Lego Quality Reference

[Johnny1360]

@vermontcathy sorry to hear about your unfortunate experience with breaking pieces, again with the Reddish-Brown and Dark Red, starting to notice a pattern here. You were quite lucky that LEGO sent replacements for such an old set, you must have been very persuasive. Since you have got the replacement pieces, I was curious if you have had any issues with the new parts, supposedly they have remedied the situation, however I am still a bit sceptical. I personally have had no issues with breakage at all with any color. 

[vermontcathy]

1 hour ago, Johnny1360 said:

I was curious if you have had any issues with the new parts

No, I don't think I've had problems with the new ones. I'm not 100% sure, because they got mixed in, as I took the model apart. But when I did an alt build that used almost all the pieces (like 90%), the only new break was a 2x6 plate, which hadn't been replaced. As I found broken pieces in the pile, I chucked them, and I had enough pieces to finish the build. The new pieces weren't as tight. I knew with the original pieces, right from the beginning, that there was an issue because they were so tight and I had to press hard to attach them to another piece. The new pieces are not overly tight like that. 

I'm not overly surprised they replaced them. 40 pieces, at about 10 cents each, is only $4, so it wasn't a huge outlay for them, to make a good customer happy (I've bought a decent amount from S@H in the past year).  In fact I said I could order them and pay for them myself, but it was more the principal of the thing, and something I thought they should be aware of. If no one ever told them of certain problems with the pieces, then the wouldn't be able to correct the problem. 

[Timoonn]

Light bluish gray 

Edited October 18, 2018 by Timoonn

[Graupensuppe]

The stickers of my 2017 UCS snowspeeder have started to self-destruct. Of course I knew it would happen sooner or later, but I'm not used to this happening just 1.5 years after a set was bought!

Why does Lego still use the white stickers at all, instead of switching to only using the clear ones that don't have this problem?

[Johnny1360]

That really sucks, after only 1.5 years, damn. I worry about my stickers as well to the point of obsession to be honest. I guess I have been lucky so far, although I have only been doing this about 3 years now. None of mine are degrading, so far, I do take special care when applying them though. I usually clean the part first, with a soft microfiber cloth and make sure my hands are clean enough for surgery, then once they are on I burnish them thoroughly. Then only ones I have issues with are the ones I have reapplied multiple times, some of the corners are peeling up. 

I think if I were you I would pick up an extra sticker sheet, while they are still available, reasonably cheap. Curious if the sheet was mangled or somehow not right to begin with. I have had issues in that department, in fact the stickers for my 42096 Porchse had a scribe mark across the whole sheet almost to the point of being cut all the way through. 

[Aanchir]

23 hours ago, Graupensuppe said:

The stickers of my 2017 UCS snowspeeder have started to self-destruct. Of course I knew it would happen sooner or later, but I'm not used to this happening just 1.5 years after a set was bought!

Why does Lego still use the white stickers at all, instead of switching to only using the clear ones that don't have this problem?

That's really bizarre. Apparently the issue back in the day resulted in a faulty adhesive that reacted badly with the paper, but LEGO had supposedly resolved that years ago. The last sets I had this issue with were from as far back as 2007 — the stickers from my 2008 Agents sets and everything else since have all had no issues whatsoever.

Definitely be sure and report this to LEGO! Not only would they probably be able to replace the stickers for you since the set is still recent, but if they got a faulty batch of adhesive then they need to make sure they get enough reports to figure out what sets it was used for, what countries it was found in, and which of their factories was making stickers for those sets in those countries, so they can replace that adhesive as quickly as possible and prevent it being used on any future sets.

Personally, I really prefer the white stickers over the clear stickers (except on transparent or metallic parts where the color behind the sticker needs to show). Clear stickers tend to show even tiny bits of dust, air bubbles, or fingerprints much more clearly than white-backed stickers, and since the edges are transparent it can make them a lot trickier to line up as well. But I might feel differently if I started experiencing "sticker horror" on recent sets again…

[Graupensuppe]

2 hours ago, Aanchir said:

LEGO had supposedly resolved that years ago. The last sets I had this issue with were from as far back as 2007. Definitely be sure and report this to LEGO!

I didn't see a point in reporting this to Lego since in my experience it never stopped. Is it really possible they don't know about this? I've seen it happening for at least 15 years. The 2008-2010 sets are actually the ones that are worst affected in my collection, but more recently I once again found quite a lot of sets from the past few years (ca. 2014-2017) that have developed the same problem. DC Super Heroes, Speed Champions, and now the UCS Snowspeeder as well.

And it's always the same:

1. only white stickers are affected, clear ones aren't
2. areas printed with different colors seem to disintegrate at different rates - white areas are by far the worst affected and usually start peeling off after just 2-3 years
3. it's like the stickers start expanding or contracting, causing them to peel off at the edges and then develop cracks all over

I can't be the only one this happens to!?

Edited March 18, 2019 by Graupensuppe

[Johnny1360]

Could it possibly be extreme environmental conditions, regardless if it is a huge issue, I would definitely make LEGO aware of the situation. Not trying to say you don't take care of your sets. Even if they do nothing about it now, it will be hopefully addressed in the future, unless of course you have already done so repeatedly. 

