CP5670

Lego Quality Reference

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I've noticed a serious lack of friction on the mechanicle agent arms after having been removed and re-aplied to differant bodies. All four of mine now swing loosly in there sockets. I don't think this is because I am removing the arm improperly, because none of my regular arms do this. Has anyone else noticed this?

Edited by cole

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I'd personally prefer a relatively stronger grip for bricks, and a slightly weaker grip for plates, especially the smaller plates. Specifically, I think the underside of a plate's grip should be looser than other pieces. I actually like the gripping power of the plates as they are now. I think the bricks are still too loose though. I don't know if gripping power is related to the material or the mould, but I'd rather adjustments be made to the latter than the former. It's probably easier to change the plastic than to add .001 mm to the mould.

I've never had discoloration or edge issues with sets from that time period, but I didn't buy too many sets after seeing my KK2 ones disintegrate so easily. My biggest gripe at the time was with bricks, though you're right about the plates. But the issue with plates and tiles should only crop up on poorly-designed sets or set features, while loose bricks will affect the whole set. Plate and tile hold issues probably affect complex MOCs, but as long as the sets are fine, I can't really complain.

I never really noticed a problem with white, and I don't have enough sets that are yellow to know for sure. I have to build 6242 to see how the whites currently are holding. I have 7628 (yes, despite the decals), and they seem fine, if slightly better in fact, than the bley of 7079. Funny thing is, bley and black are probably the colors I have the most of, mostly because I have mostly castle and Star Wars sets. The only yellow bricks I have a lot of are the technic bricks of old, and they seemed to be on par with the ones that were gray. Admittedly, gray probably has different hold properties than bley...

I would like both the bricks and plates to return to their strength levels in the late 90s. Even with plates, the strength issue came up many times with the Blacktron ship in my signature, as many wing sections were not staying on as firmly as I expected and had to be supported by extra plates on the bottom.

My guess is this is due to a change in materials rather than the molds, which are replaced every few years anyway. As I mentioned in the color section, they changed the type of ABS pellets they use at some point in 2006, which may be having additional side effects apart from just the colors.

The most recent non-Technic sets I have gotten are the Beach House and the 8401 minifig pack, both last month. I was actually pleasantly surprised by the handful of white and red pieces in both sets, which had good colors and fit together firmly, and even the yellow minifig heads in the latter looked good. I would need to see more/larger sets to reach any conclusions though, and brown was still quite weak in terms of grip. The Beach House had almost entirely bad yellow, both in terms of color and grip, as well as smooth slopes, rounded plates and bullet hole windows, but that is probably because it's a 2008 set and was packaged earlier.

I've had a number of this piece, in lime, shatter. Mostly from the Shadow Crawler.

http://www.peeron.com/inv/parts/924

Is it only in that color? I have many of those in other colors but haven't seen any problems.

I've noticed a serious lack of friction on the mechanicle agent arms after having been removed and re-aplied to differant bodies. All four of mine now swing loosly in there sockets. I don't think this is because I am removing the arm improperly, because none of my regular arms do this. Has anyone else noticed this?

I don't think the arms are actually designed to be removed at all. I remember Front posting something about that causing permanent damage to them.

Edited by CP5670

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Although this Brickshelf gallery shows some nice details from 10197 Fire Brigade, it also reveals some color issues. The dark-red and light-bley are just... :sick: (I hope it's just the lighting, but I fear not).

dsc_4818.jpg_thumb.jpgdsc_4819.jpg_thumb.jpg

dsc_4803.jpg_thumb.jpgdsc_4833.jpg_thumb.jpg

(look at the 2 x 2 light-bley corners :sick: )

Edit: upon further inspection (by a LowLUG member paying better attention than me) those greys on the back of the building seem to be old light and dark greys 'unofficially' added as they don't appear on the official photos released by LEGO

Edit 2: According to a reaction by the photographer on the Bricktowntalk blog:

lbaixinho said...

