LEGOLAND non-production parts

[Lyichir]

Red leaves at Christmas time? More likely during Autumn.

I think they were suggesting that that particular type of plant looks somewhat like a poinsettia, a type of flower frequently used as a Christmas decoration. Though of course autumn leaves work too.

Frankly, I'd be conflicted about using that plant for ANYTHING—when you have a part that rare, removing it from the sprue might somehow devalue it, or at least give the sense of doing so...

Edited September 11, 2016 by Lyichir

[mpfirnhaber]

Aye, it's not for building, and it's staying on the sprue :)

[SweetiePie88]

@#225

when people say "That time of the year" They are most likely referring to The x-mas season. And that color does look a lot like those fake holiday plants then fall leaves.

[splatman]

I meant Fall, which will be starting on September 22. If there were also leaves in dark red, orange and yellow, building a fall scene would come naturally. I did not think of poinsettias. If I did, I would have been more specific, to avoid the Fall/Christmas confusion

[whitswj]

/

Edited December 3, 2021 by whitswj

[1980-Something-Space-Guy]

3 hours ago, whitswj said:

I just got a few cool parts yesterday!

Non production octagonal parts by Walter Whiteside Jr., on Flickr

Wow! I really wonder what they intended those to be used for.

[Aanchir]

30 minutes ago, BrickHat said:

Wow! I really wonder what they intended those to be used for.

Presumably Aquazone sets, since that's where the other octagonal parts of that sort were used most extensively.

[1980-Something-Space-Guy]

1 minute ago, Aanchir said:

Presumably Aquazone sets, since that's where the other octagonal parts of that sort were used most extensively.

Thanks Aanchir! I hadn't noticed that.

[Darkdragon]

On 9/11/2016 at 9:47 AM, Lyichir said:

Frankly, I'd be conflicted about using that plant for ANYTHING—when you have a part that rare, removing it from the sprue might somehow devalue it, or at least give the sense of doing so...

 

On 9/11/2016 at 10:20 AM, mpfirnhaber said:

Aye, it's not for building, and it's staying on the sprue :)

I'm exactly the opposite, I have some non-production plants and love to use them in MOCs wherever possible.  Though, I would leave it on the sprue as well I'd just use it carefully in a build, on the sprue.

[whitswj]

/

Edited December 3, 2021 by whitswj

[jonwil]

I actually own a couple of the 2 x 2 round tiles in trans-clear shown earlier in the thread. Not 100% sure where they came from but my best guess is that they were produced for model builders at one of the parks.

Very cool part and I use it in MOCs a lot :)

 

 

Edited September 30, 2016 by jonwil

[whitswj]

/

Edited December 3, 2021 by whitswj

[mpfirnhaber]

Mmm, glitter.

[Artanis I]

Great parts - but that background is making me go blind!!!

[jonwil]

I can think of so many neat uses for that octagonal cross piece (even more if it ever existed in black)

 

[whitswj]

/

Edited December 3, 2021 by whitswj

[Artanis I]

Perfect for recolours of Futuron models!

[danth]

Holy smokes those are cool!

[danny316p]

I hate to be contrary this far into a thread, but this was started to discuss LEGOLAND non-production parts...which tend to be less exciting. For example, I've seen a park maintenance shop continue to stock the older version of jumper plates, without the groove at the bottom. I would theorize (but will likely never know for certain) that the old jumper plates are now made for the parks as a Q element - even though we all know those as a boring common part that's been around for years.

Many others get put in sets eventually...I've been building with some of my rare 2x4s (which were made for LEGOLAND Discovery Centers) lately because so many colors have shown up in kits. The only way to identify the ones made for LEGOLAND is a mold number under the bricks (and the extra wear, since these weren't new when I got them).

I know, pics or it didn't happen:

In the bottom two rows, the bricks on the left (up through the dark purple one) are from a Discovery Center (acquired legally in a way I'm told they no longer allow). Of these rare colors, only bright green and pearl dark grey are still particularly rare - medium lavender, medium nougat, medium azure, light aqua, and flame yellowish orange are now common in sets. I thought spring yellowish green had shown up in a Ninjago something-or-other, but I can't seem to find any reference to that now. The Maersk blue brick in front is a pat. pend 2 x 4 brick I got from our Historian - a modern version of this brick can be found in a few sets.

