WIP In depth Lego Dacta retrospective video series

[BatteryPoweredBricks]

I've been slowly working towards this for about 5 years but finally have the space and most of the equipment to make it happen.  I want to make in depth videos about early Lego Dacta / Educational sets, starting with the 9701 Lego Dacta Control Lab Building Set.  I was Home schooled as a kid and we often received educational catalogs in the mail.  I've searched high and low for physical copies or scans of these catalogs and found nothing.  If I remember correctly it was Pitsco catalogs I spent the most time drooling over.  The sets I had as a kid were the 1030 and 1032 Technic sets that taught about simple machines but my experience with Lego Dacta ends there.  I've already acquired everything I need for the Control Lab video as far as Lego pieces, curriculum, instructions and software.  What I'm asking for here is any and all links to information on Lego Dacta from say, 1985 to 2000 or so.  Any videos, forum posts, first hand stories etc. would be helpful.  I can't even find the actual MSRP of these sets, there is a lot of conflicting information.  I am intensely interested in finding the old Pitsco catalogs I was so obsessed with almost 30 years ago if anyone has any information.

I've already started down the Seymour Papert rabbit hole and obtained two of his books (Mindstorms Second Edition 1993 and The Children's Machine also 1993).  It's been very interesting to see his work in Lego Education as well as the LOGO programming language.  I'd be very interested in other pioneers in this vein.  Any information will be greatly appreciated.  It's difficult to find good information on these topics which is why I'm devoting my time and resources to the project.  I do not expect my videos to gain much traction in the YouTube algorithm, these videos are for people like me, I'm fine with that :)

I was able to source enough parts to build the first 3 models from the "Technology Investigations and Inventions" curriculum

 

Test video using OBS to capture video from my windows 98 computer and webcam.  I'm trying to figure out the best way to show the model as well as the programming screen.  I've pretty much accepted they will be borderline unwatchable on mobile devices

 

The two Lego Dacta sets I was lucky enough to has as a kid

A video I found on Vimeo about Seymour Papert, really cool stuff!

"Here is a promotional video produced by the Father of Educational Computing and the Maker Movement, Dr. Seymour Papert, for the LEGO company circa 1987.

It introduces learning through robotics construction and Logo programming in an inner-city Boston public school, The Hennigan School."

 

Edited April 8, 2022 by BatteryPoweredBricks

[1963maniac]

I have some Lego Educatrion catalogs, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2015, 2016, 2017.Also, I have Robotics booklets from 2006, 2007, 2008,2008, and STEM with Robotics 2010. I'll keep looking, I have a whole metal file drawer of Lego catalogs and magazines. Let me know if you want anything from these.

I just found Lego Dacta catalogs, etc. from 1991 through 1995.

Edited April 8, 2022 by 1963maniac

[1963maniac]

Maybe, you've found these already: 

1. Lego Dacta Control Lab 1.0 for Windows 95 : LEGO Group : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

2. LEGO Dacta Archives - The Brothers Brick | The Brothers Brick (brothers-brick.com)

   A. A History of LEGO Education, Part 1: Strong Foundations [Feature] - The Brothers Brick | The Brothers Brick (brothers-brick.com)

   B. A History of LEGO Education, Part 2: Path to Mindstorms [Feature] - The Brothers Brick | The Brothers Brick (brothers-brick.com)

I own set 9688.

Edited April 8, 2022 by 1963maniac

[JopieK]

Very interesting. Also the link with Seymour Papert of course. Marvelous man that founded the MIT Media Lab amongst others.

[CP5670]

I have that 1032 set. The Dacta sets are interesting and often came with unique parts that we never got in any other set. They actually had an entire Mindstorms-like system with sensors and other components, decades before Mindstorms came out.

[BatteryPoweredBricks]

6 hours ago, 1963maniac said:

I have some Lego Educatrion catalogs, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2015, 2016, 2017.Also, I have Robotics booklets from 2006, 2007, 2008,2008, and STEM with Robotics 2010. I'll keep looking, I have a whole metal file drawer of Lego catalogs and magazines. Let me know if you want anything from these.

I just found Lego Dacta catalogs, etc. from 1991 through 1995.