This is the 10197 that LEGO send to my LUG (Comunidade 0937) to present in our event at Tomar, Portugal (11 to 14 of June). This photos were taken last weekend on a small meeting.

Some parts (like bricks corner 2x2 in old gray and dark bley) had been substituted because there were missing.

Edited by Rick

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The red differences really do stand out, especially the 1x4 plate in the second picture. :thumbdown: This is in line with the red we have seen over the last two years. I hope they are just using older stock of bricks for that model.

Does anyone here have red sets from the last few months and can give their thoughts on that color? As I said earlier, the recent red I have looks pretty good, but I have too little of it to tell for sure.

I think the light blay issue is different, at least in those pictures. Those actually look like old light gray pieces that were used by accident. It's not uncommon to see slight building mistakes in preliminary images like this.

[edit] Never mind, just saw your edit. It looks like I was right.

Edited by CP5670

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The biggest cracking problem I have seen in parts in cheese slopes cracking at the low in end of the slope. I have had a number of these parts crack this way. For example:

3258152810_94bbe6e711_m.jpg

As for clutch power, I have also noticed that some of the newer parts seem to be clutching quite a bit stronger. I bought some 2x2 corner bricks in tan from the PaB wall in Houston, and their clutch was almost too strong. I also noticed very high clutch in the reddish brown 1x2 bricks with vertical clip that were in Troll's Mountain Fortress. I can't speak for other bricks in that set though, those were just ones I happened to have used in an MOC recently.

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Some very small issues I had back in time (late 70s, early 80s):

- The 4085a 1x1 plate with clip: The first version, made in 1980 was not made in classic ABS but in the same translucent material as the first airtanks or glowy hands. You could see this on the 'light gray' version of Classic Space, which was is fact 'Dark Gray'. It looked odd to have all gray sets with only those clips being darker. The next year, they were mixed up with ABS versions which had the right color...

- Helmets (193au) and Headlights (4070), both first generation, broke easily at the bottom clip level. If you have some older headlights, look at how many have a notch at the bottom.

- Bricks and Plates had more grip, probably because of the material but also because of the tight structure. Translucent 1x1 plates showed quickly lots of internal notches. I guess plain bricks and plates had the same issues but not visible.

- Up to 1985, some 1x1 and 1x2 bricks (and formerly 1x1 and 1x2 plates) had mold marks on the side instead of on top of a stud (I think red and yellow were the last remaining). These marks became rapidly dirty and looked not too nice.

- Road Signs were very nice but extremely fragile... too fragile for a child in fact. Also the printings tend to change (slightly) from year to year.

- It seems also that there were some slight differences in parts used for the American market and the European one (I guess it is on that level). For example: I had 3 times the 928 Galaxy Explorer (number 497 in the US). The first one I got was from 1978, the very first edition. Torso's were not printed, I got stickers BUT, the red 1x1 cylinders were all with open studs (I never had a trans-red cylinder with closed stud). It seems that the 497 version was with printed torso's but with older closed cylinders.

Now this is nothing compared to actual issues... The worst I have seen is that monstruous gap you get with the Train Front of the 7897 RC Passenger Train. A disaster.

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The biggest cracking problem I have seen in parts in cheese slopes cracking at the low in end of the slope. I have had a number of these parts crack this way. For example:

Are the cracked cheese slopes from any particular year or set? I haven't seen any problems with mine but you seem to have a number of bad ones, so I'm wondering if they might be limited to specific years or colors.

Some very small issues I had back in time (late 70s, early 80s):

Nice observations. Some of the issues you mentioned (headlight bricks and transparent round plates) are actually still present today, although they have improved since the 80s.

The differences between minor part revisions like the open/closed studs definitely varied with the set location, and probably also depended on the theme. The bricks with molding marks on the side lasted up to 1989 at least in certain themes. I have many such bricks from City and Technic sets from that year.

