Low quality figs in non-regular sets.

[Ye Olde Republic]

I wouldn't worry too much about anything that may (or may not) be manufactured or assembled in China. We've been having quality issue with the stuff coming out of Denmark for six years. The first time I really noticed it was on the 6x12 dark red wings from the very first Jedi starfighter. If you held the wing up to some light it turned very transluscent and since then dark red is pretty hit and miss that way. Lately, white pieces are a bit 'milky' I've also noticed.

[Blue Moon Knight]

I just hope the durability of the plastic stays the same, or improves. I hate it when the torsos crack on the side (or anywhere).

[puddleglum]

I'm curious if the package had anything to say in terms of where it was manufactured.

[Karrde]

It's not available here- switch to US and you'll see it under bags. Import-a-go-go!

Yeah, thanks. JoJo pm'd me a link and I realised TLG were up to their old tricks again

[nanuck95]

I ordered the dwarf and troll battlepacks last week and they just arrived today. They do have the indentation on the inside of the arms and the colors of the printing on the torsos were very slightly off from my other minifigs. I wouldn't say it was very noticeable unless you were really looking for it and it was mostly the browns/bronze colors that were off. Otherwise, they looked and felt no different from any other minifig I had from other sets. Maybe it's a quality issue that is hit or miss depending on the run or location?

The battlepack packaging says "Components made in Denmark and China" so who knows in which country they were really made. I also purchased the troll fortress and the drawbridge defense and the packaging on there says: "Components made in Denmark, China, Sweden, Hungary, Mexico, and the Czech Republic". Anyway, not sure if that means anything, but there you go.

[Blueandwhite]

Sharp eye Jojo.

I haven't really been keeping up with the battlepacks and such, but this is a worriesome trend. Moreso when you consider that these figures will very likely make their way onto Bricklink making it difficult to discern what sort of figure you will receive. I hope that this quality issue doesn't leak into LEGO's mainline sets. If I'm going to purchase a product, I should hope that it is of the best quality.

[LEGOFREAK]

The odd thing to me is that Items like magnets, or chess sets seem to be geared towards collectors. So... you'd think the quality control would be tighter since (as a rule) collectors are a bit more picky towards what they are buying.

[The_Hun]

I noticed this thing on a batch of 12 troll torsos I bought off Bricklink some months ago. Now I know they probably came from the Giant Chess (as the BP wasn't available back then).

This really bothers me since I specifically bought these torsos to make these guys. Now that non-shiny brownish print just doesn't go at all with the copper axe heads and shield accents... (the ones in the picture are the "normal" shiny ones).

And yes, I do feel a difference in material, too. The plastic feels somehow "lighter", less dense. I've noticed the same thing with the Pirate fig from the impulse set (head & torso).

[Heir of Black Falcon]

When I get moved I will pull the scales out and weight them. As I said before I did not feel or see a difference but it should be easy enough to verify.

Edit-

Went to Legoland day before last and got some minifigs to test on. On the scale at my B and B their was nearly 0 difference between the torso of the battle pack and the new 2009 set I got. I will carry out a few more tests when I have time and am more settled again after the big move.

Heir

[Username]

Wonder if the new pirates battle pack and tic tac toe set will be the same. Can anyone compare the castle tic tac toe set with the dwarf and troll battle packs for quality issues?

[siabur]

i picked up a few of the SW Clone wars troopers 4 pack and 1/2 of them the arms cracked when putting the guns in their hands. These are the first minifigs I've ever had that did that. No dogs or small children required.

[Heir of Black Falcon]

OK. Did a few tests....

9 orc torsos from various 2008 sets to 9 from the chess set. The difference was every time but once in favour of the chess set being heavier, that exception was almost exactly the same in weight. I even used another chess set for a few of the last samples and had the same result.

We could try some type of cut testing to measure hardness but I will leave someone else to figure that one out, not interested in cutting my guys up really. If anyone decides to do them I'd be interested as weight does not equal strength exactly. In fact if they crack for some it could mean the plastic is too brittle.... though my two year old has played with my chess set figs and no cracks etc. yet so maybe a QC thing.

From what I have seen so far they are not lighter but usually heavier. Of course this is fairly limited sample of them but I cannot imagine much difference really as they were nearly no difference at all on the minifigs from every set.

These tests include two chess sets bought in the UK and 2008 sets from both the USA and UK.

Heir

[Ye Olde Republic]

Heavier?? I wonder if that's the lead found in a lot of Chinese paints?

Not to say that a lot of you guys are getting a bit bent out of shape and paranoid (again) but isn't this most likely that the Chinese factory uses different equipment? Think about this: perhaps the rectangular piece missing from the inside of the arm is a new innovation, perhaps to allow for an easier, hence, less expensive method of doing arm printing? That's a stretch, I know, but we've seen crazier theories proven before....

[badbricker]

Good thing i didn't order that then!!!!

[Albatross_Viking]

I just got the two new battlepacks (and kings chariot and drwabridge defense ) and almost emideally noticed, thats the battleback orcs had brighter red eyes than those from the "real" sets. Probaly just a difference in the paint used...

A_V