DISplay is worse than play?!

Hanzo

This issue should all but disappear when they switch to the more eco friendly plant based plastic.

dragologer

Cyberdragon said:

I've only had pieces break because I played too rough with them as a kid, but that was usually small gears (too much torque) and thin bits (levers, antennas, sticks/poles). The only brick piece I ever had break was a 1×1×2 gray slope that snapped in half mysteriously. I did post a thread recently about my sets warping and not fitting right anymore, but now I hear they can shatter just from age?! ACK! How common is this and should I be concerned? 



Im afriad its very common.
Or it least it is for me! ive had 300 parts do this.
i know other folks have struggled with this same problem aswell.
im getting really tired of spending hundreds of dollars on things that break if you take them out of the box. im not going to deal with it anymore.
  does anyone know if there is anyone i can try contact to do something about this?
repleacments are beyond helping at this point.
im tired of just letting this happen.
i would like to do something about it.

dragologer

Hanzo said:

This issue should all but disappear when they switch to the more eco friendly plant based plastic.

   .......yes...im sure children will love it when their now biodegradable toys start turning to dust in their hands......

looks like its going to cost about 50$ to replace all the ones ive found...

Aanchir

dragologer said:

Hanzo said:

This issue should all but disappear when they switch to the more eco friendly plant based plastic.

   .......yes...im sure children will love it when their now biodegradable toys start turning to dust in their hands......

looks like its going to cost about 50$ to replace all the ones ive found...

LEGO is not making any attempt to make their bricks biodegradable. They're exploring bioplastics opportunities so they can SOURCE the materials more sustainably.

gmonkey76

I know it will never happen, but LEGO should go back to the single source precolored pellets. I don't recall any color matching problems, or cracking with them.

Istokg

When I hear about LEGO being played with in the rough of outdoors, I am reminded of old LEGO ads and postcards, where they actually promoted out of doors play!

1959 LEGO Postcard showing a young girl and boy playing with LEGO at the beach.  Not only is her ice cream melting onto the the LEGO creation disturbing... but all that sand!!   Especially with that (larger) 700/1 German basic set box (System im Spiel on box top) and that (smaller) 700/3 Danish basic set box (System i leg)... very valuabe old boxes immersed in sand... cringe worthy!!  :-O





And this 1960 Italian LEGO ad showing Kjeld Kristiansen as a young boy playing in a sandy ravine... showing all those highly collectible and valuable 1:87 cars being  driven thru the sand.... (gasp)... no wonder those shiny metal wheels are no longer shiny on so many of these rare vehicles!  :-O



From my LEGO Encyclopedia's new chapter on LEGO print and paper media.

dragologer

(sourced from google) "Biodegradable plastics made from traditional petrochemicals, which are engineered to break down more quickly. Eco/recycled plastics, which are simply plastics made from recycled plastic materials rather than raw petrochemicals."

break down more quickly........huh.......I guess it IS a good idea! 

 

Cyberdragon

I don't care if they make LEGO out of recycled ABS, as long as they don't make it out of some new material that's weaker and less durable than ABS. That would certainly be a very bad idea.

dragologer

Cyberdragon said:

I don't care if they make LEGO out of recycled ABS, as long as they don't make it out of some new material that's weaker and less durable than ABS. That would certainly be a very bad idea.

Amen!...even though ABS isnt working either...weve said bye bye to lasting toys a while ago. 

Fauch

I learnt not to play with lego outdoors, even if it was usually just 1 or 2 minifigs. it often ended with lost bits.

Aanchir

dragologer said:

(sourced from google) "Biodegradable plastics made from traditional petrochemicals, which are engineered to break down more quickly. Eco/recycled plastics, which are simply plastics made from recycled plastic materials rather than raw petrochemicals."

break down more quickly........huh.......I guess it IS a good idea! 

 

I'm not sure what you're trying to say here… yes, that's the definition of biodegradable plastics. Which has nothing to do with the sustainable materials research LEGO is doing, because they have no intent of using biodegradable plastic for bricks. What they're trying to do is come up with sturdy, resilient plastics that can be made from something other than petroleum. The whole reason they're spending multiple decades on this research is so that they can find a solution that won't involve compromising quality.

