LEGOLAND non-production parts

[C0zmic]

LEGOLAND pretty much always says that they use all the same parts selections available in LEGO sets and that any kid would have so that you could possibly "recreate" what you see in LEGOLAND parks. And don't make custom pieces for themselves to be true to LEGO.

I've been to the model shop in LLM and found out that they have 1x2 jumper plates in transclear, which by my research has never been released in a set or made known in public. I'm pretty sure that's not the only part they're keeping to themselves. But my question is, why does LEGOLAND say that the parts they use are completely same to what other people would have? Is LEGOLAND lying to us all?

Edited March 31, 2014 by C0zmic

[large88]

I think they refer to part shapes and not to part color. We have known for a while that Lego produces parts in rare, or not before seen, colors for model shops and Legoland parks.

Rarely those parts find their way to Bricklink stores, at absurd prices of course

Edited March 31, 2014 by large88

[C0zmic]

I never thought of it that way. Thanks for clearing my mind of this matter :)

[Vee]

I always found very suspicious that some BL sellers have these "rare" and NEW parts, parts with colors that were never released to the public. For me, it does not matter how they managed to get them, there is something fishy and very wrong about it.

[Blondie-Wan]

I always found very suspicious that some BL sellers have these "rare" and NEW parts, parts with colors that were never released to the public. For me, it does not matter how they managed to get them, there is something fishy and very wrong about it.

I find this post amusing coming from someone with your avatar.

[Herky]

For me, to find out LEGOLAND is not actually owned by Lego, that is what I found most disappointing after visiting, that and you couldn't get points on your VIP card when buying at the stores there

[Faefrost]

I always found very suspicious that some BL sellers have these "rare" and NEW parts, parts with colors that were never released to the public. For me, it does not matter how they managed to get them, there is something fishy and very wrong about it.

The model shops used to be able to order direct from the factory any part in any color in bulk. The relationship changed a bit when they went to Merlin, so not sure if they can still do that. They will also clear out and sell off unused parts stocks from time to time, especially if they are retiring a model that uses a lot of something rare to maintain. They will either do a friends and family sale or sell some really nice grab bags at the park store. It's these that make their way to Bricklink from time to time.

[dr_spock]

Aren't those parts called Q elements or something like that?

[DuckBricks]

I believe those are called "non-production parts" and while they are real LEGO, they were never released in a set. The book Space: Building the Future uses quite a few...

A post on New Elementary with a feature on those parts...

http://www.newelementary.com/2013/10/neo-elementary.html

[jodawill]

I love these kinds of threads. I'm sure the resident Lego historian is typing up a full essay at this very moment.

[C0zmic]

The Master Model Builder with us during the trip said that they could get a specific part made tailoring to their wants but costs around $1-3 a piece ( I forgot how much exactly). Well a few of us said: "Isn't that really really cheap?" He was like: "No. When you need lots of them, the price gets more expensive than you think."

[antp]

We have known for a while that Lego produces parts in rare, or not before seen, colors for model shops and Legoland parks.

It was even more obvious long time ago, I remember in the early 90s all the tan and medium blue used in Legoland park, when these colors wheren't existing at all in sets. And also some colors like green or brown which were quite rare in sets back then.

[1974]

I always found very suspicious that some BL sellers have these "rare" and NEW parts, parts with colors that were never released to the public. For me, it does not matter how they managed to get them, there is something fishy and very wrong about it.

That I find that very insulting!

I have thousands of 'off' colour parts (even parts in colours never released, like 'army' olive green (no not that chima thing)) and hundreds of non-production parts (probably the greatest collection outside TLG as far as I know) and I can assure you there's nothing 'fishy' about them or how I got them!

In fact, the way I got them is much closer to TLG than anything you have ever bought .. So, cool it with the accusations if you don't know what you're talking about

I know other sellers with large stocks of 'off' colour parts and there's nothing shady about them either. Don't you think TLG monitors BL? If you want to question anything, question TLG and their ways of doing business

Regarding the parks, TLG still owns the original one in Billund. I saw tan and sand green _decades_ there before they found their way into sets/parts. And there are still colours there that is not released

It's plastic folks, you can do just about anything with dead dinosaurs, you know ..

