Samson Gym Equipment was a fitness supplier in Rydalmere Sydney NSW that became incredibly popular in the 1970s & 1980s among weightlifters.

Why is Samson so good though? 

The Sydney factory produced its own equipment onsite. Unlike other brands, Samson built their gear with heavy gauge BHP steel which was used in construction work throughout Australia. 

Various Samson Weight owners describe them as being the type of weight plate & equipment that will last a lifetime. 

A seller advertising his Samson weight collection on Gumtree says his collection was purchased in 1982 after getting inspired watching Arnold through the 80s.

In 1980 Sydney held Mr Olympia, Arnold's last body building competition.

That year a promoter of the comp and good mate of Arnold, Paul Graham had his name placed on these Samson plates.

The earlier plates had the words Samson Weights in the casting. The later plates had the words Samson Gym Equipment in the casting. 

These limited edition weights had Paul Graham GYM Equip in the casting.

WHAT YEAR WERE THEY MADE?

In 1970 the Australian metric conversion act came into force. Imperial weights to metric weights started changing in 1974 and was completed about 1982. It was during these years weights displayed both types on their plates, imperial and metric.

You can identify the earlier weight plates by where these metrics where placed on the weight. 

If it only had LB on the plates they are early 70s or before. When they have both metrics on the plate it was between that metric change over. 

The plates with LB on the left and kg on the right were earlier plates. The plates with kg on the left and lb on the right would have been towards the later years.

The Paul Graham edition weights were cast with the LB on the left and the KG on the right. So plates were still using the lb on the left as late as 1980, Arnold's retirement year. 

Samson casting with the words Samson Gym Equip was being used in 1982 with the 20LB on the left and 9KG on the right.

CAN YOU STILL BUY THEM?

The Sydney manufacturer stopped production when they could no longer compete with cheaper imports that were flooding the Australian market.

Mick says in a post on the ausbb.com website that he actually spoke to a worker at Samson not long before they closed up shop. 

They said they could import plates already made and painted for less than they could buy the raw materials to cast their own. Instead of going in that direction  they ended up closing their doors. Mick states his home gym was created with Samson Weights purchased directly from the Samson Workshop in 1986.

Now your time is best spent watching the secondhand market for Samson to pop up in a random advert and hope you're online, the first to message and in the area at that exact moment.

Samson weights then became one of the most well built weight plates in the country that lifters now seek out on the second-hand market. 

Credits: Big Mick AUSBB.com 

Hartford Richardson - Vintage Weights & Physical Culture Facebook Group.

Check out his website www.vintagebodybuildingmags.com

Sold to a Gold Coast local who is a retired professional rugby player. Watching him load this onto his ute was really something speical. 

Created with steel and built with high quality materials. It was used by an Australian body builder during the 1980s as he trained for competitions. 

Storage weight stand is attached at the back and weights are loaded at the front. 

The large handles have thick padding and help with using different style grips. 

The handles move down the bar to increase resistance and can be adjusted in any location on the straight bar. 

Recently refurbished and treated for rust, protected metal, priming and paint had been applied. 

Available now

T Bar Rower still my personal favourite machine out the entire GYM set

Old School Seated Calf Raise Machine

Used by an Australian Body Builder to train for completions in the 1980s. 

Refurbished machine

• Treated for rust

• Protected 

• Well built

• Old school 80s golden era style

• Repainted 

• Compact machine

• Padding under knees

• Weight loaded at the front 

• High quality foam seat

• Strong well built machine

• Adjustable 

This weight rack and holder has sold and gone to a good home on the Gold Coast. The guy who collected has plans to add some modifications to. Looking forward to seeing his end result.