LEGO Shark Variations

[Brickscape]

I was just looking through my old LEGO sharks and noticed that there's a variation on the bottom side. I couldn't find anything about this variation on the usual reference sites. Was this a running change to the mold? Did all sharks get changed in a certain year? Can anyone shed any light on this difference?

Edited September 21, 2014 by Brickscape

[jodawill]

I don't have any of the new ones, but I just read the other day that the new one is easier to put on baseplates. (Whether that's true, I don't know. It doesn't look to me like there's any practical difference.)

[Lyichir]

I don't have any of the new ones, but I just read the other day that the new one is easier to put on baseplates. (Whether that's true, I don't know. It doesn't look to me like there's any practical difference.)

The NEWEST one is easier to put on baseplates, but both of these are older varieties. The newest one was introduced a year ago and has anti-studs along the whole bottom of the shark—in other words, you no longer have to prop the shark off a baseplate or other part with a 1x2 plate.

Of the two varieties here, I think the nose on the bottom one MIGHT be a more rounded variety that replaced the pointier one from the top one in 2010—but maybe not, since the bottom one seems to be old Dark Gray, which would mean the noses are the same and the bottom one is just at a bad angle. I don't know about the difference between their main bodies, either—apparently they went by the same ID number, and even Bricklink doesn't differentiate them despite clearly showing the variations in one of the alternate photos. So I don't have any other information on when any changes were made.

Edited September 21, 2014 by Lyichir

[jodawill]

The NEWEST one is easier to put on baseplates, but both of these are older varieties. The newest one was introduced a year ago and has anti-studs along the whole bottom of the shark—in other words, you no longer have to prop the shark off a baseplate or other part with a 1x2 plate.

Of the two varieties here, the nose on the bottom one replaced the pointier one from the top one in 2010. I don't know about the difference between their main bodies, though—apparently they went by the same ID number, and even Bricklink doesn't differentiate them despite clearly showing the variations in one of the alternate photos. So I don't have any other information to share on that front.

Is this the one that attaches to the baseplate better? http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=14518c01

[Brickscape]

Of the two varieties here, I think the nose on the bottom one MIGHT be a more rounded variety that replaced the pointier one from the top one in 2010—but maybe not, since the bottom one seems to be old Dark Gray, which would mean the noses are the same and the bottom one is just at a bad angle.

Yes, both the sharks in the photo are old dark gray with pointed noses and no gill slits.

[AmperZand]

Here's a pic I found some time ago showing the 'round' vs 'sharp' snout. I didn't take the pic and I don't know who did. Apologies to whoever's shot this is for the lack of credit.

[Lyichir]

Is this the one that attaches to the baseplate better? http://www.bricklink....asp?P=14518c01

Yup, it is. Odd that Bricklink doesn't include a picture of the underside, seeing as that's really a bigger difference than the gills. Here's a comparison pic my brother made, from when the new shark first appeared on LDD (before it even appeared in sets). As you can see, it's a lot easier to attach!

[jodawill]

Yup, it is. Odd that Bricklink doesn't include a picture of the underside, seeing as that's really a bigger difference than the gills. Here's a comparison pic my brother made, from when the new shark first appeared on LDD (before it even appeared in sets). As you can see, it's a lot easier to attach!

That's awesome. I've always wondered why they weren't made that way to begin with. The old mechanism doesn't seem particularly useful in any way.