extra pieces in sets

dkprimus

just curious but does anyone know why lego puts extra pieces in sets and what determine's which pieces get extras  and how many?  are all sets the same?  seems pretty random with the only exception that all the extra's are of small pieces that seem to be easily lost.

DeMontes

"the extra's are of small pieces that seem to be easily lost."

I think you answered your own question ;-)

dkprimus

its just interesting how it varies from set to set. like i just opened 2 of the sw micro fighers s2 sets  and both around the same piece count,  one had 10 extra pieces and the other only 4.  extra in 1 doesnt = an extra of same brick in another set

DeMontes

That's true that there does sometimes seem to be a random selection across similar sized sets. It's always nice when a new or rarer colour/part has an extra.

binaryeye

dkprimus said:

its just interesting how it varies from set to set. like i just opened 2 of the sw micro fighers s2 sets  and both around the same piece count,  one had 10 extra pieces and the other only 4.

It's not the number of pieces in the set but the type of pieces. It's likely one of the sets simply had more small pieces (cheese slopes, 1x1 plates, 1x1 tiles, droid arms, lightsaber hilts, control sticks, etc.)

dkprimus said:

extra in 1 doesnt = an extra of same brick in another set

For example?

MattsWhat

I always seem to get one extra per bag of every 1x1 no matter what it is. Even down to bonus free printed stuff. I always just assumed that's what they did, now I want to check! 

Oldfan

Small pieces that are easily missed by the LEGO automated weighing machines at the manufacturing plant.  LEGO programs the addition of those small pieces to ensure that the customer is getting all the parts that are necessary to build the set.  If there is a miss on the packaging line and a 1x1 round plate (for example) is not put into the bag, by planning to put +1 in the bag anyway LEGO has some confidence that 100% of the expected parts are actually there before they seal up the box.

If they ever get around to a more hyper-sensitve method of ensuring that all parts are indeed included in the set, we'll probably see those extra pieces go away.

True story:  when I opened my UCS Sandcrawler, I was missing one of the large gray panels that are used to make the storage boxes.  In its place was an extra black engine piece.  As the two pieces probably weigh the same, the detection-by-weight machines gave the bag a pass, so I received an incorrect parts count.  One call to LEGO resolved the problem, of course, but it just goes to show that these things can and do happen with the assembly process LEGO uses at the plant.

Yodalicious

The best (and by best I mean WORST) is when you finish a bag and there are a few extra pieces that are way too big to be the typical extras. "Um, why do I have 2 1x4s left?" Then I frantically go back and realized I missed a step way back near the beginning of the build.

Fauch

isn't it the case in the creator expert ferrari, where it seems 2 1x4 are only used to stabilize the model during construction, then removed to never be used again? (I only downloaded the model on LDD, and I think it was this way)

dkprimus

@binaryeye
  i new you would ask me that after i just put all the extra pieces away. i pulled them out and i think its based on the piece,  the one piece that i can see is similar between the sets (the piece they turn into a gun on the fronts) has a spare in all 3 sets. 

dkprimus

@Yodalicious
  thats so true, i had that happen the other day  and luckily it was 2 easy pieces that went on without having to remove anything

LusiferSam

Yodalicious said:

The best (and by best I mean WORST) is when you finish a bag and there are a few extra pieces that are way too big to be the typical extras. "Um, why do I have 2 1x4s left?" Then I frantically go back and realized I missed a step way back near the beginning of the build.

And there are times where these pieces don't go anywhere and you spends days checking the instructions for them.  I've had that happen with Orthanc and the Kiwi-E-Mart.  I'm about 99% sure I've not missed anything in Orthanc, but still checking the Kiwi-E-Mart.

Yodalicious

^ Yup. I have two dark brown slopes from Ewok Village that I'm still scratching my head about. 

Pumpkin_3CK5

Some older sets didn't have extra pieces. I wonder when they  started including them.

DoubleD

They want to give you extra sausages, but not all sets have sausages so they give something. But they want all of those one circles to be sausages.

HangedSanchez

Yodalicious said:

The best (and by best I mean WORST) is when you finish a bag and there are a few extra pieces that are way too big to be the typical extras. "Um, why do I have 2 1x4s left?" Then I frantically go back and realized I missed a step way back near the beginning of the build.

I just built #70401 Gold Getaway and managed to have a 1x6 plate left. It's quite a large piece and quite a small set, but I've been through the instructions so many times and still can't work out where it goes...