Subject:
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Variety is the spice of life
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.color
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Date:
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Tue, 10 Apr 2007 17:55:33 GMT
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Viewed:
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3906 times
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To All,
I would like to state my $0.02 on this color issue and perhaps open up a new
dialog on the whole color variation issue. First, I agree that in the past the
LEGO Company has done an outstanding job with keeping the color consistent from
batch to batch and year to year. Not that I am any expert, but this had a lot to
do with the LEGO Company working closely with the plastics supplier to keep that
color consistent. For those that do not know, in the past the color of the
bricks came from the color of the plastic used which was controlled by the
plastics company and not LEGO Company.
Now, things have changed over time and in the past occasional accidents have
happened. For example, I remind you of the multi-shaded purple Harry Potter bus
that seemed to have purples in various colors and shades. The grey or bley is
not an example of a mistake, that was a conscious decision by LEGO Company to
reformulate the colors.
We will continue to see more shades of colors due to changes in the
manufacturing relationships, the use of dye injection at the time of molding
(using a white or colorless raw plastic for a base), and less control over the
overall process (adding more parties to the table means more realities).
I would submit to you all, however, that these variations on color are a good
thing and that we cannot find in our daily lives examples where color is
consistent and without variation.
I will start with examples of the later statement. Next time you are in a
shopping mall visit a clothing store. Find a rack of identical shirts and notice
the color variation in one color of shirt. Look down at the tile that covers the
floor in the mall. Notice the color variation in the tile from one to the next
of supposedly "the same color" tile. Check out the variation in color of the
brick wall that decorates a wall of a store. Color variation is natural and
difficult to control over a lengthy process of production.
Visit a toy store. Examine the plastic toys from any manufacturer. Colors are
NOT consistent from toy to toy. Check out a competitor's construction blocks. Do
the colors look consistent? Are there multiple shades? Find a store selling
Crocs, those new plastic clipper/sandal like shoes. Compare the color of one
pair
As for being good in MOC building, I submit that builidng a grey wall or a
building surface to represent structures seen in our daily lives is best done
with bricks of various shades. When a painter paints, do they use only one shade
in an area of color? Does a sculpture pantenna his sculpture with a single shade
of color? My father worked for General Motors for several years making S-10
trucks. The maker of the paints, BASF, consistently was unable to reproduce a
consistent color from batch to batch. If you ever place a blue truck next to
another blue truck from the same model year but made on different days, you will
quickly see the difference in the shades of blue.
In the buildings and sculptures that I have seen from the best in the AFOL
community, the shades and varieties of one color is what makes the model more
realistic and representative of the real thing.
I understand the casternation of the community that a company that for so many
years was able to keep the pallete consistent is failing to do that at the same
level it used to. Maybe that standard that the LEGO Company set for itself was
an impossible standard to maintain and in the end set itself up to fail when it
could no longer maintain that standard.
The facts are that maintaining a consistent color pallete is cost prohibitive
today. Certainly, they could place that above all other goals, but I fear the
costs of the bricks, and therefore the sets, would possible lead to the collapse
of the company. So I am happy that LEGO Company choses to fight the battle but
ultimately conceeds to a few lost "colors" over time. I believe the color
variations are ultimately beneficial.
Sincerely,
Todd
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Message has 2 Replies:
 | | Re: Variety is the spice of life
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| (...) I agree with this 100%. Random colour variation opens up opportunity to make more realistic models. A perfect example of this is Al Disley's (URL) terraced houses> where a consistent supploy of dark red would have left them looking far less (...) (18 years ago, 10-Apr-07, to lugnet.color, FTX)
| | | Long reply Beware Re: Variety is the spice of life
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| (...) There are very few things in life that I can consider myself as an expert, but the one thing is color matching and quality control of color in a manufacturing process and at the point of purchase. For 30 years I worked in a small paint (...) (18 years ago, 10-Apr-07, to lugnet.color)
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