LEGO Classic Town Snack Bar from 1979 reviewed! Set 675 

The thing I like about the classic sets is that they have a unique Lego "feel" due to their crudeness. A Lego truck from the classic era doesn't look like a truck per se, it looks like a Lego truck, which is a unique style. The modern sets look closer to a real thing, which ironically makes them look more like a generic toy. I'm not saying that's the wrong way to go business-wise, but I still like those blocky things.

This was my first ever set. Got it for Christmas when I was a little kid.

A set like that in 1979 that cost roughly $5, would be just shy of $21 in today's money😦 Sheesh...

You know what's funny? When I was a child my parents gifted me lego sparingly. As a child I was endlessly frustrated by not having enough parts, yet today I realize it made me much more creative. My neighbor had all the legos I could dream of, yet his constructions were so much less creative than mine. Lego's endless dilemma.

I love those little signs, they’re surprisingly realistic.

That Lego Ideas book was amazing. I stared at those pictures for so long. Bought myself a copy of it a couple of years ago to inspire my neo classic space MOCing.

The charm of lego back then is exactly what you see in this set. They did the absolute max with the parts they got. A lot of the early sets like the shell stuff stores and police as well as fire did not rely on stickers but had prints. Lots of prints. Apart from that accessories were abundant. Like an axe for every fire fighter, now you are lucky a set priced 50 euros got 1 fireman's axe. Where parts became more abundant in shape and even dual molding, the stickers increased and Lego leans more on it's new color introduced every other year as a novelty. Rather than giving enough to play with and printing more different shapes of bricks. Looking at you vibrant yellow and flat yellow. Yup that is the staple of Lego these days, make a new color and restart an entire line. Making your emergency vehicles look like yesterday's model. There is more consistency between a lego police car from 1980 and 1990 than there is from 1 from 2021 and 2023. Let that sink in. These old sets did stand the test of time and retained their charm. While a lot of sets released the last few years are simply forgotten.

I had a bad day today but this review comes at the right time and brings a smile to my 48 year old face. Just what I needed. The power of little things and nostalgia is so strong. Thank you Jang! ❤️

Yay! Retro reviews are back!!

Oh wow, this takes me back. I was given this set after my first camping trip, which had left me terribly home-sick. I have a vivid memory of sitting on the floor, Hong-Kong Phooey on the TV, being so proud of myself for having managed to rebuild this set from memory. That's right, ALL 64 PIECES - no peeking at the instructions. Still one of my proudest achievements........Sadly 😉

What I love about classic sets like these is although they are complete as is, the also serve as a template or launch pad to inspire adding onto the set and MOCing it up. Could add a sloped roof, or different colored bricks to the walls like a red and white checkerboard pattern, or expand and add more of a suggestion of a full working kitchen for instance. Not only that but the simplicity and consistency of style between sets back then meant that you could get several different sets and put them together and they wouldn't look out of place from one another, and the simplicity meant it wouldn't be hard to make a MOC with a similar look and feel and add it to that same little collection of sets and everything would look as though it all belonged.

Wow! About a month ago I binged a bunch of your classic space reviews. I'm so glad you're doing classic set reviews again

Love the classics! Just so simple, great to use your imagination!

I think I had nearly everything in that town scene and it was a fantastic time. What hadn’t been invented yet was not missed.

I love the simplicity of this old set, a building, 2 minifugures and a tree, there's none of the unnecessary filler crud they seem to put in sets these days. I think to be honest I'd rather have this over some newer sets. Would love to see more reviews of these older sets!

Ohmygosh! I was so missing your old set reviews! Please do more whenever you can!

I had this set as a kid, brings back memories.

“Would you like some mustard in your mug of ketchup?” “Only if I get a giant napkin to go with it!”

Nice to see a small classic set review, just like old times.

