Different minifig hair from 1979?

[davee123]

So, in the new "LEGO Book", there's a picture on page 37 of a doctor minifig, supposedly from 1978*. Looking closely at his hair, it's different than the "standard" male hair piece! Quickly, I had to look this up to see whether the standard male hair had changed sometime after 1979 (when it was first available)! After looking around, there were a few instruction scans that show photographs of these hair pieces, the best one being this one from set 675 Snack Bar:

All the photos we could find from 1979 appear to have this type, including catalogs:

So... what gives? Did these images get taken of prototype parts that were never released? Did sets back then actually have slightly different hair pieces? If so, when did they change? And why am I just learning this now? And why won't the Eurobricks forum software recognize the image tags unless it has a .jpg/.gif/.png/etc extension?!

DaveE

* He's actually NOT from 1978. He's not from anywhere. According to BrickLink and Peeron, that torso didn't come out until 1980, and never was used with blue legs.

[avoidz]

Your image links don't work for me (keeps saying 'Cookies must be Enabled on those images), but I looked the Snack Bar 675-1 up on Peeron.

I think you are probably right about the prototype hair part, unless someone knows otherwise. I've had LEGO since the late 1970s and never seen that hairstyle piece.

Edited October 9, 2009 by avoidz

[CP5670]

I think there are actually two different hair pieces you are referring to. The one in the catalog looks like a more textured version of the usual male hair with square sideburns, while the snack bar one is like the pigtail hair piece without the pigtails.

[Rick]

The 'bigger' version only shows up in the early instruction manuals and box art after the introduction of the piece. I own various sets of that era and I only have the standard male minifig hair piece still in use today. So, I always assumed that this means that the final design wasn't completed yet when they were making the instruction manuals and box art. As suggested, Lego may have used the pigtail hairpiece as a basis for the early prototypes.

[Tom Bricks]

I know what your talking about actually. In the ultimate Lego book there is a pic of a fig with this hair, and it says the date and "first minifigs" or something. I would love to have some of these but I have never seen them in real life.

[holviala]

I have the remains of 675 and it has the standard 70's LEGO hairpiece. I've never even seen the one in the cover (and I've built LEGO since 1976 or so).

[samthelegoman1]

I looked the snack bar up on Bricklink, and it shows 2 pictures of the box withe the strange hairpiece, and 1 picture doesnt have it.

Also, the inventory lists it as having a normal male hairpiece

[davee123]

The picture from The Ultimate LEGO Book and The LEGO Book do appear to be the same. They're using the black hairpiece, so it's hard to tell, but as has been suggested, it DOES look faintly like it's the pigtail piece with the actual pigtails removed. The one in the Snack Bar makes this a bit more obvious with the small, light-colored blotch where the pigtail would normally protrude, plus the fact that it's in brown, so it's more visible.

So, yeah, I'm going to go with the guess that they used pigtail pieces with the tails cut off as the prototype male hair piece, and somehow they got into the actual pictures that were taken for certain sets, catalogs, etc. If it really had been a different element, chances are SOMEONE on BrickLink would've sold it by now.

DaveE

[Rick]

The picture from The Ultimate LEGO Book and The LEGO Book do appear to be the same. They're using the black hairpiece, so it's hard to tell, but as has been suggested, it DOES look faintly like it's the pigtail piece with the actual pigtails removed. The one in the Snack Bar makes this a bit more obvious with the small, light-colored blotch where the pigtail would normally protrude, plus the fact that it's in brown, so it's more visible.

This thread has really been an eye-opener on this issue. I should have seen that on my own... Indeed on the snack bar instructions/box art its quite clear that they've altered the pigtails hair piece. The lighter spot is clearly visible.

If it really had been a different element, chances are SOMEONE on BrickLink would've sold it by now.

I'm waiting for it to appreciate in value...