Cracks/fractures in new LEGO

[puddleglum]

I've been seeing this a lot lately, especially with cheese slopes. Anybody else had this problem? All the parts are from 4996 Beach House:

[CP5670]

That looks pretty bad. The headlight brick is known to develop a crack around that spot over time (which doesn't seem to affect its gripping power), but I haven't seen anything as bad as the one in your picture.

[Peppermint_M]

Poor you! I have only had this with my very vintage Lego, and even then its only after they get stuck under a storage box/trodden on.

However lots of people have been mentioning cracking plastic before, so you aren't the first and probably wont be the last.

[Fluyt]

I also have a fair amount of (new) cracked bricks, they easily crack, even when put together once (most are normal bricks, not cheese slopes). I don't nearly have the same amount of troubles with my older bricks, LEGO quality and quality-control are really lacking the last few years.

This is one of the reasons I don't buy a lot of new sets anymore.

[brickzone]

It's highly variable - I've had below par new bricks, and perfectly good ones (with the advantage of being easily separable for example).

I wouldn't hesitate to contact Lego about matters like this - at the very least it is presumably useful for them to have feedback that provides as much details as possible on situations where there are problems.

[CP5670]

(with the advantage of being easily separable for example)

I don't think this is really an advantage of the current bricks, since it also makes models more flimsy. In fact, there are a number of assemblies that appear in old 80s/90s sets which worked great back then, but wouldn't hold up so well if they were made of the modern type of pieces (especially the plates).

[JINZONINGEN73]

This is one of the reasons I don't buy a lot of new sets anymore.

Honestly, 2008 was a HORRENDOUS year for Bionicle, as far as quality control went.

I am buying sets again though, and it's not because Lego's pumped up the awesome so highly this year.

Here's why...

A man who works on Lego's website told me that they were altering things, that 2009's plastic should be better and will continue to get better as the years pass.

I think he's right. The 2009 sets I've bought, though containing some identical parts from last year, are NOT breaking like the other ones.

So yeah, even though there are some issues going on here, I imagine they're weeding out the reserves of their junk plastic as they switch to better materials.

Don't anyone hesitate to use the customer service button on their site to reorder replacements.

As for those 1x1 slopes... man. Those things DO like to crack.

I have trans dark blue ones from an ambulance set a few years back... I look at them on a moc I forgot I built, and like EVERY one has splits and fractures in them!

They weren't like that when I took'em out of the box nor when I put them on my moc... so it's like they "shrank" or something.

Sad sad sad. And weird.

Then there's the glow in the dark pieces. YIKES. I have like 100 of those 1x1 plates with the tooth... all I did was take them and make a tall stack. Same thing. I came back to it a few days ago after not looking at it for a year or two... to find many fault lines going through them.

[CP5670]

A man who works on Lego's website told me that they were altering things, that 2009's plastic should be better and will continue to get better as the years pass.

I've heard the same thing and am looking forward to buying sets regularly again. I only bought a handful of sets during the last two years, ones that I thought were simply too good to pass up.

I have not actually had much trouble with cracking pieces like this, but the color problem has put me off from buying anything. I want to minimize the quantity of those "new" colors in my collection. The worst part is that Bricklink stores are also loaded with the recent bricks by now, so my MOCing has also been severely affected.

I have a couple of the recent city vehicles, including the ambulance you mentioned, but the 1x1 slopes on them look fine. The sets have just been on display though.

[DarthPineapple]

I have several white highlight pieces with cracks around that place, but I have never seen a cheese slope with cracks. If you have not used these pieces very much you might be able to get some replacements from Lego.com

[puddleglum]

I have several white highlight pieces with cracks around that place, but I have never seen a cheese slope with cracks. If you have not used these pieces very much you might be able to get some replacements from Lego.com

Oh I definitely requested replacements. It's just unsettling, since a) I don't do QC on every little 1x1 bit I get in a set, and b) some sets I buy for parts and don't ever even build, so it could be that by the time I noticed something like this, the part is OOP. But at least that probably is not going to be the case with cheese slopes.

[NewRight]

I have noticed this with my cheese slopes from the new sets as well.

All I can think to do is come in contact with LEGO and possibly ask for new bricks in the process.

[Millacol88]

I've had this problem with the headlight bricks, but never cheese slopes. Although they do seem like the type of brick liable to crack. When this happens, just get new ones from customer service and hope they really are stepping up the quality control. That's really all you can do.

[prateek]

a lot of my cheese slopes are like that from cool cars

[Orion]

I just got the King's Castle Siege for Christmas, and this is happening to most of my greys. They're starting to crack at the bottom, and slowly the cracks are growing. I can't get replacements thought because I'm in a different country where the mail service is..... lacking, at best. It really stinks, since I'm one of those people that can't stop noticing these types of things. This is also happening to some SNOT and minifig torsos I have. Doesn't stop me from playing though!