Lego Quality is Slipping

[WesternOutlaw]

As I was reading the review of the Cafe Corner, I was really surprised that Lego would include bricks of the same color, but in different shades. This is REALLY POOR quality.

In addition, I'm looking at the Jan-Feb Lego magazine that has a centerfold of the 7945 Fire Station (Page 11 for those of you who get this). I'm looking at pieces which support the garage noticing that the plastic is visibly lesser quality than that of bricks I'm use to. They have a brighter shine which makes them look softer.

This topic has been discussed before, but Lego quality really is slipping and this alarms me. I see Megabloks and other brands improving quality as Lego seems to be getting worse.

Lego seems to be making pieces with this cheaper plastic more and more. These pieces don't line up as well as older bricks, and they also don't stick quite the same making them more moveable after assembly.

Have others noticed this? This is really unfortunate. Lego should watch themselves as they try to save money on cheaper quality plastic.

[Starwars4J]

Hm, since this has a bunch of new information, and the old topic hasn't been discussed in awhile, I'll leave this be for now.

I for one couldn't agree more. I remember when I first got my hands on the Arkham Asylum I noticed that the slopes no longer had the texture that I'm used to, but rather were smooth and felt disgustingly cheap. They felt like Megabloks! (er, not that I've ever felt Megabloks... 8-| )

Some others mentioned that this was starting to happen, and that some slopes (60 degree) were smooth, while others still had texture! This quality problem pissed me off like you have no idea >:-( It was, however, the first time the quality issue slapped me in the face. Other times quality could just be slipping and I wouldn't really notice it unless someone said "Hey! Look what happened to their quality!" and showed me how it's somewhat deficient. That time, however, it was not ignorable.

I can't testify to the quality of other brands, but I can say that Lego is really starting to disappoint me, as the quality of their sets increase...that means nothing if the quality of their pieces decrease. I see Lego going back to how they used to be, however they can't compromise on quality of sets with quality of bricks, because that's just as bad, if not worse. I would rather pay more for good sets than get stuck with crap :-/

[Norrington]

Yeah, I got the Fire Nation ship, and one of the grey arches was either: Speckled with silver, or stressed to the point of stress marks all over the peice.

[Scouty]

Ssssshhh!!!! The Lego gnomes will come and hurt you if you bring about this mutiny! :-P .

Unfortunately, yes, the quality of our beloved Lego brick is going V . As the quality of their sets are going ^ .

Hey, you gotta take some, and leave some. Put more in, take some out.

[Athos]

I've noticed the same thing. I was sorting and noticed some color variations in the dark bley and new browns. And then there was the purple problem with the Knight Bus. Makes me think twice about picking up the Corner Cafe...

I've noticed the slope smoothness, though that's been going on for several years now...

And the instruction booklet colors are still off and hard to tell just what color you need...

Its quite disappointing...

Steve

[highlandcattle]

I noticed the slope problem with my building bonabza, half had textures the other half didn't :(

[BearHeart]

I've noticed the same thing especially in the Knights Kingdom sets. The castle walls (especially the black ones *knight* ) all seem to have a shine to them that makes them look very cheap.

[Hobbes]

Oh, I've had these pieces for quite some time now. "Shiny" pieces all over in the Technic sets (mostly noticeable with red pieces).

I also have different slopes with the new Creator House. I have two Building Bonanzas, too, but haven't checked the slopes yet :-$

When I built the 8289 Fire Truck I also noticed that some Technic pieces almost "slipped" into each other when they used to be really hard to get together with older sets.

Also I noticed a piece swap in the newer Technic sets, 8282 Quad Bike and the 8289 Fire Truck:

After reading Yoda's review of the Quad Bike I decided to buy it but it took me some months. When I finally got it and went to build it I couldn't find a certain piece. I was angry because I really had had problems with missing pieces in Technic sets for the past year and I couldn't believe that in a small set like the Quad Bike a piece would be missing, too. It was this piece the instructions asked for:

There were lots of this piece, though:

Then I noticed this was the one I'm supposed to use! There was no additional paper, though, that showed the exchange like it sometimes did in other sets.

