Is LEGO's quality going down?

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Sir Terrance
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Is LEGO's quality going down?

Post by Sir Terrance »

I have noticed people asking if others noticed LEGO's quality dropping. Is this true? I though all ABS plastic was the same, but are there better and worse types of it? Is LEGO using the same ABS plastic throughout the years, like they say?
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JPinoy
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Post by JPinoy »

No, the quality of the bricks is the same, its just that some have had their colors changed, and the set designs are.... :roll:
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Sir Terrance
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Post by Sir Terrance »

Ok, phew, that's a relief. Don't get excited by LEGO's set designs, just think "If I got 2 or 3 of these..."
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Dada
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Post by Dada »

Hello

The plastic used is always the same one ,except for the collection lego firstly.
I noticed that apart from the changes of color, certain parts seem badly conceived (example: Buckbeak who with the badly fixed head :? , but I like it :D )
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Cat
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Post by Cat »

It seems to me that Lego has become complacent over the past several years. There are too many specialty bricks in the newer sets. However, the material of construction still holds up as good as ever.
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Chancellor Erik
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Post by Chancellor Erik »

It all depends on what quality you talk of. ABS plastic is the same, but I'm begining to wonder what Lego is thinking of in terms of set design nowadays...
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Post by porschecm2 »

I've increasingly noticed flash on pieces(strings of plastic and/or extra bits of plastic from the molding process), ripple marks radiating from the point of injection on pieces(nothing major, but they don't appear on older pieces), and almost to the point where I get one in every set, bricks with small streaks of other colours. I don't mean flame bricks, but rather just small minute streaks, especially on white, blue, and tan pieces. So yes, I think Lego's quality control has declined. The pieces for the most part still grip as well, and they still beat other brands' quality by far, but it still worries me...

Cm2
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David Girard
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Post by David Girard »

The change is in set design mostly and in use of premolded pieces.

The change of type of plastic, may cause a drama in Lego community....
....think of the reaction on change colors.

They use a lot more specialise piece than before. And often they use premolded piece where is no obligation for it.
That hurt creativity a lot.
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Bruce N H
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Post by Bruce N H »

Ben Beneke has this gallery where he documents quality control problems:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=12182
Most worrisome to me is this one:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=615926
Which suggests that brick/plate height may be slightly variable, which would make it difficult to have everything line up perfectly. Perhaps this is dependant on which factory produced the element?

When the 2004 sets came out there was some discussion on the "clutch" power--some people thought the studs were a little more rounded and didn't hold together as well.

There have been some really bad issues of color variation in some sets, notably the HP Knight Bus discussed here:
http://news.lugnet.com/harrypotter/?n=1524&t=i&v=a
http://www.fbtbforums.net/viewtopic.php ... urple#1800
and seen here:
http://www.alteredstatesmag.com/gallery ... _Potter_01
Other sets as well:
http://www.fbtbforums.net/viewtopic.php ... bus+purple

So while the ABS itself hasn't changed, it does seem that there have been slips in quality control recently.

Bruce
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Post by doctorsparkles »

In the official Lego release of Daniel Siskind's 'Blacksmith Shop,' I got a 1*6 plate with the same defect seen here:

http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=143687

This was the first time I had ever seen a Lego piece come defective, and I believe it's happened 2 or 3 times since then.
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David Girard
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Post by David Girard »

Oh No!
Problems in this Harry Potter sets are terribles... Even the torso is not the same as in the box. Two shade of brown at the same time...Oh no !

The quality have decreased a lot...
:cry:
Last edited by David Girard on Thu May 06, 2004 8:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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David Girard
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Post by David Girard »

Deffective pieces never happen to me. Is this a recent thing ? Is this more often than before ?
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rogue27
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Post by rogue27 »

There are two kinds of ABS used on parts. There is the stiff ABS like your basic bricks are made from, and a softer ABS that the more flexible parts are made from. Flexible parts being things like whips, vines, foliage.

Anyway, the plastic quality seems as good as ever from what I can see. However, lots of parts that used stiff ABS many years ago are now using the softer material. Examples I've noticed when sorting new parts alongside my old ones are flower tops, 4x1 flags , and classic swords. I don't know if this is a cost saving measure or what, but on those three parts, I prefer the way the older ones were made.

I have also noticed more flash (extra plastic left by the injection process) on some parts where there would be little or none in the past.

I see color variations on some parts as well. My mini Knight Bus has noticeable color variation on some parts.

I would guess that LEGO has loosened the tolerances in the manufacturing process. Probably saves them a bit of money, but I don't want to see things get any worse.
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Post by Jojo »

Hello!


LEGO is going down.


Bye
Jojo

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Post by architect »

Although LEGO's quality may be going down slightly, I want to point out that it has never been perfect. As a child I would occasionally get pieces that had defects. One printing defect that comes to mind was a yellow black falcons shield that was a smear of yellow, black, and white printing - I'm still not exactly sure how that happened and passed through inspections.

Ben E.
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