Lego and sunlight

[SMC]

Hi all I have my lego out on display, the room is north facing so no direct sunlight and I have the blinds closed but it has a very large window and the blinds still let light in so the room is not by any mean dark in fact I would say its bright even with the blinds closed. My question is should I worry about the lego becoming damaged or discoloured? Thanks for the help.

[VintageLegoEra]

Well there you GoP

1)- direct sunlight will reduce the life of the bricks in terms it will faster the discoloration.

2)- There is no harm if your set is displayed away from direct sun

3)- Be aware, Lego bricks will reduce their color by time even if you store them well. This is due to Bricks life span. But as i said, you can control as long as possible by: Avoiding direct sunlight, Humidity.

4)- I believe the bricks from 2009 are more durable from the 80's and 90's

5)- I have a NIB Vintage set, just opened it recently and compared the Color with the recent 2011 one and indeed, the vintage white bricks are getting little off-white. But i also do believe the new white bricks are brighter from the first releases back then.

Hope i was helpful!...:)

Regards

[AFOLguy1970]

It makes me wonder how often the Lego themeparks and places which have outdoor brick built exhibits such as the Lego Store in Downtown Disney have to replace their sculptures and update them. You would think they wouold get sun bleached in a hurry.

[Faefrost]

It makes me wonder how often the Lego themeparks and places which have outdoor brick built exhibits such as the Lego Store in Downtown Disney have to replace their sculptures and update them. You would think they wouold get sun bleached in a hurry.

I have always suspected that they might spray the sculptures with a protective clear coat to help prevent that. Plus the sculptures are pretty regularly serviced by the model shops to replace damaged and discolored bricks.. But yeah if you look at the outdoors models you can typically find a bit of UV discoloration.

[paul_delahaye]

I have always suspected that they might spray the sculptures with a protective clear coat to help prevent that. Plus the sculptures are pretty regularly serviced by the model shops to replace damaged and discolored bricks.. But yeah if you look at the outdoors models you can typically find a bit of UV discoloration.

A worker at Legoland Windsor once told me they sandblast the models which removes a thin layer of plastic, making them look brighter again, but they can only do this 2 / 3 times per model otherwise the bricks would disappear.

Not sure how true it is as the last time I visited Legoland Windsor, most of miniland looked quite tired. Shame as this is my favourite part of the park

[Wodanis]

I never heard that humidity could be a factor in the discolouration of bricks. So far my sets from the 80s or 90s are good as they were in a box out of direct sunlight. However my 1999 Star Wars sets on display were exposed to direct sunlight and I'd spend a fortune to replace the parts.

[rodiziorobs]

It makes me wonder how often the Lego themeparks and places which have outdoor brick built exhibits such as the Lego Store in Downtown Disney have to replace their sculptures and update them. You would think they wouold get sun bleached in a hurry.

I went to Legoland California a few months ago, and nearly everything in Miniland was in pretty rough shape--the models were still amazing to look at, but weather, sunlight, and in a few places, bird droppings had really taken a toll on everything. Bricks were all faded and peeling.

[BirdOPrey5]

4)- I believe the bricks from 2009 are more durable from the 80's and 90's

If that is true than the 2009 bricks must be indestructible as I recently came into a large collection of 80's/90's Lego stored in "less than ideal" conditions for a decade and they are in excellent shape and with near perfect colors.

Edited July 5, 2014 by BirdOPrey5

[VintageLegoEra]

If that is true than the 2009 bricks must be indestructible as I recently came into a large collection of 80's/90's Lego stored in "less than ideal" conditions for a decade and they are in excellent shape and with near perfect colors.

Well, even if you have a new white/grey bricks from 80s ~ 2006,,,try to put them beside the one from 2009/recent and you will notice the white differences ;)

i did this and noticed the purity of white in the 2009/recent compared to one from 80s/90s

Edited July 5, 2014 by VintageLegoEra

[SMC]

so is sunlight a problem or only direct sunlight?

[KringlesBricks]

....yea, the bricks looked super amazing being bright and colorful when Legoland Florida first opened - I went on the grand opening year. Now, three years later, the bricks look like crap and weathered, and yellowed, and white crap from the weather and sun in Florida.

But, anyways. Try to keep bricks away from direct sunlight and in mildew or high humidity areas of your home. It'll "age" the bricks quicker if so...turning them that nasty off-color.

Edited July 6, 2014 by KringlesBricks

[Ape Fight]

My question is should I worry about the lego becoming damaged or discoloured? Thanks for the help.

No. Life's too short : )

[AmperZand]

so is sunlight a problem or only direct sunlight?

I used to display my LEGO in a very similar set-up to yours: on shelves out of direct sunlight in a room with blinds covering the windows. I had them that way for a few years. My polar bear is certainly slightly creamy possibly as a result. I don't know if it would have gone creamy anyway, but I now keep my display in the dark as a precaution with no exposure to sunlight of any kind. I understand that even LEGO out of the box can discolour over time depending on the batch of ABS used because of the additives (or proportion of additives) in the mix.

[montgocloud]

It makes me wonder how often the Lego themeparks and places which have outdoor brick built exhibits such as the Lego Store in Downtown Disney have to replace their sculptures and update them. You would think they wouold get sun bleached in a hurry.

