We sent a varied selection of new LEGO® parts from 2018 to some fan builders, and in an occasional ‘parts festival’ series we are showing you the techniques and models they came up with.
For some four years I've been plugging away on a certain history-themed project, a key feature being the size of each build which I've restricted to a 16x16-module base. There's a large number of builds in the series and ideas have sometimes been hard to come by. So when the guys at New Elementary asked if I would like to play around with some new parts it spurred me on to build some new ideas and in the end the final model included each of the parts they gave me.
The final model comprises includes various separate builds and there are three I want to focus on: a base, some flowers and a stained glass window.
The base is a good place to start and was an interesting challenge. The triangular tile (Design ID 35787) was an instant source of inspiration, albeit not overly technical but did open up the possibilities of creating numerous patterns. I suppose the one I've used is an obvious one; making squares at 45° angles.
As it happens I had some spares left over and was able to make a second base. With patterns the world is your oyster and some great effects can be achieved. Being a medieval history enthusiast I can see this part coming in really useful.
The next feature was some flowers, inspired again by the new leaf part provided to me in Medium Lavender (Element ID 6210460 | Design ID 32607) – an interesting colour and I actually found it worked really well.
One of my aims in building, where it complements a model, is to take things off the LEGO grid. With the other parts given – the Black neck bracket with four bars (Element ID 6215458 | Design ID 36452) – I was able to achieve this by adding on some bars and clips.
The last feature was the stained glass window. The part that led to this detail was the kite-shaped tile with a pin, in Transparent Red (6213349|36710) and Transparent Green (6213354|36713). Looking at it, it initially seems like a nice window can be made, however, it proved a challenge as the distance between the connection points wasn't easily connectable. My first attempt was to use transparent headlight bricks however these didn't quite line up and in the end, the new rounded 1x2 plate (6210270|35480) provided a solution.
As for other parts used in the model, I made some columns.
The columns use Silver Metallic Nexo Knights spiders (6208782|35039) stacked together. I love the texture this gives and with a good number of them, it works well.
The capital of the column made use of some other nice new parts including the 5-petal flower in White (6206149|24866), which I can see will be really useful for architectural detailing.
At this stage of the build, the floor felt a tad bare and I was left with an interesting array of parts including the mini shooter in Transparent Yellow (6200064|27393). I thought the scene could be finished off with some kind of gravestone.
All that was left was to add the new Glow in the Dark spider, finishing off the scene of the undisturbed tomb...
READ MORE: See what Tim Goddard built with these parts
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Speaking of Nexo Knights parts, I've got a question: have there been any reports of bootleg Lego sets that look so exactly like the real ones that they even have the Lego logo on the studs? I just bought 3 used Nexo Knights sets from Vintage Stock (72001, 72002, and 72003, specifically) and while everything looks normal, when I reassembled the partially dismantled sets, I noticed a disturbing lack of clutch power between several parts.
ReplyDeleteNow, I know they're used sets, but I've built with used Lego before, and used Lego still retains most, if not all of it's clutch power for years. The sets I just bought are barely a year old, barely been played with, and yet gravity and the gentlest of handling is all it takes for parts to fall off.
Did I buy a new kind of bootleg, or did Lego just have some quality control issues with these sets?
I'd agree they should have retained their clutch but given you don't know what they've been through I suppose it's possible they've lost a lot, and normally I'd say contact customer services but again probably not much point for second hand parts. The parts that are lacking clutch, are they 'universal' parts or new-ish parts? It can be that if parts are being struck from a very old mould they don't have such good clutch but it's rare.
DeleteWell, If they had more scuffs, scratches and dents then I could bet that these Lego sets had been put through a lot, but they don't look like they were played with at all. They look like someone just assembled them once and then partially disassembled them to fit back in the boxes after they got bored of looking at them. They look almost new, but their clutch power tells another story.
DeleteSome of the parts I'm having trouble with are universal, but a good deal of the newish parts aren't staying together all that well either. Worse, identical parts have varying degrees of clutch power, sometimes even on the same part. I tested them using a few pieces from my previous collection, and everything stuck together just fine. But, with the parts from the actual sets, few pieces feel like they're nice and tight, and in some cases, I can even see the pieces move freely after I attach them, as if gravity is all that's keeping them connected.
I wondered if it could be mould issues, what with how everything's got the Lego, not Lipin, logo, but none of this is making any sense. I know Lego isn't perfect, but the parts in these sets go together like something out of the dollar store. I just don't get it! Everything feels so cheap!
As much as I hope these aren't counterfeit Lego, I'm ticked off that I can't return these, according to my receipt. These just don't feel like genuine Lego, and I'd rather return these with a note of defectiveness or something.
What do you think? Should I try to return these to Vintage Stock and give them an explanation why, or just fiddle with the parts and see if I could still make do with what I have? I got these sets because of the parts (Thanks for highlighting them in this and previous articles, by the way. Love this blog) but if they can't fit together like they should, then what good are they?
If the pieces are defective and LEGO is still producing them you should be able to get replacements. I had a couple of new parts that cracked and when I called I was told that even if they were second hand parts that I could have them replaced at no charge. I also had a few plates that my 5 year old broke the ends off that were second hand and LEGO replaced them as well.
DeleteMy advice would be to call LEGO and see if they will replace the parts.
Really? Huh. Okay, thanks, I'll give that a try. I'll just have to figure out how many and which of the parts are defective, and separate those from the good parts then. The sets are only a year old, so I wouldn't be surprised if I can replace most if not all of the bad parts. When you called Lego, did they ask for the parts' names, numbers, or what? I've never done this before, so I want to be sure I'm doing this right.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteYou would just need the part number found in the back of the book. Some parts they might charge for but I am not sure. I currently work for LBR
DeleteGot to be honest though, there are so many bad parts in these 3 sets that it'd be less of a hassle to disassemble and go through them all to find out which specific parts I need to replace, and instead just replace the complete sets! Would they be able to do that?
ReplyDeleteLBR? That's Lego Brand Retail, right? I just Googled it, but I just want to be sure.