When combining 2 lego sets together. Are the extra parts in each fair game?

[Takanuinuva]

So say you want to combine 2 official lego sets to make a moc from them.

But for example you only have an odd number of 1x1 plates and needed one more.

Would you use the extra one the set comes with? Do you count those parts as part of the set?

Since they aren't used in the build and only come in case you lose parts.

I do wonder if Lego employees who made combiners counted the extra parts.

 

 

[TeriXeri]

Officially, extra parts aren't listed in catalogs by LEGO themselves.

I know other sites like Rebrickable or Bricklink mostly do list extra parts, but sometimes a set can contain extras that might not be listed.

Personally when I build a set, I put the extra parts with the rest of the loose parts, and not keep them with the set.

And if I'd combine a set and share a MOC with instructions or something, I'd probably not count the spare parts as the set either.

Of course for personal use, spare parts are fair game.

It gets more complicated when it's something like a 3-in-1 set and you build an alternate build first. but even then,  I'd still consider the spare parts are a seperate category from the rest of the set's leftovers.

Edited July 9, 2020 by TeriXeri

[MAB]

7 hours ago, Takanuinuva said:

 

Would you use the extra one the set comes with? Do you count those parts as part of the set?

So long as you say you are using the extra parts that come with a set, there is no problem with that.

 

[Lyichir]

For official combination models, no. Lego includes extras of small parts due to the very real possibility that smaller parts in a set might accidentally be omitted without tripping a weight check that verifies the completeness of each set that is produced. As such, the inventoried parts (not including extras) are the only ones that they can truly guarantee that a given copy of the set will include.

But for a fan creation... it's up to you. As long as it's not for a contest or challenge that specifically dictates that extra parts are not allowed to be used, it's up to your own personal discretion. Like with Lego's official combination models, you may individually choose not to use extra parts if the intention is for other fans with the set to be able to build it, but ultimately like with most MOCs the only real rules are the ones you set for yourself.

[ShaydDeGrai]

The "problem" with including the spare parts is that it might not be a _reliable_ source for anyone else trying to reproduce your work.

Spare parts come in two varieties, intended spares and incidental extras.  I base this conclusion on the fact that I've bought multiple copies (say 6 or more) of certain sets from time to time and found that every copy of the set had a certain group of redundant parts, but some copies had a few unique extras not found in the others and occasionally one set only had the "extras" that were common to all the other copies.

I _suspect_ (just a theory, never confirmed it with any official source) for exceptionally small/light and or fragile pieces (like the polycarbonate visors for minifig helmets) that they just include extras because doling out a spare is a lot cheaper than having to replace it after the fact through their service department should it be missing or damaged in transit.  

Also, when putting together an assembly line for a kit, the release engineers need to figure out which filling stations are going to used to fill each bag.  Different stations are calibrated to handle different ranges of part sizes (a machine optimized to handle 6w diameter wheel hubs going into a big bag might also be able to process 8w windshields or large Technic turntables, but is ill-suited for counting ski poles going into a tiny bag) and sometimes the "optimum" machine isn't available but the next closest will work if you configure it to drop a couple parts at a time rather than one (because one part alone is too light for the machine's sensors).  So the economy of logistics says its cheaper to ship an extra part than to go to the expense of getting extra equipment to optimize the packaging process for this one production run.  

Logistic practicality and planned redundancy probably accounts for the "uniform" extras for a given set.

For the _random_ extras, it's probably just that, random.  The way filling stations work (in general, not Lego specific), a bag comes in, it gets weighed, one (or more) pieces are dropped into the bag until it has gained some specified amount of weight and then the bag moves on to the next filling station.  Since the criteria for being "done" is "bag weighs _at least_ X milligrams more than it did when we started" the machines effective err on the side of "an extra is okay but one short is not."  For larger parts, it's fairly easy to configure a machine to drop parts one at a time  and check against weight changes after each, but for small parts, it's entirely possible that it might accidentally drop two at a time before tripping the weight limiter.  There's no facility for removing the extra once it's in the bag, so you get a random extra that can't really be predicted on an official inventory of the set.

 

[TeriXeri]

3 hours ago, ShaydDeGrai said:

The "problem" with including the spare parts is that it might not be a _reliable_ source for anyone else trying to reproduce your work.

This is what I basicly meant, for published MOCs/rebuilds from sets, it's not very logical to include spare parts as it's harder to reproduce.

Also I doubt spares are always included when buying used sets (where people manually put the parts in bags), especially older ones with less data.

 

 

Now, as for extras, after having built many new boxed sets, there certainly is a pattern in what pieces are consistently included as extras, but even then it's not always 100% guaranteed.

Something like a Magazine gift never includes extras in it's small bag, where normal polybags actually do.

Also noticed some really small parts sometimes get 2 extras, at least according to bricklink, sets after 2018 get 2 extra instead of 1 of this part : 

Edited July 10, 2020 by TeriXeri