7 ms·

Legos are truly a marvel of engineering in terms of design, robustness and longevity. Dimensions are constant across time and parts last forever. Legos 40 years

Legos are truly a marvel of engineering in terms of design, robustness and longevity. Dimensions are constant across time and parts last forever. Legos 40 years ago work well with today's pieces.

thrower123 5y ago
Quality on vintage Lego is usually better than what you buy today. They claim they haven't made many changes to the process, but a yardsale batch of Lego usually has less color abnormalities (aside from the age yellowing) and brittleness than a box right off the store shelf. Perhaps QA isn't as rigorous anymore.
- dolmen 5y ago
  Or just that QA didn't scale with multiple factories around the world?
  - philk10 5y ago
    or QA notices but is told it's not a problem to be fixed
- modeless 5y ago
  On the other hand, vintage Legos contain cadmium.
  - JeanSebTr 5y ago
    Quite an alarming claim! Looks like regarding to Cadmium, "vintage" means up to mid-to-late 1980s [0] > Apparently The [Lego] has been aware of this concern for at least three decades (hence the switch to Cadmium free plastic colorants sometime in the mid-to-late 1980s) [0] https://tamararubin.com/2019/05/vintage-1970s-legos-test-positive-for-a-high-level-of-a-known-carcinogen-how-can-i-tell-if-my-legos-are-safe/ https://tamararubin.com/2019/05/vintage-1970s-legos-test-pos...
- vanviegen 5y ago
  Based on my old Lego from the mid eighties, I have a different experience. The old bricks now fit together rather loosely, compared to my children's brand new Lego. Most of the colors are also not what they used to be, besides having been stored in an UV-free environment most of the time. No telling what the new bricks will be like in 35 years of course.
  - animal531 5y ago
    I'd imagine that after 10 years of plugging and unplugging, washing in random liquids, biting on them to get them loose etc., folding characters legs in and out until they become floppy any set would be a bit run down. But I'm sure tolerances today are higher than ever before.
  - brianpaul 5y ago
    I concur. My childhood LEGO from 1980-ish (now my son's) have noticeable color and fit variation. Still usable, but definitely not as nice as the new stuff.
  - incanus77 5y ago
    Same here, some going back to the late 70s.
  - bookofjoe 5y ago
    They will be holograms. We will be too.
  - thrower123 5y ago
    A thing I see a lot in the new bricks is that the color isn't true all the way through a brick. It's almost like a gradient, where the dye wasn't mixed into the base white ABS plastic very well
- handrous 5y ago
  IIRC they switched to some kind of biodegradable plastic a few years back. I'm pretty sure they're softer, but it might be in my head. What'd help way more with waste is if they would stop making like 75% of the part count of modern sets short 1x1s and other really tiny—often flat-topped, because the box photo mustn't display any nubs, I guess—pieces. If my kids take some legos outside, those are what get lost permanently. I get them to pick up what I can, and make a pass myself for any they missed, because as toys go they're gold, but some of those tiny pieces are for-sure buried in my yard. That'd also make the sets more playable—repairing play-induced damage on a modern set is hell because of the fiddly little constructions they use, and there are few exposed nubs to connect things to for expanding/customizing/having-minifigs-stand-on-it, without tearing off a bunch of pieces.
  - dharmab 5y ago
    The new bioplastic is only used on flexible parts like vegetation. Most bricks are still made from ABS (although they're continuing to prototype other plastics)
    - tspike 5y ago
      It's also not biodegradable; it's chemically identical to the polyethylene used before. It's only the process and materials sourcing that changed.
  - travisgriggs 5y ago
    I'm personally fine with the term nubs and know exactly what you mean. In some AFOL circles, they'll jump down your throat for not using the "correct" term "stud". The canonical term for the "flat-topped" is tile. My personal gripe is just the explosion of special purpose pieces that Lego vends today. Less is more Lego.
    - handrous 5y ago