As for the 1x1 clip plates, I think they moved away from ABS again at some point in the 90s, in order to make them stronger. The last few revisions of those clips, including the current ones, don't seem to be made of ABS.

I'll add the road signs to the list, as those have been brought up many times before.

Edited by CP5670

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I noticed a problem with red with the Guard in the Royal Guard magnet set - the helmet seemed normal red whereas the torso and legs were a darker shade but also looked slightly translucent. Today I received the new Classic Space bag which includes a red Classic Spaceman and was disappointed to find the same problem - the torso is considerably darker but also looks more translucent than the legs, helmet, airtanks and even the hands. It can be hard to photograph these quality issues but I think you can see what I mean, especially on the torso arms (not the hands). Quite a striking difference and really disappointing! :sceptic:

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Other issues to add to the list:

- Shipping in the US in roughly 2006-2008

Shipping and order packaging companies used in the US changed sometime in 2006, which resulted in such outrageous errors that it was almost humorous. In one instance, a dead scorpion was packaged with an order. In some BrickLink seller's orders, there were discrepancies of several DOZEN sets missing or EXTRA in individual orders. Lego boxes received by retail stores and by individuals were frequently deformed (crumpled, ripped, crushed, etc). Lego seems to have improved this more recently, either by improving their relationship with their packagers or by switching partners (not sure which).

- Instruction color printing

I'm not sure exactly when this became a problem, but instructions in recent years have changed their printing process such that certain colors are more difficult to distinguish. The primary issue seems to be that black is printed too lightly, almost at the color of dark gray. This brighter shift similarly causes other shades of gray to be lightened, making them hard to tell apart. This problem occurs with several other colors as well, such as blue and dark blue in the new Carousel set (nearly identical to my eye, even in sunlight).

- Instruction rendering issues

Some elements are occasionally printed with visible splines on the elements. This is likely due to a lack of time dedicated to proofreading instructions, and/or a limitation of a faster timeframe for set release (IE, they might not have time to catch the deadline or re-print when errors are caught).

- Increase in element packing errors

In purchasing many sets from as early as 1980, element packing errors appear to have increased, starting around 1999. Packing errors specifically in Star Wars sets were acknowledged by a company representative who said these sets were rushed through production faster than normal at the time, and had a higher error rate. This is sometimes more prevalent (understandably so) in current sets that are manually assembled and packaged. One odd recent example was an incorrect head placed in the Castle Advent calendar (which were individually bagged, and assumably not manually packaged).

- Printing color discrepancies

As noted on Classic-Castle recently, some printed elements turn out with different colors of printing for the same pattern. It is believed that some of the printing is done in separate locations-- as a Lego employee confirmed (without enough specifics to judge) that "all" of the manufacturing and packaging for certain types of products were done in China (magnets specifically, but others were implied). The result seems to be that the same printed pattern on the same color element shows up as a different color when received in different sets.

DaveE

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One issue with part quality that I absolutely hate is the durability of the Bionicle socket pieces. They break too easily in the sets of the past three years, making it hard to make any mocs with Bionicle.

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I added in some new stuff to the first post. Note that I will generally add an entry on something there after at least two people confirm it (including possibly me), in order to exclude isolated glitches.

I noticed a problem with red with the Guard in the Royal Guard magnet set - the helmet seemed normal red whereas the torso and legs were a darker shade but also looked slightly translucent. Today I received the new Classic Space bag which includes a red Classic Spaceman and was disappointed to find the same problem - the torso is considerably darker but also looks more translucent than the legs, helmet, airtanks and even the hands. It can be hard to photograph these quality issues but I think you can see what I mean, especially on the torso arms (not the hands). Quite a striking difference and really disappointing! :sceptic:

Yes, that dark look is characteristic of the bad red. It sucks that the most important piece turned out like that. :tongue: That bag is quite recent, so either red is still defective or TLG is doing the printing on older stock of red torsos. The helmet and legs seem to be the good red though, so it's hard to tell what is going on.