Charming is the word, when I was younger my grandparents bought me massive boxes of lego from swap meets, in them I was lucky enough to get 2 pairs of the classic road plate junctions, straight and t junction, a little yellowed naturally but I was so chuffed with them, still have them. Might clean'em up and sell them at some point.

Thats why classics sets are just that Pure classic Simple yet so effective design !

Ohhh! This was the first set I ever saved up for with my pocket money! Loved this set so much! (I still have it.)

Many, many moons ago i got this set for my 5th bday and i stil have it. 😁😁😁 Loved the old city sets. They where simple, yes but as a kid they where magical! Thank you Jang for the little memorie trip. 😄 *** Goes to the attic to dusk offf his old Lego sets...***

This was a pleasant surprise ^_^ Not really a bad set considering when it came out. I’m glad I got to see it.

I love these classic LEGO reviews! Thank you! Retail price in 1979 was $6.95, equal to $30 adjusted for inflation. When you compare the inflation adjusted prices of those classic sets it really puts into perspective the value of new sets. Yeah, they're still pricey but what you get for your money is so much more than what we '80's kids got.

This is like a comfy blanket with a stack of worn out comic books and a cup of hot chocolate. Something so comforting about these older, simpler sets.

I still have this set. The sign of course is broken. It was a fun little set back in the day, and seeing it online certainly cheers me up! 🤗 Sadly, I no longer have the instructions for this or any of my old sets. 😢

I'm a bit on two minds on this. Sure, modern sets with all of the special pieces we have nowadays are (much) better builds, you just can't deny that. But does that automatically make it better toys? One thing I still think Lego did right back then was not overcomplicate things. Most Lego sets were just like what kids would come up with themselves. With a few nice little touches kids might not think of. And mostly made from rather common pieces. If you didn't have a specific set, there's very little stopping you from recreating it with whatever parts you did have. As a kid, I doubt I ever built a set according to the instructions more than once. And then took it apart to build my own stuff. Still have all of the instructions, but those clearly suffered less than the bricks. Nowadays I feel most Lego sets are way beyond what a kid (or adult....) would come up with. Even sets aimed at kids of, say, 6 year old are not that simple anymore. 4+ sets kinda are the exception, but not in the right way as they use way to many big and very specialized pieces instead of learning kids the basics of building with just regular pieces. I've noticed that kids now often keep their sets as they are instead of taking them apart. And while my 10 year old nephew has built tons of sets some well beyond his age and has nu issue following instructions, he just can't build anything decent himself, he's basically at the same level as he was 5 years ago. The gap between how Lego designers think and a kid thinks is just too big. In itself complexity isn't a bad thing. I mean, I love the mad science that is any Mike Psiaki set.But for everything is a time and place. And for kids, keeping it simple isn't a bad thing.

Seeing the Shell logo on the gas station in the picture on the back of the instruction manual makes me wonder when LEGO introduced the Octan brand.

My dad bought up a friends sons' lego city when I was 5 or so, in the early 90s. Im pretty sure this set was among it because I have a bunch of printed bricks including this snackbar one!

It so awesome! In my country Lego was almost not possible to get in many years after this set arrived :| My first Lego set was samething with fuel tanker and small gas station with octan or shell logo... good times.

Still a solid build even today.

One of my all time favourite sets. Thank you Jang, I've really enjoyed this one!

Loved this as a kid.. one of my first sets that I can remember.

Love the video, the set, the irony about 0:50, the message. I also spent hours looking at the catalogues, imagining just if...

Back from when LEGO sets was building and play sets, not just playsets. Loved the Sncak Bar and rebuild it to fit in the LEGO space theme.

Funny that you would post this today, I was just looking through my old 1975 LEGO Samsonite catalog. The idea that "LEGO was cheaper in the good ol days" really fades away when you start looking at the old prices. LEGO has always been a premium product, what matters is whether or not they chose to have premium quality.

I love old Lego sets! Nice video.

Ahh! Good old Lego Nostalgia! Nothing beats that! Thanks Jang!

