Lego Quality Reference

[Mraz Skintas]

To many questions! Ok, not really, but I have never noticed this. But then again, I never really took the time out to look... I will do that later and get back to you.

[posades]

The colors you mentioned seem alright to me, the big difference I see in my bricks is in dark bley; maybe it had to do with the switch when they were still straightening everything out but some of my dark bley bricks are not even close to what it should be (mainly applying to the larger plates and bricks).

[Svelte]

There is a detailed discussion of parts quality here.

Although since these issues seem to be ongoing, perhaps the discussion is better off in the Embassy...

Let CopMike decide if it is appropriate, otherwise perhaps one of the mods can merge the thread.

[The Who]

The colors you mentioned seem alright to me, the big difference I see in my bricks is in dark bley; maybe it had to do with the switch when they were still straightening everything out but some of my dark bley bricks are not even close to what it should be (mainly applying to the larger plates and bricks).

Dark bley is generally alright with me, but there are a few little differences.

A lot of the times, especially with dark red and Pirate arms, the pieces are all from the same set though.

I only really noticed because I have a tendency to unknowingly cannect similar bricks of the same color into various patterns for storage. (And later wonder how in the world that happened. )

There is a detailed discussion of parts quality here.

Although since these issues seem to be ongoing, perhaps the discussion is better off in the Embassy...

I had no idea where it should have gone, so I just picked the most seemingly appropiate place.

EDIT: Now your name is not changing, but your avatar is.

Edited August 13, 2009 by booger540

[ziljin]

I have two dozer sets, and I have 12 total yellow triangle archy bricks. 7 of them have a hollow stud on the top, and the other 5 have solid studs. Is that quality inconsistency? one of those two sets are defects? Or do they make both of them, and they use them interchangeably?

[CP5670]

I'm not sure what set or piece you are referring to, but changes from filled to hollow studs have occurred on many types of pieces before and it may happen that a given set contains both types of pieces. I usually wouldn't call it a defect as there is not necessarily anything wrong with either type of piece, although it should not be noticeable on the model.

[Peppermint_M]

Have greasy wheels been mentioned?

The tyres are all oily and they smudged my bricks and collected dust.

[ziljin]

This is the piece I was talking about.

So they just mass produce the bricks in a big pile then pick them out randomly to put into sets?

[CP5670]

Have greasy wheels been mentioned?

The tyres are all oily and they smudged my bricks and collected dust.

This was discussed earlier and is in the list, but it's not an issue anymore on current sets.

So they just mass produce the bricks in a big pile then pick them out randomly to put into sets?

More or less, yeah. When a part change like this is made, a given set usually but not always contains only one variety of the piece.

[frogstudio]

This was discussed earlier and is in the list, but it's not an issue anymore on current sets.

I still is, my 2009 4WD with horse trailer had greasy wheels... :(

[CP5670]

I still is, my 2009 4WD with horse trailer had greasy wheels... :(

Maybe it's dependent on the location? The sets I bought during the last year had a different type of wheel that has no problems, but I've only gotten two or three sets with those wheels.

Has anyone else seen recent sets that still use the slimy tires?

[JCC1004]

Maybe it's dependent on the location? The sets I bought during the last year had a different type of wheel that has no problems, but I've only gotten two or three sets with those wheels.

Has anyone else seen recent sets that still use the slimy tires?

All of the wheels I got in the newest wave of Indy weren't slimy. That's just gross.

[CP5670]

I had picked up 5974 and 8265 and won a 7738 at Brickfair, and I built them over the last few days. Here are some new observations on the brick quality.

The majority of the white in 5974 looks surprisingly good and is back to the 1990s level. Some pieces still have that milky, transparent look, but I would say around 70% of the white pieces are good, which is a refreshing change from last year. The bad pieces include rare parts like 2x2 concave corner slopes and plane tails, but also some common parts like 2x4 and 2x6 bricks. 7738 is a 2008 set that also includes a lot of white, and here almost all of the white pieces are bad. There is a very noticeable improvement in 5974 over 7738 and other stuff I got last year, which is good to see.

The yellow pieces in 8265 are more of a mixed bag. There is some improvement with small studless liftarms, while larger studless beams as well as studded bricks and plates still look fairly lousy. I compared them to equivalent parts from 8275 (from 2007/08) and 8459 (from 1997). I think the studded pieces are actually slightly better than the ones in 8275, but the difference isn't big and they are still some ways off from the old yellow.

I didn't see problems with light or dark blay in any of the sets, although I have never seen those in the past either. Does anyone have a picture of the issue here?

I had also skimmed over the PAB section at the Lego store where I got this stuff. Some bins there had good yellow and others had bad yellow. The white stuff I saw looked pretty good to me. The tires in both 5974 and 7738 as well as in PAB were of the new variety, without the stickiness.

[The Cobra]

I still is, my 2009 4WD with horse trailer had greasy wheels... :(

Last week I opened a few December 2008 Daily Mirror promo sets, and wheels were sticky too.

I'm not sure about my 4WD w/ht, but its wheeels were probably greasy too.

[CP5670]

This appears to be another case of a location-specific issue. I will update the entry. Maybe TLG has switched to the new type of tires in some packaging plants but is yet to run out of old stock in others.

[harrysnapperorgans]

A few points I've thought of . . .

I've seen a few bricks with size inconsistency. I have recently built a MOC with four of these in a row, and one was recessed compared to the others. I went though my spares and found a few more that were slightly recessed as well. In my collection it only seems to show up in the yellow ones.

