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Subject: 
What's the story with all the recent mold changes?
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.general
Date: 
Mon, 20 Jul 2009 15:38:04 GMT
Viewed: 
11797 times
  
Hey all,

It seems to me that since Lego began outsourcing their brick production, a lot
of needless mold changes have occurred.  The first one I noticed was the 1x2
brick with Technic axle hole (which no longer has the nice cross/plus design),
then the 1x2 Technic cylinder, which now has a slit in it (why?).  Then the 1x1
cone with the ridge at the top (the one change that makes sense), and the most
recent one has been the 1x1 plate with top clip (the outside edges of the clips
are no longer squared off but tapered).

Aside from the 1x1 cone, the other three alterations just don't seem necessary.
They're neither functional nor aesthetic.  Is TLG still in such dire financial
straits that they've been forced to cut such small corners in order to conserve
costs in their manufacturing process, or is there some other reason?

Being the cranky old-timer Lego fan that I am, it's often been difficult for me
to weather the many changes over the past few years.  It seems that backwards
compatibility (one of the cornerstones of my love & respect for the brick) is
being given less & less priority.

I don't want to be a total "when I was a kid it was WAY better" kind of guy, but
I'm curious how many other folks are feeling this way.

Dave S.



Message has 4 Replies:
  Re: What's the story with all the recent mold changes?
 
(...) I noticed that one as well, but the second change makes less sense. The first one, I'd guess was to relieve stress when an axle is pushed through the hole, and help prevent the bricks from splitting in half. The second change, they filled in (...) (15 years ago, 20-Jul-09, to lugnet.general)
  Re: What's the story with all the recent mold changes?
 
I'm no expert in plastics (okay, I know nothing about plastics) but I'd like to offer a few theories. Technic 1x2 Brick - perhaps the failure/reject rate is lower with fewer sharp corners for the plastic to have to flow into? Functionally still (...) (15 years ago, 20-Jul-09, to lugnet.general)
  Re: What's the story with all the recent mold changes?
 
The only one I have any info on is the (URL) cylinder>. Someone from LEGO (don't remember who) said that the (URL) previous version> was made up of pieces that were glued together inside. (This makes sense that it would have to be, otherwise how (...) (15 years ago, 20-Jul-09, to lugnet.general, lugnet.parts, lugnet.lego, FTX)
  Re: What's the story with all the recent mold changes?
 
I got set (URL) 5866 Rotor Rescue> for Christmas & it comes with (URL) (6) yellow 1x3 inverted slopes>; (2) of mine have a thinner 'thin' edge while the other (4) have a thicker 'thin' edge. Anyone else notice this? Jeff S. (15 years ago, 29-Dec-09, to lugnet.general, FTX)

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