Strange pieces in your sets?

Lanthal

Hi all, I just bought the 7642 Garage set at TRU here in Australia the other day ($79 on clearance) and when I was building the orange truck i opened up the bags and a pirate cutlass fell out! once the set was completed it was clear that i was missing one of the top... airhorns? lights? binocular shaped pieces so I'm going to send for a replacement. All the same, I thought the included cutlass was hilarious - perhaps for those unruly customers who felt they'd been waiting too long for a tow?

Was curios if anyone else had come across a random piece in a set that clearly didn't belong?

mkoesel

I got a flesh-colored classic smiley in UCS Falcon. Anyone else have the same?

meyerc13

I thought the included cutlass was hilarious - perhaps for those unruly customers who felt they'd been waiting too long for a tow?

I love your explanation! Since this happens so rarely, LEGO's packaging system must be amazing to behold... but it does make you wonder how it happens at all since the vast majority of the time it is so accurate.

In both the examples mentioned here I'm sure that type of mistake would make me smile... so maybe there is a rogue joker in the LEGO factory?

drdavewatford

I got a flesh-colored classic smiley in UCS Falcon. Anyone else have the same?

Yep - me too ! Quite bizarre that we both should have got this. Anyone else ?

Coder_X

I love your explanation! Since this happens so rarely, LEGO's packaging system must be amazing to behold... but it does make you wonder how it happens at all since the vast majority of the time it is so accurate.

What do you mean by accurate? I have only bought 2 sets, as I just started collecting since this week, but both sets had too many pieces in them, I sincerely doubt I made a building error twice...

pantenkind

all sets have a few extra small pieces in them, I believe this is because when lego packs sets they do the pieces by weight. I think they give you the extra few as opposed to too little by scale. I am not sure if I worded that right, so I hope it makes sense to everyone else. Basically they set their scales to weigh (pun intended) on the side of caution. :-)

brickmatic

^Also, it is probably more likely for the really small pieces to be omitted by accident, so putting in double of those helps prevent having to ship a teensy tiny little piece because it is missing.

Lanthal

I don't mind a few spare pieces at all - I've collected quite a bag full of them over the last few years

mackrel

It wasn't so much a strange extra piece that I got but a humorous mistake. My Shuttle Adventure minifig head was a woman with a frown on her face. Both astronauts are suppose to be smiling.

meyerc13

What do you mean by accurate? I have only bought 2 sets, as I just started collecting since this week, but both sets had too many pieces in them, I sincerely doubt I made a building error twice...

If you check the Bricklink inventory for a set, you'll see which are the intentional extra pieces that LEGO gives us. That's normal and expected as pantenkind pointed out.

For example, here's a set I just happened to have open:
http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemInv.asp?S=8072-1

You'll notice that at the bottom of the inventory there is a section for "extra items." Some people have speculated that LEGO includes these because the parts weigh so little, but I don't think that's truly it or everyone wouldn't get the same extras. I think LEGO knows that these are the most easily lost (like 1x1 round plates) or broken (like droid arms).

I've found that these extra always match the list. I use that as a check to make sure I didn't miss a step.

scholte23

I got a flesh-colored classic smiley in UCS Falcon. Anyone else have the same?

Yep - me too ! Quite bizarre that we both should have got this. Anyone else ?

Yeah me to, I thought it was just a random mistake but maybe not. Anyone Else???

Legoboy

^ Me too.

drdavewatford

Just checked Bricklink and the extra fleshie smiling minifig head is actually listed as an extra part in the UCS Falcon set, so clearly many many people got one.

I'd love to know why on earth LEGO deliberately included it in this set....

Yellowcastle

^ I Actually love this. The biggest set in history should of course come with an iconic yellow smiling head. :o)

drdavewatford

^ Oh, don't get me wrong - I think the inclusion of this smiley face in such an iconic set is great, just utterly bizarre !

Stormsworder

I got that modular fire station and it had 3 brown 2x4 bricks missing. What it did have were 3 4x4 black plates which don't seem to go anywhere.

I recently got a Kingdom set and the little barrel was squashed out of shape. All the other pieces and the box were fine so I don't know what happened there.

FMNinja

indian horse in a 10000 gaurded inn

I wasn't complaining, it had the white horse in it's own little bag on the top, somebody relised the mistake at the last minute but couldn't be bothered opening the other bag.

romdam

Who didnt know Lego intentionally puts extra pieces in?? I thought that was a given...