      Ah, cool, thanks for the corrections. Yeah, I'm not into online lego fandom enough to know the correct terms—I just played with them for probably low-thousands of hours as a kid. I do like how many bigger modern sets come with a "brick tool". I always wanted one as a kid when, but they were a separate purchase and I never wanted one bad enough for it to make my wishlists, over more sets. Even the $80+ sets (in 80s/90s dollars!) back then didn't come with them. They are handy.
- creaturemachine 5y ago
  Modern mini-figures from the past 10 yrs or so develop cracks in the arms where the hand fits, making them fall apart very easily. None of my old ones from the 80/90's develop them. Large blocks have been modified to use less material, so thinner walls and different structures to gain back the rigidity. They may not have change the process, but it feels like materials certainly have.
real-dino 5y ago
You think Lego are incredible, check out Gundam Plastic Models. They have runner's made of multiple colours, and ready assembled hinges that are cast in a single injection mold. The RG models in particular are insane! Check out this video of Adam Savage making one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfmD1yYqP6k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfmD1yYqP6k
- _carbyau_ 5y ago
  I built a $15 snap together beginner gundam model. The build time doubled as I was marveling at the precision involved and the thought put into the design and instructions. I can only imagine what the larger "perfect grade" stuff is like. My kid impatiently wanted his robot already...
- djstein 5y ago
  thanks for the video link that was really cool
- 420official 5y ago
  He notices one of the hinges at around 6 minutes
- ragebol 5y ago
  There's a comment on YouTube explaining how the ready assembled hinges are made: > Michael Karnesis > 1 month ago > I'm coming here way after the fact even though I missed the boat on the first wave of comments because nobody has explained the leg inner frame correctly. > The leg inner frame is molded in sequence in ABS plastic, which is semi-crystaline and only bonds to itself. The second plastic is in Polypropylene which is fully crystalline and also only bonds to itself. This creates working joints without having to have radically different thermoset temperatures because the two plastics chosen simply don't cling to each other. No additional coating of release agent is required at all, it just uses the plastics' innate properties. That's awesome!
  - real-dino 5y ago
    They have to transfer the plastic between the two molds though? Any differences at all would cause problems. It's not like they can use release pins like the coloured runners?
tejohnso 5y ago
Maybe a good time to ask...what do you actually do with lego bricks once you've built whatever is on the box? I have a terrible imagination, and I find the replayability factor abysmal with these kits. I'm sure there are people who can take a box of 500+ random pieces and have fun, and I wish I could as well. These things just never clicked for me.
- wingerlang 5y ago
  I have one random lego knock off item on my shelf, it's a monkey. I don't particularly like legos, or monkeys for that matter, but I keep it because it was pretty fun to build it and it reminds me of that. Seems like you could amplify this by about a million with a set that is both intricate and of a subject you are really into. Or disassemble it and make new stuff. As a kid we never had sets, it was all in a big pile.
- jedimastert 5y ago
  There's two directions you can go: 1) you could just glue the pieces together and keep it as a model. This can also apply to models you find online. 2) you can sort and sell or give them to someone who will enjoy them. Sourcing sorted pieces is actually a big function of the used market. It's perfectly acceptable to not enjoy a kind of toy. To each there own. I also tend to struggle with open-world games if there isn't some sort of goals set up
- Daneel_ 5y ago
  I build a lot of technic models that have functions. I like to both improve and motorise them, or use them as a base to make a model closer to something I want. I like truck cranes and 4WD/trial trucks the most
- aksss 5y ago
  We had thousands of pooled pieces between my set of friends when young and had whole worlds we constructed. Vehicles, ships, spacecraft, cities, fortresses, whole dramas. Can’t do that anymore, but I think programming satisfies similar imaginative creativity. I’ve recently started to integrate the physical work back in to this world via electronics and having a blast with it.