Do this kind of thing more please! I appreciate the simple nostalgia.

Watching this review of a classic set in your “old” format makes this video feel classic too

I never saw the set assembled, but as I clearly remember, that we had all the printed parts of the set, I assume my older sister had it. Thank you for taking me back. I can absolutely relate to the watching at the pictures of Lego cities on the instructions and wishing to have one of the sets, although „my time“ were the late 1980s/early 1990s!

Lego sets were so quaint back then.

This feels good! Thank you JANG for sharing.

OMG! I have this set to! Major nostalgia. So cool to see it build.

every look back you do I see the sets I had! The police station and that little fire chief car! I did the same thing and stare at that book.

I remember the day I got it by my grandma. Even the feeling of the day when building it. Bring me back to 79-86 ♥️🇩🇰

I love these retro reviews! And what's more, we're getting a Bricklink Lego Snack Shop soon, so this is relevant :)

Always loved this set, still do. And I think it's full of details! Not to forget the prints, including that unique sign. And 1x1 round bricks with regular studs! 😮

I got this! I didn't know what it was a Snack Bar. My parents told to me that it was in English language and explained me what "snack" means. I was a little Italian 3 old years kid. I will never forget about this Lego set ❤❤❤

Nice set and wise words here! Playing LEGO in the 80's taught me that less is more.

I had the rescue helicopter you pointed at....ahh the memories. Also remember an Exxon oil truck from that era. I see a Shell truck in the pic you're holding 😮

Love this video and the sarcasm keep up the good work

Ohhhhh thank you I still have this set what a nostalgia trip

This is what I've been saying. So many things its easy to look back and point at how good they used to be. Games particularly. And whenever I think I'm just rose tinted glasses'ing it. I come back to LEGO. Classic lego, and even lego from 20 years ago compared to now. Barely even comparable, Including the prices. Theres just so much more value to be had today with the pieces and especially the designs of sets. Classic Lego is still a 'vibe' as Jang correctly identified. But even looking back on the difference between stuff like the modular buildings and creator expert car models when they first started those lines relatively not long ago, And its massive the difference in detail and complexity.

As a bit of a younger fan, I still love the old set reviews! I also liked how you put the price into perspective, inflation is killer.

I used to have this set, brings back so much memories!

Those simple sets were the best ones. The pirates and castle sets I had weren’t much bigger but so much fun.

I’ve missed your reviews of classic sets!

I own this set. Got it as a child. Thanks for showing it.

So nostalgic. I remember the door and I used to use it at all possible build I can. Time when "play feature" was simple yet entertaining for me. Also, is the minifigure really from way before I was born?! It sure survive the time really fine. And look! Lego could do a good print on black piece.

Fun fact: 'snackbar' is Dutch for, well .., 'snack bar'.

One of my first sets. I loved it. That chef's hat was like magic for me. The look of it, how it felt to the touch.

Oh man, I had the very first minifig fire station ever, it was red. the next year I got the Exxon gas station, which I think debuted the headlight piece and had working opening bonnets on the cars. In the original fire station, all the trucks could be fitted with drivers at least...

Awesome review of an awesome little set!

Love it! More classic stuff please.

Great review! And so true… we are spoiled. Great to be reminded of how things were….

My dad had this one back then. I've since rebuilt it and put it in my lego city alongside what I had in the late 2000s - early 2010s.

My first (and only) Lego set as a child was a big collection of pieces, but was from before the minifig era. I didn't buy any Lego after that until recently, I think it was about fifteen years ago, and that was the first time I had a proper minifig. Until then I made do, or just coveted.

I adore all the sarcasm in this review

Great to see another classic review

Love these types of reviews!

We live in such a lucky age where we get Lego sets with such detail. We don’t know how good we got it.

I was more of a Space kid in 80's and 90's. As I got older, I got interested in Town also. Lucky me, I managed to build this set from parts I gathered from various used lots. I even got the printed parts by pure luck.

