New lifevest piece?

[lightningtiger]

I say error in the design, I like the look of the front of the vests, but I too would trim the inner so the head fits better.

Someone at Lego screwed up that's for sure.

[Aanchir]

the code is 97895

Okay, good. With such a radical redesign, I'm glad it gets a new part number. Some more minor redesigns keep the old part number, pretty effectively ending any possibility of the older ones appearing in sets. Examples include the new flames without the side-pins, which are still 6126 just like the old ones, or the new square-hilt-guard ninja swords, which are still 30173.

The ninja swords are a slight aversion in that octagonal-hilt-guard ones still exist in sets (specifically the Ninjago spinner sets), but these are in fact not the "classic" ninja swords but rather an earlier, less obvious redesign from the collectible minifigures that was assigned a new part number (88420). Another ironic example is the minifigure head: many Ninjago heads in non-spinner sets are the new "stud recessed" variety (still classified as 3626), while to my knowledge this transition doesn't extend to the Ninjago spinner sets (not sure what the part number for Chinese-made minifigure heads is).

The first series of collectible minifigures, as far as I am aware, had new molds and new part numbers for all of the pieces it included, and any Chinese-made parts for which a Collectible Minifigures version was introduced will include the collectible minfigure version-- thus, the Ninjago spinners use the collectible minifigure version of the minifigure heads, torsos, and legs, and swords. The different also have different element IDs, so Kai's head in the spinner sets is 4613390 and his head in other sets is 4611424. Collectible minifigures after Series 2 started using older part numbers without any hesitation, so for instance the Samurai's armor is still the classic variety.

But anyway, I got sidetracked a bit. My point is that the life jacket being a new part number may mean the old one can still be re-introduced to sets in the future if TLG decided an overall change to the new one wasn't favorable.

[Jargo]

Hmm, my 4642 fishing boat arrived this morning with three of this new piece. I'm not impressed. Back to the drawing board please Lego. I can't modify with a Dremel as there's not enough plastic at the back of the neck attachment. I must just say I'm not against the idea of part replacement with contemporary design but only if it's an improvement.

[Mr. Elijah Timms]

Lego's quality control is usually SO strong-- hard to imagine that this happened, let alone how or why!! They look nice enough from the front, but that head assembly issue is unacceptable.

I've had my fishing boat since July, so it had the old vests... but I had a jet ski polybag in my hand yesterday (didn't get it), and I neglected to it to see which ones were in there.

[Aanchir]

Lego's quality control is usually SO strong-- hard to imagine that this happened, let alone how or why!! They look nice enough from the front, but that head assembly issue is unacceptable.

I've had my fishing boat since July, so it had the old vests... but I had a jet ski polybag in my hand yesterday (didn't get it), and I neglected to it to see which ones were in there.

Well, it's not really a quality control issue, more of a design issue. Granted, the poor design could be considered bad quality, but not really in the way quality control would be concerned with.

Not sure if I've mentioned it, but another thing that bothers me about this new mold, besides the neck problem, is the overall shape. I like the more detailed texture of this new one, but on certain torsos like the female one shown in WhiteFang's post, the more "rectangular" life vest's failure to match up with the more "trapezoidal" minifigure torso makes it look like the belt just stops at the edges of the life vest rather than going around the waist. Many other torso accessories have been designed with more care regarding that, such as most suits of armor.

I can't remember the last time I've been so disappointed in a new part that replaced an older one. Instances like the ninja swords and flames were minor changes that never really impacted me negatively. But this is a much more significantly different design than the one it replaces, so it's a real downer that there are so many flaws to this new version and no flaws in the old version that necessitated such a change.