CP5670

Lego Quality Reference

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I got the Winter Village Toy Shop at Christmas and it's been built once, never played with and just been on display ever since. I noticed today that 5 of the white cheese slopes have all got a crack up them. :sad:

I'm a bit nervous about going and checking my Tower Bridge (which has been built once, never played with and just been on display...but has been standing for a year).

Gutted.

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I have noticed that cheese slopes (mostly dark bley) on my bus MOCs have cracks of various degrees.

I have actually had at least one or 2 dark bley slopes break completly because of this. These MOCs have just been sitting there with no specific pressure put on the slopes.

All the evidence I have seen suggests that there is a specific weakness in this element. I wonder if LEGO can re-design either the element or the plastic formulation to make it stronger without making it less usable.

Also if anyone has any idea how to stop these parts breaking short of "dont keep things built" please speak up.

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I don't know if this is a quality issue or just my memory playing tricks on me.

I have a couple of treads from 7248 : Digger (Town). In my memory they were smooth to the touch. I just unpacked them from storage and they seem to be rough and 'dried out'. Now rubber tends to deteriorate over time but in this case I'm not sure whether it's my memory playing tricks on me or whether the treads did indeed deteriorate. There are no discernible cracks and the treads can be fitted properly....

Anyone have any ideas as to how the new treads looked and felt?

15x06mh.jpg

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All the evidence I have seen suggests that there is a specific weakness in this element. I wonder if LEGO can re-design either the element or the plastic formulation to make it stronger without making it less usable.

There is definitely a problem with that piece, given how many people have reported cracks in it now. It's strange how only some people seem to get them though. Mine are all just fine, even if they have been placed on models for many years. My best guess is that it's either related to the room temperature/humidity or limited to certain factories/geographic regions.

I have a couple of treads from 7248 : Digger (Town). In my memory they were smooth to the touch. I just unpacked them from storage and they seem to be rough and 'dried out'. Now rubber tends to deteriorate over time but in this case I'm not sure whether it's my memory playing tricks on me or whether the treads did indeed deteriorate. There are no discernible cracks and the treads can be fitted properly....

I see some differences on my treads too. Some are rougher than others. The rough ones were like that out of the box (late 90s sets opened in mid-2000s), but could have deteriorated into that state over time. This doesn't seem to affect their performance, however.

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Hello,

I had two 2x1 hinges holding a third, much larger piece as if they were one single hinge. The sides of the hinge broke as shown in these pics:

20062012535_resized.jpg

20062012536_resized.jpg

20062012537_resized.jpg

The pieces came originally with the Prehistoric creatures Creator set. Just two have broken, so I believe that the fact they were holding a bigger pieceon their own had some influence. Anyone else has hadthis problem with these peices?

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I too have had a severe cracking problem, but with a handful of 1x1 round translucent plates. They are splitting almost in half; the stud gripping part, separating from it's own stud, as shown. They are still useable, but only somewhat. The red ones have come from various city sets from roughly 2005 to 2011. A few others (not pictured) have cracked, but not separated and have been removed from my "useable" parts bin. I suppose these also might fall under poor plastic manufacture and/or brittle plastics default_sceptic.gifdefault_classic.gif

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This Christmas we got (a second) 7939 Cargo Train and 4437 Police Pursuit and almost all yellow parts in both sets have a noticeably lighter, thinner and more translucent shade with a dull and greenish tint than usual.

An old problem resurfacing again :cry_sad:

Later bought 10230 Mini Modulars, 4434 Tipper Truck and 4432 Garbage Truck.

Apparently almost all yellow parts in the 2012 sets seem to suffer from this :sceptic:

Updated!

Usual old'ish yellow left, new'ish yellow right.

IMG_0991.png

Thankfully, Jan Beyer has stated (in our LUGs forum) that LEGO is well aware of the problem (partly due to too little yellow dye being used and partly due to dual sourcing from two different dye suppliers) and that they are working on it :thumbup:

.

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I'd have to agree. How much does temperature vary on your room? Perhaps the cheese slopes are more vulnerable to changes in temperature than most pieces... But I can't think of a reason why that should be.

I keep it around 72-82F year round, so there isn't much variation. Prolonged hot temperatures (over several years) can cause bricks to expand and develop a stronger grip, which I've seen with some late 80s sets. Maybe the cracking cheese slopes are caused by something like this.

Thankfully, Jan Beyer has stated (in our LUGs forum) that LEGO is well aware of the problem (partly due to too little yellow dye being used and partly due to dual sourcing from two different dye suppliers) and that they are working on it :thumbup:

They told us the exact same thing with yellow four years ago, so I'm taking it with a huge grain of salt. Here is another picture from a few years ago. This effect is hard to see in a picture though since it varies a lot with the ambient light.

quality1.jpg

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Am trying to build Robie House over the long holiday weekend, and am running into some problems with horizontal scratches on all of the fourteen 1x8 black tiles that form the outer row of the base. Has anyone seen this problem in new sets? The scratches are about 2to3 studs long originating on both ends of the tiles almost in the middle. Will try to post a photo once I find my camera.

Also has anyone come up with a more substantial and solid plate base to keep it from twisting? Unfortunately all of my parts are at home; only the Robie kit came to the mountains with us, so it will remain unbuilt. I will call customer service next week to see if they can find me some tiles without scratches because these are placed on the outer row and are quite visible. Sad for a set that is priced at $200US.

The moral of this tale is to take at least three large sets to build if you have three days free. Meanwhile I get to help hubby build his many Faller N scale train buildings! Woohoo....