I have so many questions , I'll send a DM if that's alright

5 hours ago, 1963maniac said:

Maybe, you've found these already: 

1. Lego Dacta Control Lab 1.0 for Windows 95 : LEGO Group : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

2. LEGO Dacta Archives - The Brothers Brick | The Brothers Brick (brothers-brick.com)

   A. A History of LEGO Education, Part 1: Strong Foundations [Feature] - The Brothers Brick | The Brothers Brick (brothers-brick.com)

   B. A History of LEGO Education, Part 2: Path to Mindstorms [Feature] - The Brothers Brick | The Brothers Brick (brothers-brick.com)

I own set 9688.

The first link is the software I'm using in the video, so glad someone saved it after all these years!  The Brothers Brick article was in my bookmarks but I had only glanced at it before having to reboot my PC and forgot about them
, thanks for the reminder!

2 hours ago, CP5670 said:

I have that 1032 set. The Dacta sets are interesting and often came with unique parts that we never got in any other set. They actually had an entire Mindstorms-like system with sensors and other components, decades before Mindstorms came out.

The 1032 was always my favorite of the two, I mean it had a motor!  My dad even used a toggle switch and an AC adapter to save batteries .  The earliest programmable system Lego had that I'm aware of is the Interface A, It's the system they were using in the Seyour Papert video in my first post.  I have an Interface A and several motors / sensors but do not have the ISA card, cables or software to run at this time.  Maybe one day!

[BatteryPoweredBricks]

Massive thanks to 1963maniac for these scans!  These are the catalogs I spent so much time as a kid looking at.  I can only imagine what I would have built if my parents had an extra thousand dollars laying around (just look at the prices for this stuff!).

So happy to have scans of the Lego Dacta Control Lab 1 and 2 sets.  I'm still very interested in finding similar pages for the Intelligent House set which came out in 96.  That set was very special to me too.  I remember telling anyone who would listen about it when I was a kid

I may try to reach out to Pitsco or Lego Educational directly to see if they have any scans or old catalogs still around.  It's a long shot but it never hurts to ask!

 

See the full album (13 pages) in the link below

https://www.flickr.com/photos/158645564@N07/albums/72177720298019356/with/51995598662/

[StormChaser]

@1963maniac Could you message me, please?  I'd like to talk with you about Dacta catalogs.  I tried messaging you, but Eurobricks apparently doesn't let new accounts send messages.

Thank you.

[1963maniac]

11 hours ago, StormChaser said:

@1963maniac Could you message me, please?  I'd like to talk with you about Dacta catalogs.  I tried messaging you, but Eurobricks apparently doesn't let new accounts send messages.

Thank you.

What is this about? What are you looking for? Can you talk here?

[StormChaser]

@1963maniac I just now read the forum rules and apparently I cannot.  I'm a former catalog and inventory administrator on BrickLink.  If you use BrickLink, please get in touch with me over there.  My username is the same there.  Thank you.

[BatteryPoweredBricks]

Well 3 years later I think it's time for an update 😅.  While I have been acquiring as many Lego DACTA sets / accessories as possible I'm only just now starting to really work on dedicated videos.  I think this is a good thing, I've definitely learned a lot having uploaded a few hundred videos at this point.  Lego DACTA is one of those things many people probably wouldn't be interested in or at least wouldn't think they would be.  My goal isn't just archival it's also to bring attention to Lego's educational efforts.  I think it's a really great accomplishment and the thing that means the most to me when it comes to Lego.

As of now I am going through all of the sets I've acquired and making sure they are complete.  That's the easy part.  The hard part is all of the software, instructions and curriculum.   I'm working on a spreadsheet to try to inventory what I have and what I still need to find.  A good example of this is the original software for the 9707 Intelligent House set.  While the Control Lab software has been archived and could be used to control the "smart" functions of the house, it would be great to find the dedicated software.  If you have any software or curriculum you are able to archive it would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks to @evank we have a fair bit already archived at the link below.

https://archive.org/details/vintagelegorobotics

In addition to archival materials, I am also interested in stories from teachers or students that have experience with Lego DACTA in the classroom.  Feel free to respond in this thread, a DM or any other social media I am on.

Below is the first video in the series, serving as an introduction to what Lego DACTA is.  Looking at a few sets, their packaging and flipping through a Pitsco / DACTA catalog from 1999.  It's unscripted and a bit unorganized but it's better than nothing.  I've tried to make scripted videos on the subject and they tend to be incredibly boring.  That was several years ago but keeping things simple means I will have less obstacles to actually making progress.

