Fake LEGO elements

[brickie]

To make mosaics, I recently bought thousands of 1x1 round plates from a Bricklink store in Thailand.

When I got around to using them, I noticed that 90% of them had a distorted "stamp" of the word LEGO e.g. the plate on the right.

Are these genuine LEGO or have I been scammed?

[JopieK]

The position of sprues varies AFAIK. Old ones were connected with a helper part and for now parts it looks like the one on the right. The color is the same so that is a good indication at least.

[jxu]

I have genuine Lego sets with 1x1 and 1x2 pieces that have the sprue right in the center of the logo. I think your parts are genuine.

[brickie]

Thanks JopieK and jxu. Your words of wisdom have restored my faith in humanity.

 

[deraven]

Yeah, it really bugs me that mold/sprue marks have become much more prevalent than they used to be, but as others have said that does look legit unless the plastic texture, clutch, etc., seem off.

[icm]

When I was a kid, one of the big differences between Lego and its lower-priced competitors in the US was that 1x1 round plates by Lego were crisp and clean, with no mold marks.  Other brands had ugly mold marks on their small plates, but not Lego.  Sadly, that's no longer true.  At least since late spring of 2019, 1x1 round plates by Lego have often looked as bad as any the clone brands used to make way back when.  They were particularly bad in the Moments in Space GWP.

[Bricky Joe]

I've mentioned them elsewhere here but I've got a surprisingly decent set of off-brand LEGO-compatible dinosaurs. They're alright except for all being the same height XD. I'll take a photo of them when I can get into the shed at the weekend. That said, I've got this guy sat on my desk at the moment taunting me for not colouring him in.

[MAB]

On 9/2/2020 at 8:06 AM, icm said:

When I was a kid, one of the big differences between Lego and its lower-priced competitors in the US was that 1x1 round plates by Lego were crisp and clean, with no mold marks.  Other brands had ugly mold marks on their small plates, but not Lego.  Sadly, that's no longer true.  At least since late spring of 2019, 1x1 round plates by Lego have often looked as bad as any the clone brands used to make way back when.  They were particularly bad in the Moments in Space GWP.

When I was a kid, the 1x1 round plates came on a sprue. They definitely had sprue marks.

 

[Peppermint_M]

On 9/7/2020 at 11:53 AM, MAB said:

When I was a kid, the 1x1 round plates came on a sprue. They definitely had sprue marks.

 

Do you need the older than dirt tag? 

I have some old and some new parts with sprue marks, it just depends on where in the mould your part was created. The problem you might find is the Baader-Meinhof Syndrome , you notice one and all of a sudden you see it everywhere. It always has been, but now you are paying more attention from noticing it once before, you see it more often.  

What I want is more Coin and Shuriken sprues, they are actually useful!

[MAB]

On 9/9/2020 at 8:41 AM, Peppermint_M said:

Do you need the older than dirt tag? 

Charmed, I'm sure. According to BL they lasted into the 1990s too, so not just my childhood but my early adulthood too.