Samsonite was an American manufacturer of LEGO sets which introduced the very first USA LEGO catalog for Christmas of 1961. LEGO and Samsonite created a partnership to produce and sell LEGO in the US. The result was a 9-year license for exclusive North American distribution rights. Samsonite began marketing sets under the name LEGO by Samsonite in the US in 1961 and Canada in 1962.
1968 LEGO Sets
1968 was a landmark year with the opening of the first LEGOLAND park in Billund, Denmark, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors. LEGO also introduced the first 12V train motor, spoked wheels, and magnetic couplers, greatly improving the realism of its Train line. The company refined packaging with photo-based idea layouts and transitioned away from the small-scale Town Plan system. This year also marked the arrival of Jens Nygaard Knudsen, who would go on to design the LEGO minifigure and shape future core themes.