Fauch

lego must be one of the rare company that doesn't rely on planned obsolescence of their product quality.

clickabrick

Can anyone post photos of these ageing, cracking, crumbling bricks?
I’ve never heard of such a thing and hope to never come across any. I’ve had bricks break before but only due to badly aligned pressure during construction. 

dragologer

clickabrick said:

Can anyone post photos of these ageing, cracking, crumbling bricks?
I’ve never heard of such a thing and hope to never come across any. I’ve had bricks break before but only due to badly aligned pressure during construction. 

ill get some pictures up soon. 
still sorting through everything else thats ruined.....

Fauch said:

lego must be one of the rare company that doesn't rely on planned obsolescence of their product quality.

oh MAN how i wish that were true.....

CCC

^^ I don't know if it is due to climate differences or the location that the sets were made, but UK brickset members seem to have far fewer problems than US members.

willobee498

As a Canadian, I've not yet seen any issue with bricks breaking. However used sets I bought from various parts of the USA have had breaks. I really do think there is an issue at play like climate. 

monkeyhanger

CCC said:

^^ I don't know if it is due to climate differences or the location that the sets were made, but UK brickset members seem to have far fewer problems than US members.

I've seen this pattern before and commented upon it. I don't think it is just because we're (us Brits are famous for not complaining) less picky/demanding than the US.

Even with the supposedly highly brittle reddish brown bricks or 1 stud cheese slopes, i've not seen part breakages more than 3 or 4 times in assembling probably 40,000 brick's worth of sets

monkeyhanger

willobee498 said:

As a Canadian, I've not yet seen any issue with bricks breaking. However used sets I bought from various parts of the USA have had breaks. I really do think there is an issue at play like climate. 

Maybe there's a pattern to this within the USA - the Northern coast adjacent states which have climate similar to the UK and Northern Europe (moderately warm in the Summer, cold in the Winter, plenty of rain) perhaps have fewer issues than the drier/hotter states down South?

If it's not climate then it is almost certainly the USA getting bricks of a different composition to Canada/Europe.

BrickByBrick

I'm up North, Massachusetts, and I've only ever seen two types of clips break, a 1x1 gold clip once, and those Groot finger parts from the knowhere escape mission, but that happened to like 3 of them.

bluedragon

I am in NY. Had the same Groot issue and a bunch of 1x1 dark red tiles from Fire Brigade break while disassembling but none of the reported issues with reddish brown clips and plates from the UCS Sandcrawler.

willobee498

I also have a dehumidifier which keeps things at a fairly consistent humidty year round, which may help as well.

sid3windr

I've had 2 Technic parts break disassembling a second hand set that had likely been sitting assembled in the sun and dust for many years. Other than that, all fine in Belgium so far (fingers crossed)...

dragologer

oh, I know its because of the USA distribution center. they do something different to the toys there that makes sure everyone in the US suffers. Obviously, it's not deliberate like that makes it sound but they are indifferent to it.  im just glad Other places like the UK don't have to deal with this. 
Im gonna get the pictures up today. 

dragologer

these are only a few of the parts i have like this. 

CCC

UK. I've had cheese slopes (only 1x1 not 2x1) crack and legs crack by the feet if left on polycarbonate parts (Iron Man). My kids have had torsos crack under the arms, but they are played with. Other than that, I can't recall anything else.

FowlerBricks

dragologer said:

these are only a few of the parts i have like this. 

The first of those pics isn't actually a crack. Some minifigures just have very visible seams under the arms. But yeah, minifigs tend to crack. I've had many of mine crack, usually on the arms, sometimes on the side. I mostly just ignore it unless it makes their arm/hand loose and floppy. Then I get a replacement torso from Lego.

dragologer

FowlerBricks said:

The first of those pics isn't actually a crack.

The first of those pictures is the Before mentioned Ninjago movie Lloyd Torso.
its crack is the new type of brake that has been surfacing.
from having many many Minifigures I am fully aware of the seam going down from the arm.
I do wish that this parts problem was a simple as a more visible seam however, that is not the case...
This torso, among the 7 others I have found with this problem all seem to have one commonality, they are made from a slightly shinier more matt plastic.
if you compare that photo to all of the others you can see what I'm talking about.
At first, I had hoped it was just the seam but the more I looked around the more I found proof that this was not the case.
I have at least 15 figures with this type of plastic and thankfully a few of them have not yet split but you can see that they may try to do so later in life.
this confirms to me it is not just the seam as I carefully inspected the parts the first day the set was opened and could see no split yet.
it was glaring when I did find it.
Unfortunately, some of us are more particular about taking care of the things we spend money on and are not satisfied with just ignoring the problem until it has gotten so bad we have to spend a lot more money just to replace them. 
this is a HUGE problem as LEGO has stated their toys are supposedly indestructible and last forever.
they can't, however, stand to be displayed, apparently......
this is very sad as I have never had anything act this cheap from competitors such as Hasbro and Mattel.  

here is a video showcasing more of the cracked parts...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jgGe0HMpUE

I have about 100 more parts just like these.
I couldn't get the camera off the black and white setting but all of these 
parts colors ranged from Orange, yellow, black, white, green, blue,dark bluish grey, red and pearl gold. 

dragologer

Anybody else see parts quite this bad? 

