That's how they shipped from the factory. Yet another wrinkle in the ever-increasing mystique of Ludwig Lore. No worries about authenticity.

It was probably an early pre-production Vistalite kit given to an endorser to try. They used to do that to "test the market" and see if it would catch on in popularity. I think they nailed that in the 70's for sure! LOL!

I am assuming we are talking blue and oval badge,I read I think in Rob Cook's book that the no ser# could be sets that had slight imperfections.

Has to be B/O badges where Vistalites are concerned. Keystone was long gone on sets by then.

Hey Prostix,

I've ran across a few of these. I believe they might be from 71-73. I had a black and white swirl spy vs spy Vistalite kit with no serial numbers.(I'm told they stopped putting serial number on some drums around this time) The owner told me he bought them in 73 right off the floor. I just sold some 3 ply WMP's (B/O) on ebay and again no serial numbers. I've never understood how Ludwig missed this. On the Vistalites it seemed the badge was a foil if that makes sense and not as thick as a normal badge with a serial number. Could these be special order kits and they never bothered with the serial numbers? I've always wanted to know! Given the price I sold them for the lack of serial numbers actually decreased the value.

It's be interesting to know!!!

a friend just gave me some drum gear to babysit while he renovates his basement, including a 14 X 5 lud snare, blue/olive badge, no serial number. I was going to post it but the question has been answered pretty much

I own a silver sparkle set. All the drums, including a supraphonic snare, have date stamps of 1970 and all the B/O badges have no serial number.