Instructions Packed With Cardboard

SirKevbags

Well everyone said I would stray from OT Star Wars and I suppose the arrival of the Fire Brigade Modular .means I have ;-)

Won't be able to build it till next week but couldn't resist opening the box. Everything as expected except the instructions. Both of them together in a polybag with a piece of card to stop them getting wrecked. Have to say it has done the job.

Is this going to be happening with all large sets?

andhe

Seems to be the casecan't remember where I saw it but think this is a response to complaints, and is only really an issue with bigger sets where the box is exceedingly larger than the brick bags inside.

Silber334

I had the same question in mind when I bought the Grand Emporium and Pet Shop. If the loose instructions are likely to get thrown around inside the measly packed boxes during shipments, etc, I guess they're gonna have to pack it so it won't get messed up.

Speaking of which, I wonder when Lego stopped using the plastic trays to separate the pieces back in the 80s. If this question's already been addressed on another thread, lead me there :D

Legoboy

^ @istokg - Where are you?

davee123

I believe they were still using them in 2000 (I know the Dino Research Compound had the flip-up lid with plastic tray), and I think they stopped in 2001, although I'm not 100% sure.

DaveE

bluemoose

They've been doing this (wrapping the instructions & backing them with a cardboard stiffener) with many of the larger sets since early this year.

rocao

^ Yeah, although it's still hit and miss regarding which sets get the cardboard backing treatment. With the Fire Brigade, it is good to hear that they are including it in new production of older sets, since the older productions of the Fire Brigade didn't have them.

Ypres

Pirates of the Caribbean are all protected by the cardboard backing... even the $19.99US ones! In my opinion it's one of the greatest innovations to their packaging. I'm a collector and need to keep the books looking good, (my standards aren't that high) rather than worn out on one side or torn. I think now that Lego is making boxes smaller they should at least give the Cardboard protector to most sets. I'm strongly supporting this because the condition my instruction books arrived in were as close to mint as I've ever seen! It would be nice to see adult collectors make their impact in this decision.

dimefield

Both my Fire Brigade and MMV instructions came this way. I wasnt aware it was a new innovation as they were my first "large" lego purchases. It is nice to have flat instructions though!

llanowarsoldier

Wasn't Diagon Alley the 1st set to have the new packaging for instructions?

Diggydoes

Just shortly after coming out of my dark-ages i've heard that there are some sets which have their instructions on a cardboard. Well a couple of purchases later i have a lot of these cardboarded instructions at hand! I'm really wondering if these instructions perform better on the after-market (as long as they are untouched)? I'm thinking hardly if i shall for example keep the DA instructions a little till it retires,or do ya'll think it's not worth the trouble?
I know that instruction for Modulars can perform pretty well,but will the instruction for DA or the new Star Wars sith Interceptor also perform well???

BrickDancer

^Instructions for most of the big sets go for good money, regardless of theme. Just look up prices for books to Taj Mahal, Eiffel Tower, Grand Carousel. Not to mention of course the UCS SW stuff, like the MF for obvious example or Death Star (10143). So DA is a shoe-in for better value long term, in my opinion of course.

Diggydoes

That was my initial thought^ but what about instructions for "system"sets like "Palpatines Arrest",it also comes with instruction on a cardboard! Somehow i feel that instructions on Cardboard add to the value in general,they are now like Bricks in a sealed bag!

Diggydoes

I'm asking since i mostly part out set to sell the pieces on BL,when a set is released the Instruction usually goes for small money so i thought it may be worth to keep them for a while (they don't require much space) if they will fetch a higher price when EOL'ed,especially those on Cardboards!

BrickDancer

Depends on if the set is something sought after as a Bricklinking project. Playsets usually don't fit this description, but there's always exceptions (especially Star Wars).

rolvtd

When I went to the local Lego store last time, I asked if they had any extras after any building at the store and they did not. Still, it doesn't hurt to ask right? I plan to ask every time I go. (FYI, my visits to the store are infrequent enough that I HOPE I am not being annoying).

