New Grey Colors

[Glencaer]

Jake McKee has confirmed the change of light and dark grey. The color change is a relatively minor (but noticable).

here, he explains it all:

http://news.lugnet.com/lego/?n=533

originally announced here (with picture of new colors):

http://news.lugnet.com/general/?n=43553

personally, I like the new colors, and expect this will lead to a new, speckled look when designing castles.

-Lenny

[Bruce N H]

Crackhead,

I agree, a variety of grays isn't so bad for us. If I were a space builder I would be more up in arms about this. I don't think the new dark gray looks so great personally--it seems a little more metallic, a little less stone-like, but a mottling effect based on variations in shade would actually look more realistic in our creations.

Bruce

[LEGOFREAK]

I like the part in the story where there is a possibility of getting "old" bulk bricks in packs - save up yer money castleheads - we gotta beat the space boys to those bricks!

heheehe

[David Girard]

I never thinked that old color were bad. I always love them. If they are getting to reajust all colors, that will cause that our sets, and all the piece we have will be considerate as "old". Child will say: "I don't like the old Legos" And they will treate us as old

But if it's for the best, why not

[lemon_squeezer2]

I don't really know what to say.
The colors look OK but I am deeply disturbed about the second comment that states:

Further more, the studs are rounded, making connections significantly weaker, and the parts overall just have a cheaper feel to them.

One wonders how much worse things can get

[SavaTheAggie]

I don't really know what to say.
The colors look OK but I am deeply disturbed about the second comment that states:

Further more, the studs are rounded, making connections significantly weaker, and the parts overall just have a cheaper feel to them.

One wonders how much worse things can get

Jake addressed this issue. It would appear that these 'cheaper' feeling bricks with rounded studs are nothing more than a bad batch of parts that escaped LEGO's attention. No worries.

--Anthony

[wlister]

The New light gray being less significantly different isn't as bothersome, but it does mean the new light gray bricks won't match existing castle parts such as the castle walls from the BFF and Guarded Inn and that rankles a little. Most noticeable differences will be found on the larger (more Expensive) 4x and 6x light gray plate. It will really make it looks like the maids have been washing sections of the castle a little more thoroughly than other areas.

The new dark gray on the other hand does not mesh at all well with the old. The bluish tinge is not a welcome change to me. Dark gray is more of a recent acquisition for my collection and now with the changes, it likely will never be a focal point for my construction.

As a member of a Lug that does train shows, I am upset that the new dark gray will not mesh well with the old dark gray when it come to track. My Lug recently purchased $400.00 worth of track that will not match any of the track being produced once the old stock is gone. This is a prime example of how changing core colors will upset builders and collectors. Trains is by far TLC's largest adult following and it will be interesting to see how they will deal with the hordes of angry train people.


As to the new stud shape, Jake said:

Stud changes and part/material quality

I have verified from three different internal sources that NO changes have been made to the studs. They are the same studs we know and love. This makes sense, considering that redesigning the studs on all parts we produce would be an overwhelming and consuming expense (not to mention unnecessary).

Further, the same molds and the same ABS pellets are being used as before. Material and part quality has not been changed AT ALL. We know that high quality is a very important part of the LEGO Brand and we would do nothing to compromise that. Period.

So hopefully the changes being noticed were anomalies rather than production changes. Remember if you have bad parts, let TLC know and they will send you new ones.


WL

[INTENSS]

This is rather disturbing. It's a direct hit at the die-hard collectors who like to keep uniformity in building their collections for the past 5-10-20 years. While the light grey is not off that much, it's still annoying. I've built custom castles and noticed afterward that a single 1x8 brick in the middle of the Megablocks thing was a tad yellowing and pulled it out because it looked like crap. Now every grey piece will be a "tad" off. This is bad for us perfectionists.

The dark grey is even worse. Im in the same boat as wlister. I just started gathering a large amount of dark grey bricks to start some projects with their use. I have 10 cups of dark grey bricks sitting behind me awaiting use that I got from the Imagination center. The new dark grey looks fake...too kiddy-ish. I liked the color for its dark gloomy look. Nice contrast to the light grey.

It's a good thing town road plates aren't normal (grey) any more....otherwise you'd have some interesting (different) looking sidewalks and streets. But alas, they're green and fugly too. Everything is getting too childish.

-Rich

[LEGOFREAK]

"Everything is getting too childish. "

I am sorry to disagree with you, but respectfully - it is a toy. It might be a toy that a ton of adults play/build with, but it is still a toy.It is supposed to be childish.


If you don't want your ten cups of dark grey because the won't match the new ones - can I have 'em?

[INTENSS]

Childish was the word I used, but I was meaning that they were "dumbying" up the Lego brand. What I meant was that alot of the lines are going mainstream. They're no longer building toys - not your typical "toys" for the youngins (which is what I was referring to with "childish"). Lego, to me, was always an upper tier toy that wasn;'t dumbied up.

The new road plates for town, Jack Stone, crappy buildings (half built), stupid facial expressions, action kind of figures (instead of actual building toys), and now "brighter" colors to lure in the kiddies....this is all kind of out of the norm for Lego which was a basic building toy.

I understand the argument of having to compete in today's toy market. However, going into your basic recipe for success like changing the colors of your basic bricks is rather extreme. Adding a stand along line like Bionicle is just fine. Lego has to play the fine line of leaving the basics alone AND developing new and innovative themes/sets for the next generation.


And no, you can't have my cups of bricks. They'll still be put to use in some kind of rock hideout or something.

-Rich

[LEGOFREAK]

darn!:D

(worth a shot)

[Ye Olde Republic]

As a member of a Lug that does train shows

No worries WL, I don't think anyone in our LUG will even notice.

[Mr. D]

Hey, I don't care about the changes, really! I think that the new colors will add an interesting look to castles. And remember, there's still millions of the old colors out there, so haunt Ebay and Bricklink, and you won't have to buy any of the new colors!

[Jedipawn]

I wonder if we can use a mix of all the gray colors to add the realistic look to our castles. Not sure if it will work, but looking forward to trying it.

Jedipawn

[wlister]

I think a mix with the new light gray would work all right, but the new dark gray has a definite mettalic look. I can't wait to see weapons and armor in the new dark gray, but it is very unlikely that I will use dark gray bricks in my buildings. I am sure I will find ways to use it, but I do wish it was not the only option from TLC. Bricklinking any gray brick is pretty expensive and as time passes it will only get worse. Someone with more writing skills should write a lament about the loss of the old grays.

Will