Sir Walter Maugham Posted January 11, 2013 Posted January 11, 2013 I have heard of people occasionally discovering that a piece from a set may be missing, but how often are pieces that don't belong at all found in sets? Back in 2007 I bought a 7093 Skeleton Tower set, and found what I believe to be just the hips of this: http://www.brickset....ifigs/?m=ixs003 minifigure's pants. I was quite amused and surprised by this, I've never heard of this happening in all my years of lurking reading Lego forums. Quote
PenPlays Posted January 11, 2013 Posted January 11, 2013 I got a Mars Mission MB-01 Eagle Command Base that had a 1x4 prison bars piece. It was the only one, and not in the inventory. Quote
Phrea Posted January 11, 2013 Posted January 11, 2013 Not sure if this counts, but I once got a technic beam of the right size, but wrong colour. It was in this set. Quote
LEGO Historian Posted January 12, 2013 Posted January 12, 2013 (edited) I have a horrible story to tell about a Texas LEGO collector friend... who came across a bunch of old LEGO parts (no boxes)... and among them were about a 1/2 dozen of these little matchbox size cars.... well he didn't think they were LEGO... so he gave them away to some kid and later moved to another state.... Many years later to his horror... these are the 1:87 LEGO cars of 1961-67... and the are EXTREMELY HIGHLY COLLECTIBLE by both LEGO collectors and model car collectors... he gave away over $500 worth of what he thought were useless non-LEGO cars. http://www.bricklink...Pic.asp?S=698-2 And this particular set (1965-66) would today in MISB condition... depending on the colors of the cars (some colors are much rarer than others)... would fetch $2000 - $5000 !!! My LEGO DVD/download has a 61 page chapter devoted to these rarities... some individual cars fetch $3000+ each in rare colors (a black Fiat 1800, with only 1/2 dozen known in that color, went for $3235 on Ebay 2 years ago). Edited January 12, 2013 by LEGO Historian Quote
Inconspicuous Posted January 12, 2013 Posted January 12, 2013 Not sure if this counts, but I once bought a Rebel Troopers Battle Pack, only to find that not a single one of the pieces that should have been there was in the box, not even the instructions. However, in their place was a entire bag of pieces from another set, which I believe was 7897 Passenger Train due to the excessive number of green chairs it contained. So technically I had an entire bag of extra pieces that didn't belong. Quote
splatman Posted January 12, 2013 Posted January 12, 2013 Not sure if this counts, but I once bought a Rebel Troopers Battle Pack, only to find that not a single one of the pieces that should have been there was in the box, not even the instructions. However, in their place was a entire bag of pieces from another set, which I believe was 7897 Passenger Train due to the excessive number of green chairs it contained. So technically I had an entire bag of extra pieces that didn't belong. Now, you have there a whole box of speculation fodder: Did the box appeared to have been resealed (re-taped, re-glued, etc)? Disgruntled factory employee... Machine gone haywire... Conveyer belt delivering parts to the packing stage for 7897 passes over the conveyer belt to the packaging section for RTBP. Bag falls off one belt, lands on the other. "What do we do with these extra bags?" Something for people like us to find and ask questions about. Headscratcher for Gary Istok's great-great-grandson and future Billund archive keepers. Give it a totally speculative Splat! Quote
obsidianheart Posted January 12, 2013 Posted January 12, 2013 I mentioned this story in another thread a while back. This doesn't count exactly, since one was supposed to be there to begin with, but when I opened my Monster Fighters 9466, I got something like ten or twelve copies of the sticker sheet included with the instructions. Quote
Inconspicuous Posted January 12, 2013 Posted January 12, 2013 Now, you have there a whole box of speculation fodder: Did the box appeared to have been resealed (re-taped, re-glued, etc)? Disgruntled factory employee... Machine gone haywire... Conveyer belt delivering parts to the packing stage for 7897 passes over the conveyer belt to the packaging section for RTBP. Bag falls off one belt, lands on the other. It was a while ago, so I have no recollection of whether the box looked like it could have been tampered with. However, if someone was buying sets, swapping out sealed pieces, and returning the sets, why would they use the parts from a giant train set? Surely there must be cheaper sets they could have used. I'm leaning towards rogue conveyor belt, but it's still not a particularly plausible explanation. I guess some things are beyond explanation! Quote
Brickity Posted January 12, 2013 Posted January 12, 2013 I have a horrible story to tell about a Texas LEGO collector friend... who came across a bunch of old LEGO parts (no boxes)... and among them were about a 1/2 dozen of these little matchbox size cars.... well he didn't think they were LEGO... so he gave them away to some kid and later moved to another state.... Many years later to his horror... these are the 1:87 LEGO cars of 1961-67... and the are EXTREMELY HIGHLY COLLECTIBLE by both LEGO collectors and model car collectors... he gave away over $500 worth of what he thought were useless non-LEGO cars. http://www.bricklink...Pic.asp?S=698-2 And this particular set (1965-66) would today in MISB condition... depending on the colors of the cars (some colors are much rarer than others)... would fetch $2000 - $5000 !!! My LEGO DVD/download has a 61 page chapter devoted to these rarities... some individual cars fetch $3000+ each in rare colors (a black Fiat 1800, with only 1/2 dozen known in that color, went for $3235 on Ebay 2 years ago). Wow, that is what we call bad luck Quote
antp Posted January 12, 2013 Posted January 12, 2013 when I opened my Monster Fighters 9466, I got something like ten or twelve copies of the sticker sheet included with the instructions. I got two sheets of stickers with one of my Horizon Express sets, so I have three sheets of stickers for two sets Quote