Another thing I've been fortunate to do on a few occasions is visit the LEGOLAND Florida Model Shop. It's essentially a maintenance shop - the sculptures in the park tend to come from either LEGO's Model Shops or Merlin's production shops, although a few things are actually built locally (most notably, the now-retired "Fresh From Florida" greenhouse only featured models built in Florida). They've never had time to build up too much inventory there - the LLFL Model Shop is currently in its third location in only 5 years. I've indulged my interest in Q elements by taking photos of their stock, although I've never been allowed to take any pieces from the shop (I figure I'm lucky I've been allowed to take pictures).

It's a bit of a strain, but you can see the clear part selection here...2x2 tiles and plates, 1x8 bricks, and more...

3020s in Very Light Bluish Grey, 1x4 bricks in flesh:

A variety of rarities in flesh/nougat colors:

Bricks and plates in light flesh:

Many of my photos are less exciting. This part came out in 2016: http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemIn.asp?P=99206&colorID=2&in=A but I saw it at LEGOLAND in early 2015: 

 

Before the Wall-E set, the parts pallette for their Monster Fighters hearse was really thrilling (3007 and a few other parts here still don't "exist"): 

Clear jumper plates anyone? Some of those curiously plentiful grooveless jumpers show up here too:

More light flesh:

How about some more very light bluish grey plates?

Travis bricks in various colors:

These 1x10 bricks were in sets, but LEGOLAND probably got an extra production run:

Reddish brown appears to be a non-production color of http://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=6140#T=C and http://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=4083#T=C

More nougat-y goodness:

If anyone were to start trying to catalog all of the LEGOLAND-specific parts out there, I'd be more than willing to help...but it would be quite an undertaking. The Florida park may be enlightening as a relatively accessible park whose model shop was only stocked with parts after Merlin took over the parks.

 

Edited December 17, 2016 by danny316p

[L@go]

The 2x2 trans-clear tile isn't technically a Q element, though, is it? Because it can be found in the classic Town set #6590. I know, because I had that one, and because there was a 2x2 trans-clear tile in my collection I didn't know that it was particularly rare until I wanted to get a few more for a MOC many years later...

[danny316p]

There's some room to argue the definition of a Q element...technically, any element produced specifically for model shops is a Q element. In the eyes of LEGO and Merlin, this means that if a part was in a set 20 years ago and they make some of them now, that newer run of the part is a Q element because they're producing that element for LEGOLAND (or other model shops - Kladno, Enfield, etc). Most AFOLs would say that something is not a Q element if it's ever appeared in a set, even though LEGO uses a slightly different definition. It's easier for us to think of Q elements as parts that have never been in a set (since we can easily identify those), but LEGO considers a part to be in Q status whenever it's not currently in regular production.

It's a little clearer for parts that have different molds over time...I think most of us have older clear 2 x 4 bricks around, but the modern clear 3001s are a Q element. There's also the pat pend parts in newer colors (old grey, old dark grey, green and tan) that can be identified as Q elements because the ones in sets all came out well after the pat pend era. I'm not aware of any way to tell the difference between the 2x2 tiles from that set and the ones made for the parks.

[jonwil]

I have some 2 x 2 round tiles in trans-clear. I think they may be Q elements, does anyone know if they ever appeared in anything official or if they would be Q elements?

 

[L@go]

2 hours ago, danny316p said:

There's some room to argue the definition of a Q element...technically, any element produced specifically for model shops is a Q element. In the eyes of LEGO and Merlin, this means that if a part was in a set 20 years ago and they make some of them now, that newer run of the part is a Q element because they're producing that element for LEGOLAND (or other model shops - Kladno, Enfield, etc). Most AFOLs would say that something is not a Q element if it's ever appeared in a set, even though LEGO uses a slightly different definition. It's easier for us to think of Q elements as parts that have never been in a set (since we can easily identify those), but LEGO considers a part to be in Q status whenever it's not currently in regular production.

Good points. To me the most interesting part about that, though, is that the 2x2 trans-clear tile from set 6590 is the only transparent 2x2 tile of any colour (of the modern variation, at least, with the groove) ever to find its way into a set. Considering we know LEGO uses different molds for transparent colours than for opaque colours, that must mean they've kept the mold for transparent 2x2 tiles in storage only for the production of batches of Q elements. Which means making special parts for the parks really must be a priority for them - even though they don't even own the parks anymore.

[antp]

Nice photos :)

But a little sad to think that all these nice "rare" parts will end up in glued models :(

[Sven F]

On 12/18/2016 at 2:37 AM, jonwil said:

I have some 2 x 2 round tiles in trans-clear. I think they may be Q elements, does anyone know if they ever appeared in anything official or if they would be Q elements?

 

There are some trans-clear 2x2 round tiles in sets,  but they are printed.  You just have the piece without the printing applied.  It would be easy to remove printing so it will never be particularly rare.