Quality of Pieces

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Hi there, I’m kind of new here, in a sense that I never really showed up in any discussion topic (yeah, Im shy, and I almost never speak, only if I feel it would be for a necessary or relevant reason).

Anyway, enough with the introductions.

In short, I could not find another similar topic, so I ask the question, do you value the QUALITY of the pieces you use in your creations?
(I really do)

What do I mean with QUALITY? Well, by that I mean:

the capability of a piece to not break and/or get scratched/slightly worn out after a certain amount of usages in building and disassembly processes (ex. old technic handpieces vs ccbs hand pieces, the last ones are tougher, require a WAY higher amount of usage times to get consumed, have better structural design and plastic material overall compared to the old technic ones etc.).

The sturdiness of a piece is a really important quality not to be underrated, as it not only defines and makes better, sturdier figures, but also ensures that the things that you create have a much longer lifetime not only in terms of structure due to possible damages or lots of usages, but also a long-lasting functionality and beautiful, smooth aesthetic.

Here are some examples made by comparison of pieces of similar use:

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avohkii.jpg700×700 88.4 KB

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I think you got where I am going with this. Given these facts, I wanted to create a post for people to ask questions and discuss about the quality of the plastic of specific pieces.

I think it would be a really helpful thing for MOCists and people who just want to buy a new piece made of quality material.

I would like to ask to the ones that have the pieces showed below if they are as tough as the 2016 Unity piece, or somewhere near that quality, since I would like to purchese them. An example of a piece(better if it is a common one) with equal material quality would be also really helpful.

The pieces I would like to ask about are these:

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If somebody could help me, it would really do me a big favor.

(Also has anybody noticed that EVERY blade piece is made of a really soft plastic? I coud not find a single one in a sturdy material… I guess it’s intentional to avoid young kids getting hurt when playing… If somebody knows of a really hard blade piece, it would be super awesome! :smiley_cat:)

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Pic 1: the skrall shield is EXTREMELY sturdy. Given the benchmark provided, about the same.

Pic 2: I don’t own that particular one, but I have the one in red, and it’s about the same as the weapons pieces.

Pic 3: same as the above, but kinda has to be flexible.

As for blade pieces, most of the 2001-2003 weapons are fairly hard, as are the 2016 weapons. In between, I can’t say, but I know the weapons from 2006 for the Toa are fairly sturdy, but that’s because they have a battery box in them. The large blade pieces that first appeared on Brutaka in 2006 are also hard. If the only weapons you have a frame of reference to, are the 2017 uniters, and the Toa Hordika, those are the outliers in this situation.

I should also not, the the piece in the third picture, the Rhotuka spinner, can only be attached to a Rhotuka launcher.

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Thank you so much!!! The skrall sheild was the most important thing for me to get, so I’m really glad to hear your clarification.:smiley_cat::v:

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Trust me, that thing won’t break. It also comes in green instead of red if you want that, but it’s a bit more rare. I’m happy to answer any more questions, I have a lot of pieces, or at least their contemporaries from the clone set days, (2001-2006)

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That’s just a movie thing? It was only ever released in the 09 Skrall set?

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Your right. I thought Tuma came with one. my bad. He’s depicted in every media as having one, so it’s a bit confusing.

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What the…I also could have sworn on my life that there was a green Skrall shield…

Some weird kinda Mandela effect thing going on here…

Anyways, some interesting things in regards to hand pieces and choosing which kind to use in MOCs:

The old design of the hand connector allows you to (sort of) put a 2 long System piece into the grooves on the sides. That friction connection specifically is what allows for the Gringat hand design.

Another thing to consider, aside from just their resistance to breakage, is their strength. I have found that the old hand connectors are more often than not less strong than the newer designs (be this from use since they’re older or because because of the older design). This makes them okay for things like hands where you need a lot of mobility, but not strength, but bad for use in places like waists where you really need the friction to maintain a pose.

On the aesthetic side of things, the newer hand connectors are great for solid blocks of color. With the old hand connector you need to be aware of the colors of whatever pieces you put into the axle holes since it will show through the grooves. There’s also the smooth vs greebly aesthetic going for both of them that can make one or the other a better option, regardless of quality.

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The “softer plastic” you describe is something that I find extremely interesting.

  • The Avohki was one of the first masks to use a soft plastic. 2004 Metru masks and some of the 2007 Mahri masks used the softer plastic. The 2008 masks had some soft, some hard iirc (the Phantoka were mostly hard, the Mistika were mostly soft)
  • Most of the G1 weapons used this softer, more matte plastic.
    *Most of the armour pieces throughout G1 are also made of this same softer plastic.
  • The spinners do indeed use the softer plastic. In contrast, the 2008 Ghostblaster ammo, the 2009 Thornax fruit and the 2007 squids all used a softer rubber (which is a third plastic type/quality).
    *In contrast, G2 uses the standard LEGO ABS or poly-carbonate (used for trans parts iirc) for everything
  • Because of this, a handful of G2 masks make that super satisfying crinkling sound, just like the early G1 hard plastic masks did

I’ll be looking into it more in the future.

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So far so good, but were what?

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Whoops, that was an incomplete thought that never went anywhere (I’ve since edited the post to delete it). I was going to suggest that the softer plastic was used for single-year specific parts like masks, but that doesn’t make sense since they always used it for armour. Oh well. Theory busted :stuck_out_tongue:

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Fair enough.