Lets talk color vomit

[sirslayer]

well,if black and light blue gray are the lightest but from my experience. i have broken more light blue gray pieces then any other color.. black is lighter and even the black axles are thinner but i haven't broken any black parts .. yet!!  I have also broken the dark gray axles before. That was from rock climbing my models and anything can go bad from bad design or pushing the limits. I can safley say that rocks and fire are Lego's worst enemy      

 

note: I do build my moc with the weight of the colors in mind and I do believe the color I use can make my models more durable by using heavy colors for off road out doors use vs lighter weighted colors for display only 

Edited May 24, 2018 by sirslayer

[Bublehead]

Thanks for the info @sirslayer, I swear light grey or lbg are a poor choice for connectors, and that TLG has been paying that price for a long time now.  At first I think the colors were chosen more as a neutral color than as a strong plastic.  I too have broken more of these pieces than any other and I wonder if the new colors have anything to do with improving durability or strength, and possibly why some parts never get their color matrix filled in?

[sirslayer]

I would think why some parts are color dependent because the density of curtain heavy colors can act like a heat sink also.. i know i will be hitting foul balls when i state this.... I think the density of dark gray acts like a heat sink and helps the light gray axles and lighter weighted color gears and axles to take advantage to lose heat from the dark gray differential housing..  thats just my theory  !! and the color of legos and their weight is not documented 

[thatrabidhobo]

2 hours ago, Omikron said:

Don't forget about colorblind people, there's lots of them. I think different colors of parts may help them.

Is there actually somebody here to comment on this? 

[pictures cut]

Note the beige and yellow parts

I’m what’s called borderline colorblind which means deficient in just certain colors/shades of colors. In your pics the red/beige is obvious to me but I dont see a difference in the yellow.

When we are talking specifically about LEGO pieces I always had a hard time with old Instructions that didn’t print in vibrant enough colors. I got good at guessing what was needed but often made mistakes.

Modern print and the color scheme to differentiate pieces is a big deal to me and I suspect to my son, too.

Btw not only are men much more likely to be color deficient than women but the average woman can see more color than the average man. 

[jrx]

11 hours ago, Omikron said:

Don't forget about colorblind people, there's lots of them. I think different colors of parts may help them.

Is there actually somebody here to comment on this? 

If you're colorblind, more colors won't help as you can't see them. Let me quote from Wikipedia:

Quote

Achromatopsia (ACHM), also known as total color blindness, is a medical syndrome […] it typically refers to an autosomal recessive congenital color vision condition, the inability to perceive color and to achieve satisfactory visual acuity at high light levels (typically exterior daylight). The syndrome is also present in an incomplete form which is more properly defined as dyschromatopsia. It is estimated to affect 1 in 40,000 live births worldwide.

I'm partly colorblind but fortunately can tell apart most Lego colors in daylight or bright light. I've real problems when dealing with all these different shades of blue or green or all these color shades of system bricks – mostly when light is weak.

[Omikron]

1 hour ago, jrx said:

If you're colorblind, more colors won't help as you can't see them. Let me quote from Wikipedia:

Achromatopsia is a rare extreme case when there are no colors at all so it's not an adequate example to represent all color blindness disorders.

It is like telling that blind people represent all vision disorders

Edited May 24, 2018 by Omikron

[jrx]

@Omikron My point was: More colors doesn't help colorblind people at all not regarding the level of disorder.

[Omikron]

Just now, jrx said:

@Omikron My point was: More colors doesn't help colorblind people at all not regarding the level of disorder.

If they replaced blue part with yellow, red or beige - isn't it easier to spot it?

[Johnny1360]

I quite often mistake dark blue for black, when it come to following the instructions. It's the instruction book that throws me off not the actual brick and usually with 1x1 and 1x2 plates. 

I'm sure it's a condition from getting older so most likely don't have an issue with it. 

Edited May 24, 2018 by Johnny1360

[jrx]

@Omikron That's an interesting question. I'm answering from my perspective. Other (partly) colorblinds may "see" this in another way. If they replace blue with yellow it's clearly better to tell apart. But I don't think that's the problem. The problem is introducing shades of colors i.e. all the different shades of blue. Also to tell apart tan - beige - yellow can be a problem if light is not good enough. For me i.e. it's hard to grab a 1x1 plate in white when light blue parts are next to it. Then I have to look very closely. 

