ditto Posted January 24, 2009 Posted January 24, 2009 (edited) was just thinking about the material used in the figures of Kit Fisto and Plo Koon, as well as the conical shape part in the 8015 assassin droids set, and perhaps other sets that i'm unaware of presently. we all know about ABS plastics becoming brittle and yellowing over time, but how about this material? granted it probably hasn't been long enough to see any effects of time but i'm wondering how to preserve it. i'm sure such concerns would come up sooner or later. i've had other rubbery materials decompose (?) due to heat (?) or humidity (?) and it just becomes stick and gooey. what do you guys think about the use of this non-plastic material and storage concerns about it? Edited January 24, 2009 by ditto Quote
KimT Posted January 24, 2009 Posted January 24, 2009 Good question. Since this material is popping up in many themes, I'll move this to the General Discussion Forum. Quote
Darth Legolas Posted January 24, 2009 Posted January 24, 2009 What do you mean Rotta? Rotta has normal regular plastic! Quote
Tinn-man Posted January 24, 2009 Posted January 24, 2009 I've heard that the lego rubber bands over time get hard and crumbly (but might not be true). So, worst case scenario, these pieces get hard and crumble away . But they might stay the way they are, and just have the colors fade. Or they might not do any thing at all. So, in short, I have no idea Quote
ditto Posted January 24, 2009 Author Posted January 24, 2009 What do you mean Rotta? Rotta has normal regular plastic! my bad. i haven't met him for some time. =) Quote
Faramir Posted January 24, 2009 Posted January 24, 2009 I've heard that the lego rubber bands over time get hard and crumbly (but might not be true). Yes, it's true. Now not even some of my old Bionicles have functions I'd trust Lego's quality on these. Sure, their rubber bands maybe break after 5 years or so, but all of them do this. I doubt that there'll be a problem with these. Quote
Darth Legolas Posted January 24, 2009 Posted January 24, 2009 my bad. i haven't met him for some time. =) Okay. I don't know anything about what will happen to the material, but I know that if you accidentally stretch Plo Koon's head it will come a little bit loose. Quote
CP5670 Posted January 24, 2009 Posted January 24, 2009 I've heard that the lego rubber bands over time get hard and crumbly (but might not be true). The normal black rubber bands will become brittle over time if you leave them stretched. Sets that include them come with several extras though and they are easy to replace. The colored rubber belts (with circular cross sections) seem to be made of a different material and don't break unless you stretch them too much, even if left in a stretched position for many years. At the most, they deform into the new position. I'm not sure what material is under question in this thread though. I don't think I have any parts made of it. Quote
Skipper 24 Posted January 24, 2009 Posted January 24, 2009 I have only had the old black bands crumbling where as the new(er) bands which come in a variety of colours are much more durable. Quote
xenologer Posted January 25, 2009 Posted January 25, 2009 Ever worry about tires going bad? I'd guess the rubbery parts are closer to tires than to the rubber bands. Quote
CP5670 Posted January 25, 2009 Posted January 25, 2009 I've never had tires go bad over time, although there have been 4 or 5 different materials used for tires over the years. In fact, the annoying gummy tires they were using until recently actually get better over time, in the sense that they harden and become less slimy. Quote
Yeow Posted January 25, 2009 Posted January 25, 2009 (edited) The only rubber bands in Bionicle sets that broke for me were ones that were stretched out all the time (8539 Manas). Ones in sets like 8538 Muaka and Kane-Ra that were relaxed seemed to do just fine. The only problems that I had with tires was that I couldn't get the actual tire off of the wheel rims due to it becoming hardened on to the rim! Edited January 25, 2009 by Yeow Quote
Johnnhiszippy3 Posted January 25, 2009 Posted January 25, 2009 was just thinking about the material used in the figures of Kit Fisto and Plo Koon.... I didn't realize that Kit Fisto and Plo Koon were made of this material (I'm assuming it's just their heads?) I have been trying to decide if it was worth it to get the Jedi Starfighter (7661) so I could get Kit Fisto, but now that I know that he is made of that material, I will not be getting one. I don't know how the material will perform over time, but I really don't like that material in the fist place, it feels very cheap - and I'm sure it is, why else would Lego be using it for minfig heads? It would be interesting to know what kinds of tests Lego performs on a new material before putting it into production, but I'm sure they don't want their "competition" to know. Quote
hollisbrick Posted January 25, 2009 Posted January 25, 2009 The exo force heads hair becaomes loose over time I noticed Quote