Legos are truly a marvel of engineering in terms of design, robustness and longevity. Dimensions are constant across time and parts last forever. Legos 40 years ago work well with today's pieces.

thrower123 5y ago

Quality on vintage Lego is usually better than what you buy today. They claim they haven't made many changes to the process, but a yardsale batch of Lego usually has less color abnormalities (aside from the age yellowing) and brittleness than a box right off the store shelf. Perhaps QA isn't as rigorous anymore.

dolmen 5y ago
Or just that QA didn't scale with multiple factories around the world?
- philk10 5y ago
  or QA notices but is told it's not a problem to be fixed
modeless 5y ago
On the other hand, vintage Legos contain cadmium.
- JeanSebTr 5y ago
  Quite an alarming claim! Looks like regarding to Cadmium, "vintage" means up to mid-to-late 1980s [0] > Apparently The [Lego] has been aware of this concern for at least three decades (hence the switch to Cadmium free plastic colorants sometime in the mid-to-late 1980s) [0] https://tamararubin.com/2019/05/vintage-1970s-legos-test-positive-for-a-high-level-of-a-known-carcinogen-how-can-i-tell-if-my-legos-are-safe/ https://tamararubin.com/2019/05/vintage-1970s-legos-test-pos...
vanviegen 5y ago
Based on my old Lego from the mid eighties, I have a different experience. The old bricks now fit together rather loosely, compared to my children's brand new Lego. Most of the colors are also not what they used to be, besides having been stored in an UV-free environment most of the time. No telling what the new bricks will be like in 35 years of course.
- animal531 5y ago
  I'd imagine that after 10 years of plugging and unplugging, washing in random liquids, biting on them to get them loose etc., folding characters legs in and out until they become floppy any set would be a bit run down. But I'm sure tolerances today are higher than ever before.
- brianpaul 5y ago
  I concur. My childhood LEGO from 1980-ish (now my son's) have noticeable color and fit variation. Still usable, but definitely not as nice as the new stuff.
- incanus77 5y ago
  Same here, some going back to the late 70s.
- bookofjoe 5y ago
  They will be holograms. We will be too.
- thrower123 5y ago
  A thing I see a lot in the new bricks is that the color isn't true all the way through a brick. It's almost like a gradient, where the dye wasn't mixed into the base white ABS plastic very well
handrous 5y ago
IIRC they switched to some kind of biodegradable plastic a few years back. I'm pretty sure they're softer, but it might be in my head. What'd help way more with waste is if they would stop making like 75% of the part count of modern sets short 1x1s and other really tiny—often flat-topped, because the box photo mustn't display any nubs, I guess—pieces. If my kids take some legos outside, those are what get lost permanently. I get them to pick up what I can, and make a pass myself for any they missed, because as toys go they're gold, but some of those tiny pieces are for-sure buried in my yard. That'd also make the sets more playable—repairing play-induced damage on a modern set is hell because of the fiddly little constructions they use, and there are few exposed nubs to connect things to for expanding/customizing/having-minifigs-stand-on-it, without tearing off a bunch of pieces.
- dharmab 5y ago
  The new bioplastic is only used on flexible parts like vegetation. Most bricks are still made from ABS (although they're continuing to prototype other plastics)
  - tspike 5y ago
    It's also not biodegradable; it's chemically identical to the polyethylene used before. It's only the process and materials sourcing that changed.
- travisgriggs 5y ago
  I'm personally fine with the term nubs and know exactly what you mean. In some AFOL circles, they'll jump down your throat for not using the "correct" term "stud". The canonical term for the "flat-topped" is tile. My personal gripe is just the explosion of special purpose pieces that Lego vends today. Less is more Lego.
  - handrous 5y ago
    Ah, cool, thanks for the corrections. Yeah, I'm not into online lego fandom enough to know the correct terms—I just played with them for probably low-thousands of hours as a kid. I do like how many bigger modern sets come with a "brick tool". I always wanted one as a kid when, but they were a separate purchase and I never wanted one bad enough for it to make my wishlists, over more sets. Even the $80+ sets (in 80s/90s dollars!) back then didn't come with them. They are handy.
creaturemachine 5y ago
Modern mini-figures from the past 10 yrs or so develop cracks in the arms where the hand fits, making them fall apart very easily. None of my old ones from the 80/90's develop them. Large blocks have been modified to use less material, so thinner walls and different structures to gain back the rigidity. They may not have change the process, but it feels like materials certainly have.

real-dino 5y ago

You think Lego are incredible, check out Gundam Plastic Models. They have runner's made of multiple colours, and ready assembled hinges that are cast in a single injection mold. The RG models in particular are insane! Check out this video of Adam Savage making one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfmD1yYqP6k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfmD1yYqP6k

_carbyau_ 5y ago
I built a $15 snap together beginner gundam model. The build time doubled as I was marveling at the precision involved and the thought put into the design and instructions. I can only imagine what the larger "perfect grade" stuff is like. My kid impatiently wanted his robot already...
djstein 5y ago
thanks for the video link that was really cool
420official 5y ago
He notices one of the hinges at around 6 minutes
ragebol 5y ago
There's a comment on YouTube explaining how the ready assembled hinges are made: > Michael Karnesis > 1 month ago > I'm coming here way after the fact even though I missed the boat on the first wave of comments because nobody has explained the leg inner frame correctly. > The leg inner frame is molded in sequence in ABS plastic, which is semi-crystaline and only bonds to itself. The second plastic is in Polypropylene which is fully crystalline and also only bonds to itself. This creates working joints without having to have radically different thermoset temperatures because the two plastics chosen simply don't cling to each other. No additional coating of release agent is required at all, it just uses the plastics' innate properties. That's awesome!
- real-dino 5y ago
  They have to transfer the plastic between the two molds though? Any differences at all would cause problems. It's not like they can use release pins like the coloured runners?

tejohnso 5y ago

Maybe a good time to ask...what do you actually do with lego bricks once you've built whatever is on the box? I have a terrible imagination, and I find the replayability factor abysmal with these kits. I'm sure there are people who can take a box of 500+ random pieces and have fun, and I wish I could as well. These things just never clicked for me.

wingerlang 5y ago
I have one random lego knock off item on my shelf, it's a monkey. I don't particularly like legos, or monkeys for that matter, but I keep it because it was pretty fun to build it and it reminds me of that. Seems like you could amplify this by about a million with a set that is both intricate and of a subject you are really into. Or disassemble it and make new stuff. As a kid we never had sets, it was all in a big pile.
jedimastert 5y ago
There's two directions you can go: 1) you could just glue the pieces together and keep it as a model. This can also apply to models you find online. 2) you can sort and sell or give them to someone who will enjoy them. Sourcing sorted pieces is actually a big function of the used market. It's perfectly acceptable to not enjoy a kind of toy. To each there own. I also tend to struggle with open-world games if there isn't some sort of goals set up
Daneel_ 5y ago
I build a lot of technic models that have functions. I like to both improve and motorise them, or use them as a base to make a model closer to something I want. I like truck cranes and 4WD/trial trucks the most
aksss 5y ago
We had thousands of pooled pieces between my set of friends when young and had whole worlds we constructed. Vehicles, ships, spacecraft, cities, fortresses, whole dramas. Can’t do that anymore, but I think programming satisfies similar imaginative creativity. I’ve recently started to integrate the physical work back in to this world via electronics and having a blast with it.