It has been a little while since calling someone by phone actually involved ‘dialling’ their number. This term is still sometimes used, although I suspect the majority of humans in Australia have not had the experience of turning a rotary dial on a phone to make a call since the late 1980’s

The LEGO Group provides us with a neat reminder of what phone calls used to look like with the new Creator 3in1 set 31174 Retro Telephone retailing for AU$39.99/£24.99/$29.99/€29.99 containing 383 parts, so you can have a bit of an idea of how it felt. Or flash back to years gone past…

Although this is a 3-in-1 set, the rotary dial phone is the clear hero of this set. Look no further for improvement in the alternative builds; the other designs feel like an afterthought in comparison. The rotary phone has a nifty design for the dial, and the cable between the handset and the base is worth the price of admission alone! Check out the video to see how the cable seems to defy the rules of the LEGO® system and appear fully flexible.

Read on to see what other phones are on offer and why explore the delight that the rotary phone has to offer.

Where are the flowers?

Since last year LEGO has released a few sets of everyday-items-with-flowers, starting with a watering can, that didn’t excite me, a ukulele, a typewriter and a record player. This set containing a history of phones seem to fit nicely in that range except for a subtle nuance; the utter lack of flowers!

I would not argue that we have a shortage of LEGO flowers, quite the opposite, but somehow this feels like a missed opportunity! For some people with a strong desire for order and structure, it may be very annoying that LEGO broke its habit here, but for me, it feels like a relief that we can rely on LEGO to surprise us.

Rotary Dial Phone

In the late 19th century, it became clear that an automatic system was needed for users to direct phone calls. The rotary dial phone has become the first commonly used system where the rotation of the dial generates a number of electrical pulses, corresponding to the selected number. From the 1960s onwards gradually rotary dial phones were replaced by push button phones (still using these pulses) and eventually the entire system turned digital. This LEGO set represents this part of phone history, from the most common form of rotary dial phone to the last mobile phones that could still be considered interesting to build in LEGO.

The verb to ‘dial’ a number is still sometimes used to indicate calling someone by phone, although it does not often involve a dial any more. In addition the ‘dial tone’ that indicates that your line is ready for you to start dialling a number is not heard often any more, since we use digital devices that do not start the connection until you have fully selected the number to call. Pop quiz: how many phone numbers do you recall by heart?

For several years I have had the pleasure to enjoy rotary dial calling. Experience the frustration of your finger accidentally popping out of the dial as you were dialling a particularly long number; so you had to start all over again. Hear the sound of the dial rotating back and sending your number across the wire. Fiddling with the cable to the handset when talking. And, off course, the faint sound tone of the handset not properly having been hung back on the hook and you wondering why they were not returning your call.

Colour me surprised that this set captures the feeling of rotating the dial, picking up and returning the headset, AND fiddling with the cable accurately enough to hit me with nostalgia in all the right ways. The set even comes with a pencil so you can use that to dial the number (who hasn’t done that, eh?)

The only anachronistic part in the set is the yellow notepad next to the phone, that triggers memories of post-it notes, that were not launched until the 80s, by which time I certainly was no longer using a rotary dial phone. But let’s just pretend it’s an ordinary (yellow?) notepad, shall we?

building the Rotary Dial Phone

I built this set after the two alternative builds (see below) and in comparison this hero model contains several surprises. Very early on two rubber parts are mounted in the hook that are then covered by pins.

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These pins then provide a soft mounting point for the handset when it is put on the hook, so that when you lift off the handset the pins come up. You can then push them to reset the line of you do not hear the dial tone (yes, just keep trying, you will get a dial tone eventually. Trust me.)

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Next the dial plate is created with a splat gear representing the dial with holes. It looks the part and it even has the correct number of holes! Did this part serve as an inspiration of the entire set? It seems too much of a coincidence!

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The real get appears behind the dial plate where a rubber band and technic pin is used to pull the dial back when you rotate it. I love how this recreates the effect of a real rotary dial!

Next up is the handset that just feels right. A little smaller than the real thing but it has the right shape and feel.

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But the thing that completely melted me was the cable between the handset and base. I sat here playing with it, fiddling with it and just LOVING it. The concept is so simple and yet so convincing; it really feels like a wire, but make out of rigid LEGO pieces, no flex parts. At this stage we can call the game; we have winner.

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First Mobile Phones

Following the popularity of land-lines, that is a phone connected by a wire to a phone network, it was only a matter of time before wireless phones became a thing. My exposure to the early variants has been limited to US TV shows, first with car-phones (yes these phones required a car to power and transport them), and later these large block phones, the size of a brick.

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Unfortunately this build represents what it is fairly accurately; a brick. The only ‘interesting shapes’ in this build are on the inside, as a side effect of having to use parts from the main build.

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The phone comes with a stand that poses the brick, eh.. phone, at a slight angle, which is nice. But, meh.

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Modern-ish mobile phone

As these things go, the mobile phones got smaller and eventually we ended up in the era of Nokia (small portable robust-as-a-tank phones that lasted weeks on a charge). There are two phones in this booklet, a flip-phone and a regular handset.

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They capture the essence of 90’s mobile phones quite nicely, but I found the grey keys a little disappointing. As I replaced them with numeric keys I realised that I hadn’t noticed there aren’t enough keys on these phones; they tended to have at least 12, not 9!

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Note that the numeric tiles do NOT come with this set, it is just my attempt at seeing what it looks like with number. I like it better, what do you think?

Conclusion

The lack of flowers doesn’t hurt this set much. The hero model (the rotary dial phone) is a beautiful example of adding play features in a very simple way. In comparison the other models are a bit disappointing, but I can see even those mobile phones providing a lot of play fun (especially because you can build two of them at the same time).

The price of this set is right on target and provides enough entertainment for your money. With that I give this set 4 out of 5 arbitrary praise units.

The Creator 3in1 31174 Retro Telephone has 383 parts, and is priced at $AUD39.99 /$USD29.99/ €29.99 / £24.99. It is now available through LEGO.com as well as retailers worldwide. Consider using this affiliate link if you are purchasing LEGO sets: it adds nothing to the cost and the Rambling Brick might earn a small commission.

Postscript: Parts

This set is light blue, not a rare colour any more in the LEGO pallette, but certainly a nice collection of parts has been added. There are several relatively new (last few years) slopes and curves included and I can see these making their way into various vehicles and buildings.

Anyway, here are the elements included in the set

It seems a little odd for LEGO to choose a rather 70’s muted colour, when these phones really had their heydays in the 80s. I can remember most of them being white(creme) black or a brick primary colour, but I cannot recall pastels much. But then, this colour does fit in the style of the ‘device with flower’ series.

Did you ever see a rotary dial phone in this colour? Will you use it as a history lesson for your kids and grandkids? Why not let us know in the comments below. Is this set on your wish list?

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Until Next Time,

Play Well!