Vincent Kessels Posted January 12, 2013 Posted January 12, 2013 Well I had a bag of one the Heroica sets in the Kindom Joust set. Unfortunately that meant that I was missing a bag from the set. A quick call to customer support solved that issue. Quote
TheRedGuy Posted January 13, 2013 Posted January 13, 2013 Not sure if this counts, but I once bought a Rebel Troopers Battle Pack, only to find that not a single one of the pieces that should have been there was in the box, not even the instructions. However, in their place was a entire bag of pieces from another set, which I believe was 7897 Passenger Train due to the excessive number of green chairs it contained. So technically I had an entire bag of extra pieces that didn't belong. Speaking of battle packs and random bags, I had the bag of a battle pack with most of the minifig parts in the Grand Emporium. Quote
Larrynautik Posted January 26, 2013 Posted January 26, 2013 It happened once to me, in King's Castle ; a slope replaced by an inverted slope, in the same color. So, I had one uncorrect brick on 150k bricks owned :D Quote
Hrw-Amen Posted January 26, 2013 Posted January 26, 2013 When I had finished building my Horizon Express I had eight 2X4 black bricks left over among a few little odds and sods. Quote
Mr_Malfoy Posted January 26, 2013 Posted January 26, 2013 After building Arkham Asylum Breakout, I had an extra 1x5 rounded column piece left over. Quote
Galaxy Explorer Posted January 26, 2013 Posted January 26, 2013 (edited) In 1989 I got 6060 Knight's Challenge and it was missing the 1x4x1 fence piece in blue. In its place was a blue 1x4 plate with 4 fingers. I didn't return the set thinking I would come across the correct part sooner or later. Turned out to be much later, as I didn't come across one till around 2008! That's the only time I've received a part that was not used in the set. I've also had one instance where I received an extra of one part, but was missing another. It was the UCS AT-ST, which came with three left hand curved foot parts and only one right-hand. Other than that, I've had very few missing part issues. Edited January 26, 2013 by Galaxy Explorer Quote
Chorduroy Posted January 30, 2013 Posted January 30, 2013 One of the copies of the Creator Ferris Wheel (4957) I got was missing one of its bags of parts and in its place was an extra bag of parts from the set. I received replacement parts from Lego and they didn't want the extras back, so it worked out great for me! Lego customer service is amazing. Quote
Lego Otaku Posted January 31, 2013 Posted January 31, 2013 Yes they are amazing provided you don't abuse them. I've had a few missing pieces that were all replaced plus a service kit for the space shuttle set to fix the weak fuel tank. I very rarely get piece that don't belong to a set but here's that I can remember: 5580 Highway Rig, one 1x4 technic brick in black was missing, and an extra 1x4 technic brick in yellow was included. Officially the set only had trans-yellow, no solid yellow piece. a castle set I can't remember which one had a partially formed red plate, looks like a 4x4 plus one extra stud on the edge, possibly incomplete 4x6? I don't remember if I still have it or not. 7931 T-6 Jedi Shuttle was missing a bag #4 and had 2x bag #1. The single most expensive service was when I bought $75 worth of PaB pieces last May (to get the chrome droid). The box arrived but it was half a box, missing the whole bottom and everything inside. Showed them pictures, they sent me replacement quickly. The second box arrived safely and if it was the exact same box style, then the first one likely fell apart when the plastic strap on it broke off and the bottom fell out. Quote
brodey1 Posted February 1, 2013 Posted February 1, 2013 In my Grand Emporium, I received an incorrect bag. In the end, it worked out, because I'm getting replacement parts from TLG, and I got about 10 extra 2x3 tiles. Quote
Haldiron Posted February 6, 2013 Posted February 6, 2013 some of these posts remind me that every set I've done always has extra pieces left over when completed. Why is that? Quote
hjmediastudios Posted February 6, 2013 Posted February 6, 2013 some of these posts remind me that every set I've done always has extra pieces left over when completed. Why is that? Primarily because the little pieces are easy to lose, and TLG wants the lil'uns to have a complete set even if they lose a 1x1 lever piece under the couch, I guess. Quote
Haldiron Posted February 6, 2013 Posted February 6, 2013 Primarily because the little pieces are easy to lose, and TLG wants the lil'uns to have a complete set even if they lose a 1x1 lever piece under the couch, I guess. i gotcha! They should just give us 2 of everything! Quote
TheOncomingStorm Posted February 10, 2013 Posted February 10, 2013 I had a Lego Star Wars set yeeears ago (can't remember which one it was) that had a random red brick in it. It literally didn't fit with anything. Quote
Lyichir Posted February 11, 2013 Posted February 11, 2013 Primarily because the little pieces are easy to lose, and TLG wants the lil'uns to have a complete set even if they lose a 1x1 lever piece under the couch, I guess. It's actually somewhat more complex than that, from what I've heard from Lego employees. The parts which occur as extras are very light, and the weight checks that Lego puts sets through to make sure a set has the right number of pieces have enough of a margin of error that a set with one fewer of one of those parts could potentially be missed by the check and go on to be sold. By adding extras (typically one per bag for eligible parts), even if a set is missing one and the weight check does not catch the error, the set will still have the required number of parts to complete the model once it reaches the consumer. And of course that means that most people get extras of these easy-to-lose parts as a bonus. Quote
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