I was just typing on this thread and it has disappeared. Was it pulled for some reason?
It's presumably some sort of big secret. Or somebody goofed.
Or Lego asked for it to be pulled due to too many people ordering replacement parts. (End conspiracy).
If they wanted it pulled, it's more likely to be because the number of complaints, and accompanying photographs of broken pieces, seems to be increasing.
Really hope that isn't the case. If that's the case, then that may have been the straw the breaks the camels back for me.
Or it could all be an honest mistake.
It's nothing sinister, it was my carelessness.
I deleted it accidentally. Normally we don't delete anything, and if we do need to remove things we move to the recycle bin instead of actually deleting them, but yesterday a number of gibberish threads popped up as a result of an automated process that went awry. In my haste to delete them I didn't notice I had the checkbox for this thread selected as well.
There doesn't seem to be a way to recover deleted threads, so please accept my apologies. Feel free to discuss quality issues as much as you like.
Basically, some parts come in different colours (Lego buy the colours from different sources due to good supply line practice or something), some parts crack (normally cheese clopes or 1x1 tiles, possibly due to excess clutch), sometimes parts are missing from a set (or whole bags apparently), and sometimes extra pieces are included too. Essentially it was moaning about the quality slipping over recent years, although the general consensus is that Lego is still better than MBs.
^Nice Summary....You forgot that sometimes one person (I can't remember his user name right now) has many bricks crack in a set (not just cheese slopes) and it seems he has had multiple sets with this problem. Also that the number of posts to this thread spike after Christmas with everyone building a lot of sets.
And storage conditions - too hot, too cold, too high concentration of chemicals in the environment.
@Huw can anything be recovered from Google Cache or referenced via the Way Back Machine?
^oh, I forgot yellowing, a year, lots of years, it's inevitable, but keep them out of the sun. Also don't dust them, or do dust them. Just don't build them. But do open them to check if they are complete.
also it sounded like D2C sets often have missing bricks.
I was wondering the same thing about the old thread.
Anyway, I noticed some color variation with the SHOP sign on my Grand Emporium. Mainly the clips seemed to be a shade darker than the other yellow pieces.
Is it supposed to be this way, or is this another case of off colors?
^I've noticed a lot of variation with yellow, even within sets. So it is most likely that the clips were made from a different batch of yellow than the rest.
Somebody may be able to confirm this, but I think the colour is added on a moulding machine by moulding machine basis. So a "batch of yellow" would only relate to a single type of piece anyway.
It seems to have zero clutch power: its claw is weak, it's stud is loose, it's anti-stud is also loose. The ones on the exo-suit fall off. The arms on the robots on Benny's spaceship don't even clutch at all. The clips used to hold up the sign on the palace cinema barely work. Is there any credible explanation for why this part is so shoddy?
Old moulds is what I usually hear, but last time this came up, most of us were of the consensus that an older mould would make the plastic thicker, thus increasing clutch power!
I recently picked up a bunch of "Patent Pending" bricks, mostly red and white 2x4 bricks. I started building bleachers to display minifigs using these old bricks and was very happy to find that the clutch power was as good or better than bricks made currently. When I started positioning the minifigs I found that many did not grip very well, but most of these figures grip better on more recent bricks.
Actually, I've had seemingly more than my fair share, but it is limited to mostly 1x1, 1x2s bricks and plates where I have about 5-10% failure rate for a few selected colors in a few selected sets. Most effected are Simpsons house (pink car), haunted house, white RV, log cabin, and a couple other that I can't remember. Lego CS has replaced everything I've asked for (as long as I send them back the failed pieces) included completely replacing my Simpsons house.
Although there has been speculation of my environment/treatment being the cause, I think most will acknowledge that ever since TLG has switched to multi-source, in-house colorant mixing in the mid-late 2000s more cracking has been observed. I speculated that it could be a combo between raw material changes and manufacturing practices that have increased the moulding residual stress and decreased the overall strength. Some of these sets have been displayed only in a sun-free, air conditioned, dry environment, while others have been played with by my kids.
