Help regarding 10241 Maersk Triple Line-E

Jern92

So, this is probably a long shot, but I'll try it anyway.

Recently I started dating this guy who works for Maersk, and he has the Maersk Triple Line-E model, which he got on discount from his Company years ago. Anyway, we were talking about Lego and he mentioned that the stickers for his ship were peeling off. So I figured that I could try and get replacement stickers from LEGO's Customer Service, and then help him rebuild the ship and replace the stickers with new ones.

Wrote to LEGO yesterday, and they replied with the following:

I am sorry that your LEGO toy 10241 has peeling stickers. I have set up a replacement order for you but need you to provide the below details. We will send out the stickers once we receive your reply.
 
1.You full mailing address.
 
2.Manufacturing code. It's a code with two numbers, a letter and another number. This code lets us know when and where we packed your set. Having it can help us figure out what might’ve gone wrong and make sure this mistake doesn’t happen again.
 The code is usually in one of two places:
 •Printed on the clear plastic tape (seal) of the original packaging (larger boxes)
 •Embossed on the box near the logo or the barcode
 
3.These pieces you need are based on a story and characters we didn’t create ourselves. Before we can send you the parts, we’ll need to get a number off the back of your instructions. This acts as your proof of purchase. It’s printed at the bottom of the back cover near the LEGO copyright information and begins with a 4 or 6.

This will be of a one time exception to it as retired models will not have its parts or stickers reproduce again and again over a period of time. Its lucky though that we still have this set of stickers to help you replace. Should this happen again, you can try asking us on it but we wont be able to promise you if the stickers or parts are in stocks.

The problem I have now is that he is in the middle of the East China Sea at the moment, and won't exactly be able to go home and look for it. Also considering how long ago he got it, and it being the only LEGO model he has, I'm not 100% sure he actually kept the box or the instructions.

So, the reason I'm posting here is because I was hoping that a fellow Bricksetter would have the same set, and be able to provide me with a manufacturing code and a number from the back of the instructions. I am not making this up, nor am I trying to make a quick buck by selling off the stickers to someone. Just trying to do something nice for a guy I really like, and it would be fun for us to rebuild it together when he gets back.

Help, please?

ryjay

If you dont get help from anyone here, write back to lego again, explain your situation, take a picture of the set with the peeling stickers and ask, "how else can we get this done?"

Jern92

ryjay said:

If you dont get help from anyone here, write back to lego again, explain your situation, take a picture of the set with the peeling stickers and ask, "how else can we get this done?"

Can't actually do that until mid-September thereabouts when he gets home. In the meantime, not sure how long LEGO's Customer Service is willing to wait. But I guess I don't really have many options in this regard :-P

bobabricks

@Jern92 I just checked and the digital instructions on Lego.com have the number on the back cover. Also, when I needed to have my 10188 stickers replaced (sheet was crumpled when I opened the box) I called customer service and the rep just asked me for the instruction number and to send him an email of pictures of the sticker sheet. That worked for me pretty well and two weeks later I got my new sheet in the mail.

Jern92

bobabricks said:

@Jern92 I just checked and the digital instructions on Lego.com have the number on the back cover. Also, when I needed to have my 10188 stickers replaced (sheet was crumpled when I opened the box) I called customer service and the rep just asked me for the instruction number and to send him an email of pictures of the sticker sheet. That worked for me pretty well and two weeks later I got my new sheet in the mail.

Are all the numbers the same for every single set of 10241, or is it different depending on the batch etc.? I don't have multiples of the same set so I can't check this.

Can't send them pictures as the stickers are already on the model and he isn't home.

bobabricks

The number on the back of the instruction book is its "part number" so to say, it's why the number starts with 4 or 6, like other part numbers and is so similar to part numbers. So yes the number will be the same, regardless of which book you have. With the pictures, they sent me the sheet and asked for pictures afterwards. While I was conversing with the rep, I told him why the sheet was crumpled, because it was in between bags in the box and he put in the order and just asked for pictures after. I'm sure if you told the rep that you you won't be able to take pictures for a few weeks, it will be fine or they would put a sheet on hold for you until you sent pictures. 