 

I'll also link a playlist below with any haul videos that featured Lego DACTA sets or materials.  There's still a lot to find but I am thrilled to have found all that I have.  I am always excited to find hand written or printed notes from teachers 😀

 

 

[Toastie]

17 hours ago, BatteryPoweredBricks said:

Looking at a few sets, their packaging and flipping through a Pitsco / DACTA catalog from 1999

This of course all begins even earlier as 1986 - I have a DACTA printed catalog from Germany (1986) I shared with @evank - this is about sets culminating around the LEGO interface A, debuting a year later (1987) in Germany. Are you going to cover that as well (or have you already)?

All the best - I am very much looking forward to what comes up here!!!

Thorsten 

[BatteryPoweredBricks]

32 minutes ago, Toastie said:

This of course all begins even earlier as 1986 - I have a DACTA printed catalog from Germany (1986) I shared with @evank - this is about sets culminating around the LEGO interface A, debuting a year later (1987) in Germany. Are you going to cover that as well (or have you already)?

My experience, nostalgia and interest mostly center around the 90's era DACTA sets.  I have a few interface A's but don't really have a period appropriate computer.  At this point I'm leaving it to folks like yourself, Evan and a few others to keep that era of Lego computing alive 😁.  I've really enjoyed @evank's video on the 80's / 4.5 era stuff.  The 90's / 9v era has a lot to cover and will keep me busy for quite a while, I'd feel like a hypocrite trying to cover the older stuff 😅.  I am interested in looking at the catalog assuming there are pictures, I obviously don't speak German 

[RenLUG - Central Florida]

 My high school was throwing out an old contol lab set my senior year. A buddy of mine has it, I may see if I can get it from him. Worth a shot? 

 

[BatteryPoweredBricks]

15 hours ago, RenLUG - Central Florida said:

 My high school was throwing out an old contol lab set my senior year. A buddy of mine has it, I may see if I can get it from him. Worth a shot? 

 

DACTA is always worth a shot 😁.  The Control Lab set is probably my favorite all time Lego set.  If the wires have the rubber insulation they've probably degraded, just make sure not to throw them away if so.  I typically cut the wires off and keep the connectors / sensors as they are relatively easy to repair (The wires more so than the sensors).  

[evank]

18 hours ago, BatteryPoweredBricks said:

At this point I'm leaving it to folks like yourself, Evan and a few others to keep that era of Lego computing alive 😁.  I've really enjoyed @evank's video on the 80's / 4.5 era stuff.  The 90's / 9v era has a lot to cover and will keep me busy for quite a while, I'd feel like a hypocrite trying to cover the older stuff 😅.

Divide and conquer! :)

I'm still rushing to get Blocky Kong finished soon, which will require six or seven Interface A devices on a single Apple II.

[BatteryPoweredBricks]

Well it only took 3 years but I have finally released a full set overview!  What better way to kick things off than 9701 Control Lab Building Set!  I have made a few attempts to make a scripted video about the set but opted for a non-scripted approach to make things easier.  I actually think it makes for a more watchable video, my earlier attempts were just plain boring.

I've also made quite a bit of progress archiving materials.  I couldn't have done it alone, I did have a ton of help from an anonymous viewer of my channel.  I purchased a CZUR Aura Pro scanner which I've had mixed results with, the "Simple Control Activity Pack Teachers Guide" is my first scan done solely by me.  I think it looks pretty good and was pretty easy to get done.  I have struggled with other materials like a Shop at Home catalog, it had issues auto cropping the image which is kind of the point of using such a device.  I'll report back later as I gain more experience with it.  Any materials I archive will be available at the link below (shoutout to the Internet Archive!).

https://archive.org/details/@batterypoweredbricks

 

[BatteryPoweredBricks]

Forgot to post here, the Lego DACTA 9702 Control System Building Set video is done!  While this set was less interesting than the 9701 set I still had a lot of fun making the video.  I've always wanted to build the DACTAsaurus!  I'd really like to cover the Intelligent House set at some point, still looking for the software!  I may have a lead on the DOS version but they said it would be a few months before they can check the disk and make sure it still works.  I still have plenty of other sets I want to make a video on but don't have teachers guides or other materials.  I've gotten back in the habit of searching auction sites but haven't found much.