Subject:
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ABS... but which one?
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.general
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Date:
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Thu, 2 Jan 2003 19:33:40 GMT
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Viewed:
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1047 times
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Hi all,
Some years ago I recall seeing an article about LEGO, where there was a
small image of ABS granules being fed to a moulding machine. Back then I did
not care too much about it, but now it appeared interesting enough to
investigate...
So I did just that: I went hunting for the brand that makes LEGO's material.
My first thought was Bayer, the German firm; they are one of the largest
chemical industries in the world, and conveniently located near Dennmark...
they'd be the obvious choice, right? So let's for a minute *assume* Bayer is
in fact the supplier of LEGO's ABS.
Browsing at Bayer's website, I then came across their plastics product
range. Only... there were FOUR kinds of ABS!
Ok... so two of them were composites. Still, there were other two options
remaining: was it "Novodur", or "Lustran"?
http://plastics.bayer.de/AG/AE/products/description/index.jsp?hp=1&pid=3
The differences between both are unstated; given the names, probably the
first one is made to last and the second to shine...
And then, *CLICK!*
The though struck me like lightning: I had noticed that more recent LEGO
parts tend to be softer and glossier... (1) so the question arose in my
mind: has the kind of ABS LEGO uses been changed recently, say around 1997?
Any idea? All this is based in two assumptions and one oppinion, but if
anyone knows more about it I'd be glad to hear.
Cheers,
Pedro
(1) - this oppinion is based in a number of sets I bought MISB since 1995,
the time when I began to care about the parts' quality. Back then, the parts
used to be less shiny and a lot tougher, at least when it came to "clutch
power"; also, a stacked brick wall would have less "irregularities" than one
built with more recent bricks. Nowadays, whenever I open a box of LEGO all
the parts gloss as if they had been immersed in oil for some time... :-/
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Message has 2 Replies:
 | | Re: ABS... but which one?
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| (...) I don't know any of the technical specs of bricks now or then, but let me share my feelings on the subject. I know that by comparing my old childhood bricks (20 - 25 years old) to bricks I've bought in the last 5 years there is a distinct (...) (22 years ago, 3-Jan-03, to lugnet.general)
| | | Re: ABS... but which one?
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| Pedro: Your assumptions are absolutely correct. Most of Lego's plastic is a special (top secret) version of Bayer Novodur. Lego also uses a version of Lustran and, more recently, a version of Makrolon. If you spend enough time on the Bayer site they (...) (22 years ago, 3-Jan-03, to lugnet.general)
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