Edited by Legogal

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The Robie House was my second lego build, seems like it was well over a year ago. No problems during the build or afterwards. Maybe I have set the bar too low, but I just completed my 40th Lego project in the past couple of years. That encompasses over 50,000 pieces. I haven't had any quality issues.

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You guys, these are all new bricks (even if they don't look like it), can someone tell me if this is normal? I mean the bricks seem to be all over the place, there are even noticable gaps where you can look through!

1280x960.jpg

Here is another example:

1024x1365.jpg

Edited by datune

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I didn't see any posts about warped platforms and plates in this thread. Nearly every kit that I've bought in the past year has had all of its large platforms either moderately or severely warped. The worst two were Mines of Moria and the Orc Forge. I even requested new plates from TLG to replace the Orc Forge ones- they sent me replacements with no hassle or charge, but the ones they sent were just as bad! The warping was very light by comparison in the Orthanc I purchased, but still noticeable. The saving grace has been that, once the kit is assembled, the structure usually flattens out the platform and the warp isn't noticeable.

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Wow datune!! Those yellow bricks remind me of the old Cellulose Acetate bricks from 1950s and 1960s... even before they warped, they had this same type of non-exact fitting of the bricks. :sceptic:

As for any clear elements... remember they are made of Polycarbonate (instead of ABS), and are more brittle. So cracking of parts is not that unusual. 1x1 round clear bricks always seem to have issues with their bases showing cracks... so 1x1 round plates sound like they have the same problem... only on a 1x1 round plate, there's less holding it together than on 1x1 round bricks.

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I actually have the same problem as Trent. Also, I have noticed, like chelman, that my old treads (2003-2006 about) are very rough and seem to have some kind of dust on them that I can never get off.

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Sadly... this old 1967 Bayer Corporation ad explains why LEGO has so many color issues, and possibly a few cracking issues...

6141123342_7280d752eb_b_d.jpg

... and the reason is... because Bayer Corporation for 10 years now, no longer produces all the ABS plastic in the specific colors that TLG used to order... pre-colored as pellets.

And it wasn't just the colorization... but also issue such as the clutch power of the bricks (the specific mix of the ABS or Polycarbonate)...

Here are many different Bayer test bricks that were used for specific colors (most not even in production back when these tests were done... but also many of these bricks had different levels of additives to make them more or less brittle or elastic....

6184915119_8917481fa2_o_d.jpg

Images from my Dutch collector friend Michel (Maxx3001) as found in my LEGO Collectors Guide DVD/download chapters on LEGO Ads and LEGO Bricks.

Edited by LEGO Historian

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You guys, these are all new bricks (even if they don't look like it), can someone tell me if this is normal? I mean the bricks seem to be all over the place, there are even noticable gaps where you can look through!

This mostly happens when the top and bottom half of the mold are unaligned. You can spot this by putting the bricks together, then take them apart and rotate 180 degrees and try again. If there is a difference, they are unaligned.

In this case (like all others like it) I would contact LEGO Customer Service. Talk to a representative and ask for replacement bricks (all of the ones you belive are un-aligned). Offer to send a photo. This is the best way to get feedback into the quality department at the factory.

(However, don't confuse this with the fact that bricks are slightly tapered, otherwise they wouldn't come out of the mold. This taper will create a noticeable gap between bricks, so if you gently drag your nail from bottom to top of a stack you should feel a slight "catch" between each brick.)

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You guys, these are all new bricks (even if they don't look like it), can someone tell me if this is normal? I mean the bricks seem to be all over the place, there are even noticable gaps where you can look throug

There have always been slight variations in the dimensions of bricks and the exact locations of the studs on pieces, despite what TLG says about their tolerances. It's not ideal, but is normal. I can't tell in the picture if this is any worse than usual.

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When I bought my Fire Brigade, one of the parts (a 1x4 plate) looked as though it had been crushed as it was severely deformed. Although I was disappointed, I swapped it for a different one.

For Valentines day my wife got me a few City sets, in the auto transporter, one of the car chassis had gouges taken out of one of the studs & in the Valentines bear set, one of the 2x4 plates also had major gouges in the plate & one of the studs was so badly gouged it read "Ego!!"

What the hell is happening to the quality of Lego? For a company that for so many decades has prided itself on quality, I find the recent lack of quality both alarming & disappointing!

Anyone else found that they've received damaged parts in sets of late?

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I also have received mangled (and missing) parts in one of my sets; town square. To this day though it has been the only set I received with damage parts. Maybe i'm just lucky though...

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I've had tons of sets in 2013 and some parts, even in the same sets are pretty "cheap".

In the lion Chi temple for exemple, this part in yellow:

4460b.jpg?1

The sets has like 12 of it, and at least 4 are made of cheaper plastic. The slope slide has less texture, the stud looks soft and so on. While the other 8 are like they should. It's simple amazing how the same part, in the same set, can differ of so much quality...

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I've had tons of sets in 2013 and some parts, even in the same sets are pretty "cheap".

In the lion Chi temple for exemple, this part in yellow:

The sets has like 12 of it, and at least 4 are made of cheaper plastic. The slope slide has less texture, the stud looks soft and so on. While the other 8 are like they should. It's simple amazing how the same part, in the same set, can differ of so much quality...

Please stop saying cheap plastic when you don't mean it. You listed a number of legitimate issues with the part, but none of them have anything to do with the type or quality of plastic used. They're all molding issues. Blaming any and all part quality errors on the plastic quality is one of the most ridiculous memes in the AFOL community.

Edited by Lyichir

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I understand it might not be a plastic issue, but then how is the molding the cause?

I mean the part is about the same, maybe not the texture of the slope, but the rest is the same, except the color, which looks trans instead of solid opaque.

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