Worst designed LEGO part ever?

Istokg · July 2012

Historically one of the worst designs was also one of the most beautiful. The old 1970-74 granulated trees and bushes (Pine, Fruit, and 2 or 3 branch bushes) are probably the most realistic individual piece plants TLG ever made. But having all those granules was the problem. Young children could easily chew off individual or groups of granules with ease. In fact many Bricklink sales entries for these type of trees/bushes mention some granule loss... whether it be due to constant use or the "chew factor".

Sadly, they were replaced by what we have today in (1974) Pine and (1978) Fruit trees... and yes even those discontinued tall (and absurdly expensive, 1980-2002) Cypress trees.

Images from Chapter 30 of LEGO DVD.

Oldfan · July 2012

^Are those just plastic pellets glued together on a base/stand? What a great way to reuse those scrap pellets that fell on the molding floor!

Istokg · July 2012

@Oldfan No... those were just green pellets that were from a bin. In my mind I picture these being made the same way you would put crumbled peanuts on a caramel apple on a stick (rolled around to pick up the parts). ;-)

But likely the pellets were put into a form, and the trunks (dabbled in glue) were inserted into the pellet mold.

But when there was spillage onto the floor at TLG... (remember TLG never threw anything away!!)... it was usually of many colors... and either ended up as "factory second" bricks from 1949-56 (first image)... or was used for the production of LEGO trees from 1955-70... that were later painted (second image, see unpainted bottom of trees).

Note: those factory second bricks were sold for 8 ore each in Denmark, while factory firsts were sold for 11 ore. Today these seconds are highly prized by collectors!

BlueTaylor · July 2012

Minifigure helmets (that need to be held in the fig's hand), it's impossible! >.<

tvih · July 2012

Hah, having hippie-weird-rainbow-colored bricks like in that first picture would be awesome!

Galactus · July 2012

Brick 4273 is pretty bad to. Especially in the Technic 8412 Nighthawk Helicopter. It has a very weak spot here (see attached picture). Over time they start cracking at the least pressure.

Bumblepants · July 2012

^ Word. I thought of that piece when looking at this thread but I was too lazy to look it up. Those little teeth were usually more annoying than helpful too

Clumsybumsy · October 2014

Scala and Galidor do have a lot of terribly designed pieces. Like this set 3110 those animals don't even look like LEGO.

yuffie · October 2014

It's not really a Lego part but my heart always sinks when I see the little cardboard pack in a set that contains string.

graphite · October 2014

^ I agree. It wouldn't be as bad for me if the string wrapped in the cardboard things was the same quality string as the ones that have the studded ends. The really light string is worthless.

LordofLego · June 2015

Friends mini-dolls. No question.

I'm not talking about quality, I'm talking about looks.

Fauch · June 2015

a problem with flick missiles is they often seem to be randomly implemented in sets. like here is a 60cm long, 2kg heavy star wars ship. what about we put flick missiles on the bottom? sure a child can hold it with one hand and flick them with the other one.

I think we get too many 1x1 cheese slopes and not enough 2x1. I don't like when they use 1x1 instead of 2x1, that gives a less clean look. also, I find 1x1 cheese slopes more akward to align than 1x1 bricks or plates.

not a problem with the pieces themselves, but the way they are used. 1x1 pearl gold round plates and tiles. why must they be used as coins when lego has pieces made to look like coins?

ACWWGal2011 · June 2015

Fauch said:

a problem with flick missiles is they often seem to be randomly implemented in sets. like here is a 60cm long, 2kg heavy star wars ship. what about we put flick missiles on the bottom? sure a child can hold it with one hand and flick them with the other one.
I think we get too many 1x1 cheese slopes and not enough 2x1. I don't like when they use 1x1 instead of 2x1, that gives a less clean look. also, I find 1x1 cheese slopes more akward to align than 1x1 bricks or plates.
not a problem with the pieces themselves, but the way they are used. 1x1 pearl gold round plates and tiles. why must they be used as coins when lego has pieces made to look like coins?

Probably b/c studs and tiles are bound to be WAY cheaper then having to run the molds for the Coins on the doodad since its not just coin molds that they have to deal w/ its also however they make them shiny.

MrMonsieurGreen · June 2015

Only this year do I find that flick fire missiles are much easier to use, they must have made a slight change in the design that now allow for much easier flick then previously.

The only problem with some of them now is that in some ships, Lego puts the missiles in locations that are close to impossible to use and flick or a location that is completely annoying.

I still have a hatred for flick fires just because they bring back memories of the pain when you flick one and it doesn't launch and when you would hit it, it would barely go anywhere.

Although this is one of my disliked pieces, I would have to say that my least favorite piece is the super jumper. I don't use it often if at all but the reports that it cracks the legs of figures makes me choose this piece.

Aanchir · June 2015

MrMonsieurGreen said:

The only problem with some of them now is that in some ships, Lego puts the missiles in locations that are close to impossible to use and flick or a location that is completely annoying.

This is far from a recent problem. Even before the dedicated flick missile piece was introduced, you had Technic-based flick missiles in sets like #7664 TIE Crawler that were pretty much impossible to launch.

