Bricks cracking... just from being connected to one another?

[Aanchir]

I am not sure the weight logic applies to why we get spares. Some bags have small parts and they don't have extras. Some bags have the same small parts and they have extras. I think we get extras because TLG wants us to, because they are a nice company and can spare a few cents out of their many dollars of profits per set.

As I understand it, generally, it's a weight issue. If some bags that have small parts without any extras, it might mean that the machines used to check the weight on those particular bags can measure the weight with more precision than the ones used to check other bags. For instance, I believe this is why the first couple series of collectible minifigures had extra parts, but later series did not — at some point the machines used for the weight check may have been upgraded.

Also, small bags like the ones used for things like LEGO Friends accessories presumably do not include extras because I believe those parts all come off the same mold and are bagged as soon as they come out of the mold. This is why the contents of each of these bags are considered a single element in the LEGO Customer Service database and in instruction manuals.

[Vee]

That's interesting, a mold that has the whole thing in it. I always thought of a mold as producing only the same parts, one mold = one part.

Uhmmm, but then all the parts have to have the same color?

[Floundie]

I think I have one cracked cheese slope hanging around somewhere..

[Lyichir]

That's interesting, a mold that has the whole thing in it. I always thought of a mold as producing only the same parts, one mold = one part.

Uhmmm, but then all the parts have to have the same color?

For parts like that, they are. A given Friends set with those accessories will have a bag containing just them, all in the same color.

[Vee]

You guys need to stop calling the 1x1 slopes "cheese", this makes me hungry!

For parts like that, they are. A given Friends set with those accessories will have a bag containing just them, all in the same color.

Ok, makes sense now, thx for the explanation.

[Faefrost]

That's interesting, a mold that has the whole thing in it. I always thought of a mold as producing only the same parts, one mold = one part.

Uhmmm, but then all the parts have to have the same color?

Actually Lego is unusual in that their molds typically are just for a single part. Many plastic manufacturers produce parts on trees or sprues. If you have ever built a plastic model kit, typically each sprue of parts is a single mold. Some manufacturers such as Bandai of Japan are actually able to do multiple colored plastic on a single sprue using a single mold. It's kind of wild.

[antp]

They produce more than one part per mold.

When I was kid the 1x1 round plates always came by 2, attached (like the flowers which are attached by 4).

So we always got an even number of these, even if the set required an odd number.

[TheLegoDr]

^But how long ago was that? They don't do 1x1 round plates as sprues anymore, meaning their new molds (after they would have retired the other) do one part per mold. Unless they are on a sprue, which anymore is usually just the flower petals and the tool wheel, which they changed that again so I don't think the new one has a sprue.

[Faefrost]

I think Lego has a few multi part molds. Typically for very specialized things. The tool wheels for example. Or the Friends accessories. Not to mention the flower heads. They don't do this with building parts any longer as it requires manual labor to separate.

[kibosh]

I think some of you are misinterpreting one part per mold. I believe LEGO mold make one TYPE of part per mold generally, but make multiples of that one part in a single color. For instance, I think the 2x4 brick mold makes 8 bricks at a time.

[Lyichir]

I think some of you are misinterpreting one part per mold. I believe LEGO mold make one TYPE of part per mold generally, but make multiples of that one part in a single color. For instance, I think the 2x4 brick mold makes 8 bricks at a time.

Maybe, but the fact that the Friends accessories have the same part number for the whole bag and never come individually suggests that they're an exception: a set of different parts that get molded and packaged together.

It is true that most molds print multiples of the same part at a time; I remember an anecdote from a Lego employee (forget who) about 5 module Technic axles (I think?) being paradoxically more expensive to put in sets than larger axles at one point, because the 5 module axles were being produced from an older mold that produced fewer at once.

[Legopast]

Hope this helps with your LEGO mould discussion,

Edited January 31, 2014 by Legopast

[Timoonn]

Do you have cracks on modern (less than 7 years old) technic bush 1 and 1/2 ? I'm asking myself about those parts, the old one seemed frequently crack.

[Lyichir]

Do you have cracks on modern (less than 7 years old) technic bush 1 and 1/2 ? I'm asking myself about those parts, the old one seemed frequently crack.

I have not experienced cracking on newer Technic bushings through normal use. I think you'd be safe with any of the ones from the past decade and a half, and yes, I do remember the fragility of the older ones.

[dr_spock]

Do you have cracks on modern (less than 7 years old) technic bush 1 and 1/2 ? I'm asking myself about those parts, the old one seemed frequently crack.

I have 8228 crawler crane on display for 6 or so years now. No cracking on the bushings that I could see. I recently built a second hand 8854 power crane. The old bushings from that 1989 studded Technic era seem to be a stiffer plastic with less give. You can feel the difference in the bushings and axles. Old black pins are also much stiffer and harder to remove if you make a mistake during the build.

[AFOLguy1970]

Something I noticed this weekend. We have a lot of white 1x2 profile bricks. Some have rarely been used, however most have cracks on the side.

[Timoonn]

?

[Superkalle]

?

What is it you want to say with this?

[antp]

He asks you if you mean that slope part by "profile brick".

I thought you meant http://www.bricklink...tem.asp?P=98283 and forgot the word "Masonry", but it does not seem to exist in white

Edited February 24, 2014 by antp

[Superkalle]

He asks you if you mean that slope part by "profile brick".

I thought you meant http://www.bricklink...tem.asp?P=98283 and forgot the word "Masonry", but it does not seem to exist in white

Oh, OK.

Thanks!

[antp]

And now I see it was AFOLguy1970 who posted about that brick and not you

[AFOLguy1970]

I thought Lego once referred to this as "profile" but I mean this:

http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=2877

[joshgay]

Cheese slopes, the red ones in my 2011 Star Wars Advent Calendar were pretty much garbage out of the box, had them all replaced as even those that didn't fall in two almost immediately looked like they were starting to crack, the replacements didn't, I've seen other ones crack though offhand I only see 1/2 of a white one the vacuum cleaner ate.

A local used store where some of the bulk used gets sorted put a pile of sand green in the dig bin, but it had been sorted, the only parts that went in were cracked 1x bricks, and a lot of them, but again, possibly all came out of one batch, having seen soda made/packaged, same flavor running on 4 production lines, 2 sizes of bottles, 2-3 different case sizes for cans at the same time, obviously if doing plastic (also a liquid in the process), you may be running more than one size of mold with the same batch of goo.

I've had other pieces crack, probably some plates, but then some of them were probably abused some as well.

[stebai]

I have literally hundreds of cracked 1x1 slopes - i use them for Winter Village mocs, I am always buying replacements - one day i intend to send them all back to lego and want to find out why a premium product is so prone to breakage without miss-use occurring. I suggest everyone else in similar positions do the same - it's the only way anything will be done about this.

[Timoonn]

I don't replace slopes, the new ones will crack too, it's an infinite loop.