Have you checked your Mixels recently?

bok2

Yesterday I had a look at my Series 3 Mixels which have been on display for a year or so.

And holy crap!! Although each figure contains only approximately 70 pieces I found 10-15 fractured pieces in each set. Many cheese slopes but also many other types of bricks.

10-15 out of 70!!!

What is your experience? Did you ever have a closer look at your Mixels on display?

Did you ever pursue this issue and asked for replacements?

Due to the relatively low price, each request for replacement pieces, be it 1 or 15, would result in a gigantic loss (relatively) for TLG.

Or is it like:

TLG: Mixels are cheap!
TLG: We know Mixesl are made from crap pieces!
TLG: We do not care!
TLG: The customers are idiots and/or do not care!

akunthita

LEGO has been having major quality issues in the last few years, and based on the sets I have, it is getting worse. It is not just Mixels. The reason it stands out in Mixels is because they are mostly made of small parts, which are the ones that are prone to breaking.

Basically all 1x... stud parts are expected to break with the current crappy quality. And it is not just fine hairline cracks any more either. I have had new plates and small parts simply crumble in my hands, like dried up clay. It is unbelievable.

The issue has been brought up in the Ambassador Forum numerous times. The response was always to contact customer service and ask for replacements. This suppose to not just send out new parts to you, but also alert the quality control departments and track down which factory the parts are from and correct the issue. 

I really hope that LEGO is going to do something about this, because it is getting very bad. It is also all over social media; people sharing pictures with the caption, "I just bought and built this set. The parts are all cracked the next day. Is this normal?" And yeah, sadly, it is now considered normal... the founder must be turning in his grave...

TheOriginalSimonB

Only been buying again for the last year, but I've not had a single cracked or otherwise damaged piece yet.

dougts

it is one thing to support LEGO over clones/competitors - and be willing to pay a premium - because the quality is so much better.  What if that stops being true?  Is it already happening?

TigerMoth

akunthita said:

I really hope that LEGO is going to do something about this, because it is getting very bad. It is also all over social media; people sharing pictures with the caption, "I just bought and built this set. The parts are all cracked the next day. Is this normal?" 

On the basis that you seem to have seen large numbers of these types of comments, is it, or is it not, predominantly (not necessarily exclusively) an American problem. Nobody ever seems to answer that.

binaryeye

TigerMoth said:

On the basis that you seem to have seen large numbers of these types of comments, is it, or is it not, predominantly (not necessarily exclusively) an American problem. Nobody ever seems to answer that.

It's a statistically irrelevant sample size, but here are the number of users that have reported cracked parts in the quality issues thread (adding one for myself to US):

US: 10
UK: 5
Canada: 2
Germany: 1

buildalot

Note the posts by nerzhin in this thread:
http://bricksetforum.com/discussion/22448/quality-issues-broken-parts/p3

He reports having a similar problem with Mixels, among others. 

akunthita

binaryeye said:

TigerMoth said:

On the basis that you seem to have seen large numbers of these types of comments, is it, or is it not, predominantly (not necessarily exclusively) an American problem. Nobody ever seems to answer that.

It's a statistically irrelevant sample size, but here are the number of users that have reported cracked parts in the quality issues thread (adding one for myself to US):

US: 10
UK: 5
Canada: 2
Germany: 1

This is completely just my speculation, but my guess is that it might be a problem with the factory in Mexico. My understanding is that sets distributed in North America are from the Mexican factory. Replacement parts are sent directly from Denmark, and they seem to be okay. But I haven't requested that many replacement parts overall, so the sample I have is small.

I have read either here, or in another forum that the issue may have to do with the plastic pieces not given enough time to cool after coming out of the mould, but that should be an easy issue to fix, and the problem shouldn't be so persistent.  

TigerMoth

akunthita said:

This is completely just my speculation, but my guess is that it might be a problem with the factory in Mexico.

That's why I asked. From the perspective of a European, it (almost) always seem to be Americans that complain. That could be just down to them being more ready to complain, but I suspect there's more to it. It would also explain why nothing happens - it's one thing everything being logged by customer services, but unless it's actually "felt" directly in Billund, it isn't going to get the same attention.

I have read either here, or in another forum that the issue may have to do with the plastic pieces not given enough time to cool after coming out of the mould, but that should be an easy issue to fix, and the problem shouldn't be so persistent.  

That was probably me. That particular issue is about the cooling time before coming out of the mould. Molten plastic is injected and then the mould opens and the pieces are ejected. Between the two, there's a very slight delay. If you watched a video you might say "what delay", but it's there and, small though it is, it can make a difference. It's an indication of the complexity of the problem. There are many more, all of which can affect each other. You can start off with climate. That not only has a direct effect but might influence local preferences for how air conditioning is set. But the ABS silos aren't air-conditioned so it makes a difference whether the moulding machine is at one end of the factory or the because the acclimatisation time is different. Then you've got a moulding machine that's slightly slower to open. It might be easy to fix, but you have to find the problem first - and it'll never show up when you run a test batch.

akunthita

TigerMoth said:

akunthita said:

This is completely just my speculation, but my guess is that it might be a problem with the factory in Mexico.

That's why I asked. From the perspective of a European, it (almost) always seem to be Americans that complain. That could be just down to them being more ready to complain, but I suspect there's more to it. It would also explain why nothing happens - it's one thing everything being logged by customer services, but unless it's actually "felt" directly in Billund, it isn't going to get the same attention.

I have read either here, or in another forum that the issue may have to do with the plastic pieces not given enough time to cool after coming out of the mould, but that should be an easy issue to fix, and the problem shouldn't be so persistent.  

That was probably me. That particular issue is about the cooling time before coming out of the mould. Molten plastic is injected and then the mould opens and the pieces are ejected. Between the two, there's a very slight delay. If you watched a video you might say "what delay", but it's there and, small though it is, it can make a difference. It's an indication of the complexity of the problem. There are many more, all of which can affect each other. You can start off with climate. That not only has a direct effect but might influence local preferences for how air conditioning is set. But the ABS silos aren't air-conditioned so it makes a difference whether the moulding machine is at one end of the factory or the because the acclimatisation time is different. Then you've got a moulding machine that's slightly slower to open. It might be easy to fix, but you have to find the problem first - and it'll never show up when you run a test batch.

Very interesting. Thanks for sharing. I guess all we can do at this point is continue to report problems, but frankly, it is so common now, that most of the time I just replace cracked and broken parts from my own collection instead of calling in. But I will make an effort to do it, as this is really the only way to get LEGO's attention.

bok2

"Basically all 1x... stud parts are expected to break with the current crappy quality".

Much to my surprise this appears to be the case. It isn't just plates but also bricks.

In my Mixels Series 3 I have found cracked 1x2 bricks in the form of regulars, slopes and technic.

A cracking 1x2 regular brick? For decades this brick has been almost indestructible- and now...

mr_benn

I understand that it's generally recommended for chaps to check their Mixels regularly...