Other issues to add to the list:

Wow, I haven't heard of the scorpion case before. :oh: This is more of a problem with the S@H service than with actual Lego products though.

The color issue in the instructions is well known. This started around 2002 when TLG changed the appearance of the instruction manuals, apparently in order to better distinguish dark gray (a color that was rarely used until the late 90s) from light gray. Have you noticed this in recent sets? This was very annoying around 2005 and 2006, but it seems to have improved since then.

This printing inconsistencies and variations in brightness go back well into the 80s, if I'm understanding you correctly. I still see this today, but it's a lot better than it once used to be.

One issue with part quality that I absolutely hate is the durability of the Bionicle socket pieces. They break too easily in the sets of the past three years, making it hard to make any mocs with Bionicle.

I've seen Jinzo and others complain about this too, although it has apparently improved in the last year or so from what I have heard.

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Wow, I haven't heard of the scorpion case before. :oh: This is more of a problem with the S@H service than with actual Lego products though.

Not just S@H, since there were problems with delivering to retail stores in addition to direct consumers, but yes, this was an error in distribution rather than in product directly.

The color issue in the instructions is well known. [...] Have you noticed this in recent sets? This was very annoying around 2005 and 2006, but it seems to have improved since then.

Yes, most definitely. As noted in the above post, try looking at the new Carousel set released a few weeks ago, and look at the blue and dark blue in the instruction booklet. As for whether or not it's improved since 2005/2006, I certainly haven't noticed an improvement. Do you have any examples of instruction booklets where the printed colors of dark grey, etc, can be contrasted, and later instructions appear better? I DO admit that I've gotten better about interpreting their colors, but I've assumed that it's been more about my experience with the poorer quality printing rather than the print quality improving.

I don't have a direct example offhand, but there are other color printing issues as well that still abound. My LSO worked in print publishing and frequently has a lot of insight into these types of things. One annoying one in particular is that occasionally, sets have multiple instruction booklets, but the printing colors are DIFFERENT between those booklets. It's particularly noticeable on the front covers, where (for example) one is distinctly lighter than the other.

This printing inconsistencies and variations in brightness go back well into the 80s, if I'm understanding you correctly. I still see this today, but it's a lot better than it once used to be.

This thread on Classic-Castle pretty explicitly illustrates the problem:

http://www.classic-castle.com/forum/viewto...f=2&t=17650

As I noted earlier, a conversation with a Lego rep in early July went something like this: (I don't remember the exact quotes):

- "We've been able to reduce our cost quite a bit, now that some entire sets are produced in China, like the refrigerator magnet sets".

- "Does that include the manufacturing of the minifig elements rather than just the assembly and packaging?"

- "That entire product is basically now made in China."

So, I didn't get a direct answer (probably because he wasn't sure of the specifics). But in combination with the post on C-C (which was oddly enough 2 days after I talked to the Lego rep), I would suspect that certain molding and printing is getting done in separate locations, and yielding separate results.

DaveE

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Yes, most definitely. As noted in the above post, try looking at the new Carousel set released a few weeks ago, and look at the blue and dark blue in the instruction booklet. As for whether or not it's improved since 2005/2006, I certainly haven't noticed an improvement. Do you have any examples of instruction booklets where the printed colors of dark grey, etc, can be contrasted, and later instructions appear better? I DO admit that I've gotten better about interpreting their colors, but I've assumed that it's been more about my experience with the poorer quality printing rather than the print quality improving.

I don't have a direct example offhand, but there are other color printing issues as well that still abound. My LSO worked in print publishing and frequently has a lot of insight into these types of things. One annoying one in particular is that occasionally, sets have multiple instruction booklets, but the printing colors are DIFFERENT between those booklets. It's particularly noticeable on the front covers, where (for example) one is distinctly lighter than the other.

