Plate 1X2
Element ID 4649765 | Design ID 3023
Colour Bright Light Blue [BL] / Light Royal Blue [TLG]
Light Royal Blue (once again I'm plumping for the lovely official name rather than the BrickLink name) is a very nice shade indeed. I can't help notice it shares many similarities with the way I described Cool Yellow recently. Both arrived in 2004 and have remained rare, but never wholly disappeared. Both hues were initially used in Belville and Creator basic brick sets and a steady supply of Duplo parts has continued to appear during this last decade. Both have occasionally been called upon for licensed themes - indeed the Disney/Pixar Cars theme used both Cool Yellow and Light Royal Blue, at different times however. In recent years they've both been used in minifigs too, even the same one - the Ice Skater from Collectible Minifigures Series 4 with her Cool Yellow hair and Light Royal Blue outfit. (See, now don't you agree that using the TLG names for these colours just makes things sound nicer?)
I guess the biggest difference between the two colours (aside from one being yellow and one blue!) is that Cool Yellow just got some useful bricks added to its array. Light Royal Blue is still languishing. Friends is where we've seen the more useful Light Royal Blue parts appear lately, and by useful I mean plates. 16X16 and 16X32 plates make the bases for a few Heartlake institutions and 3315 Olivia's House gave us the 4X4 round plate. Somewhat less usefully, Friends has also brought us a Light Royal Blue dolphin and a handbag.
So if you're like me you probably slapped Light Royal Blue straight into the "Friends colour" camp. As it happens, it has been used in minifigs for Ninjago (9590 NRG Zane) and now Chima, where it is associated with the Eagle clan - it's the colour of their minifig heads and used for some of their torsos also. Chima also makes use of Olivia's 4X4 round plate in 70010 The Lion CHI Temple. So it's not a colour reserved for the ladies... Light Royal Blue has even appeared in Star Wars. Did I really just say Star Wars? Yes... kinda. Not in any main sets. It's the colour of Endor, from set 75010 in the Planet Series, and in 3866 Star Wars: The Battle of Hoth in the Games line you'll find a whopping fourteen 2X2 jumper plates in Light Royal Blue. Needless to say, the latter is the more useful element by a long margin, and was unique to that set until just recently - another of the Games, 50011 The Battle for Helms Deep, has five.
I'll hark back to Cars at this point because that's where the most useful Light Royal Blue parts are from, and just from one set actually - 8639 Big Bentley Bust Out. There you'll find Brick 1X3, Plate 1X4 and Plate 2X2. There's only one or two of each though. The upshot of all this is that we don't have many basic useful parts available in Light Royal Blue at all, which is why I'm happy it has now turned up in the 1X2 Plate, its smallest 'basic' part yet, and it gives me hope that more elements are to come. It comes in 850791 LEGO® Minifigure Birthday Set
, one of those little gift sets that I rarely purchase because of their high cost - this one is £6.99 / US$9.99! But seeing as it's you guys...
Although I avoid discussing new elements in minifigs on this blog, it seems natural at this point to comment on the clown hair appearing in Lime [BL] / Bright Yellowish Green [TLG]. If you're wondering what that wonky base is, it's cardboard with a cutout that snugly fits two 4X4 plates. Also included in the set is male hair, five stickers to personalise the white torso, and a cardboard banner that sticks onto the base with stickers to add the age of the lucky recipient. Given I may yet find a use for the wonky cardboard base, I elected to leave it off. If you just can't resist the charms of Light Royal Blue (and/or the clown), you can purchase this set at The Official LEGO Shop
.Unlike the Cool Yellow post, I won't create one of my colour comparison charts today, mostly because I'm off on holiday! But here is a family shot of some of the blue hues currently available... with the notable exception of Maersk Blue [BL] / Pastel Blue [TLG], as I don't own a single element! Outrageous.
It seems, that Maersk_Blue is missing in the last picture ;-)
ReplyDeleteRe: the clown. The legs are straight off the S1 Clown, and the head is straight off the S5 Short Clown. The torso print isn't new either, as it's also the same print that was used on the S1 Clown, but now it's on dark-purple instead of lime-green. The hair is new in that color, though, previously only being available in red (S1 Clown) and black (S2 Guy With Really Bad Taste In Music).
ReplyDeleteThat color chart at the bottom has a bit of a peculiar mix of Bricklink and TLG color names... It uses "Blue" instead of "Bright Blue" and "Dark Blue" instead of Earth Blue, in accordance with Bricklink names, but the Azur shades are spelled without a final "E" as in TLG's nomenclature. If you didn't specify beforehand that these are the colors "currently available", this would make the "Aqua" element very puzzling: is it Bricklink's Aqua (TLG's Light Bluish Green) or TLG's Aqua (Bricklink's Light Aqua)? The disclaimer before the image tells us it's the latter.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting that minifigure hands are now available in Light Royal Blue, since last year NRG Zane was the only one of the NRG Ninja whose hands did not match the rest of his costume. I wonder how he'd look with Light Royal Blue hands.
NRG Zane's parts are still my favorite Light Royal Blue parts because of their amazing printing. The figures already look incredible in photos and renders (I had them as my desktop wallpaper for a while: http://skybard.deviantart.com/art/LEGO-Ninjago-NRG-Wallpaper-329949683) but truly it is impossible to anticipate just how awesome the NRG minifigures are until you hold them in your hand.
They didn't have any new or unique part colors, but they did introduce two new print colors: a metallic blue ink, which has since appeared on the Legends of Chima constraction sets, and a metallic red ink, which also appears on 70204 CHI Worriz as well as the Razar minifigure. Together with previously-existing metallic silver and gold inks, they make the figures look incredibly dynamic.
Is the clown's leg really Light Royal Blue? That's pretty neat if so, because I'm fairly certain the original leg was Medium Blue. It's neat if TLG gave him a recolored leg even on a part most people might not notice.
I'm actually kinda disappointed in both NRG Kai and NRG Zane. To find out why, check out all four under blacklight.
DeleteAnd again, as for the Birthday Set clown, no, the leg is medium blue just like the S1 Clown. However, I did just notice something odd. The patches printed on the legs of the Birthday Clown are larger than the original patches, and with a different aspect ratio (stretched more horizontally than vertically). Turns out the torso print has some slight changes as well, like the black creases on the suspenders and the white spots are all shifted to the right. The bow tie also looks like it might be slightly smaller. Some of the torso differences could be chalked up to print variations, but the creases on the suspenders and the outlines of the suspenders are both black, and should have been applied in the same step. The different positioning there clearly shows that the Birthday Clown was printed with a new set of pads (or at least the torso and legs were, can't see any differences on the face).
Gah. Seems I was a little too keen to get away on holiday. Have removed the ill-researched comment about the clown. Will deal with it after I've dealt with these light royal blue skies...
DeleteCould you also show the comparison to the Maersk Blue?
ReplyDeleteWill need to buy some first :O)
Deleteit isn't blue, but the female robot also brings new parts: hands in Dark Pink
ReplyDeletehttp://www.flickr.com/photos/41229227@N06/9569253233/
I just used this colour in one of my creations, but I didn't know that the 1 x 2 plate was also available in this colour. I should get me some of those! Thanks for the tip!
ReplyDelete