto CAD&quot; look I guess.</p>
  <p>The primary differences are that they <strong>didn't list all the required parts for each build step</strong> (although Technic already did that back then, presumably because Technic was generally more complex than System), <strong>nor did they highlight where the new parts were to be placed</strong>. You basically had to visually compare the images of the previous step (or your actual build) and the new step and figure out which parts from the big pile (there weren't build step sorted bags either) you had to place where. Together with sets being smaller and (maybe, but that's hard to say) using more pieces per build step this generally made instructions <em>a lot</em> thinner than they are today. A 600 parts castle that would be regarded the peak of size and complexity (at least in System) in the early 90s basically had a 30 page instruction.</p>
  <p>This might have made the instructions more difficult than they are today, but in general the sets also had fewer pieces and less complex building techniques. They were still sufficiently easy to follow, but today's instructions really are entirely foolproof (though, I don't have any experience with modern Technic sets).</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2020-09-23T09:37:34.337Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2020-09-23T09:42:39.027Z
Answers.LastEditDate: 2020-09-23T09:42:39.027Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Rauy
Answers.Body: <p>The scans of vintage manuals you will find online do not do justice to the quality of the original printed copy.</p>
  <p>The fans that have made these scans have done a great job but if you have not held one in real life it's impossible to adequately describe the difference.</p>
  <p>The <a href="https://www.lego.com/biassets/bi/4101176.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">8480-1 - Space Shuttle</a> from 1996 is a Technic model is one of my favorite sets of build instructions for a &quot;vintage&quot; set.</p>
  <p>It seems that there are several styles that The LEGO group uses depending on the intended audience for the instructions and what impressions they want the builder to have.</p>
  <p>I believe that LEGO designs all aspects of their sets to provide an enjoyable experience for decades.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2020-09-22T23:42:51.207Z
Answers.Text: Dang, they looked like that for a while.
Answers.UserDisplayName: JohnnyApplesauce
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2020-09-25T16:06:30.880Z
Answers.Text: 1996 "vintage". Ouch, my aching bones.
Answers.UserDisplayName: SQB
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2020-09-22T22:05:55.900Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2020-09-27T18:46:47.890Z
Answers.LastEditDate: 2020-09-27T18:46:47.890Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Dan1138
Body: <p><a href="https://bricks.stackexchange.com/questions/239/how-are-the-lego-instruction-manuals-made">Earliest date mentioned in this link is September 2008</a>. Now knowing the age of Lego makes me want to know: what did Lego set instruction manuals used to look like? Because I am a millennial, that &quot;Auto CAD&quot; look is the look that I've always known to be the &quot;Lego manual&quot; look. When was this style first used? What did previous styles look like? How many previous incarnations of the Lego manual style have there been?</p>
  
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2020-09-23T11:08:10.817Z
Comments.Text: Interesting timing actually. On thursday the 24th there is a [LEGO House Fan Day event](https://legohouse.com/en-gb/what-s-on/lego-house-fan-day/), which due to Corona is basically a set of virtual presentations by LEGO staff about various topics (and although you need to register beforehand, it's entirely for free). One of the presentations is about the building instructions. I don't know how much that will go into historical details, but it might be worth checking out if you're interested in the topic and have the time.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Rauy
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2020-09-23T13:00:10.907Z
Comments.Text: Related [How were these building instructions from the 1970s produced?](https://bricks.stackexchange.com/q/14860/10569) shows the hand-drawn precursor to today's CAD
Comments.UserDisplayName: Chris H
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2022-07-25T09:57:37.063Z
Comments.Text: While it's only a minor point, I'm a bit surprised (if not disappointed) that none of the answers so far mentions one aspect that carries a strong nostalgia feeling for me: In the early 1990s, trans-red looked somewhat like pink in the instructions (which was not an issue back then, with much less colours around).
Comments.UserDisplayName: O. R. Mapper
Tags: <instructions><history>
Title: What did Lego set instruction manuals look like in the past?
UserDisplayName: JohnnyApplesauce
ThreadText: # What did Lego set instruction manuals look like in the past?
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2020-09-22)
  
  [Earliest date mentioned in this link is September 2008](https://bricks.stackexchange.com/questions/239/how-are-the-lego-instruction-manuals-made). Now knowing the age of Lego makes me want to know: what did Lego set instruction manuals used to look like? Because I am a millennial, that "Auto CAD" look is the look that I've always known to be the "Lego manual" look. When was this style first used? What did previous styles look like? How many previous incarnations of the Lego manual style have there been?
  
  **Tags:** instructions, history
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_1**: Interesting timing actually. On thursday the 24th there is a [LEGO House Fan Day event](https://legohouse.com/en-gb/what-s-on/lego-house-fan-day/), which due to Corona is basically a set of virtual presentations by LEGO staff about various topics (and although you need to register beforehand, it's entirely for free). One of the presentations is about the building instructions. I don't know how much that will go into historical details, but it might be worth checking out if you're interested in the topic and have the time.  
  > **username_2**: Related [How were these building instructions from the 1970s produced?](https://bricks.stackexchange.com/q/14860/10569) shows the hand-drawn precursor to today's CAD  
  > **username_3**: While it's only a minor point, I'm a bit surprised (if not disappointed) that none of the answers so far mentions one aspect that carries a strong nostalgia feeling for me: In the early 1990s, trans-red looked somewhat like pink in the instructions (which was not an issue back then, with much less colours around).  
  
  ---
  
  ## 3 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_4 on 2020-09-23. Score: 40
  
  The earliest LEGO sets did not have any kind of instruction manuals, since they were sold as sets of building blocks, without any specific models in mind.
  