ditto Posted January 25, 2009 Author Posted January 25, 2009 I didn't realize that Kit Fisto and Plo Koon were made of this material (I'm assuming it's just their heads?)I have been trying to decide if it was worth it to get the Jedi Starfighter (7661) so I could get Kit Fisto, but now that I know that he is made of that material, I will not be getting one. I don't know how the material will perform over time, but I really don't like that material in the fist place, it feels very cheap - and I'm sure it is, why else would Lego be using it for minfig heads? It would be interesting to know what kinds of tests Lego performs on a new material before putting it into production, but I'm sure they don't want their "competition" to know. yup, it's just the heads. it's made of a rubbery type of material that i find hard to describe. for kit fisto and perhaps the assassin droids pack i kind of understand why - these are pointy parts that may pose danger to kids who might stab themselves if the parts were otherwise plastic. not sure why plo koon's head is the same material though, it's not nearly as pointy. as for rubber bands, i have not gotten any extras in any of the sets i have, and i'm very certain they'll decompose/turn brittle and break one day. wondering how would i deal with that situation then. Quote
eti Posted January 25, 2009 Posted January 25, 2009 Is this the same material that the Dobby head (Harry Potter) and Exoforce hairpieces (aka cabbages) are made of? I never understood why those are rubbery instead of the normal material. Quote
Millacol88 Posted January 25, 2009 Posted January 25, 2009 Is this the same material that the Dobby head (Harry Potter) and Exoforce hairpieces (aka cabbages) are made of? I never understood why those are rubbery instead of the normal material. Yes, I believe it would be a similar material. This must be of concern to a lot of people, as Kit Fisto and Plo Koon go for great prices on ebay and BL, and I don't think anyone wants there figures value to diminish over time because the that rubber material starts to decompose. Quote
Thee Pirate Posted January 28, 2009 Posted January 28, 2009 Would this be the same material the IJ whips and satchels are made of? I don't have any of the previously mentioned figures, just the IJ sets. This intrigues me now. Quote
Front Posted January 28, 2009 Posted January 28, 2009 (edited) ABS is probably the most used material for bricks, but it has to be understood that more materials are in use, that are indistinguishable from ABS without actual destructive testing of the material. Softer materials are found in several variants, e.g. the type used for the many different Bionicle weapons. There are a lot of other soft materials, like those used for tires, or specials used for translucent soft bricks. In some cases materials are even mixed. In that sense, it is not wise to translate the behaviour due to material of one "brick" with another "brick", as they may infact be of different material types. The material for a specific brick, is chosen to optimise the function of the element, and at the same time taking the safety for the end user very serious. Front Edited January 28, 2009 by Front Quote
CP5670 Posted January 28, 2009 Posted January 28, 2009 (edited) ABS is probably the most used material for bricks, but it has to be understood that more materials are in use, that are indistinguishable from ABS without actual destructive testing of the material. TLG gave some interesting facts on this at Brickfair last year. They said that around 62% of the pieces are ABS, but they use 22 different materials in total. The most common materials after standard ABS are PC (polycarbonate, used for transparent pieces) and a high strength form of PC (used for many small Technic parts). Edited January 28, 2009 by CP5670 Quote
Front Posted January 28, 2009 Posted January 28, 2009 (edited) TLG gave some interesting facts on this at Brickfair last year. They said that around 62% of the pieces are ABS, but they use 22 different materials in total. The most common materials after standard ABS are PC (polycarbonate, used for transparent pieces) and a high strength form of PC (used for many small Technic parts). The high strength form is characterized by having longer molecules (plastic is polymers, basicly long chains of atom groups forming a molecule), resulting in slightly higher yeild strength, but also a higher and more problematic viscosity during the molding proces. Excuse for any possible mispelling, that's some words I rarely type :-) Front Edited January 28, 2009 by Front Quote
JCC1004 Posted February 1, 2009 Posted February 1, 2009 I have a Kit Fisto with that and later i heard it was changed to plactic. Is that true? And if it is can some one put up pics? Quote
just2good Posted February 16, 2009 Posted February 16, 2009 (edited) The hair in Exo-Force is rubber and Dr.Infernos hair is too, and they look cool. But it doesn't really fit well on figures after the 15 time. Edited February 16, 2009 by just2good Quote
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