Ok, all that was just a tad negative, lemme lighten up the party with a nice part of mine you can go all 'ohhhh' about :

And since I'm feeling in a good mood tonight (thanx beer!), I'll let you see this nugget ...

These two are probably the most longed for SNOT bricks ever. They're are not a new thing, in fact they're about 15 years old. Way back then when we only had SNOT comming out of our noses, some smart TLG designer figured out these rather usefull bricks

Never made it into production though (and yes, they ARE genuine LEGO bricks (LEGO stamped inside, but no number), they come straight from Billund)

It's the plate with studs on both sides and the plate with inverted studs on both sides (<- for a lack of better term)

(Yes, I know it's not the best picture, but my son is rather happy 'bout these bricks and it's only pic I made so far, but look closely and you can figure it out)

Knock yerself out :

Cheers,

Ole

Edited April 1, 2014 by 1974

[Vee]

It may be insulting but it is what I think and you just made my point clearer to me since you offer no real explanation on the methods to getting these "special" colors from TLG.

I understand that you want to keep it safe, keep it secret, but while it is safe and secret, it will look fishy and suspicious to me, and I can't help it since I have no good info and reason to make me think otherwise.

[1974]

It may be insulting but it is what I think and you just made my point clearer to me since you offer no real explanation on the methods to getting these "special" colors from TLG.

I understand that you want to keep it safe, keep it secret, but while it is safe and secret, it will look fishy and suspicious to me, and I can't help it since I have no good info and reason to make me think otherwise.

I bought those parts straight from a TLG employee (no, I'm not gonna name him/her). What the bleedin' <censored> is fishy about that? You buy LEGO through a vast network of distribution and sales, no? I don't. Others don't either. That is the way TLG do business. Blame them, not me/us

I'd like you to retract that 'fishy' part. You have no basis to say that, okay?

[LEGO Historian]

OK... buying parts from an employee... hmmmm... not surprising, and not illegal. Unless the seller was not authorized to sell the parts... which would make it questionable...

As for finding rare parts... I put those into 2 areas.... 1) rare parts that have never been in a produced set... via the model shops... and 2) rare old parts that have been out of production for many years, and suddenly show up in some BL store in a huge quantity... and for unknown reasons.

The first type is what is being discussed here... we know that the LEGOLOANDs have been producing models for decades using colors and parts that didn't make it into regular sets. I know several collectors of old "Pat. Pend" LEGO parts from the 1960s... who have Pat. Pend bricks in green, gray, dark gray and tan. These had to have been from the model shops, which were used for old LEGOLAND models, which unfortunately have long ago been destroyed due to the weathering at the orginal LEGOLAND, which caused old models to be replace.

A case in point that I am familiar with was the 1x1 round bricks (hollow stud) in Maersk blue. These all originated from the Windsor model shop. I purchased a sizeable quantity from a UK BL shop 5 years ago, when I noticed that all the sellers at that time were from the UK. The seller told me these were from the Windsor model shop, but would not go into details.

Besides the LEGOLAND models... store display models also had parts that were never found in sets. In 1985 I was in a KMART store in St. Clair Shores Michigan (USA) which had a model of the Brussels Belgium Hotel de Ville (City Hall). The building was entirely built of tan LEGO bricks (not produced in a LEGO set until 1998), with a dark gray roof. At that time I knew that these were not found in LEGO sets.. and even felt a bit annoyed about that.

Another type of rare parts that can often be found in European BL shops, are rare old LEGO parts not produced in decades... suddenly showing up on BL in large quantities in only 1 store... One very glaring example was a few years ago when a Dutch BL seller had 100 1x2x2 black classic windows (very rare, only found in a few early 1980s train sets). These were selling for $10 each (well below the retail price at the time of about $20-$25). One buyer snatched up all 100 for $1000.

About 5 years ago I bought some very rare mint classic windows from a German seller... 100 of the 1x1x1 in yellow, 100 of the 1x2x1 in yellow, and 100 of the 1x1x2 in yellow... all of these were only found mainly in a few select 1970s train sets. I bought them for $1 each... which was about 1/3 of the going rate. I asked the German seller where he got them... well he never replied.