Personally, I think the flick-missile is a brilliantly designed piece. Not only is it plenty functional when used correctly (i.e. not crammed some place that you can't reach it), but it can be used for other things. The flick missile is a tremendously versatile building element, whether as greebles on a System creation or as a connector on a Technic/constraction creation. And it doesn't need any specialized launcher element. Contrast some of the awful launchers that preceded the flick missile, like the disk shooters in #8104 Shadow Crawler, or the specialized flick shooters in #7656 ETX Alien Infiltrator.

LEGO is getting better about this with their launchers in general. The new 1x4 spring shooters may use specialized ammo, but they are very effective and the launchers are compact and versatile. The new 1x4 disk shooters that debuted in this year's Legends of Chima battle packs fire basic 2x2 round tiles rather than specialized ammo, and again, the launchers themselves are compact and versatile. Even the new BIONICLE sets use compact launchers that fire basic 1x1 round plates as ammo, something we're seeing more and more of — and BIONICLE has had a long history of clunky, specialized launchers that fire specialized ammo. So overall I'm really impressed with where LEGO stands now as far as shooters and launchers are concerned.

I also should mention that once you get the hang of flick missiles, they can be startlingly effective. I was myself a bit astonished when I fired the flick missiles on the side of #44027 Breez Flea Machine and they sailed clear across the room! These missiles, of course, were mounted quite nicely. There was plenty of space to flick them and they could be angled upwards for greater distance. The flick claw in that set is not bad either, though you have to unwind the string before firing them to get a lot of distance. From my experience, if you don't unwind it first, it tends to become snagged.

Fauch · June 2015

it's pretty weird to see near unusable flick missiles in sets that are otherwise rather well designed, like they didn't give a shit anymore when they decided to add them at the last second.

I'm not sure about studs shooters. they work ok, but they are probably the best way to lose pieces, better to have projectiles that are easy to spot from far.

Aanchir · June 2015

Fauch said:

it's pretty weird to see near unusable flick missiles in sets that are otherwise rather well designed, like they didn't give a shit anymore when they decided to add them at the last second.
I'm not sure about studs shooters. they work ok, but they are probably the best way to lose pieces, better to have projectiles that are easy to spot from far.

Well, the potential for losing pieces is one of the reasons I love stud shooters, because aside from a few colors, 1x1 round plates are ridiculously common and ridiculously cheap to obtain. Load up a Pick-A-Brick cup with them and you'll have enough ammo for an entire army.

iplante · June 2015

For me the worst designed parts are the ones that break/crack easily... such as the cheese slopes. Good idea, obviously lacking in the execution, though.

khmellymel · June 2015

LordofLego said:

Friends mini-dolls. No question.

I'm not talking about quality, I'm talking about looks.

These are kinda growing on me. I don't *really* consider them Lego, but it appears that Lego has previously made elements that aren't ubiquitous with the Lego brick (or are but in a more obscure way). :)

I actually really dislike the flower stems with those thin flowers you have to break at the spoke. I have since I was a kid. They never seem to have good clutch, and feel kinda cheap as they bend so easily. I prefer the 1x1 stud flowers on top of a 1x1 stud.

Fauch · June 2015

I have a lot of broken clips and hinges. dunno if those they make since 2000 are sturdier than 90s ones.

ecmo47 · June 2015

The hinge made from parts 3639 and 3640 did not stand up to the test of youth. In set #780, they held the front and back parts of the articlulated dumper together. They very quickly lost their clutch strength due to play and you were left with 2 halves of dump truck that would not stay together. But it's still one of my all time favorite sets!

ecmo47 · June 2015

And speaking of failed shooters, how about the missile lauch system in the Rebel turret in the set #7666?

jason1976 · June 2015

ecmo47 said:

The hinge made from parts 3639 and 3640 did not stand up to the test of youth. In set #780, they held the front and back parts of the articlulated dumper together. They very quickly lost their clutch strength due to play and you were left with 2 halves of dump truck that would not stay together. But it's still one of my all time favorite sets!

I've got three sets that use 3639 and 3640 (#6682, #6928 and #6870) and haven't had any problems with them, sounds like you've been unlucky or took the dumper offroad too much :)

Fauch · June 2015

how could I forget this. bars of different sizes, which are slightly too thick so that when you have to slide them into some specific pieces (basically non technic holes), it's a pain.

Aanchir · June 2015

Fauch said:

how could I forget this. bars of different sizes, which are slightly too thick so that when you have to slide them into some specific pieces (basically non technic holes), it's a pain.

If I'm understanding you correctly, this often has less to do with the size of the part and more with the material. Inserting a polycarbonate part into another polycarbonate part (like a transparent lightsaber blade into a transparent 1x1 cone) can result in incredible friction, while an ABS or polypropylene part of the same diameter might fit just fine.

LordofLego · June 2015

What about those new spring missiles? They can only be shot from their launchers, but they fly far and launch easily. And you know what is funny? I saw one set in the catalog, I don't remember what set it was, but it had spring shooters, flick fires, and the stud shooters, all as guns on the model. Weird.

Brew · June 2015

I think Benny's Spaceship^3 has all three types. Not sure about any others though.

madforLEGO · June 2015

Not sure if anyone has said it, but I now that I think about it, the 'cheese' slope 2/3 can be considered as a worse part, couldn't? Solely for the seeming ease these crack for many folks who build with them.

Worst designed LEGO part ever?

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