Thick vs thin base plates

[brickmeistro]

I was going through some old lego I had bought in a couple of job lots and noticed some smaller base plates which were much thicker than the plates you get nowadays.

Would anyone be able to let me know the reason or possible reason Lego stopped making thicker base plates? And if they actually ever made thick base plates in really large sizes?

Just curious!

[Nantucketdink]

The 8x16 and 10x20 bricks are the biggest square ish thick baseplates (technically bricks) I can think of.  There are also some big quarter round pieces...12x12 and 16x16.  I really like these huge bricks.   Once they are 3 plates high they qualify as a brick

[brickmeistro]

Yes, those are the ones I'm referring to! The base plates we can get now are so flimsy, I think I'd have to stack 2-3 just to get a sturdy base. It would be awesome if Lego could make base plates with brick-thickness!

And speaking of these, are the large brick base plates available nowadays? I looked into the pick a brick, but couldn't locate any.

[Tron Of Black]

They're probably not available directly from Lego anymore. According to Bricklink, the 8x16 bricks last appeared in 2009 (in the Falling Water set, for example), so they still should be reasonably easy to get on Bricklink or similar.

[ReplicaOfLife]

Oddly enough, the 10 x 20 bricks seem to be very prone to breaking the older they get. I had two as a kid, only one survived to this day, and I aquired some more in used lots over the past few years, and most of them were broken right down the middle. I'd guess the reason is that there's barely any reinforcement underneath except for the edges.

But to be honest, for me I don't seem much use for large bricks anyway, except maybe for filler material. I'd rather have 16 1x8 bricks than one 8x16 brick.

[brickmeistro]

48 minutes ago, RogerSmith said:

Oddly enough, the 10 x 20 bricks seem to be very prone to breaking the older they get. I had two as a kid, only one survived to this day, and I aquired some more in used lots over the past few years, and most of them were broken right down the middle. I'd guess the reason is that there's barely any reinforcement underneath except for the edges.

But to be honest, for me I don't seem much use for large bricks anyway, except maybe for filler material. I'd rather have 16 1x8 bricks than one 8x16 brick.

The pieces I found weren't the 10x20s. They were 4x12 and 8x16. Each has a grid of squares and stud holes, so plenty of reinforcement. Overall looks like a super sturdy brick, and I am sure it would make an awesome base plate if it was 32x32 or larger!

[zux]

What is "thick baseplate"? Topic name should probably be changed to "plates vs. large bricks".

[antp]

Author didn't know these "brick" baseplates were considered as large bricks rather than baseplates.

I suppose that Lego stopped them because they must be rather expensive to make, compared to the plates they currently use as base (same reason why they stopped classic baseplates for most of the sets, it seems).

They also made 12x24 in the late 90s it seems.

I don't know if they are especially fragile when built like bricks.

A few of the oldest ones I have (from the 60s, from my father's Lego bricks) have broken edges indeed, and seem more fragile. Those from when I was kid (80s) seem more solid, and same ABS as regular bricks, even if they did had tubes only on edges.

Edited December 26, 2017 by antp

[ReplicaOfLife]

22 hours ago, brickmeistro said:

The pieces I found weren't the 10x20s. They were 4x12 and 8x16. Each has a grid of squares and stud holes, so plenty of reinforcement. Overall looks like a super sturdy brick, and I am sure it would make an awesome base plate if it was 32x32 or larger!

Yep, those are really sturdy. I have some of them aswell, some of them (the smaller ones) even might still be in production. There's also at least one modified version of those, the 4x10 with cut corners:

 

The 10x20ies are far older. Apparently there are a number of different versions with different kinds of reinforcements on the underside. So far, I personally only came across two types, one of which has very limited reinforcement on the underside (I had two or three of these, all broken beyond repair):

I still have two of these, so I guess those were sturdier:

 

There also was a version with almost no reinforcement and not even the ring of bottom tubes around the border. Guess those wouldn't survive being stepped on or anything...

I'd argue that these in fact should be considered baseplates, even though they are one brick high, since you can only connect other bricks around the border on the underside (or not at all in the earliest version).

 

[mocbuild101]

On ‎26‎/‎12‎/‎2017 at 9:06 PM, RogerSmith said:

But to be honest, for me I don't seem much use for large bricks anyway

I've found that they are really useful for a MOC that needs a baseplate, but also needs to be perfectly square (no flexing). I actually use them a lot more than the normal baseplates, and I've also found that they seem to have a higher clutch-power than most other baseplates. 