[thatrabidhobo]

1 hour ago, Johnny1360 said:

 It's the instruction book that throws me off not the actual brick and usually with 1x1 and 1x2 plates. 

Yeah, the smaller the pieces the more difficult it is. In college I had to drop out of a electronics class because I couldn’t read the little color coding stripes on resisters, mostly due to blues and I completely couldn’t tell the difference between orange and red. All the different orange and red 1x1 lights give me hell. 

[Omikron]

I know it's mostly unrelated but have you guys tried colorblind glasses? They became popular couple of years ago. The company is called Enchroma. The technology is really simple, no electronics and eye implants . It just helps separate the light in such a way that it doesn't make couples of photo receptors report the same info to the brain.  

Edited May 24, 2018 by Omikron

[dr_spock]

How does this look with the colorbind glasses? 

Wasn't Technic originally about function over form?

 

13 hours ago, sirslayer said:

I would think why some parts are color dependent because the density of curtain heavy colors can act like a heat sink also.. i know i will be hitting foul balls when i state this.... I think the density of dark gray acts like a heat sink and helps the light gray axles and lighter weighted color gears and axles to take advantage to lose heat from the dark gray differential housing..  thats just my theory  !! and the color of legos and their weight is not documented 

Thank you for the weight information.  Makes me wonder if they color black with carbon since it is cheap, light weight,  and readily available.  I engrave LEGO and haven't noticed any difference milling black versus dark bley.

 

 

[thatrabidhobo]

47 minutes ago, Omikron said:

I know it's mostly unrelated but have you guys tried colorblind glasses? 

Looked into it, but didn’t try it since they don’t work for all situations and didn’t really need them for daily life or work. 

Plus, I’m married, not allowed to make color decisions anyway. 

[Omikron]

Just now, thatrabidhobo said:

Plus, I’m married, not allowed to make color decisions anyway. 

If you don't bring "wife's permission form no 17b" in 2 copies, signed by hand, the store won't sell you paint, wallpaper, etc..

[jrx]

Similar to @thatrabidhobo: I don't need these glasses in daily live. Also I learned to live with it and to recognize colors correctly. I'll make errors with colors only when light is bad and I'm in hurry or not focussed. And I won't tell who decides color at home 

53 minutes ago, dr_spock said:

How does this look with the colorbind glasses? 

Don't know, but without it's cruel  That's the advantage of Lego Technic: You can tell the color apart very well (until now).

[bombcar]

Interesting quote from the Technic interview in the latest Hispabrick magazine (#030), page 59++:

Quote

What changes is the approach; your standards change so much, the way you build and think, how you combine different elements and the way you introduce different element colours in the volume of the set. When you are an AFOL, you are not restricted by any rules, so you can build a whole model in a single colour and don’t have to worry about anyone being able to recreate it after you. When you become a Technic designer, you have to take care of those people who want to build it after you design it. You need to make sure they get the best possible build and play experience. For example, they shouldn’t need to spend a lot of time trying to find an element and end up not finishing the model because they couldn’t find it. They should really enjoy what they are doing and what you were passionate about when you designed the set. Different rules apply and you have to learn loads of them. The standards for stability are also very different. As an AFOL, you sometimes arrange bits so they look nice in a photo, but when you grab the model, it might fall apart. This cannot happen with a LEGO® Technic model. The model needs to be playable, sturdy and functional after repeated use.

In the past LEGO (and other toys, even old video games) didn't have much "competition" so children were more dedicated to figuring it out; I suspect that's not the case anymore (at least before they become fans of the toy itself), so "first time experiences" have to be good.

Quote

The LEGO® Technic product line isn’t targeted just at adult fans. We are mostly here for the kids, and this is what appeals to them right now. If you have a vehicle that is called Extreme Adventure then it should really be extreme – in colours, functions and everything. That’s why we picked a colour in which we only had a few parts in the past. With the introduction of the purple panels in the Race Kart (42048) last year, this was a logical step to follow up. And this is what we tend to do: if we launch a set in a particular colour you can pretty much expect the same elements to be used later on and also additional elements in the same colour. That’s what happened with the Hot Rod (42022) in 2014. You got a few light blue panels. Then those were used on the Street Motorcycle (42036) in 2015 and this year there have been plenty of recolours in light blue in the Air Race Jet (42066). We tend to not waste what we started when it comes to new elements, so sooner or later you might see the wheel arches in different colours as well.