Sorry, just a re-cap from 'that guy'.
Man I hate to be 'that guy'. Can't I be the guy who's UCS AT-AT was destroyed by William Shatner at the comic book convention?
It is really sad when 40 year old 'played with' brick has better clutch power than current brick, same with any parts that 'clutch' another piece.
It is also a shame that that I have 40 year old stickers that I cannot get off the brick with chemicals whereas stickers from new sets peel with no assistance for many folks (and many times not when planned).
Maybe it may be due to environment but I think the biggest issue is the seeming lack of care, or even a response, from LEGO on this.
Maybe people can make this a theme of discussion at every major brick exposition to ensure LEGO reps hear the problem loud and clear and are cornered into addressing it (or at least acknowledging it publicly).
Sorry @Brew, with the old thread deleted I couldn't remember your user name. Also, I am sorry you seem to be the poster child for brick cracking. I know I would hate to be in your shoes. Maybe some of my sealed sets could have the same problems...who knows.
Clutch has changed over the years. It peaked in the 70s when TLG decided that it was too strong for children, and deliberately reduced it - it was fairly hard to separate two aligned, stacked 2 x 4 bricks.
@Rainstorm26 No problem. I know I have expressed my opinion about cracking bricks several times and thus seem to be known for it. The funny part is I've only seen a couple of cheese slopes cracked... I too have a lot of sealed sets and have my fingers crossed. I just hope that TLG is seriously working on this problem.
I have to second what madforLEGO said.... I've got a large collection of parts mainly from the 1975-2000 era.... and I would say that 1 in 50,000 parts had an issue... usually insufficient plastic was injected into the mold. I have seen some discoloring of old parts... but for some odd reason it was mainly 1978-82 USA Homemaker sets... the white parts had a tendency to yellow... but interestingly not uniformly. Perhaps a large amount of fire retardant was mixed into the white pellets at the Enfield Connecticut LEGO plant. White elements from 1983-2000 didn't have this much of a problem.
But I have noticed problems with parts with some of the early Harry Potter sets... and definitely sets since then.
There is a difference between reducing clutch power (not talking just brick either) to what is occurring now. Never mind that 'played with' brick typically is worn. It is not like I'm comparing a 'new' brick from the 70's or 80's to one now. if anything 'played with' brick from 40 years of play should have less clutch than new brick today, not more.
Phew! Glad I don't have to stop buying Lego stuff.
How about Predictions on Discontinuing Sets and their Secondary Market Value?
^But then you'll lose a treasure trove of information on related topics such as taxes, where to find the best shipping boxes, debates on gun laws, pro-anti reseller debates, Star Wars quotes and even a prediction or two.
^no, no - thats what I meant - a quality summary on exactly all those issues!
if anything 'played with' brick from 40 years of play should have less clutch than new brick today, not more.
A "played with" brick of 40 years ago (or there-abouts) still has "too much clutch". They had, and often still have, more clutch than anything TLG has every produced, or is likely to ever produce.
It was subsequently realised that bricks of that era were effectively a mistake, and it is therefore not surprising they have more clutch than a brand new brick of today.
That is not the same thing as saying the a brand new brick should have more clutch than an old one. Those particular old ones were deemed unsuitable for children, and all bricks should have less clutch than them. Indeed, they themselves should've had less clutch!
There is a difference between reducing clutch power (not talking just brick either) to what is occurring now.
Quite possibly. I'm neither agreeing nor disagreeing because it's not something with which I've had an issue personally but recognise some people have.
@gratefulnat In that case, I would love to see the same thing. Kinda like summing up War & Peace in 200 characters or less.
That sounds like some spam mai... Oh!
Ya'll derailing the thread! Knock it off.