Same thing with the Fire Truck, but here only in one color: red was there as shown in the instructions, gray came in the "2nd version" *wacko*

It's not like this piece plays a vital role for the model's look but if the note is missing you search for an eternity until you notice it has been exchanged >:-(

Oh, and since Athos mentioned it, I've made my mind up about the Cafe Corner - as soon as I saw the glass windows of the Cafe Corner. They bug me big time. Hence I won't buy it. Should it ever be on sale (at least 50 %) I might consider it. At full price - no.

[mutex]

I remarked this trend for some years too. Sets quality are going up and plastic quality and molds precision are going down.

I can't blame Lego to get their head out of the water financially, but this is a subject we can't ignore.

The other trend I remarked is this one : Big models, impressive boxes but more and more big pieces, this left me with the impression of "Bigger but emptier models"

my final thoughts :

- Models : ^^

- Pieces quality :V (getting worse and worse with the years)

- Bigger models : ^

- Pieces count : kind of ^

- Juniorization V

- Price : more or less stable

In conclusion it's a good result, but what Lego was all about since the start is good piece quality. Let's not loose this point, even at the expense of some other trends.

[Hobbes]

- Pieces count : kind of ^

"Kind of" is the right choice of words.

8289 has some 1000+ (1050 IIRC) pieces but it feels there's 800 pins among them. That's common with the studless Technic sets since you need those pins to hold the beams together. It's a bit tedious to build but it makes the models very stable. Using the resulting high piece count as a sales argument is IMHO a bit hypocritical, though...

[xenologer]

Yeesh

scary stuff

Yeah, I noticed the variable texture of some slopes as well.

I'm not sure if some of the molds are being worn smooth with age?

Or if they created an intentional part variation and have been lax when sorting them out for packaging?

Almost makes me think that maybe, rather than buy myself a new set off the shelf, I should save up my money and use my Time Machine instead.

[Hobbes]

Almost makes me think that maybe, rather than buy myself a new set off the shelf, I should save up my money and use my Time Machine instead.

Yeah, that's what I do and have been doing a lot lately. Even if some bricks/sets are dusty or yellowed they still stick together and "look right" like "in the good ol' days"...

[captaintau]

SO, if we were forced into a choice between continued quality reduction or increased prices to keep quality up, what would it be? Obviously we'd prefer optimum quality at continued (or redcued) prices, but as well know, likfe doesn't work that way.

Me, I'd rather pay a little more, though not much more.

[Hobbes]

Me, I'd rather pay a little more, though not much more.

Same here...

[WesternOutlaw]

I prefer quality over price, but price must remain somewhat reasonable. Lego has always been expensive. Prices can always be adjusted, but quality and reputation for quality takes years to build. As Lego slips, they are affecting their reputation adversely. I'm really having second thoughts about buying Cafe Corner now. I love the set, but I don't know if it's worth $140 (USD). - I'm thinking twice now.

[Mr Hobbles]

I've made a few observations:

1. I bought Cafe Corner, and yes, there are slight colour variations between bricks of the same colour, but it doesn't annoy me at all. Also the circles on the windows are pretty common now, ie they are on the new Fire Station and on the new Police Station (My copies anyway). Again, it doesn't bother me so.

2. The bricks don't "seem" like they are made out of a different plastic than they used to be. They don't seem any more brittle or soft, and they certainly still have the same amount of stay, maybe more.

3. Having just gotten out of a dark age, prices have pretty much remained the same since I was a kid. I remember small police cars costing

[mutley777]

I too have definitely noticed a change in the brick quality. This may sound strange be i noticed it most in the sound of the bricks! I had just received a large parts order of BL all new blay bricks. When i tipped them out of the bags they came in the sound of the lego was so much different to what i was used to. :-/

[xenologer]

I dunno just how knowlegable Lego Shop employees are... so this might not be accurate

but I did ask one once about distribution and he said that there are separate brick manufacturing centers for different regions -ie europe and usa. Where the factories and even the plastic suppliers are local; no overseas shipping involved for the most part.