...

We received a number of calls where people were missing 7 or 9 module axles in a build and the other length had extra spares. This is because people tend to mix them up. That’s why the decision was made that you can have two colours to choose from to make things easier for the designers and for the target consumers.

 

Edited May 24, 2018 by bombcar

[ctx1769]

I have enough spare lime to replace the green so I can build 42008 as well ?. 

I have decided to replace colours if I have the technic parts so I can build classic kits as well. 

Edited May 24, 2018 by ctx1769

[Wolf_Zipp]

My comment about the Color vomit:

About Axles:

I can good live with the red 2L/ lbg / black axles who shows the lenght., The dbg and dark tan with stop and tan .

But why other Colors like red / yellow / reddish Brown  with same lenght and friction ? 

About Pins:

The different Colors are good to differ with friction or without fr.

QUOTE:

" the red and yellow axles will help to build a big model with 2500 parts "

OK , but the compactor 42071 has only 171 parts and contain

1 x black 4 L ; 2 x yellow 5 L ; 1 x red 6 L ; 3 x lbg 7 L and some dbg 4 L .

PLEASE , why red and yellow axles ??

I feel , TLG made them in red and yellow , and throw it in every set !

 

About the models :

TLG make sets for Kids , not for AFOLs ; OK

I feel they make the color vomit in Technic like the Color vomit in CHIMA and NINJAGO . what the Kids know and like !

But they should not Forget us Afols wich buy about 20 - 30 % of sets.

 

[jrx]

Don't throw stones: I like the axles in yellow and red. So I can use them better in yellow and red MOCs :) 

@Wolf_Zipp: Regarding the pins I disagree. Would like to get the pins with friction in some more colors to blend with the rest of the MOC. I.e.: As far as possible (and payable) I try to avoid blue pins when visible.

[Bublehead]

According to several designer video interviews, and even my own brief chat with one, the rules are many to learn and keep track of. The primary focus for TLG is their core play experience for the child, and part identification during the build is a frustration pinch point.  The same parts (axles, pins, stops) in different colors may be that way because the red ones are needed to differentiate parts in step 10 to 15 but way later in the build this same part can get confused with another red part so they use grey or yellow at step 127 in the build. Color selection may be determined by WHEN in the build it needs to be found and used. Also, looking for a single part in a sea of 2500 parts and not finding it is a common trigger that makes a child give up and abandon the build and reject the toy. This is a big fail factor for TLG and a lot of the effort (to the point of having a whole different group within TLG to do this!) including the vomit, instruction steps and build sequence deal with avoiding this trap. Numbered bags are also part of this philosophy and are incorporated sometimes to help push the age range of a more complex set into a lower age group. Numbered bags are for the kids, not AFOLs. So if you ever wondered why numbered bags are in set A but are not in set B, you now know one possible reason why.

35 minutes ago, Wolf_Zipp said:

Afols wich buy about 20 - 30 % of sets

Actually 90% of Lego is purchased by grandmothers (and parents) 

[sirslayer]

I was able to build the Lego set 8860 when i was 10 years old and i was all ready building and painting plastic models and so was many of my peers . I guess Lego would be incline to towards beginners/intro to construction and engineering. and produce larger audience. Imagine (reputation)  is everything today and it was kind a embarrassing when I bought the 42075 at the local toy store and the clerk ask me if it was a gift to a boy!! No, it was for me!! Now I can see why Best Buy an electronic/appliance sells the 42075!! The store is geared for more of the mature crowd.  

[eric87]

Best Buy sells technic sets?

[sirslayer]

@eric87 , yup!!

.Victorville, California 

[Johnny1360]

1 hour ago, sirslayer said:

Imagine (reputation)  is everything today and it was kind a embarrassing when I bought the 42075 at the local toy store and the clerk ask me if it was a gift to a boy!! No, it was for me!!

That really made me laugh, everytime I buy LEGO the clerk says "would you like a gift receipt with that sir".