[Quality Issue] Metallic Silver Crownie Helmet fading extremely fast

[funkybrick]

Hi,

two days ago I noticed that the two crownie helmets of my 10193 Medieval Marketplace are already quite faded (the smooth metallic silver surface on the top, not the textured part), even though I have assembled it only about 3 months ago?

And even the helmets from my 7094 King's Castle Siege (which is a great set by the way) which I assembled THREE DAYS AGO are already beginning to wear out/fade/degrade... and the same as with the MMV: it's just the smooth upper part of the helmet (I think).

Anyone experiencing the same issue? That's annoying.

Cheers,

funkybrick

[Ye Olde Pirate]

Hey Funnybrick,

I haven't noticed a problem, but then again I'm not surprised: TLC has a history of sometimes using cheap plastic. My big problem is the pink torsos on some of the kingdom guys.

God Bless.

Edited November 8, 2010 by Ye Olde Pirate

[CMP]

I've had most of my Crownies for 2 years, none of them are faded in the slightest. It might just be bad luck with bad plastic.

[Artanis I]

What a shame! Have they been in the sun, bright light or UV? That's about all I can think of, other than bleach. I keep my Lego in a room without direct sunlight, and I don't light the room up much.

[Darth Yogi]

I got the chess set with Crownies way back, and all their helmets are fine, but they have either been in a closet, or in their box so it may be that they are fading from sunlight. Sorry about your problem

[metalandi]

Are they beeing touched often and in the light a lot? I have my king's castle siege on my shelf since 3 years now and there hasn't faded anything at all.

[funkybrick]

Thanks for your replies.

Well they have been touched quite rarely actually.

Sunlight does come into the room they are displayed in through big windows but not that much (ground/first floor) and I can't imagine the sunlight having so much more effect on the metallic silver helmets than on all the other pieces?

It's strange. I'll post pics if I find time.

Cheers

[Corydoras]

I know what you mean. I noticed one of my helmets (have five of them) is also slightly faded, which is strange, because it wasn't exposed to sunlight, but stored in plastic bags and locked in a cupboard along with the other four.

[funkybrick]

Ah nice to have someone who understands my suffering

Edited November 9, 2010 by funkybrick

[BrickArtist]

Hmmmm, it might of been exposed to something that caused it to deteriorate. mine have been beaten in bins and they are still fine, all my crownies are pretty much like new, sorry about the problem though. Low quality legos are a let down

[BearHeart]

I'd like to see pictures of what exactly you mean by 'fading'. I did notice fading/chipping on one of the Kingdoms helmets but that was on only one of the 30+ metalic helmets I have so I just shrugged it off.

I figured it was caused by the part rubbing up against something or hitting something and chipping. The problem might be that the paint isn't sticking correctly to the plastic and any small touch is causing it to rub off. I doubt that its from sunlight because like you said, you only had the pieces out for a short period of time which is the case with me too.

[Aanchir]

Hey Funnybrick,

I haven't noticed a problem, but then again I'm not surprised: TLC has a history of sometimes using cheap plastic. My big problem is the pink torsos on some of the kingdom guys.

God Bless.

You do realize that print issues have nothing to do with plastic quality?

Anyway, I'm curious what could have caused this as well. The only issues I've ever had with parts "fading" or wearing away were a) having chrome parts wear away when I was very young and couldn't keep from putting parts in my mouth, and b) having the face of a Patrick Star minifigure from the Spongebob theme wear away from being in my pocket.

I haven't had any such problems with metallic silver parts, but then again I haven't collected Fantasy-Era Castle or Kingdoms sets. My experience with Metallic Silver (official name seems to be 128 Cool Silver drum lacquered) is from the Agents theme, where I didn't experience any problems and in fact admired the color's durability and resistance to scratching or rubbing away.

What's the temperature like where you've been keeping these sets? Perhaps that might have something to do with it.

Pictures would indeed be nice, if you can manage it.

[BearHeart]

Hey Funnybrick,

I haven't noticed a problem, but then again I'm not surprised: TLC has a history of sometimes using cheap plastic. My big problem is the pink torsos on some of the kingdom guys.

God Bless.

You can contact LEGO customer service and have them replace your pink torsos.

[Etzel]

There have been some reports of metallic printing wearing off in a very rapid and unusual way before. For example, the gold printings on Russian Soldiers from Indiana Jones, gold printing on Redcoats from Pirate, bronze and silver printing on the Troll Shaman from 7097 (that I've got my own proof of). I don't remember exactly where I read about these problems so unless you search yourself you'll have to take my word for it. This is however the first time I've heard of the problem regarding a helmet, but I strongly believes it is the same.

From what I've learned it has nothing to do with factors like sunlight, touching the minifigs, temperature or such-like. It's obviously some problem related to the printing colour, and from what I know only the metallic ones. It got nothing to do with the so-called "cheap plastic" or "chinese minifigs" since this problem can be reported from themes and minifigs that has nothing to do with those phenomena. It might be so that this problem has been found amongst those too but that's nothing I've heard of or experienced myself. The problem doesn't seem to be very common, but it has been reported from various areas and sources.

My suggestion for you is to contact LEGO's customer service and ask for a new helmet. I think you will get one, and LEGO will be notified once more about the problem.

[funkybrick]

Thanks for all your replies! I'll contact the customer service :)

Aaand I'm taking pics tomorrow if I get my digicam working.

funkybrick