Propeller 1 Blade 16L with Axle

[Corydoras]

I have an issue with a part commobly found in Ninjago sets:

http://www.bricklink...tem.asp?P=98135

All of these blades are bent when out of the box. They are quite flexible, however. Are we supposed to straighten them ourselves? Or are they supposed to be bent like that? Sometimes it provides a nice and aesthetically pleasing effect (f. ex. in 9443 Rattlecopter), but in other sets, like 9448 Samurai Mech and the Golden Dragon, it looks kind of weird. I carefully examined the boxes for these sets, as well as all the promotional photos, and it seems the blades are supposed to be straight.

One of the blades from my Rattlecopter somehow straightened itself when stored in a box, packed tightly with lots of other pieces. This makes me wonder: is the piece damaged or not? I've bent it again, but I'm not sure I should have done it.

Edited April 25, 2013 by Corydoras

[Speedza-Demon]

That's normal, I believe they are supposed to be bent to some degree, atleast from the ones I own. Some tend to be more bent than others, though.

[Corydoras]

Yeah, they are all bent, but the question is: do we have to straighten them to make the models look like they should look like? Or is a straightened blade considered damaged?

[DraikNova]

I've found that if you repeatedly bend it back slightly it doesn't help at all, but if you then just leave them alone for a while, they'll straighten out by themselves.

[Aanchir]

Yeah, they are all bent, but the question is: do we have to straighten them to make the models look like they should look like? Or is a straightened blade considered damaged?

No, it wouldn't be considered damaged to straighten one back out. They're not bent when they come out of the molds, but once they're out they fall into large bins where they pile up on top of each other, which can cause some to become bent. It happens to many similar weapon parts. If the parts straighten themselves out or you are able to straighten them out by repeatedly bending them the opposite direction, more power to you.

[Corydoras]

They're not bent when they come out of the molds, but once they're out they fall into large bins where they pile up on top of each other, which can cause some to become bent. It happens to many similar weapon parts.

Interesting, didn't know that. Is it a confirmed fact?

[DraikNova]

I think so. Some factory rapport or other.

[Aanchir]

Interesting, didn't know that. Is it a confirmed fact?

Yep. Front (An engineer with The LEGO Group) confirmed it in this post, though he also mentioned the possibility of the parts bending during packing. So there are a number of stages where this could have happened; the main idea though is that the parts come out of the mold straight and only later become deformed.

Front was referring to a different weapon piece but the same principle applies.