  Exmaple: [Set #7002, Automatic Binding Bricks from 1949](https://brickset.com/sets/700-12/Automatic-Binding-Bricks)
  
  [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/0YukK.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/0YukK.jpg)
  
  In 1955, the first sets have arrived that were intended to be built as some specific model, like [1237-2: Service Station](https://brickset.com/sets/1237-2/Service-Station)
  
  [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/GvNFE.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/GvNFE.jpg)
  
  I can't find any instructions for this one, but two years later the [1306: VW Garage](https://brickset.com/sets/1306) had four steps on the inside of the box to aid in building:
  
  [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/g6fha.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/g6fha.png)
  
  A newer example from 1965 is the [320: Airplane](https://brickset.com/sets/320-2/Airplane) set, which had [a four pages long instruction manual](http://peeron.com/scans/320-2/) of which two pages were inspirational images of alternative builds:
  
  [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/ubVi0.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/ubVi0.png)
  [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/lpee3.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/lpee3.jpg)
  
  Jumping another ten years ahead to 1975, we see that [the instruction manual](http://peeron.com/scans/253-2/) for [253-2: Helicopter and Pilot](https://brickset.com/sets/253-2/Helicopter-and-Pilot) has a whopping 3 pages dedicated to the main build:
  
  [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/B0y0x.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/B0y0x.png)
  [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/cqPDU.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/cqPDU.png)
  [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/zeYdA.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/zeYdA.png)
  
  Further 10 years into the future, a representative set would be [107-2: Mail Truck](https://brickset.com/sets/107-2/Mail-Truck), whose [assembly instructions](http://peeron.com/scans/107-2/) do not differ significantly, just get a bit more detailed:
  
  [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/dyUAJ.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/dyUAJ.png)
  
  By 1990 we get to the most complex style yet, with stepwise part lists and insets in insets for the Technic and the similarly complex Model Team lines, like for example [the instructions](http://peeron.com/scans/5590-1) for [5590: Whirl and Wheel Super Truck](https://brickset.com/sets/5590-1/Whirl-and-Wheel-Super-Truck):
  
  [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/4rZdw.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/4rZdw.jpg)
  
  From there the style is basically unchanged, and the trend is to use fewer pieces per step, sometimes "sacrificing" a whole step just to show the model being flipped or rotated.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_1**: Though, even in the 90s they really didn't do stepwise part lists generally, only for Technic and, judging from your example, Model Team. But even the biggest normal System sets didn't have these throughout pretty much the entire decade. Still nice and exhaustive answer.  
  > **username_4**: @ChristianRau Thanks, updated the answer with your point.  
  > **username_5**: Interesting tidbit is that until the late 90s these instructions were entirely hand-drawn.  
  > **username_4**: @PhilB. That sounds incredible! To think that all steps for all instructions, including the most complex Technic sets of LEGO history (8880,8480, 8448) would be hand-drawn... Where can one learn more about this?  
  > **username_1**: @zovits As mentioned under the question, there will be a free online presenation by LEGO on building instructions tomorrow that might be worth checking out. Maybe it will go into the history a bit more.  
  > **username_6**: @zovits of course, up to the 70s-80s all instructions for making *real* engineering would also be hand-drawn. People went to the moon in rockets hand-built from hand-drawn plans. The profession of "Technical Draughtsman" may be a good place to learn from?  
  > **username_4**: @pjc50 That's all right, I just thought the LEGO employees might have used an ever-expanding library of different parts depicted from different angles and used those graphical components to build the images seen in a step. I presumed they then copied the whole and added the changes needed for the next step by adding more pre-drawn pieces and deleting occluded parts. Or I'd have expected they used plotters, or similar electro-mechanical tools instead of drawing every stud, gear tooth and axle hole by hand.  
  > **username_7**: @zovits, it's likely that they would have had stencils for the more complicated parts like tires, but there wouldn't have been complete pre-drawn pieces.  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_1 on 2020-09-23. Score: 8
  
  Based on my experience throughout pretty much the entirety of the **90s, they didn't really look all that different back then regarding the style**, what you would call the "Auto CAD" look I guess.
  
  The primary differences are that they **didn't list all the required parts for each build step** (although Technic already did that back then, presumably because Technic was generally more complex than System), **nor did they highlight where the new parts were to be placed**. You basically had to visually compare the images of the previous step (or your actual build) and the new step and figure out which parts from the big pile (there weren't build step sorted bags either) you had to place where. Together with sets being smaller and (maybe, but that's hard to say) using more pieces per build step this generally made instructions *a lot* thinner than they are today. A 600 parts castle that would be regarded the peak of size and complexity (at least in System) in the early 90s basically had a 30 page instruction.
  
  This might have made the instructions more difficult than they are today, but in general the sets also had fewer pieces and less complex building techniques. They were still sufficiently easy to follow, but today's instructions really are entirely foolproof (though, I don't have any experience with modern Technic sets).
  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_8 on 2020-09-22. Score: 7
  
  The scans of vintage manuals you will find online do not do justice to the quality of the original printed copy.
  
  The fans that have made these scans have done a great job but if you have not held one in real life it's impossible to adequately describe the difference.
  
  The [8480-1 - Space Shuttle](https://www.lego.com/biassets/bi/4101176.pdf) from 1996 is a Technic model is one of my favorite sets of build instructions for a "vintage" set.
  
  It seems that there are several styles that The LEGO group uses depending on the intended audience for the instructions and what impressions they want the builder to have.
  
  I believe that LEGO designs all aspects of their sets to provide an enjoyable experience for decades.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_0**: Dang, they looked like that for a while.  
  > **username_9**: 1996 "vintage". Ouch, my aching bones.  
  
  ---
  
  