Subject:
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Re: 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 18:07:51 GMT
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Viewed:
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3824 times
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In lugnet.color, Todd Thuma wrote:
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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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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
terraced houses where a consistent
supploy of dark red would have left them looking far less interesting. Conscious
colour variation such as the changes to the greys and browns open up
possibilities of representing different materials in the same MOC. This
MOC (big pic) by
egunnero demonstrates that perfectly.
It was great that LEGO did keep such consistent colour for so long but given a
choice between LEGO of consistent colour and no LEGO I’d choose the former any
time.
Thanks for the 2c, Todd and I’ve just made it 2c and 2p.
Tim
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Variety is the spice of life
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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 (...) (18 years ago, 10-Apr-07, to lugnet.color)
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