I'm looking at picking up the UCS Sandcrawler (2014) and Jabba's Sail Barge (2013) but am uneasy due to so many stories about brown parts breaking. I have had a few break myself. LEGO apparently fixed the issue this year but this was well after these sets came out obviously. Has anyone opened one of these sets recently? If so, how did it go?

My understanding is that the issue was with dark red parts, not brown parts, due to the concentration of red pigment needed to achieve the color. I've had plenty of those break, but never any brown parts break.

Reddish brown also has the same problem.

i don’t understand op’s concern though. You run the risk of any set having damaged parts out of the box, however unlikely.  The damage for dark red and reddish brown seems to always be related to the stresses of putting parts together or taking them apart. At least both sets are still of current colors that you can order replacement parts fairly easily if the problem does manifest.

40 minutes ago, KevinMD said:

Reddish brown also has the same problem.

i don’t understand op’s concern though. You run the risk of any set having damaged parts out of the box, however unlikely.  The damage for dark red and reddish brown seems to always be related to the stresses of putting parts together or taking them apart. At least both sets are still of current colors that you can order replacement parts fairly easily if the problem does manifest.

More worried about putting stickers on the parts then having them break. 

I wouldn't worry about it. I do believe that reddish brown parts are more prone to breaking, but it's not like they're going to be breaking all over the place. I have a pretty large collection, and I think I've broken two reddish brown parts ever (both 2 x something plates). That's definitely noticeable, since I don't think I've broken any parts in most colors. But it's also not a big deal--worst case, you gotta buy a couple ten-cent replacements.

Edit: Also, I own both the sets you mentioned and don't recall any issues with them specifically. At least one of my breakages was when I scrapped a Ninjago Fire Temple, a 2011 set apparently.

Edited April 25, 20195 yr by Raskolnikov

I believe only dark red parts are prone to breaking, but I think it's fixed now. The parts that will break would be from sets from like 2007. Recently I just disassembled my V-19 and quite a few of them broke despite being extra careful. I think those sets you mentioned would be fine.

3 hours ago, Eaglefan344 said:

More worried about putting stickers on the parts then having them break. 

Fair point, hadn’t considered that.  One of the more recent parts I broke was a 4x6 tile w studs on side on the MTT, a part that happens to be stickered in the sand crawler. 

Good news is if you’re buying new you can wait to put the stickers on until the parts are together if you desire.

I have both sets you mentioned that were purchased used and neither exhibits this issue. However, I have broken quite a few of the reddish brown 1x1 tile with clip on top from other sets, I think Lotr sets mainly.

I broke quite a few of the redish brown 1x1 clips on the UCS sandcrawler. 2 while building and about 10 dismantling. I contacted Lego and they sent out about 20 of the new clip design as a replacement. (My broken piece order was originally rejected probably because of how many broke but I spoke to customer service and they were really helpful and explained the part is redesigned to be stronger etc. I posted the broken pieces back for quality control).

Other than this I don't think any other pieces have broken for me. I did have a piece arrive all disformed out of the bag (2x16 tan plate from memory - Disney castle) but still building that so haven't requested a replacement yet until it's built in case there are others (however unlikely).

 

Edited April 25, 20195 yr by azzer86
Typo

The 1x1 clips broke on my sandcrawler aswell;) 

got them replaced:)

1 hour ago, muhkuh said:

The 1x1 clips broke on my sandcrawler aswell;) 

got them replaced:)

Same issue with those 1x1 clips, I broke half a dozen. The new version series seems to work fine until now.

Huh. I never knew this was an issue. I purchased the original Jabba’s Sail Barge second hand and it was fine. 

In my experience, reddish brown is usually just fine. I purchased both of the sets you mention in your OP recently, used, and none of the parts were broken. Dark red is much more brittle. Though I have had I think just one reddish brown piece break. Don't remember which set it was from.

On 4/25/2019 at 7:45 AM, Reaper said:

I believe only dark red parts are prone to breaking, but I think it's fixed now. The parts that will break would be from sets from like 2007. Recently I just disassembled my V-19 and quite a few of them broke despite being extra careful. I think those sets you mentioned would be fine.

That's interesting, this is the exact set I have that I took apart and half the dark red pieces broke. Single plates, wedge plates, tiles, left half the part on the model and the other half in my fingers. Never noticed it happen with reddish brown though. 

If the pieces did break? I guess just phone up lego and ask if they can replace them. I haven't since I've not gotten round to rebuilding it so will bricklink them when I do, or maybe I will phone tlg up. Either way, I wouldn't let it stop you getting a set! 

I just finished building this set, and lot of reddish brown bricks broke during the build. It was nerve wracking assembling it, as you could hear that dry, creaky snap whenever a brick was fastened. Both plates, tiles, bricks and brackets cracked, and even a couple of dark brown tiles. Surprisingly none of the clips or rods broke, and I figured they would be the most prone to breaking.

I managed to get the set together, but it can never be taken apart again, I guess...