As good as the clear stickers are, I tend to agree with what @Aanchir said about them and feel they are more a pain to apply for younger builders. Seeing how they are more difficult to apply correctly, maybe reserve them for the more advanced sets, would be a good move, such as your UCS Y-wing.

For what it's worth, I have almost all of the Speed Champions sets and only have issues with the stickers I have FUBARed myself, again only been collecting for around 3 years, so maybe it just hasn't happened yet.  

[astral brick]

Talking about quality, just wondering, are the Lego bricks lighter than they used to be? I have recently built my first model after many years and this was exactly the impression I have received in relation to the plastic which is currently used. It is very likely that my memory is failing, however, considering that I have seen videos in which many kind of tests were achieved, has someone ever tried to weigh the same brick taken from two untouched sets from different ages?

[Aanchir]

19 hours ago, Graupensuppe said:

I didn't see a point in reporting this to Lego since in my experience it never stopped. Is it really possible they don't know about this? I've seen it happening for at least 15 years. The 2008-2010 sets are actually the ones that are worst affected in my collection, but more recently I once again found quite a lot of sets from the past few years (ca. 2014-2017) that have developed the same problem. DC Super Heroes, Speed Champions, and now the UCS Snowspeeder as well.

And it's always the same:

1. only white stickers are affected, clear ones aren't
2. areas printed with different colors seem to disintegrate at different rates - white areas are by far the worst affected and usually start peeling off after just 2-3 years
3. it's like the stickers start expanding or contracting, causing them to peel off at the edges and then develop cracks all over

I can't be the only one this happens to!?

Hmm, interesting. I believe the stickers for sets sold in North America and in Europe are produced in different factories, so maybe it's something that they already resolved in sets produced for sale in North America but not sets produced for sale in Europe? Or as @Johnny1360 suggests, it could be some kind of environmental factor, but for the most part LEGO still does their best to account for that in their designs, so I feel like it's worth reporting anyhow so they know that something is amiss and can hopefully even replace your sticker sheet.

[Evans]

I'm in the same case as you, Graupensuppe, and your observations are shared by some of my friends.

The bad quality stickers were made from the mid-90's to mid 10's. I can't say that much about more recent sets, as I don't buy these very often, but the few stickers I placed seems to hold for now.

I've 6562 from 1995 (bought used) that have destroyed stickers, on the sign as on the truck.

The same type of sticker paper was used in my childhood sets (2003-2010), and all my World City sets have destroyed stickers, many of my 7237-2 Police Station and 2005 wave are destroyed (since at least 5 years), and 2010 sets too have had a lot of damage (campervan, Octan fuel truck). And I don't even speak about my 2007 Cement mixer that is made of "brittle blue" color, that is cracked from everywhere... First, the sticker hardens, then the white part lifts, then it cracks, and some time after, the color is cracking too. It mainly happens on stickers that have white edges, or in white (unprinted) spaces of the sticker, and it's slowy destroying its rest.

My childhood sets were stored on my layout, so these were exposed to air and dust, but not a lot of sun. It did appear only on white stickerpaper. The problem with transparent stickers and the new white paper they made since the mid 2010's is that these can't be removed to be replaced, because the glue stays on the Lego part, and sticker is dead... I had to reorder a sheet because I had to replace correctly stickers on a 2018 set...

I already advised Lego something like three years ago, and they couldn't do anything for me at all. All they purposed me was that, when I buy a new Lego set, I call customer service for them to send me an extra stickersheet. But my 10-15 years old are in bad shape because of this. I asked them if they could send me modern stickers to replace and modernze my sets, because there was no solution, and they refused... They don't want to understand that I have some 30-40 years stickers that are in better shape than their more recent stickers. The transparent sticker paper used in the 80s seems to me the best one: it's possible to replace these (with a lot of precautions) and these don't destroy with time.

[Graupensuppe]

On 3/20/2019 at 10:43 PM, Evans said:

The bad quality stickers were made from the mid-90's to mid 10's. I can't say that much about more recent sets, as I don't buy these very often, but the few stickers I placed seems to hold for now.

Almost all of my pre-2009 sets that use white stickers are affected, whereas the 2010-2013 stickers haven't peeled off yet. But unfortunately my 2014-2016 sets and the 2017 UCS Snowspeeder are affected again, so I don't think the problem has been solved.

[Graupensuppe]

Is there a scientific explanation for why parts of stickers that are printed with certain colors - especially white - tend to crack and flake off earlier, while adjacent areas of different colors are still fine?

[JWBDolphins]

I've used over a thousand (maybe thousands) of 4x4 plates of all different colors building MILS baseplates.  Then I starting using reddish-brown 4x4 plates and broke 4 right off the bat.  My son building something else broke 2.  We both starting handling them with a lot more care.  Those 4x4 plates came from BrickLink so I just assumed something happened to them (exposed to sunlight, near chemicals, who knows.)  But after finding this thread, I concur that there is something going on with reddish-brown parts, at least with reddish-brown 4x4 plates.