It does make me think though, that brick quality might be variable based on location. So what if, TLG dedicated a single manufacuring center to using the older plastic with the more stringent standards; and used this area to produce all the UCS and AFOL oriented sets in limited quantities?

I don't think It'll ever happen... but it does seem like a more realisitic dream than wishing that ALL the bricks could go back in time...

[highlandcattle]

I dunno just how knowlegable Lego Shop employees are... so this might not be accurate

but I did ask one once about distribution and he said that there are separate brick manufacturing centers for different regions -ie europe and usa. Where the factories and even the plastic suppliers are local; no overseas shipping involved for the most part.

It does make me think though, that brick quality might be variable based on location. So what if, TLG dedicated a single manufacuring center to using the older plastic with the more stringent standards; and used this area to produce all the UCS and AFOL oriented sets in limited quantities?

I don't think It'll ever happen... but it does seem like a more realisitic dream than wishing that ALL the bricks could go back in time...

I don't think this is true, on american boxes it is always mentioned where the parts are made. Mostly it is denmark + chechz republic/china/mexico

[xenologer]

Mostly it is denmark + chechz republic/china/mexico

That sounds about right. By 'region' they seem to refer to the general continent.

For a special UCS factory you'd want somthing much smaller of course.

Or did you mean the boxes list All those locations on the same box? Might just be a catch-all to save on having to make a different box for each place.

[Visorak-kal]

I personally do not see a drop in quality of LEGO bricks. Granted, my purchases mainly stay with BIONICLE/Exo-Force, (and I have not bought those windows), but in those sets the quality is still high.

My only complaint is the double-ball sockets for BIONICLE; they tend to crack, though that has been happening since 2005, and it may be the way I take them apart, which I am trying to figure out.

However, I do know that LEGO is moving their production facilities to other places, in order to save the company, so to speak. Because of this, there may be a difference in piece shades because different pieces might be made in different facilities.

I also do hear that LEGO is trying to fix this. Also, with regard to that new double-axle pieces, I noticed that in my brother's Lava Chamber Gate. It may be that, again, some facilities have upgraded to the new piece, and LEGO mistakenly stuck some in last year's sets. I'm betting all the newer 2007 sets will not suffer from that problem.

So, I have noticed a few quality problems, but nothing serious. LEGO, like any toy company, has problems here and there. I do hope they will attack and resolve these newer problems ASAP.

VK

[Brainbox]

As far as mixed slopes are concerned, I find that a compromise is to build as symetrically as possible. Cluster 'bumpy' slopes together and 'smooth' slopes together. Or build so that, for example, the 'smooth' slope is in the middle of the 'bumpy' slopes. In fact, the smooth slopes keep stickers on better than the bumpy ones. I don't personally mind the change. I'd prefer that they wouldn't be mixed, but really I'll just count my blessings and settle for what I get.

[Hinckley]

My opinion is that a minor slip in quality is all right if it is for the reason that they are saving money to keep in business and keep paying their employees, produce more lines, etc.

I am not all right with it if they are only doing it for their bottom line, just to profit more, just to cut costs that weren't causing a problem in the first place.

...Furthermore, why are they selling crap like this?

Rocket Launcher

Flashlight

Tea Set

[Starwars4J]

You know what would be really phenomenal? If one of our many lego ambassadors who kinda promised they'd browse more and be more active in the community would come here with a post to explain the situation or ease our nerves a bit |-/

[Hobbes]

You know what would be really phenomenal? If one of our many lego ambassadors who kinda promised they'd browse more and be more active in the community would come here with a post to explain the situation or ease our nerves a bit |-/

I don't think they can explain it. But they probably could relay it to TLC/G...