CCC

No. But I agree with you that it is a crack. What sort of weather / climate conditions do you have. I guess also do you regularly switch out arms, or is this happening without removing arms?

M1J0E

Thankfully I’ve rarely had these sorts of cracking issues.  Most all the trans parts cracked/broke from my childhood sets, with abusive play, but rarely any others broke.  Not sure if today’s sets would stand up as well to kids play, though I’d hope they do, but they stand up to being assembled/disassembled multiple times by a AFOL

FowlerBricks

I can put up some pics of really ugly minifig cracks if you want to see a really ugly crack.

Aanchir

FowlerBricks said:

I can put up some pics of really ugly minifig cracks if you want to see a really ugly crack.

Please no. I think pics of really ugly cracks would be a little too family-unfriendly even for a 16+ forum like this one.

willobee498

Time to start a new group - LUGs against RUGs!

dragologer

CCC said:

 I guess also do you regularly switch out arms, or is this happening without removing arms?

All of these torsos were put togther once and then put on display. their arms were never removed.  these ones were displayed in a fairly cold and humid area. thats is my only explanation for it. that DOES NOT change the fact that the LEGO company has
stated themselves that this should never happen.

( i also no longer keep my parts in an area that is not climate controled. the room i use now stays the same all year round and this is STILL happening) 

THAT is the point im trying to make. I myself am no longer going to sit here and let this just keep happening. I would like some real SOLID help or info on just how high up i need to go inorder to get this changed. is anyone in contact with a LEGO employee? somebody high enough that would at least SPEAK to me about it? 

Aanchir

dragologer said:

CCC said:

 I guess also do you regularly switch out arms, or is this happening without removing arms?

All of these torsos were put togther once and then put on display. their arms were never removed.  these ones were displayed in a fairly cold and humid area. thats is my only explanation for it. that DOES NOT change the fact that the LEGO company has
stated themselves that this should never happen.

( i also no longer keep my parts in an area that is not climate controled. the room i use now stays the same all year round and this is STILL happening) 

THAT is the point im trying to make. I myself am no longer going to sit here and let this just keep happening. I would like some real SOLID help or info on just how high up i need to go inorder to get this changed. is anyone in contact with a LEGO employee? somebody high enough that would at least SPEAK to me about it? 

I would say just continue to notify LEGO Customer Service whenever you encounter these issues, providing pics if necessary. Even if they can't fix the problems for you or make immediate changes to prevent them in the future, LEGO Customer Service complaints are logged in a way that complaints to a random employee (even a high-ranking one) would not be. If LEGO gets enough customer service calls then they will have a better quantitative understanding of the scope of the problem, rather than just an assortment of disorganized anecdotes.

Furthermore, the cost of handling customer service calls and e–mails gives LEGO an immediate financial incentive to work towards a solution. It doesn't cost LEGO anything for an employee with ties to the fan community to listen to fan concerns off the clock. But it does cost them money to maintain call centers and fulfill replacement part orders.

dragologer

https://www.lego.com/en-us/aboutus/news-room/2018/march/pfp

well.....they did it.
im now going to have to buy a bulk load of PLASTIC based copys of these parts to replace in all my 2018 sets that will include these parts.
......i love that my toys will now be made out of the same thing skittles are.

Crownie

Is there any reason to think that air travel might have something to do with it? Rapid changes in pressure? I'm not sure if the compartments for packages in planes is kept at the same pressure or not, but I've often thought that it does seem 'extreme' to order a set from Amazon, have it shipped out of Tennessee, and arrive in Washington State in under 2 days. That's some big environmental changes in a short amount of time. With everything being 'closer together' in the UK and Europe, perhaps the LEGO isn't subjected to as much travel/climate variations?

Just a thought.

willobee498

dragologer said:

https://www.lego.com/en-us/aboutus/news-room/2018/march/pfp

well.....they did it.
im now going to have to buy a bulk load of PLASTIC based copys of these parts to replace in all my 2018 sets that will include these parts.
......i love that my toys will now be made out of the same thing skittles are.