 

[Verodin]

From set 42114 that was released 1st of August.

Colour inconsistencies. It's hard to take a good photo of these, hopefully it is visible. IRL it is clearly noticable.

32348 Liftarm 1 x 7 Bent - All are darker than the other yellow parts.

39793 Pin Connector Block, Liftarm 1 x 3 x 3 - Darker yellow, same as the liftarm above

15100 Pin with Friction Ridges Lengthwise and Pin Hole - Lighter yellow (or not a solid yellow?). Seems to be made of a different material than the other yellow parts.

87082 Pin 3L with Friction Ridges Lengthwise and Center Pin Hole - Wine red compared to the red liftarm for comparison.

 

And something new to me, fringes on 15100 Pin with Friction Ridges Lengthwise and Pin Hole. Multiple ones have this.

 

And a misaligned print on the new angular motor:

 

I tried to remain neutral about it, but considering the amount of issues within a single set, I'm now sure TLG has no quality control whatsever anymore...

[TechnicRCRacer]

Just wanted to warn that it seems early runs of the 10220 Volkswagen T1 camper van has some issues with white parts, I counted and fifteen of the 1 x something parts have cracks down the side and don’t grip well at all. It’s been on display for close to 10 years, but the parts cracked within 2.

[koalayummies]

Pried this one from below with brick separator studs doh, crunched. Pulled the others from the corners of the plate using the flat spatula-end. Gonna chalk this one up to operator error but it did seem to flake off pretty effortlessly.

[Toastie]

1 hour ago, koalayummies said:

Gonna chalk this one up to operator error but it did seem to flake off pretty effortlessly.

No excuses here - operator pays.

However, that color is tough. LEGO bricks are deeply colored through - and the ABS resin is not happy about that, when inorganic pigments or organic colors affect the ABS polymer structure. Well - guess we need to learn from your experiment: Be careful with some colors ... 

It is what it is - and less so a quality assurance issue, I believe. Superglue, the very thin cyanoacrylate variety may be of help here, as it seems you recovered all debris ... a lost 2x3 is a big loss - particularly in that color.

The thing though is (question for the purists): Is a repaired 2x3 using superglue still acceptable? And yes, I am fully aware that we surely have other problems, but I like John Cleese very much ... 

Best,
Thorsten 

[koalayummies]

40 minutes ago, Toastie said:

No excuses here - operator pays.

However, that color is tough. LEGO bricks are deeply colored through - and the ABS resin is not happy about that, when inorganic pigments or organic colors affect the ABS polymer structure. Well - guess we need to learn from your experiment: Be careful with some colors ... 

It is what it is - and less so a quality assurance issue, I believe. Superglue, the very thin cyanoacrylate variety may be of help here, as it seems you recovered all debris ... a lost 2x3 is a big loss - particularly in that color.

The thing though is (question for the purists): Is a repaired 2x3 using superglue still acceptable? And yes, I am fully aware that we surely have other problems, but I like John Cleese very much ... 

Best,
Thorsten 

I will never Kragle!! Yeah, shouldn't have pried that way. If one is careful it can work with 1x plates but using the spatula end at the corner in an anti-stud is always safer when removing from below. Far too often I need to get to a plate on the bottom of a build and can usually tell when a piece just isn't going to budge and try another route but pushed it too far on this one. The studs were holding on like crazy and that thin wall was like 'I'm done" :snap:

I have anecdotally seen more Reddish Brown and New Dark Red breaks posted but they were all from years ago.

[Toastie]

On 11/11/2020 at 12:40 AM, koalayummies said:

I will never Kragle!!

Not even to repair a lost soul broken piece? Like bringing it back together - to reanimate it?

Thorsten

[koalayummies]

13 minutes ago, Toastie said:

Not even to repair a lost soul broken piece? Like bringing it back together - to reanimate it?

Thorsten

Well now you make me feel bad cause I tossed it! In the future though if you'd like I can save up any broken pieces and donate them to the Toastie collection. I just don't think they'd hold up after repair to my constant assembly and disassembly as things don't stay together for very long around here.

[Toastie]

1 minute ago, koalayummies said:

Toastie collection

I would be my honor, Sir!

Best
Thorsten

[Graupensuppe]

On 11/10/2020 at 9:43 PM, koalayummies said:

but it did seem to flake off pretty effortlessly.

Four 1x1 tiles with clip broke at the same time today when my Whomping Willow fell over:

Is this a problem that affects all reddish brown pieces?

[Hagane87]

Up until one or two years ago, yes.

And even to this day nearly every clip piece since around 2009 also has a high potential to crack on its own.

Edited January 23, 2021 by Hagane87

[koalayummies]

4 hours ago, Graupensuppe said:

Four 1x1 tiles with clip broke at the same time today when my Whomping Willow fell over:

Is this a problem that affects all reddish brown pieces?

There's been some debate about this but it does appear the reddish browns are at least a little more vulnerable. Still stinks though. I myself have had a couple more brown pieces break as well since that last post. Only reddish browns.