The worst case I've encountered was 8421 (2005), in which multiple shades of dark gray were often used on the same page. There were places where one dark gray piece was indistinguishable from black in one step and the exact same part in the next step (already placed on the model) looked closer to light gray. Many other sets around that time had similar issues. The black and dark gray were still close in my 8275 (2008 copy), but the shades at least seemed to be consistent throughout the instructions and I didn't notice anything quite as blatant there.

However, you may be right that we are simply getting more accustomed to it. I don't actually have many recent sets where two colors could be easily mixed up, but from what you're saying this is still an issue. I will update the first post.

This thread on Classic-Castle pretty explicitly illustrates the problem:

http://www.classic-castle.com/forum/viewto...f=2&t=17650

As I noted earlier, a conversation with a Lego rep in early July went something like this: (I don't remember the exact quotes):

- "We've been able to reduce our cost quite a bit, now that some entire sets are produced in China, like the refrigerator magnet sets".

- "Does that include the manufacturing of the minifig elements rather than just the assembly and packaging?"

- "That entire product is basically now made in China."

So, I didn't get a direct answer (probably because he wasn't sure of the specifics). But in combination with the post on C-C (which was oddly enough 2 days after I talked to the Lego rep), I would suspect that certain molding and printing is getting done in separate locations, and yielding separate results.

Thanks for the link. That looks exactly like the problem in the 80s. From the arm notches, it's obvious that those minifigs are being produced at a different factory.

I see that some people there are encountering the color issue too, similar to the classic space torso Svelte posted about. The torsos I have gotten in recent (non-exclusive) sets have looked good, in contrast to the situation a year ago when every torso in the affected colors was translucent. Maybe these Chinese factories still have problems that have been fixed in the other production plants.

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I am so glad I found this forum! I have been pulling my hair out because I have not been able to find anyone having the same quality issue with Lego that I am having. Minifigures cracking and splitting like crazy. Back before Christmas 08, I began to purchase newer Lego sets having built up a collection of late 80s early 90s stuff. For my son I bought the Speed Racer sets and Agent sets. By May 09, all Speed Racer minifig heads had cracked and split. All Agent torsos and one head had cracked, at the back where the legs go in, and on the sides right above where the legs go in, and at the wrists where the hands go in.

For myself (and for display only) I had purchased the Robin Scuba Jet and Penguin sub set. Robins torso has now cracked. The Penguin torso has cracked. Many of the white elements of the sub have begun to crack.

I purchased three Indiana Jones sets: Motorcycle escape, river raid, and the Jungle Cutter (can't fully recall set names off hand) All soldier minifigures have developed torso, head, and wrist cracks. Many of the dark green elements of the Jungle Cutter have cracked.

Now most recently, I acquired (I guess I should have learned my lesson) Space Police Squidman's escape-Squidman began to crack after two weeks.

I bought the new 9.99 Agent set-both minifigures have now cracked at the torso. Two Powerminer sets, both have light grey elements including cheeseblocks which have cracked and split.

I began to contact families in the area that I knew collected Lego, and have them look at their lego. Sure enough, they found lots of cracking, mostly with the newest Clone BattlePack figures.

I emailed the Lego company and they said to send in the faulty parts for replacement. I did that, about 2 weeks ago, but have heard nothing yet. And who is to say the replacement parts won't just crack again? Is anyone on the forums here seeing this same issue?

I have minifigures from my first Lego castle, the one from 1984-85, and they have no stress, cracking, or any other issues. I can't believe that Lego can position itself has a high quality, usually high cost, brand, and then release shoddy product that cant hold up for more than a month.

Is anyone else running into this? Thanks!

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I began to contact families in the area that I knew collected Lego, and have them look at their lego. Sure enough, they found lots of cracking, mostly with the newest Clone BattlePack figures.