Jern92

bobabricks said:

The number on the back of the instruction book is its "part number" so to say, it's why the number starts with 4 or 6, like other part numbers and is so similar to part numbers. So yes the number will be the same, regardless of which book you have. With the pictures, they sent me the sheet and asked for pictures afterwards. While I was conversing with the rep, I told him why the sheet was crumpled, because it was in between bags in the box and he put in the order and just asked for pictures after. I'm sure if you told the rep that you you won't be able to take pictures for a few weeks, it will be fine or they would put a sheet on hold for you until you sent pictures. 

Oddly, I found 2 different sets of numbers from 2 different sites. I'll just go with one set of two (since there are 2 instruction manuals) and hope for the best. Thanks!

Legoboy

Jern92 said:

bobabricks said:

The number on the back of the instruction book is its "part number" so to say, it's why the number starts with 4 or 6, like other part numbers and is so similar to part numbers. So yes the number will be the same, regardless of which book you have. With the pictures, they sent me the sheet and asked for pictures afterwards. While I was conversing with the rep, I told him why the sheet was crumpled, because it was in between bags in the box and he put in the order and just asked for pictures after. I'm sure if you told the rep that you you won't be able to take pictures for a few weeks, it will be fine or they would put a sheet on hold for you until you sent pictures. 

Oddly, I found 2 different sets of numbers from 2 different sites. I'll just go with one set of two (since there are 2 instruction manuals) and hope for the best. Thanks!

The two different sets and associated  numbers are due to either variants in the books (updated perhaps) or more likely, one set is US and the other is ROTW.

TigerMoth

Jern92 said:

Are all the numbers the same for every single set of 10241, or is it different depending on the batch etc.?

No.

There are always at least two copies of the instructions with different numbers - a North American version and an International one. During the lifetime of a set, it's quite normal for there to be different versions of each - if nothing else, because the parts themselves change.

The manufacturing code determines where and when a set was packed. Only sets with certain codes will have particular instructions. Only sets with certain codes are sold in particular markets - although they can clearly be shipped around the world after purchase.

TLG may simply respond to the request if you give them the information required.  However, they could also block you if you give them mismatched information - which is probably worse than the wrong information. (The wrong information implies you've got hold of the wrong end of the stick; mismatched information implies you're trying
to cheat.)

They only used to ask for the number from the instructions; by asking for more, they may have implemented a degree of checking. If this is important to you, do what they say and negotiate if you can't, not try and work around it. Also bear in mind that once they flagged your behaviour as suspicious, it may affect how they respond in future.

paul_merton

If you can't do what they're asking for, then I'd have thought an explanation and a photo of the set - with its stickers peeling off - ought to be enough to act as a proof of purchase.

ecmo47

Sounds to me like somebody with an opened set could just post pictures of the back of an instruction book and the seals of a box. I would not consider that nefarious in any way.

Jern: If getting them from Lego doesn't work out, you can get them off the website Bricklink. It's a world-wide collection of people that sell nothing but Lego.

The set 10241 comes with 2 sticker sheets. You want sheet #2. Here is a link to everybody that is selling that item:

http://www.bricklink.com/catalogPG.asp?P=10241stk02&ColorID=0

Link to sheet #1if needed:

http://www.bricklink.com/catalogPG.asp?P=10241stk01&ColorID=0

TigerMoth

ecmo47 said:

Sounds to me like somebody with an opened set could just post pictures of the back of an instruction book and the seals of a box. I would not consider that nefarious in any way.

If an American sent the pictures to a European who claimed to have bought the set from a local retailer, the fraud would be obvious.

Jern92

ecmo47 said:

Sounds to me like somebody with an opened set could just post pictures of the back of an instruction book and the seals of a box. I would not consider that nefarious in any way.

Jern: If getting them from Lego doesn't work out, you can get them off the website Bricklink. It's a world-wide collection of people that sell nothing but Lego.

The set 10241 comes with 2 sticker sheets. You want sheet #2. Here is a link to everybody that is selling that item:

http://www.bricklink.com/catalogPG.asp?P=10241stk02&ColorID=0

Link to sheet #1if needed:

http://www.bricklink.com/catalogPG.asp?P=10241stk01&ColorID=0

Wow, thanks a lot for that! I'll try it if Customer Service refuses to help :-)

Jern92

TigerMoth said:

If an American sent the pictures to a European who claimed to have bought the set from a local retailer, the fraud would be obvious.