Hey, the skittles from under my couch cushions stay intact better than Lego cheese slopes!

truck730

Mostly accessory clips have broken ,no difference in colours and the brickmaster books have bricks that cracked too. Not looking forward to opening build your own adventure Y-wing(10 euro) 

Aanchir

dragologer said:

https://www.lego.com/en-us/aboutus/news-room/2018/march/pfp

well.....they did it.
im now going to have to buy a bulk load of PLASTIC based copys of these parts to replace in all my 2018 sets that will include these parts.
......i love that my toys will now be made out of the same thing skittles are.

You realize that the new plant pieces are the exact same type of plastic they were before? Just made using a different chemical process. It's like comparing natural and synthetic diamonds. The new plants are not literally going to be made of sugar, they're made of polyethylene, which in turn is made from ethylene, which is exactly the same whether it is produced from from crude oil or via dehydration of ethanol.

dragologer

Crownie said:

Is there any reason to think that air travel might have something to do with it? Rapid changes in pressure? I'm not sure if the compartments for packages in planes is kept at the same pressure or not, but I've often thought that it does seem 'extreme' to order a set from Amazon, have it shipped out of Tennessee, and arrive in Washington State in under 2 days. That's some big environmental changes in a short amount of time. With everything being 'closer together' in the UK and Europe, perhaps the LEGO isn't subjected to as much travel/climate variations?

Just a thought.

I think thats a very viable thought. the only things i can come up with are situations like that. Its almost like the company is treating the product with something before they ship them out.

Aanchir said:

You realize that the new plant pieces are the exact same type of plastic they were before? Just made using a different chemical process. It's like comparing natural and synthetic diamonds. The new plants are not literally going to be made of sugar, they're made of polyethylene, which in turn is made from ethylene, which is exactly the same whether it is produced from from crude oil or via dehydration of ethanol.

........yes im fully aware of that. I did read it....twice. 
 

Cyberdragon

Aanchir said:

dragologer said:

https://www.lego.com/en-us/aboutus/news-room/2018/march/pfp

well.....they did it.
im now going to have to buy a bulk load of PLASTIC based copys of these parts to replace in all my 2018 sets that will include these parts.
......i love that my toys will now be made out of the same thing skittles are.

You realize that the new plant pieces are the exact same type of plastic they were before? Just made using a different chemical process. It's like comparing natural and synthetic diamonds. The new plants are not literally going to be made of sugar, they're made of polyethylene, which in turn is made from ethylene, which is exactly the same whether it is produced from from crude oil or via dehydration of ethanol.

Wrong! Lego is supposed to be made from ABS! They better not use PE or it will be the end of Lego! PE is super soft (it's what water bottles are made from). HDPE is not much better. UHMWPE is hard, but it's probably expensive.

PE = dead to me! (make this into a picket sign)

EDIT: You guys scared me, it's just the plant pieces. I thought all Lego was about to become squishy!

willobee498

I would buy squishy Lego.

dragologer

Cyberdragon said:

Wrong! Lego is supposed to be made from ABS! They better not use PE or it will be the end of Lego! PE is super soft (it's what water bottles are made from). HDPE is not much better. UHMWPE is hard, but it's probably expensive.

PE = dead to me! (make this into a picket sign)

EDIT: You guys scared me, it's just the plant pieces. I thought all Lego was about to become squishy!

Thank you. 
Yes that is my plan too. 
Im already going to loose money having to swap out the tree parts for ones that are actually made of plastic. 
as soon as LEGO switches to this BIOplastic nonsence, I will not be buying anymore of their products. the quality is bad enough as it is.
Then i can begin collecting things from the early 2000s. :) 

560Heliport

@dragologer you aren't going to be able to replace your tree parts with plastic... they already are! They were always made from polyethylene, they still will be... the polyethylene will come from plants instead of petroleum. But petroleum came from plants anyway!

SumoLego

Petroleum comes from evil oil companies, not plants.

MAGNINOMINISUMBRA

and evil plant companies...
Damn. Now I have to start investigating who's making these new plastics. Is it BP or Monsanto?

Bumblepants

SumoLego said:

Petroleum comes from evil oil companies, not plants.

I thought it came from jelly?

SumoLego

Jelly comes from plants!?!?!

pharmjod

You ever seen an aloe vera plant? :)