Where do Rare/HTF Parts come from?

[Lord Of Pies]

Your welcome. :-)

[Starwars4J]

Ah, should've known. Didn't know that was a rare piece, got several lying around somewhere.

It's not that it's a rare piece (it's not, they're still readily available on BL), it's that they haven't been made in a long time! Pirate enthusiasts have nothing to outfit their figs with! A similar call would have been made for most castle helms and visors had the '07 line not come around ;-)

[der seb]

is this also a rare part?

http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Junsier/...onky_wookie.jpg

http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Junsier/...ky_wookie_2.jpg

[Starwars4J]

is this also a rare part?

http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Junsier/...onky_wookie.jpg

http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Junsier/...ky_wookie_2.jpg

Well it isn't a rare piece by itself, what's rare is that it's a misprint :-P

[Turaga of Force]

Wow, that's strange... printed on the back... O.o

[Lt. Col. Thok]

Tehe! A wonky wookie!

I am actually the proud owner of a misprint mask - although those are more common....

Wow...555. I feel special.

Edited October 28, 2007 by Lt. Col. Thok

[der seb]

Well it isn't a rare piece by itself, what's rare is that it's a misprint :-P

Yes, that's what I wanted to know.

[Piranha]

Will do, as soon as I can find it.

I collect them, though not as prolifically as Ash yet. I'm always looking for parts though and will gladly accept PM'd offers.

He's been a good seller who I've had solid experiences with so far. That said, he just jacked his prices on a lot of parts, so I'm glad I picked up most of his rare stuff already.

Ah Hah, ImperialShadows!!

I knew the thread you found was not the first!

The thread you found was also more about bricks that come out strange.

Also this topic must be old if I talk about the ice cube tray topic in it

This thread was more about rare and special bricks and of all things I had many posts in it, but yet I couldn't find it when I was searching for it again

Not only that you also have commented in this topic

The misprints topic did not answer my question about the origins of rare stuff.

I went a searching and this topic answered them.

Why the bump? Because this topic is more special parts oriented.

Also I wanted to show everyone a picture of a Red Spruce Tree (not mine)

But Brick-shelf isn't working for me right now

[Dreamweb]

Hi there, just a quick question: I came across this picture on brickshelf, it was singed "special and rare pieces" or something like that.

The question is about this yellow "head". Is it really such a rare piece? Because I've had exactly the same piece for years and never thought it was special. And BTW, what set does it come from? I must've gotten it in a large pile of used bricks once.

Thanks!

[Bobskink]

I have lots of these heads, but the rest seems prety rare, probably tests.

http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?S=200-1

[Dreamweb]

Thanks, so I was right, it's not rare, just old. Too bad I don't have any hair for this head.

[Piranha]

Those parts caught my eye!!

Particularly the utensils and the red cowboy hat.

In all my collecting and searching for rare part colors I have never seen those before.

I guess this means I am an amateur

[B-Lister]

I dig the red Topper.

we need a Lego Bowler/Derby

[RoxYourBlox]

I have a couple thoughts that have been nagging at me for the past few months and would be interested to hear your opinions (and to gauge if my suspicions are not unfounded). Without further ado:

1) Where do "Rare / HTF" bricks originate that had not been issued as part of a set?

2) Are AFOLs reluctant to share instructions / files of MOCs?

[Fallenangel]

To answer your first question, I believe they mostly come from special LEGO events (e.g. conventions). Your second question really depends on the MOCer. There are several factors to take into consideration, plagiarism being among the most critical. I've heard many an MOCer express his/her disappointment upon finding their work passed off as someone else's or used without their permission.

[Ralph_S]

I have a couple thoughts that have been nagging at me for the past few months and would be interested to hear your opinions (and to gauge if my suspicions are not unfounded). Without further ado:

1) Where do "Rare / HTF" bricks originate that had not been issued as part of a set?

2) Are AFOLs reluctant to share instructions / files of MOCs?

The HTF parts are typically items produced for LEGOLand parks. Their models are built with the same shape of parts, but they can get them in unusual colours. I usually get mine through bricklink.

I can only give you my own view on instructions or files of MOCs, as somebody who gets asked for them frequently and who almost always gives 'no' as a reply. I'm not reluctant to share instructions or files. I usually don't have any, because I normally don't make instructions. I obviously don't need them myself, and making instructions is an awful lot of work and is not something I enjoy doing. I'd rather spend the time that I have for my hobby on building new stuff. I suspect it is not different for many other builders that you might encounter.

Cheers,

Ralph

[CopMike]

I have a couple thoughts that have been nagging at me for the past few months and would be interested to hear your opinions (and to gauge if my suspicions are not unfounded). Without further ado:

1) Where do "Rare / HTF" bricks originate that had not been issued as part of a set?

Parts in Red are usually molding test parts, like the Darth Vader helmet:

Parts in other colors usually comes from the Legoland Parks Model Builder shop, where the builders work to maintain and create the models in the parks. For that they used to be able to order any part in any color, but that changed quite a bit when the parks were sold to Merlin. Example of such parts are:

and

[Zeya]

You will occasionally read about someone molding their own pieces. I've seen threads like that get locked down quickly, and rightfully so. If someone's doing that, they can conceivably mix their own colors. Those situations are probably pretty easy to spot, at least in person. It's hard to fake the logo and part identifier, I imagine.

Another thing I saw somewhere is that people sometimes will take a printing off a piece and act like it's a rare defect, trying to sell it at a high price. You can remove printings with some kind of chemical and I'm sure that's very easy to do. So beware of that case. Don't buy a plain minifig torso or something with only a back printing; good chance it's a fake.

