When you were a kid, chances are that you had one or two LEGO sets, if not ten or twenty of them! While the LEGO blocks themselves are probably still hanging around in your attic or basement somewhere, the old LEGO instructions themselves might be just a bit more tough to find. After folding and unfolding twenty or thirty times or more, old LEGO instructions probably eventually found their way to the trash can, recycle bin, or at the very least ripped to shreds.
So, if you’ve been considering pulling down those old LEGO sets for your kids, or even ordering some long-antiquated parts off of Ebay and want to rebuild the glory days spent with a pile of LEGO bricks in front of the fireplace, here are some places where you can find those old LEGO instructions, grouped by decades. Bear in mind, Lego instructions are considered copywrite material, and reproducing them for the purpose of selling them is illegal.
The LEGO instruction bible
Unfortunately, no such book exists, though there is little doubt that, should LEGO wish to produce such a volume, it would sell quite well. For original instructions, of course, there is always Ebay, but as these have become collectors items in their own right, there’s little chance that you’ll be able to accumulate all the LEGO instructions you had for vintage LEGO sets dating from about 1987 and earlier.
For LEGO sets packed after 2002, Lego.com’s customer service department offers PDF versions of instructions which can be accessed by set number, keyword, or brand. Here you can also find replacement parts for lost pieces, as well as the LEGO digital designer- an opportunity for you to create and order the necessary parts for your own LEGO designs.
The website D-N-D Bricks offers a wide range of downloadable, easy-to view original vintage LEGO instructions that more likely encompass the bricks you collected when you were a kid. Many of the LEGO sets here are the absolute earliest sets (though not the first LEGO sets sold! Check out this earlier article for more info on collecting early LEGO sets!) While some of the sets aren’t written in English, really, you just need the pictures anyway, right? This is a great site dedicated to LEGO bricks that you won’t be disappointed with, to be sure. Some sets, however, might be a bit tougher to find.
This is where the Brickfactory comes in. While not affiliated with LEGO, You can find instructions for the newest sets at brickfactory, including special technic sets such as the “Front end loader,” and even sets produced since 1958, all of which are reproducible using LEGO bricks available even today! The Brickfactory also has a great search system, which allows you to look for LEGO sets not only by date of manufacture, but also by theme, number, and name. So, chances are, if you can get at least close on one of these, you’ll be able to find the sets you’re looking for.
The third site to offer free LEGO instructions is a portal called Squidoo. This site allows you to find not only old LEGO instructions, but custom LEGO instructions, as well. While building the enormous LEGO gardens and LEGO creations you see at LEGO outlet stores are all a custom operation which requires much time and energy, Custom LEGO creations have long been documented by their creators so that others can emulate the designs.