And also, as far as printing goes, I'm a color printer technician by day, working in the graphic arts arena where color is extremely important.

I would say that the bad color instructions we see are directly because of cost cutting. I would say that the printing company probably provide TLG with a top quality proof print of each batch, made at the beginning of the print run. BUT they probably aren't constantly testing and adjusting the color throught the run to ensure that the color hasn't changed since the orginal print. This lack of attention to detail probably allows the printer to offer TLG a lower price.

I also wonder if Lego's graphic designers have correctly calibrated monitors. Projected color mediums such as monitors are capable of producing thousands more colors than Refelected color mediums such as print. Because of this, designers who are designing for print should use monitors that have been 'dumbed down', to match as closely as possible to match the colors posible in CMYK print format.

This can certainly cause halftone colors such as pastels and process greys to look significantly different from the designer's screen to the printer's output tray

Hope that rant is of interest to any one.

Ben

[CP5670]

Thanks for the explanation. If it's simply due to sloppiness on the printing company's part, it might explain why the colors don't seem to be consistent for everyone and among all sets.

As for the size and alignment issues, I have noticed that too. It used to be a common issue at one point in the 80s too, but wasn't seen in the 90s as far as I can remember. I saw it intermittently again in 2006 and 2007, around when all the color problems started, but haven't seen it in a while now. Have you gotten any recent pieces with this problem?

[Jack Bricker]

Last year I purchased one of the new Indiana Jones sets just after they came out. I was rebuilding it the other day when I noticed that some of the pieces were not connecting properly. One of the 1x8s was a little shorter than the others and it was literally pulling the set apart. It reminded me of the trouble that I had with Mega Bloks POTC and I am wondering with the new imperial ship coming out at $180 if this is going to be an ongoing problem. Have any of you guys had a similer problem?

[Spyder]

I've only had one quality problem, it was with my Pirate Survival set. The black 2x2 tile that goes on top of the box was so tight, it just popped off and wouldn't stay on.

[Erdbeereis]

Bengun, there's already a topic on LEGO piece quality over in the general discussion forum, so I'll move this there and merge it.

[Jack Bricker]

Bengun, there's already a topic on LEGO piece quality over in the general discussion forum, so I'll move this there and merge it.

Oh, thank you. I wasn't aware of the other thread. Sorry. I just remembered that when I got the soldier fort for the new pirates series the crocodile that came with it had a head piece that was too small for the body. It cracked when I put it on the body. I guess I will have to buy a crocodile off of bricklink.com which is kind of a hassle considering shipping and all.

Edited November 1, 2009 by bengun

[Rick]

Oh, thank you. I wasn't aware of the other thread. Sorry. I just remembered that when I got the soldier fort for the new pirates series the crocodile that came with it had a head piece that was too small for the body. It cracked when I put it on the body. I guess I will have to buy a crocodile off of bricklink.com which is kind of a hassle considering shipping and all.

This is what Lego customer service is for. Call them or ask for replacement parts on their service website.

[CopMike]

Info from Jan Beyer:

Hi all, some of you recently discovered some color variations on minifigs so I spoke to Global Quality and here is the answer. Jan

We received some inquiries from fans bringing to our attention an issue of color differences between our LEGO mini figures. We have found the root causes of this variance and are in the corrective action phase. The market might see some slight difference in figures for a bit while this is being resolved. Producing the highest quality bricks is an integral part of the LEGO brand and we would not jeopardize the high quality that consumers have come to know in any way.

I would like to assure you, that no changes have been made to the studs that appear on the LEGO brick. As you might imagine, doing so would be a large undertaking, since all LEGO brick molds have been designed with this same "tube and stud" concept for years and making a change like this would affect the interlocking capabilities of all elements. Additionally we are careful that our high quality requirements for plastic materials are maintained as always.

It is gratifying knowing that we have many LEGO collectors who are happily involved in our products. Thank you for making us aware of this matter and allowing us time to react based on your input.

LEGO Global Quality

[Zorbas]

I know I 've seen this been discussed somewhere before but I couldn't find it.

Anyway, since my return from the dark ages, one of the main issues I've encountered when it comes to quality were the chairs.

I have bought many (too many, believe me...) CITY sets and the chairs that were in all of them didn't have enough grip for the minifig to "lock".

I bought the 7945 Fire Station (2007) last week and I started building it last night. When I came to the step that I had to use the chairs, to my surprise, the minifig could sit and "lock" on it just like the old days. I could move the minifig's torso back and forth while sitting and the legs were locked in their place. I was really happy to be honest.

Do we know anything about that and when did exactly this problem started to appear?

[CP5670]

We received some inquiries from fans bringing to our attention an issue of color differences between our LEGO mini figures. We have found the root causes of this variance and are in the corrective action phase. The market might see some slight difference in figures for a bit while this is being resolved. Producing the highest quality bricks is an integral part of the LEGO brand and we would not jeopardize the high quality that consumers have come to know in any way.

Nice to see some official input. I wonder what exactly he is referring to though. If he's talking about the general color inconsistency, that issue doesn't have anything to do with minifigs specifically. It affects all kinds of bricks, including minifigs.

Anyway, since my return from the dark ages, one of the main issues I've encountered when it comes to quality were the chairs.

I have bought many (too many, believe me...) CITY sets and the chairs that were in all of them didn't have enough grip for the minifig to "lock".

This has been brought up before, and I've noticed it too. It's an especially prominent example of the weak clasping power problem. From what I can see though, it's not the chairs but the minifig legs that are the issue. If you try to put the minifigs on older chairs, you will notice the same loose grip.