And there was a case recently where parts got leaked on an asian ebay-like website and were actually up for sale. These were collectible minifigure parts, and were available way before the release. They were obviously smuggled out of the factory. I believe in that case they were not prototypes, so it's not that exciting today. But conceivably if TLG doesn't lock that down, there could theoretically be prototype parts that make it out of a factory.

But as for legitimate unreleased parts, I've also seen really hardcore Lego geeks end up with them. I suspect they have connections with Legoland park people or even in Billund. For instance, there are people who make it a hobby to collect every color of 3001 (two by four brick) and even the rare/unreleased colors such as trial bricks to test out translucent colors. In other cases they are simply really rare or old parts, sometimes for sets that even TLG has "forgot" about. Some of them were made by Samsonite for a brief period in the 60s or 70s and only sold in Canada (iirc), for example. Situations like that.

[brickmack]

2) Are AFOLs reluctant to share instructions / files of MOCs?

Well, personally I don't mind sharing instructions, although I only occasionally do it unless somebody requests it, since to make the instructions I have to take the MOC apart to see how I put it together, and it takes a long time (Normally about 2 days in LDD for an average MOC).

[Ralph_S]

But as for legitimate unreleased parts, I've also seen really hardcore Lego geeks end up with them. I suspect they have connections with Legoland park people or even in Billund. For instance, there are people who make it a hobby to collect every color of 3001 (two by four brick) and even the rare/unreleased colors such as trial bricks to test out translucent colors. In other cases they are simply really rare or old parts, sometimes for sets that even TLG has "forgot" about. Some of them were made by Samsonite for a brief period in the 60s or 70s and only sold in Canada (iirc), for example. Situations like that.

I don't collect 'HTF' parts for the sake of having them, I use them in MOCs. It's not unusual for me to be thinking about building something, figuring out what parts to use for some element of it, to then come to the conclusion that the part in question in the colour I want has never been produced for a set. If I only need a few and they're not overly expensive on BL I'll probably buy them. There also are some parts that I'm always looking for: trans clear jumper plates for instance. Those tend to be expensive, but whenever I'm buying something from a seller, I always check whether they perhaps have a few. Lots of small orders combined makes big quantities.

Sometimes you get lucky. Legoland Windsor at one point bought a whole load of pearlescent grey parts because they intended to build several Boeing 747s in Virgin Atlantic colours. The project never happened and they sold off a fair bit of the stuff. It was mixed in with other bits in rummage boxes in one of the stores in the park a few years ago and I picked up quite a lot of it. They are parts not even listed on bricklink.

Cheers,

Ralph

Edited January 12, 2012 by Ralph_S

[Piranha]

hmm there was a long topic on this sometime ago, Copmike has it right, I love collecting "special" parts myself.

[davee123]

1) Where do "Rare / HTF" bricks originate that had not been issued as part of a set?

As stated above, many sources.

A) Test molds. When LEGO is developing a new element, they do test runs (typically in red, if it's a solid-color ABS part) to make sure that the mold behaves as expected. These test parts then can make their way through employees and out to fans through various means.

B) Test batches. Internal groups, like set designers, can get parts in non-standard colors for the purposes of making a sample product. I could be wrong, but I don't think these are typically done in standard production facilities. The runs are therefore much smaller, and not as high quality, but again make their way out to fans through employees.

C) Internal part runs. Internal departments like LEGOLAND theme parks and model shops can order available parts in non-standard colors (although it's supposedly frowned upon for the model shop). So they'll order (let's say) a bunch of headlight bricks in Dark Tan, and can get a run of these done (maybe 50K or so parts? That's just a wild guess at a number). And again, the leftovers of these parts can make their way out of the parks and shops and into the hands of AFOLs.

D) Special events. Some elements (usually unique printings) are made especially for a particular event, like a store opening, a LEGO gathering, or a promotion. Typically, these are standard elements, just with a different print-- they don't often use non-production elements for these, although I believe it's been known to happen.

E) Forgery! Pretty rare to see this in my experience, but it happens.

2) Are AFOLs reluctant to share instructions / files of MOCs?

As stated, I would expect most fans just aren't interested in bothering to come up with instructions. Personally, it probably takes me twice as long (if not FAR longer) to make instructions as it does to make the MOC. So there's just no incentive to go making instructions for people who might want them, unless you're feeling really generous, or if you want them for some other reason.

Some people ARE concerned about plagiarism, but I think they're usually less common. I don't think too many people are denying instructions for that purpose, but it's certainly possible that some are.

DaveE

[Modulex Guy]

2) Are AFOLs reluctant to share instructions / files of MOCs?

Its more of an inconvenience and a chore to make instructions. I do not have the time to make instructions for my MOCs and sometimes the builds are to complex to put down on paper. For example, some of my cars are ridiculously fragile and have weird configurations of jumpers, clips, and angling bricks to achieve the look.

[The Blue Brick]

Yeah, if only I had the money to buy all the rare parts in the colors my heart desires. My friend does have a couple of them though that he purchased off of Bricklink. I was jealous when he showed me his moc that had them. I was in awe.

[CopMike]

Sometimes you get lucky. Legoland Windsor at one point bought a whole load of pearlescent grey parts because they intended to build several Boeing 747s in Virgin Atlantic colours. The project never happened and they sold off a fair bit of the stuff. It was mixed in with other bits in rummage boxes in one of the stores in the park a few years ago and I picked up quite a lot of it. They are parts not even listed on bricklink.

Cheers,

Ralph

Well, there´s a large model of the nose part of a 747 in the park:

Pics by KimT

The color was Pearl Light Grey and it was sold in the PaB also in the park. KimT bought a lot of 2x4´s and made himself a pyramid helmet, sorry no picture of that !