4563 set with brick clutch issues

[SuperChiefer84]

Hey guys I just bought a used 4563 Load and Haul railroad off eBay and the set looked to be in excellent condition in the ad. When I got the set delivered I discovered pretty much every brick in the set especially the train bumpers/couplers and wheel set's stud clutch seemed extremely week and come apart if you look at them wrong. Is this common among older used 9v train sets? They are all original bricks in good condition so I'm torn whether to return or not. I did get an original unused sticker sheet, track, box, motor with all paperwork, and transformer too.

[deraven]

That's really not typical for any Lego, but if it was stored, assembled, in a bad environment it's possible the bricks were affected in such a way as to have them loose clutch power.  That's assuming they are genuine Lego, but with an older set like that I think it's fairly unlikely it's a counterfeit.

If it were me and the bricks were degraded to the point where they don't hold together well, the set has little value and the bricks won't be of much use elsewhere either, so I'd return it if you can.  Now, the sticker sheet and 9v components are the priciest items to replace, so if those came with this purchase and it wasn't outrageously expensive, it might be work keeping it for those items.

[SuperChiefer84]

Ok thanks for the reply. Yes, I paid about $160 for everything so I think I'm gonna keep it just for the items other than the bricks themselves. I haven't seen an unused 4563 sticker sheet in a while.

[Carefree_Dude]

a set stored in extreme heat for a long period of times may have bad bricks.

[SuperChiefer84]

15 hours ago, Goldenmasamune said:

a set stored in extreme heat for a long period of times may have bad bricks.

Yeah I bet that is what happened. The set came from the state of Georgia in United States which has a fairly hot temperature throughout the year. It was probably in an attic or something. 

Edited October 5, 2017 by SuperChiefer84