I have no idea which edition is his. It was sold through Maersk to its employees at a discount, and not via Lego or a third party seller.

paul_merton

This whole thread sums up why I don't like sets that have stickers.

Jern92

paul_merton said:

This whole thread sums up why I don't like sets that have stickers.

I like how the email said they wanted the manufacturing code so they could

 figure out what might’ve gone wrong and make sure this mistake doesn’t happen again.

Like come on LEGO, stickers have been peeling off built sets for a long, long time. :-P

TigerMoth

Jern92 said:

TigerMoth said:

If an American sent the pictures to a European who claimed to have bought the set from a local retailer, the fraud would be obvious.

I have no idea which edition is his. It was sold through Maersk to its employees at a discount, and not via Lego or a third party seller.

I'm sure TLG will fix things. Eventually. The fly in the ointment is that you what them fixed now and without access to the set itself - which, if you think about it, perfectly describes somebody who doesn't have the set! For the moment, they may just help anyway, or they might if you can provide a bit of detailed background about how and when.

Incidentally, you mentioned "years ago"; it was only two.

Like come on LEGO, stickers have been peeling off built sets for a long, long time. :-P

Apparently, some do and some don't. It could be that they're produced externally, and they want the data on which suppliers are at fault - and a reasonable idea of whether it's 1%, 10% or 90%.

natro220

.

Jern92

It worked! Thanks for all your help, guys! I'm sure he'll be thrilled when I show it to him. :D

Jern92

TigerMoth said:

Incidentally, you mentioned "years ago"; it was only two.

Thanks for highlighting that. I completely forgot that there were 2 earlier editions of the Maersk ship, so I Whatsapp-ed him a couple of pictures of both ships, and he identified his as the older model (either 10155 or 10152, he couldn't be sure).

Anyway, now I'm just going to have to hope that the stickers for 10241 that LEGO is sending over will fit on the older ones. I doubt they would have had the older sticker sheets anyway, so perhaps my mistake was for the best.

On the other hand, I am now ashamed of my level of LEGO knowledge ;-P

AllBrick

@Jern92 - don't be ashamed, build on it.

TigerMoth

Jern92 said:

TigerMoth said:

Incidentally, you mentioned "years ago"; it was only two.

Thanks for highlighting that. I completely forgot that there were 2 earlier editions of the Maersk ship, so I Whatsapp-ed him a couple of pictures of both ships, and he identified his as the older model (either 10155 or 10152, he couldn't be sure).

I did wonder. As he's an employee, of the two it's likely to be #10152.

You're going to have to be careful with this because the branding keeps changing - some have "SeaLand", some don't. As an employee, he may have rivet-counting friends who know the difference.

As for two earlier sets, there are a lot more than that, dating back at least forty years (there was also one in a catalogue 15 years before that, but it's not known whether it existed in real-life).

Again, be careful with that - whilst I suspect that he doesn't have #1650, you'd have to verging on insanity to touch its stickers - it's one of the most valuable of all LEGO sets.

Anyway, now I'm just going to have to hope that the stickers for 10241 that LEGO is sending over will fit on the older ones.

Unlikely; it's a different scale. And bear in mind what I said about rivet-counters.

Jern92

TigerMoth said:

I did wonder. As he's an employee, of the two it's likely to be #10152.

You're going to have to be careful with this because the branding keeps changing - some have "SeaLand", some don't. As an employee, he may have rivet-counting friends who know the difference.

As for two earlier sets, there are a lot more than that, dating back at least forty years (there was also one in a catalogue 15 years before that, but it's not known whether it existed in real-life).

Yes, I did notice the change in branding, so hopefully he wouldn't mind. 

Also he definitely wasn't working with Maersk 40 years ago, and his set wasn't obtained that long ago. I doubt Maersk would make a habit of selling long-retired sets to employees.

Again, be careful with that - whilst I suspect that he doesn't have #1650, you'd have to verging on insanity to touch its stickers - it's one of the most valuable of all LEGO sets.

Unlikely; it's a different scale. And bear in mind what I said about rivet-counters.

I guess a set would still retain value even with stickers peeling off. I've never thought about selling off my sets, and I doubt he has either. As long as the containers on 10241 are smaller than 10152, it could work. I'll see what he thinks about it anyway; it is up to him in the end.