Laziter

I wish that the set 7672 (Star Wars Rogue Shadow) came with instructions packed with cardboard(s).
When I opened the box, the instructions were all curled up between the bags with bricks :-/
I don't mind small sets not having the instructions packed all nice, but with 2 books of instructions, it's really messy.

graphite

The instruction book problem would be solved if they just made the boxes sized properly for the contents. These days when things like game consoles and even games are so small and packaged efficiently but cost a good chunk of money I don't think many people would shy away from buying the expensive sets if they were in smaller boxes. The people that are going to spend $100+ on LEGO are going to anyway and the people that think that is too much for "bricks" probably wouldn't buy the set even if it came in a refrigerator box.

madforLEGO

I think they should just go back to the boxes from the late 80's early 90's, have the plastic see thru preview window in the box with a box cover flap, that way you can have the trays and the stickers / instructions flat AND stop these jackholes that steal the set parts, or figures, and return the box.

Laziter

It was costly to make boxes like that. Also non-environmental.
Keep in mind that plastic is made from oil, a resource that is becoming expensive as we are depleting the depots on this planet.
An alternative to the trays could be made in paper, but again it would up the prices, but at least it would be recyclable.

tvih

@Laziter - well, LEGO has a few basic things to learn about being environmental-friendly at least with their packaging anyway. For one, too big boxes - and every set I've bought has a box that is too big - means you're effectively wasting shipping space (and thus fuel) by transporting air, and obviously the same is true for storage space for them, as well as stores and even the consumers. Also you use more cardboard than necessary, though that is the lesser evil by far obviously. Furthermore the LEGO [email protected] shipping box that only had had my Chess set + Stormtrooper key chain in it could've held about 4 chess sets and still have padding (which the box didn't really have much of)! Not exactly efficient.

Of course using oil for making the bricks is a problem as well, though at least the bricks are basically "infinitely" reusable and thus unlikely to end up in garbage dumps which is what happens with so many plastic things. But oil will run out eventually, or at least become prohibitively expensive even before it runs out - so an alternative material would be nice. Not easy to find a replacement that is of the same quality and durability though, I imagine! Plastics are popular for a reason.

LegoFanTexas

But oil will run out eventually

I really wish this myth didn't keep getting repeated so often...

The world is swimming in oil, there are trillions and trillions of barrels of oil in the world, we're almost floating on the stuff.

There is more oil in shale in the state of Colorado alone than has ever been pumped in the history of the world.

The whole "we're running out of oil" thing is just nonsense.

*gets off soapbox*

--- Now, that has nothing to do with the POLLUTION caused from burning oil, that I agree is a problem, but it is a separate problem from running out of oil. Turning oil into plastic building bricks only harms the environment if they get thrown out, and yes I also agree that plastic waste is a big problem for our land and our oceans.

JT32

I bought a 7939 Cargo train last year that came with the cardboard for the instructions. I've also recently bought a 3677 Cargo train and weirdly it had no cardboard and the instructions we're in a terrible condition when I opened the box. No idea how they explain that, surely the boxes are the same size and both deserve cardboard?

muffenman

When I got my Millennium Falcon I remember felling very impressed by the fact lego had decide to bag and place a piece of cardbored with the instructions, well done Lego. But shame you did not do it with the 1000+ piece Frigate!

tvih

I really wish this myth didn't keep getting repeated so often...

It's still technically a semi-finite resource (given that it does regenerate, but not quickly), with consumption rising and rising... so theoretically it could effectively run out eventually. It might take a very, very long time of course (or we might've all been wiped each out by an over-polluted planet before it can even happen). There's indeed those who say we're "floating on the stuff" as you put it, while others claim there isn't much. Both are supposedly expert opinions so who the hell knows for sure in the end, I certainly don't. It would seem to make sense that there's plenty given how oil is "produced" by nature to begin with, though. Just seems a bit strange that more people aren't pumping it if there's so much of it available, especially given the perpetually rising oil prices in recent years.

But regardless, fully agreed on that running out is in any case not the real problem in the big picture. It's indeed the environmental impact. For example it's kind of sickening to see how much plastic goes to waste in even just a small household on a regular basis. Luckily as I said LEGO bricks aren't a big problem in this sense since the bricks have a very long usability cycle. Oil as fuel and ending up in oceans and landfills... ugh.

bellybutton290

When I bought the imperial shuttle the instructions were backed with cardboard which I really appretiated especially given I spent £250 on it and will likely sell on in the future, just a nice touch I thought.

tvih

Just built the Kingdoms King's Castle... instructions were slightly crumpled, as was the sticker sheet. Good thing it wasn't worse. This was the first time I had this problem, though, and Queen Anne's Revenge has been the only set that had the cardboard backing to keep 'em stickers & booklets in line.