So where do these rare old parts that were in production come from? Very likely from the old replacement services inventory found in each European country. Perhaps at some point these parts are put into the distribution chain for circulation... or some other way to get to the secondary market.

So for both of these part types... model shop surplus... and spare parts service excess inventory.... how exactly do these get from TLG to the secondary market?? Having employees sell them is the obvious answer... how they did so is still the mystery...

(1974... nothing against you! You have opportunities that others are dying to have... no reason to feel angry or bad about other folks being jealous about that... it's human nature! )

Edited April 1, 2014 by LEGO Historian

[Legogal]

It is clear that TLG makes many parts not sold to the general public. I forgive them.

And will continue buying them on BL or wherever I can get them.

A BL seller in the UK recently sold me ten of my second most favorite Duplo gal (the gorgeous lady in the red dress,) and I am thrilled that he has over a hundred of them. From a very, very rare set (theatre Duplo), and personally I don't care where he got them.

Yup, life is not fair, but at least most of us have decent LEGO collections...not something 99.99 per cent of the world can say.

Let's just enjoy what we have, okay?

[1974]

Gerhard, my friend, I have said all I can say about this in public. What good would it do to anyone if I name the person? (Ok, TLG is probably monitoring this and I'll get black helicopters very soon, haha)

Zero, that is

What I can say, much so anyones speculation, I have NO special contact with TLG - at all! I just happened to run into this person selling bricks and struck up a friendship. I will _not_ give out any more details!

Thanx for another lecture, you are wasted doing this, you should have been a professor teaching archeology in a university!

I'll see if I can find some more funny pics if you like ...

[LEGO Historian]

Thanks my good friend Ole!

Just so that you know... I am just as jealous as everyone else... hehehe... I just have a better way of hiding it....

In years past, some parts that made it out of TLG were actually a blessing in disguise.

However these made it out of the company... these 1x1 round and 1x1 square prototype bricks without studs on top were never sold to the public. These rare circa 1955 prototypes were included at a later date (by a collector) to the period parts pack boxes of 1955 (they never had the prototypes in the packs). When I sent the folks at the Billund Archives/Collections this image... they had no record or examples of these rare bricks in Billund. So we are very fortunate that these somehow made it out of the company when they did... since so much of early LEGO items were likely destroyed!

And then there are these prototypes that likely never made it out of the company....

The infamous 12 spoke train wheels from the late 1960s. All the idea books of the late 1960s and early 1970s show models with the 12 spoke spoked wheels... but today NONE are known either in or outside of the factory....

Edited April 1, 2014 by LEGO Historian

[1974]

Pttff.. I have thousands of those wheels!

NOT, haha

Ok, give a few minutes and I'll upload a lotta neat parts

[1974]

Ok, here it goes :

Have fun!

A bit more :

Edited January 11, 2015 by 1974

[Vee]

Fishy definition as given by a Google search:

2.

informal

arousing feelings of doubt or suspicion.

I could not have used a better word. No retracting from me.

I am actually glad that these "unexplainable" parts exist in BL, and I may have even bought some of them (although I try my best to avoid them but sometimes... well... human weakness...) since it is the only way us mere mortals can have (very expensive) access to them but I still don't like what I see as a principle.

....Just so that you know... I am just as jealous as everyone else... hehehe... I just have a better way of hiding it....

I would never get jealous over a Lego thing, it is just not me.

There are much better reasons to get jealous although I don't remember the last time I got jealous.

Oh, no, I remember, when my wife, still as my girlfriend, a few decades ago, started what I thought getting interested in another man.

Fortunately, I was wrong..

[1974]

Oh, I forgot all my trans neon-green parts (CP5670 stay cool!) and some other stuff :

Including that nice military olive colour (t's an old brown plate next to it)

Fishy definition as given by a Google search:

Google all you want, I'm done with you

Edited April 1, 2014 by 1974

[dr_spock]

1974, nice parts. Now the question is what can you build with them.

[1974]

1974, nice parts. Now the question is what can you build with them.

Lots of things/MOCs, they're just bricks you know

I build mostly Classic Space (and some Castle/Train/Town stuff too), so there's a lot of neat parts there for me to MOC with

This is not an envy competition. I just wanted to let you nerds see those parts as I like to see similar parts myself

It's all cool. It's all LEGO. We like