The only broken part I've experienced is a cracked cheese wedge. I also haven't seen a decline in quality. Other than color, I've found building my '80's castle sets, '90's pirate sets, '00 Ninja sets and recent SW builds to be comparable.
I have no idea how, but I haven't had a single piece break at all. The one and only time I can recall is when I was seven or eight, made a long beak out of 2x4 bricks, and did my best karate chop attempt. Broke a blue brick right open.
The only broken pieces I've seen were a pair of Dark Red (using BrickLink color names) 1x4 tiles, which were shattered as if someone had gone after them with a hammer. Oddly enough, they were in a polybag-sized set I was unpacking, which was shipped in semi-assembled sections and was otherwise entirely intact. I have no idea how it could have happened. The seller says so too, and I am inclined to believe him.
Other than that, although I've bought new and used sets made over the last fifteen years, I've yet to see a cracked or damaged brick.
Of course, I'm clearly lucky (and I do have a number of sealed new sets I haven't examined). It does seem like more problems are being reported recently than had been in the past. But it really doesn't seem to me that Lego has a major problem with bad plastic--the stuff they're using now isn't exactly like what was being used ten years ago, but it still seems to do the job very well as far as I can tell.
Actually, you're doing that. Hijacker!
This thread wasn't about broken parts, but about a thread that had gone missing.
There is more to it than that. There are predictions about retirements, and predictions about what will do well and what won't do well.
I'm with @SumoLego I've only experienced cracks on cheese slopes and some colour variation. I've not noticed any deterioration in general brick quality, clutch power or anything else nor have I been missing a piece in anything other than a Fairybricks set (FB001) so that doesn't count! Having also not long ago rebuilt a bunch of classic sets if anything I saw more malformed parts, huge amounts of colour degradation and inconsistent clutch. Stickers from 10 years ago I've had literally disintegrate on me, but more recently no problem.
Given that their manufacturing has been stretched to capacity, a larger parts inventory than I suspect they've ever had, more colours and a larger range of sets available at any one time I think TLG have done incredibly well to not let quality noticeably (to me at least) slip. In most companies those conditions and rapid growth would lead to some major issues.
Pretty much the same here mainly 1x1 cheese slopes for me and the occasional 1x2 cheese slope although these seem to be more reliable. I have noticed a few cracked / broken clips on bricks too recently, although only on parts that have been through the hands of kids. And some solidified play-doh completely blocking some 2x4's although I cannot blame lego for that.
In the previous thread: Missing parts were the biggest issue for me, the real surprises were a missing hair piece from the ComCon Jek-14 Microfighter & an extra 1x2 silver grille plate instead of the third 1x2 tan jumper plate in the ComCon Luke's Landspeeder Microfighter.
^That they are both comic con sets is interesting as I suspect they are not put together through the usual production pipeline.
I agree, but I've also got a few more broken parts then that.
3. Only once have I been missing a part from a set- a black headlight brick from a Troll Battle Wagon, which I got for free for order issues anyway.
Given the low numbers of those sets produce, I suspect that they're hand-packed.
2. 1x1 round transparent plates of all colors and glow in the dark (reallly bad) crack (too many to count). I figured out that if you leave them connected, the stress over time will cause them to crack. I believe it is due to the different material used.
3. One brand new minifig crack up the side of the torso.
4. Really noticeable color variation (yellow, light green being the worst).
5. Instruction manuals and stickers completely mangled upon opening (need to use cardboard to package to prevent this which they have done in some sets in the last couple of years).
6. Chinese produced minifig plastic quality. Can be translucent, poor clutch, etc.
The ones that seem to be more recent phenomenon are 3, 4. #6 was pretty bad when they first introduced the CMF line and started up the Chinese plant making other figs. Seems to have improved with time, but the figures in the recent Lightning Lad cube from Target were completely pathetic with respect to clutch. I had bought a couple extra to potentially resell at some point, but returned them after my son opened them and I saw how bad they were.