Also, shouldn't we call these basebricks?

[splatman]

I find basebricks (That's what I call 'em) to be especially useful for multi-storey buildings and bridges. Any application where they will supported only along their edges or corners. All of mine have the grid with a tube in each cell.

[brickmeistro]

Thanks for all the information guys!

Looking at the parchment-like quality of base plates nowadays, I do wish Lego would make something even half a brick thick. Basebricks would be awesome, even if they cost 4 times as much as a baseplate. They would probably last decades longer!

[mocbuild101]

1 hour ago, brickmeistro said:

...even half a brick thick

There are the newer 16x16 baseplates - which have standard plate thickness: https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?id=97268#T=C

[Jchavoya]

My guess would be that they stopped producing thicker plates to cut costs. Less plastic means cheaper sets.

[Aanchir]

1 hour ago, Jchavoya said:

My guess would be that they stopped producing thicker plates to cut costs. Less plastic means cheaper sets.

Perhaps, but I think another big factor is that over time base bricks developed an association with the chunky, simplified builds of many late 90s sets, and LEGO wanted to move away from that reputation.

Also, of course, back in those days it was a choice between rugged base bricks or flimsier baseplates, but the introduction of new, bigger sizes of plate created a nice happy medium between the two.

[Grrr]

I think the key thing here is what surface you're building on. A wooden floor; table etc are fine for thin baseplates, normal baseplates, and even these giant bricks. However, if you're working on say carpet, the support isn't even underneath, and the moment you put pressure on to apply bricks say, the whole thing flexes - this is where traditional baseplates weren't so good as the pieces would pop off; but the old bricks, given enough pressure would snap, which is even worse.

Personally, I like the current trend for large plates. They're very useful when building raised terrain (as were the old bricks) and combine well with regular lego. I use the old green bricks in the same way.

[Steamdemon]

I have several thick base bricks that I designate as my 0-4-4-0ST locomotive display. I prefer the thick baseplates for shelf/bookshelf display. For displaying anywhere else, provided it's stable, I use the thin baseplates.

[Lyichir]

To be honest I don't see much advantage of the base bricks over the large plates used for most modern sets. In either case, they are less likely to flex or fail than the older baseplates—and in both cases, structural failures (if they occur) are more likely to do so where the plates/bricks are joined than in the center of the parts.

[Henchmen4Hire]

On 12/24/2017 at 4:21 PM, brickmeistro said:

The base plates we can get now are so flimsy, I think I'd have to stack 2-3 just to get a sturdy base. It would be awesome if Lego could make base plates with brick-thickness!

You can see the thin baseplates as a boon rather than a drawback too. Now instead of a thick bland base, builders have a thin blank slate on which they can design their own sturdy base, and load it up with detail without needing to take into account a thick base.

(Although, I think at that point you might as well just build your own sturdy bases with Technic beams and bricks and lay a big plate on top lol)

[LEGO Historian]

Spoiler

These 10x20 were the main general types of "baseplates", as they were known before the advent of the thin baseplates.

Left to right.... 1953-60, 1960-65, 1965-70, 1970-1990s.

They were available is some odd, as well as regular colors back in the 1950s....

Spoiler

 

Images from my Unofficial LEGO Sets/Parts Collectors Guide....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Opps.... I clicked on the spoiler option... don't know what happened to the icon for displaying images.  Just click on the 2 spoiler images to see the old 1950s-1990s 10x20 baseplates.

Edited January 4, 2018 by LEGO Historian

[brickmeistro]

On 04/01/2018 at 3:51 PM, LEGO Historian said:

Opps.... I clicked on the spoiler option... don't know what happened to the icon for displaying images.  Just click on the 2 spoiler images to see the old 1950s-1990s 10x20 baseplates.

Thanks for the images - it's fun discovering about lego history :)

On 04/01/2018 at 7:54 AM, Henchmen4Hire said:

You can see the thin baseplates as a boon rather than a drawback too. Now instead of a thick bland base, builders have a thin blank slate on which they can design their own sturdy base, and load it up with detail without needing to take into account a thick base.

(Although, I think at that point you might as well just build your own sturdy bases with Technic beams and bricks and lay a big plate on top lol)

That's a good idea... an MOC sturdy base plate... will make my builds sturdier during transport!

[splatman]

On 1/4/2018 at 7:51 AM, LEGO Historian said:

They were available is some odd, as well as regular colors back in the 1950s....

You forgot Watermelon Splat!

[knotian]

Check out the MILS and PennLug standards for a way to get really solid baseplates.