Mold anomaly or different pin?

[RohanBeckett]

if they can rotate.. they can be pulled out :)

Fairly certain it was done for Juniorization...

My black one was in this set - http://alpha.bricklink.com/pages/clone/catalogitem.page?S=7244-1 (Speedboat)

and I guess it meant kids didn't have to worry about losing the pins - as they are essential for the strength of the build - especially for an active model, like this boat.

[1974]

I don't really know why they would do that. I don't own any of the (few) sets that ever included it.

It was part of TLG's great dumbing down plan

The old pins also works much better with the tech figs hands, btw

I've got a few thousand of the old ones and I use them when the strength is needed

Once bought a really used 8865 (for less than 10EUR) and I guess it was probably assembled back when it was new and had never been taken apart. It had a bit of sun damage so I maybe had been heated by the sun also

The pins were like fused to the beams, it was near impossbile to take apart and some bricks did get damaged in the process

Cheers,

Ole

Edited September 30, 2015 by 1974

[spadgy]

So just to surmise in case I missed something (I did read it all!, I promise), there's the old friction pins (slotless), and then two forms of modern slotted friction pins (the common thin, and the mysterious think slotted pins)?

Did I get all that right?

And these pins that are so hard to pull out; they are old pins, and it's the part that they are sitting in the causes the difficult removal process?

I'm glad I found this thread. Because not so long ago I though I spotted a thicker slotted pin in my parts; then I absentmindedly tossed it back in with about 2,000 normal slotted friction pins. I've been half looking for it since, and increasingly convinced I'd never really seen that pin. Maybe I have a few in the pile!

EDIT: I'm back already. This thread sent me to an old bag of older and very disorganised Technic parts I've been meaning to sort for months. I separated them from my scruffy childhood Lego about a year back. 90% of the contents of that bag is the Technic Control Centre MK1, and what did I pick from it's remains? A number of the thicker slotted friction pins detailed in the OP here.

So to really confirm what others including Erik Leppen said, these slotted/thick friction pins seem to be the earlier variant of the slotted friction pin. I also found some of the older non-slotted friction pins in the same bag. Maybe that (very loosely!) suggests Technic Control Centre MK1 (set 8094, from 1990) was about the point slots arrived. Rebrickable lists the TCC1 as having slotted pins, but certainly doesn't differentiate them from the modern thin slotted friction pins.

Seems certain 1990 (perhaps earlier) is the place to take the time machine if you want some thick slotted friction pins.

Edited November 27, 2015 by spadgy

[Lyichir]

I don't really know why they would do that. I don't own any of the (few) sets that ever included it.

IIRC, those types of pins were mostly used in "4+" themes like Jack Stone (though my only experience with them is from Knights Kingdom). Jack Stone made heavy use of Technic connections but didn't use standard pins, probably to make things easier/safer for young builders.

[flyboy01]

the mysterious pins are K'nex. DO NOT USE!

[Kman860]

the mysterious pins are K'nex. DO NOT USE!

I knew they looked familiar!

[nerdsforprez]

So just to surmise in case I missed something (I did read it all!, I promise), there's the old friction pins (slotless), and then two forms of modern slotted friction pins (the common thin, and the mysterious think slotted pins)?

Did I get all that right?

And these pins that are so hard to pull out; they are old pins, and it's the part that they are sitting in the causes the difficult removal process?

I'm glad I found this thread. Because not so long ago I though I spotted a thicker slotted pin in my parts; then I absentmindedly tossed it back in with about 2,000 normal slotted friction pins. I've been half looking for it since, and increasingly convinced I'd never really seen that pin. Maybe I have a few in the pile!

EDIT: I'm back already. This thread sent me to an old bag of older and very disorganised Technic parts I've been meaning to sort for months. I separated them from my scruffy childhood Lego about a year back. 90% of the contents of that bag is the Technic Control Centre MK1, and what did I pick from it's remains? A number of the thicker slotted friction pins detailed in the OP here.

So to really confirm what others including Erik Leppen said, these slotted/thick friction pins seem to be the earlier variant of the slotted friction pin. I also found some of the older non-slotted friction pins in the same bag. Maybe that (very loosely!) suggests Technic Control Centre MK1 (set 8094, from 1990) was about the point slots arrived. Rebrickable lists the TCC1 as having slotted pins, but certainly doesn't differentiate them from the modern thin slotted friction pins.

Seems certain 1990 (perhaps earlier) is the place to take the time machine if you want some thick slotted friction pins.

Hmmmm..... looks like I need to grab me one of the CUUSOO Dolorean models I have even put it out there on BL that I would be willing to pay more for a large lot of the older, slotted friction pins, but I got no takers (posted it on the forum on BL). Looks like I really will need a time machine.... no one wants the hassle of rummaging through their collections to find the menacing older slotted pins....

[lcvisser]

It wasn't until this thread that I realized that there are two types of the slotted pins, although I did observe that the pins in the sets I acquired after my dark ages seemed easier to pull out. If there's really a demand for those old ones, it might be worth some effort and sort out my collection, since I really only use the new ones.

[nerdsforprez]

Personally, I think they're is a need. That need has passed for me right now....(I already built what I was planning) but I know large projects needing really strong connections are always being built...

[BusterHaus]

If there's really a demand for those old ones, it might be worth some effort and sort out my collection, since I really only use the new ones.

All of mine from the 90's are personalized with teeth marks.Proof that they're not easy to remove.

[Richard Dower]

what i find interesting is that the old Black 6558 pins are stronger and harder to pull out then the newer Blue ones.......?

The strong connection pin is the lego reference 4459, black color. Used in the early times of Lego technic range, it had a really REALLY strong clutch power.

Nowadays, reference 2780, black color, is used. Far less clutch power.

they attain less clutch power over time...they are fine brand new condition, but after a few months the plastic softens and they pins loose their clutch power.

would be nice if they made these pins in different colours.

if they can rotate.. they can be pulled out :)

Fairly certain it was done for Juniorization...

My black one was in this set - http://alpha.brickli...m.page?S=7244-1 (Speedboat)

and I guess it meant kids didn't have to worry about losing the pins - as they are essential for the strength of the build - especially for an active model, like this boat.

i have these in Black and Red:

[lcvisser]

All of mine from the 90's are personalized with teeth marks.Proof that they're not easy to remove.

Haha, I'm sure mine do as well. I know I do have quite some of these

with teeth marks on the cross-axle part, which are no longer really usable but I can't get myself to discarding them.

[michiel sanders]

I've sorted out my pins, at the moment i've got 170 of the older pins so if anyone need some, let me know.

Edited March 1, 2016 by michiel sanders

[DrJB]

I don't really know why they would do that. I don't own any of the (few) sets that ever included it.

The answer was given above (post # ). I think it's to make the frame kid-prrof, and prevent kids from playing with small/tiny parts (and risk swallowing them).

Edited March 2, 2016 by DrJB

[hadidi1999]

Well, I think if there were pins that where half strong and half as strong as today's pins are, then maybe they would hold more and be not super hard to remove, I mean come on there has to be some middle ground.