I buy a lot of Lego, but it mostly sits unused, and I haven't noticed much cracking. There's been some, but not a lot-- certainly not as much as you describe. And it seems similar for other people in my area (specifically the Boston area). I know that things like humidity, light, and air conditions can affect the plastic differently, so I'm wondering if it could be that your particular area's weather is encouraging a higher rate of cracking? Further, you say you were contacting local families-- do you know if the cracking they experienced was in elements that they got use out of? For the most part, many adult hobbyists' individual Lego elements don't get as much usage as they would if in a child's collection.

DaveE

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Interesting point about the weather/lighting/etc. Display Legos that cracked were stored in a basement. Play Legos that cracked were in regular upstairs rooms. Other families that I contacted all stored their Lego in basements. As far as adult use versus kid use, all the clone battle packs with cracking were play legos-same with agents sets-but one family(my sister's family) had the ToysrUS exclusive Clone Wars Spider Droid,built only as a display item, and both clones, one of which I believe was an exclusive minifigure, had cracking on the arms and split heads.

Its just a stupid shame that expensive, seemingly durable toys (and collectors items, really, what with secondary market prices being what they are) are not made well enough to stand up to building play. Arrgh. Anyway, thanks for the food for thought.

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I am so glad I found this forum! I have been pulling my hair out because I have not been able to find anyone having the same quality issue with Lego that I am having. Minifigures cracking and splitting like crazy. Back before Christmas 08, I began to purchase newer Lego sets having built up a collection of late 80s early 90s stuff. For my son I bought the Speed Racer sets and Agent sets. By May 09, all Speed Racer minifig heads had cracked and split. All Agent torsos and one head had cracked, at the back where the legs go in, and on the sides right above where the legs go in, and at the wrists where the hands go in.

For myself (and for display only) I had purchased the Robin Scuba Jet and Penguin sub set. Robins torso has now cracked. The Penguin torso has cracked. Many of the white elements of the sub have begun to crack.

I purchased three Indiana Jones sets: Motorcycle escape, river raid, and the Jungle Cutter (can't fully recall set names off hand) All soldier minifigures have developed torso, head, and wrist cracks. Many of the dark green elements of the Jungle Cutter have cracked.

Now most recently, I acquired (I guess I should have learned my lesson) Space Police Squidman's escape-Squidman began to crack after two weeks.

I bought the new 9.99 Agent set-both minifigures have now cracked at the torso. Two Powerminer sets, both have light grey elements including cheeseblocks which have cracked and split.

I would be interested to know where you live. Apart from unusual air or light conditions, which can certainly have an effect on such things, there is a possibility that sets (or portions of sets) sold in some countries are produced at different factories and have different issues. The minifig problems you describe sound much more severe than anything I've experienced or heard about, especially on the display models.

The torsos may crack after heavy use, although they certainly shouldn't go bad that quickly. I have a few broken torsos from the 80s when I was a kid, but modern torsos have extra supports inside and should in theory be less prone to it. On the other hand, I've never seen a cracked minifig head before. Where exactly are the crack(s) forming?

TLG has a replacement order form on their site and is pretty good about that. If you ask for something with a known problem, chances are the replacement will have the same issues, but the minifigs are not generally known to break.

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I live in Michigan. I wondered about that regional quality control issue myself. The two main suppliers of Lego in this area are two Target stores and one Toys r us.

The cracks in the heads form from the 'neck', where the torso stud goes in, up to, in some cases (Clone Battle Pack Gunner), close to the top of the head peg. Speed Racer figures split in the back of their heads. Clones, and one Russian soldier from Jungle Cutter, in the front of their heads, right through the face decal. I should have taken pictures before I shipped them off to Lego. However, I still have the newest cracked ones, Squidman, Agents, and the Powerminer, though none of them have head cracks (yet). I should snap some photos. Have you seen the cracks that form in the arms? These seem to be happening the most-my Henry Jones, Marion Ravenwood, and two out of four Indys got these almost right away-cracks right where the hands go in, or a slight distance further down the arm from there.

I did send the replacement stuff in to Lego, so I will be curious to see what, if anything, I get back. The Penguin and Robin minifigures seem like they would not be as easy to come by, just because of how Batman minifigs have such inflated values right now.