I find this style of LEGO very charming. My personal favorite era of classic LEGO town stuff is definitely late 80's to mid 90's. There is a long dark era of LEGO that follows, but I find modern LEGO to follow the ethos of early LEGO town stuff I liked, with much more detailed builds with higher part counts and smaller pieces. I'd argue we're in another golden age of LEGO! Yeah the deluge of licensed stuff can be annoying, but their parts being re-used is cool. Also, they don't seem to compete with city and creator sets for shelf space, so I have nothing to complain about.

This is a charming simple little set. For classic LEGO I prefer more mid to late 80s to 90s, before things went had towards 2000, but this is still good, since it can fit minifigures. The cool thing about those older sets is you had more civilian stuff. Once you got more into the 90s the police and firefighters were already dominating haha. Thanks for this nice retro review, JANG! That catalogue was great too!

Back in the day we had like a square wooden stool lying down on its side to represent a bar for the Playmobil lol. It kind of had this same feel.

Love this set. Still have it from my childhood.

That chef figure was used 20 years later. Got him somewhere with mustashed head of Spanish soldier. :D

I've never seen that vest print before. I kind of love it.

Wish we still saw some low-price sets like this, that focus more on getting a general shape and structure with generic bricks, rather than higher detail things.

This is so weird that you have done this review now, as a friend has just given me this set.

Though I had the police and fire station shown on the instructions, I didn't have this set. But I do now 😀 My aunt surprised me last year. When cleaning up her house she gifted me the Lego from her two daughters and their children. They weren't interested (I urged her to confirm this) and so I got it. I hadn't really expected much, but it was a few sets from the late 70's/early 80's and parts packs from the early 00's. And one of those was this set. Maybe you're a bit harsh, but you are right. It was a very simple set and you really needed your imagination. One thing I do think was better, was that it was very much brick based while today city is mostly large panels.

I had a lot of those mini cars where lego people couldn't fit in. At first it didn't bother me, but then me and my sister got more of the newer vehicles that would become the standard in the 80s and we mostly stopped using the 70s cars because they didn;t match very well and we were the kind of kids that considered that very important.

Yes we are spoilt. I miss your reviews of classic Lego sets and old catalogues. This was a welcome surprise.

Thanks man after seeing this I bought one of these old sets. Set 361 garage I think 😁

Wow I had no idea that chef’s hat is so old, it looks so good for the time

One of my first sets! Purched one on marketplace lately, to rebuild!

Jang: "You could buy stickers that represented food for it..." Me: "A LEGO set with DLC content???"

I had this set as a child und loved it. Minifigs were brandnew at this times.

I love this… takes me WAY back😅

Pretty advanced little build for 1979

YESSS! I had that set! Wohoooo! 👍 We are not spoiled! Lego spoiled it! And we have to deal with it, like it or not. I was happy at that time with 99% of the Lego sets, no matter if Minifigs fitted into the way too small cars. And there was no need to make sets as over-detailled as they are today. What for? It was all about imagination and fantasy. Today Lego does not let us think anymore.

I really like these classic sets. I think they should remake some of them like the old houses or this set, but with some updated things, but still feels like the old thing.

Canr remember if I owned this, but looks so familiar. Maybe it was with my grandparents, or a friend. What I do know is that I only recognize it by the printed parts, never have seen it complete.

My grandma bought this for me when I was eight years old! 😍

Didn't know the red mug went that far back. I know it's an old piece, but never expected it to be almost as old as the minifig.

The :) era

Look how they did the lintel, because the 1x10 brick was only invented in (have a guess!)... ... .. .. . 1993! Wow, did not expect that it was so late!

I had this set, I would have been 7yo. I remember integrating it into my space Lego so I had a Space Snack Bar ! You missed an opportunity to replace the chef with admiral Akbar for a few frames & have 'Admiral Akbar's Snack Bar' Easter egg.