Edited March 8, 20214 yr by legoptigan

1 hour ago, legoptigan said:

I just finished building this set, and lot of reddish brown bricks broke during the build. It was nerve wracking assembling it, as you could hear that dry, creaky snap whenever a brick was fastened. Both plates, tiles, bricks and brackets cracked, and even a couple of dark brown tiles. Surprisingly none of the clips or rods broke, and I figured they would be the most prone to breaking.

I managed to get the set together, but it can never be taken apart again, I guess...

Crazy coincidence this thread got bumped today. I literally just opened this set 2 hours ago. Through bag 4 and no broken bricks so far. Did you buy it used or new?

I have this set (UCS Sandcrawler), bought it new in 2016. When I built it the first time, a few of the reddish brown 1x1 clips and 1x1 circles broke. I recently put this set back together, where I lost a few more clips and circles. But, when I took it apart, almost every reddish brown plate in the set broke or cracked (grand total of 159 broken pieces). I have over 100 sets going all the way back to the early 1980's and this and the Ghostbuster's Firehouse (note: I only had 3 dark red and reddish brown pieces break from this set) are the only two where I have ever had even one piece break, let alone over 150. I put in a request to Lego to see if they'll replace these for me since I bought it through them.

Sounds like Lego has addressed the issue, but here's hoping I don't have to go through BrickLink for replacements that could be the "inferior" versions.

Edited March 12, 20213 yr by ReAcTd_Turtle
Forgot to say which set.

16 minutes ago, ReAcTd_Turtle said:

I have this set (UCS Sandcrawler), bought it new in 2016. When I built it the first time, a few of the reddish brown 1x1 clips and 1x1 circles broke. I recently put this set back together, where I lost a few more clips and circles. But, when I took it apart, almost every reddish brown plate in the set broke or cracked (grand total of 159 broken pieces). I have over 100 sets going all the way back to the early 1980's and this and the Ghostbuster's Firehouse (note: I only had 3 dark red and reddish brown pieces break from this set) are the only two where I have ever had even one piece break, let alone over 150. I put in a request to Lego to see if they'll replace these for me since I bought it through them.

Sounds like Lego has addressed the issue, but here's hoping I don't have to go through BrickLink for replacements that could be the "inferior" versions.

Same Problem with the crawler here

On 3/12/2021 at 11:00 PM, ReAcTd_Turtle said:

I have this set (UCS Sandcrawler), bought it new in 2016. When I built it the first time, a few of the reddish brown 1x1 clips and 1x1 circles broke. I recently put this set back together, where I lost a few more clips and circles. But, when I took it apart, almost every reddish brown plate in the set broke or cracked (grand total of 159 broken pieces). I have over 100 sets going all the way back to the early 1980's and this and the Ghostbuster's Firehouse (note: I only had 3 dark red and reddish brown pieces break from this set) are the only two where I have ever had even one piece break, let alone over 150. I put in a request to Lego to see if they'll replace these for me since I bought it through them.

Sounds like Lego has addressed the issue, but here's hoping I don't have to go through BrickLink for replacements that could be the "inferior" versions.

159?!? I thought the 10-15 or so clip pieces I broke was bad. Maybe I'll never build the set again out of fear - or one final time and never dismantle it again 

This sound like a nightmare.

I recently picked up a ucs sandcrawler from eBay for a bargain price. It arrived in chunks already built with some loose parts. It was super dusty so I decided to completely dismantle everything and give it all a good soak.
I heard about this issue with reddish brown so was fairly careful but didn’t experience any of this Mass cracking. I managed to reassemble everything including some motorisation mods and the only thing I lost was 1 1x4 brown tile

Bolstered in confidence I have been considering picking up an old jabbas sail barge but am a bit worried now. Perhaps it’s something to do with the environment and temps they were stored at?

For me, these sets were stored in sealed bags, in a sealed trunk and in climate controlled conditions. So never exposed to extreme temps, hot or cold, or to sunlight. 
 

I think I just got unlucky. 

I bought both these sets used a couple years ago...had a couple break, easy to replace and that was after letting my twin toddlers play with the sandcrawler multiple times.

If they do break, you can go to lego customer service and ask for replacements. I have had some brown pieces break on Santa's workshop.

19 minutes ago, Yeetforlego said:

If they do break, you can go to lego customer service and ask for replacements. I have had some brown pieces break on Santa's workshop.

I ended up getting it and got lucky with no breaks. My main concern was breaking pieces after applying the sticker, in which I would have to purchase an expensive sticker sheet from Bricklink.

This is terrifying to hear about. I recently bought my favorite set, the 2007 MTT, used for just 80$ and I am really scared to disassemble it for cleaning. There are quite a few expensive pieces like those 2 dishes for example. Are brown pieces from this period affected as well and does anyone know if Lego would replace pieces like those that have been long out of production if they somehow broke? I think for now I'll keep it assembled, it's quite clean actually lol