Thanks for your comments

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I'm not sure about the cracking, maybe your supply line is getting bad pieces/figs? All of my sets I have purchased recently (past couple years to present) haven't cracked yet and neither have my older sets except for a couple torsos (because I was taking off the arms the wrong way). I live in a relatively humid state in the Southeast where it gets pretty warm, so who knows.

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I live in Michigan. I wondered about that regional quality control issue myself. The two main suppliers of Lego in this area are two Target stores and one Toys r us.

The cracks in the heads form from the 'neck', where the torso stud goes in, up to, in some cases (Clone Battle Pack Gunner), close to the top of the head peg. Speed Racer figures split in the back of their heads. Clones, and one Russian soldier from Jungle Cutter, in the front of their heads, right through the face decal. I should have taken pictures before I shipped them off to Lego. However, I still have the newest cracked ones, Squidman, Agents, and the Powerminer, though none of them have head cracks (yet). I should snap some photos. Have you seen the cracks that form in the arms? These seem to be happening the most-my Henry Jones, Marion Ravenwood, and two out of four Indys got these almost right away-cracks right where the hands go in, or a slight distance further down the arm from there.

I did send the replacement stuff in to Lego, so I will be curious to see what, if anything, I get back. The Penguin and Robin minifigures seem like they would not be as easy to come by, just because of how Batman minifigs have such inflated values right now.

Thanks for your comments

If you are in Michigan, I guess that isn't the issue. I'm pretty sure the Lego distribution in the US is all done from the same locations. The only other thing that comes to mind is possibly cold temperatures in your basement.

Pictures of these problems would be very useful. The head cracks sound especially strange because the head plastic is fairly deep on the sides, thicker than most other types of bricks. As for arm cracks, I've seen them before but like the torsos they are limited to heavily used and worn minifigs in my experience.

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I recieved my replacement parts from Lego yesterday. Since I sent them the cracked ones, I do not have items to take pictures of when it comes to the head cracks (yet), but I still have the cracked torsos of the newest agents and space police sets. If you want pictures. Lego replaced all the items except, oddly, the Henry Jones minifigure and one Russian soldier. I received 21 minifigures back, having sent in 23. I was surprised to get a Robin and Penguin minfigure, as these are not around for purchase anymore. I assembled the minifigures and set them up on a baseplate to watch and see what happens. If headcracks show, I will post a picture.

I can't imagine that I and a few other families in the area are the only ones who have experienced this. I will be interested to see if more accounts come out from disgruntled Lego fans.

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I have been trying to sort and sift through the mountains of bricks in my bedroom lately, and I've been sorting them all by color and minifig parts. There are a few odd things I have come across, though.

There are a few colors where the majority of the bricks of that color vary in shades and hues, like how dark they are compared to parts of the 'exact same' color. For example, some of these colors include Reddish Brown, (rarely) Yellow, Dark Red, etc.

Then I got to minifigs, from brand new sets I just opened. Pirate sets, in particular, have had issues with minifig arms being a rather dark shade of yellow, where the attached hands are a neon yellow, almost matching the heads.

Is color quality going down here? Is there some sort of issue with mixing colors in the factory? Has anybody else noticed this, or do you care? Too many questions? :grin:

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I added some more observations on the oxygen-sensitive bricks. I've found that smoky air accelerates (maybe causes) this effect, and it may be present in MISB sets that were stored in such conditions. I had seen this in a 6395 set a few months ago, and now see it again in a 6989 set.

I paid far less than the typical MISB prices on these sets so I'm happy with them, but this is something to keep in mind for people who buy old sets off ebay and BL like me. If the box is unopened but looks grimy and discolored, bagged pieces in the set may have this problem, although the ones stored in sealed "featured parts" trays will be unaffected. It should be possible to reverse the effect using H2O2 as described here, although I haven't tried this myself yet.

Edited by CP5670

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