I talked with some of the employees at the park and apparently they actually put sunscreen on the models (who would've thought...)! They take in the models during the winter to repair the broken ones and replace the ones badly damaged by sunlight.

[AFOLguy1970]

So here is a different take on the Lego/sunlight issue and this relates to the thread on deliberately cutting Lego to use to your advantage. Has anyone actually tried to expose some bricks to the sun in order to try and "create" a different color? The thought has crossed my mind. On my MOC, I am thinking of doing some interior work, and one of the main colors really does not exist in Lego. The color I would like to achieve is in the photo below.

Lee County Courthouse by stevesheriw, on Flickr

As you can see, it is not really pink or red, it is sort of a salmon color. I wondered if perhaps exposing some ordinary red parts in the sun long enough would actually create something at least close to this color. Yeah, it sounds crazy, but neither red nor pink seem to be a decent substitute. So, has anyone tried to do something like this?

[cgarison]

I have seen a bunch of magenta slopes that were exposed to heat and florescent light (while the bricks were being sold in a pick a brick wall) that had turned to a pink/tan hue from the poor conditions due to both heat and light.

Also, I have a large pile of brick for a project that was the post 2006 white that turned tan from bromine oxidation and then the owner of the brick tried using Retro-Bright to fix the brick which worked for about 6 month before the ABS suffered from a "bloom" of oxidized molecules which turned the brick into a strange variation of tan. So you could experiment with some combinations of color and Retro-Bright to create the very bad "bloom" oxidized effect.

As far as 2009+ white brick vs. older white brick, I have seen lots of issues with all ages of the brick. It is natural for the fire retardants to oxidize with age and personally, it is rather hard to complete prevent that from happening. And I have seen far worse oxidation of white brick in environments that did not have any natural UV light and near perfect humidity/temperature than brick in my personal collection that was stored in less than optimal manor for 20+ years. In the end, my only words are " Your Mileage May Vary" (YMMV.)

[MinifigureHQ]

I have a collection of minifigures and brick plates that have decorated my computer screen for a couple years now, directly by the window. They still look as new and I've not put sunscreen on them ;)

[Navy Trooper Fenson]

Can we make this a thread about general yellowed pieces?

My 2008 Death Star has quite a number of yellowed pieces and some of my minifigures started yellowing as well. I heard of some ways to treat yellowed pieces but they all involve letting the pieces rest in sunlight for a few hours which is rather time consuming with 4000 pieces. Isn´t there something easier and faster like putting them in the washing machine? Of course I wouldn´t want to do that with the printed/stickered pieces or the figures but a rougher and fast way to de-yellow the bulk of my bricks would be appreciated.

[Sven F]

putting bricks in the washing machine (inside a tied up pillow case ) gets rid of dust and dirt, but it won't de-yellow them. You are quite safe to put printed pieces in too, just try to avoid those made of soft plastic (like pine trees, suspension bridge, old truck grills, walkie-talkie, etc..) as they get roughened, white edges from washing. I also don't wash transparent pieces as they are extremely sensitive to scratches.

[fred67]

I have a collection of minifigures and brick plates that have decorated my computer screen for a couple years now, directly by the window. They still look as new and I've not put sunscreen on them ;)

It's important to remember that it's not really sunlight causing the damage - just like with your skin, it's the UV light that is causing the damage. Many (especially newer) windows are treated to block UV light. Also, in response to some other posts above, you have to remember that ambient UV light coming in a window is just like ambient sunlight - it's incredibly reduced compared to direct light, you only get a small fraction.

Can we make this a thread about general yellowed pieces?

There are already threads about it, you should probably ask there.

Edited February 25, 2015 by fred67

[SMC]

Also, in response to some other posts above, you have to remember that ambient UV light coming in a window is just like ambient sunlight - it's incredibly reduced compared to direct light, you only get a small fraction.

This was my posted question, so my Lego should be ok for the most part?

[Khaled Yousef]

No, it won’t be OK; indirect UV is harmful to LEGO as well, not as well as direct sunlight of course, but it will affect your displayed items eventually, especially white parts, a couple of months on display will have its toll.

I also find that newer bricks are more durable than older ones, more scratch-resistant and shiny; I bet they resist discoloring better as well, but I won’t test them, when not being used for a MOC, I keep them in Ziploc baggies inside plastic containers inside wooden cabinets protected from direct or indirect sunlight or even florescent lighting.

I also keep the bins with white and clear parts in the back, hidden in an area I call “zero-exposure” and I only bring them out when I need them to build, photograph what I’ve built and take them apart as fast as possible and return them to their hideout… this hobby is tough.

[fred67]

Yeah... UV light is damaging. Unless you put a filter on the glass, it'll still affect your LEGO, just more slowly. So yes, it's not as bad, but it's still not great.

Fluorescent lights are bad, too. Stick with Incandescent or LED lighting.

[SMC]

Well everything seems ok after a year or so but who knows, I could lock it away but what fun would have be?

Edited February 25, 2015 by SMC

[Khaled Yousef]

Have anyone considered glass display containers with some sort of UV protection? Is there such thing? It might be the best option for long-term display in a moderately lit room.