Cracking bricks

[Yloquen]

So , the other day I was browsing through my inventory when all of a sudden I noticed that one of the headlight bricks had a crack in the back (on the lower beam). It's more easily visible when the brick is locked. Is this normal, I'm kind of worried, I thought LEGO had a really high quality. On closer inspection of all bricks I found a few more which had started to crack, but were not split all the way yet - a small crack at the base which is almost invisible when the brick is not locked.

All my bricks are new (less than a year) and have not been subject to any great stress (or have they?). I keep them locked to one another for easier storage and retrieval - but I don't think that can damage them - after all its equivalent to them being locked in a model, right? Has anyone had a similar experience?

[cartoondude]

Well, i was on a plane and i had some dome pieces checked under and when i got home they were cracked. But i think thats just from the pressure.

[Millacol88]

As you may know, there are some of those headlight bricks in the y-wing fighter released last year. After building the model, and taking it apart for storage, I noticed many of the headlight brickshad a crack in them, on the lower beam, just as you described. I don`t know whether this is a huge problem, but it could be a defect in the headlight bricks.

[Yloquen]

As you may know, there are some of those headlight bricks in the y-wing fighter released last year. After building the model, and taking it apart for storage, I noticed many of the headlight brickshad a crack in them, on the lower beam, just as you described. I don`t know whether this is a huge problem, but it could be a defect in the headlight bricks.

Yep , I have that set and the bricks might as well be exactly from it, though I can't be sure since they are mixed with bricks from other sets. The three problem bricks were white. There was also a bley one which looked a bit suspicious.

So, is there some information about quality problems limited to that set only or is it something more general... ?

[Skinny Boy]

One or two torsos I have are cracked, and like you said, the crack is more visible, when I lock them in with some legs. I'm not worried about them though. They aren't getting any worse.

[Lt. Col. Thok]

Indeed, many of my older torsos have cracks in them (usually on the right side), which is a shame as it affects their ability to stick together.

[Fatespuppet]

This could obviously be a false rumor and being hearsay you can take it at face value, but a number of years ago I read on a message board about similar problems. The poster had spoken to 'someone at lego' and they said to keep air deoderizers away from lego bricks. According to this person, things like(gonna butcher these names) Lysol, Febreeze, Glade sprays, etc. have chemicals in them that mess with the plastic used in Legos.

Obviously the idea was hearsay, and these problem headlight bricks could simply be a bad batch. However, since reading that I don't use spray deoderizers anywhere near my legos....just in case.

[Yloquen]

I just came across a posting in LUG, where the headlight brick was claimed to be among the details susceptible to cracking.

However, they state that the front cracks. And what do you know - upon inspection, almost ALL of my white and bley headlight bricks have a crack in the front ... !!! I hadn't looked at the front before. It's not all the way through and they still have clasping power.

I checked the Y-Wing part list and it turns out that nearly all my bley and white headlight bricks are from it. None of my other color bricks have that issue, even though they are probably a bit newer, but not by much (3-4 months at most). So, let's hope this has been a temporary quality issue and is cleared out in newer sets ...

[Millacol88]

I just came across a posting in LUG, where the headlight brick was claimed to be among the details susceptible to cracking.

However, they state that the front cracks. And what do you know - upon inspection, almost ALL of my white and bley headlight bricks have a crack in the front ... !!! I hadn't looked at the front before. It's not all the way through and they still have clasping power.

I checked the Y-Wing part list and it turns out that nearly all my bley and white headlight bricks are from it. None of my other color bricks have that issue, even though they are probably a bit newer, but not by much (3-4 months at most). So, let's hope this has been a temporary quality issue and is cleared out in newer sets ...

Your most likely right. It was probably a defect in the Y-wing fighter set.

[baby]

Well, my old minifigs also have crack at the side of the torso & I suspect that it is because it have contacts with water and sunlight. My new minifigs haven't face any problem yet. But the Super Battle Droids leg connector is cracking by themselves.

For the small 1x1 stud, the round 1 like the Two-Face coins, i find that there will be lines when we attach them to any bricks. They start to crack when we attach them. Guess the quality of LEGO is not so good anymore.

Edited August 30, 2008 by baby

[Faramir]

Well, my old minifigs also have crack at the side of the torso & I suspect that it is because it have contacts with water and sunlight. My new minifigs haven't face any problem yet. But the Super Battle Droids leg connector is cracking by themselves.

Same problem here... maybe they did this on purpose so that people would actually buy more droid battle packs?

I haven't had that much of a quality problem (aside from what I just mentioned.) I would expect that headlight pieces and other really small ones would be more susceptible to cracking.

[brickzone]

However, since reading that I don't use spray deoderizers anywhere near my legos....just in case.

I *HIGHLY* recommend that! I had a younger sibling mess with a spray deodorant near Lego years ago, and it got on some flat plates (4x12 or so). Within a month they had sort of disintegrated (cracked in multiple places). Of course, I was too young to think of it, but cleaning them immediately would probably have helped.

As regards headlight bricks, I've had incidents of the small bar at the base cracking with older bricks for certain, and I'm not sure about some new ones. They don't seem the most robust of designs.

[legotrainfan]

As regards headlight bricks, I've had incidents of the small bar at the base cracking with older bricks for certain, and I'm not sure about some new ones. They don't seem the most robust of designs.

I've got the same problem with older headlights. But there are also cracks on other things like minifig torsos and even 1x2 bricks. But both the torsos and the bricks I am talking about are more than 10 years old. However, I can remember that on 1000steine.de there was a discussion about this brick. This is a quite new brick; it hasn't been produced for a long time. Nevertheless, cracks occur. I'm not a hundred percent sure anymore, but I believe that Jan Beyer answered the post, saying that cracks were usually produced by tension, which you can't prevent unless you never want to use your bricks, and grease, namely the grease our body produces and everyone automatically has on their hands. So washing your hands before buidling and playing was recommended.

Edited August 30, 2008 by legotrainfan

[JimBee]

This often happens to pieces that have been under to much pressure. I have a lot of torsos and arms that have cracks in them (one arm even broke) because I was too rough with them, like trying to get the arms on. My suggestion would be to be gentle with the pieces, particularly the small ones.

[CP5670]

The cracks in front of the headlight bricks are common. I see cracks on both older ones and the newer, slotted variety, even ones that have barely been used. It doesn't seem to affect their gripping strength though, so I don't worry about it.

Another (much more valuable) piece that develops cracks very easily is the 1x2 9V light brick used in trains.