I purchased a Sopwith from amazon on 2/21/14 and the box was beat up but I was going to build it so opened it up and all of the dark green studded elements had white dots on them. They sent me a replacement and I built it this weekend but it had the same issue I tried to cover the white dots the best I could.

So today in the daily deals thread I see that amazon has pulled the Sopwith as "item under review". I contacted amazon and they offered a full refund as they do not have any replacements. Now to the good part, I purchased a Sopwith Saturday at the Lego store at the Christiana mall they had a lot in stock after not having any for a few months to get the MM poly promo. I was going to keep this one sealed. I called lego and they had me check the production code on the seals. It is 05 R4 the same as the code on the amazon box.

The lego rep asked me to open the sealed set from the lego shop with promise of a refund or replacement and the same issue. She is going to call me back tomorrow with more info.

So looks like they had a bad production run. Has anyone else seen this before? If you bought a Sopwith lately check your code.

Thanks, I'll be checking mine...

Wow. This is the first time I have heard recalling Lego sets. There is probably something wrong with the mold that is making those pieces.

A slight mark like this isn't that uncommon, although this seems to be a bit worse than usual - I personally have never considered this mark to be a defect. 

I've purchased about 8 in the past few weeks. I guess I should go check them.

I purchased a Sopwith from amazon on 2/21/14 and the box was beat up but I was going to build it so opened it up and all of the dark green studded elements had white dots on them. They sent me a replacement and I built it this weekend but it had the same issue I tried to cover the white dots the best I could.

So today in the daily deals thread I see that amazon has pulled the Sopwith as "item under review". I contacted amazon and they offered a full refund as they do not have any replacements. Now to the good part, I purchased a Sopwith Saturday at the Lego store at the Christiana mall they had a lot in stock after not having any for a few months to get the MM poly promo. I was going to keep this one sealed. I called lego and they had me check the production code on the seals. It is 05 R4 the same as the code on the amazon box.

The lego rep asked me to open the sealed set from the lego shop with promise of a refund or replacement and the same issue. She is going to call me back tomorrow with more info.

So looks like they had a bad production run. Has anyone else seen this before? If you bought a Sopwith lately check your code.

image.jpg

I'm not sure I get it? What was wrong with the production run?  I have four from this run...

A slight mark like this isn't that uncommon, although this seems to be a bit worse than usual - I personally have never considered this mark to be a defect. 

If the mark is uncommon, then there would be one of these marks in every 100 or 1000 sets, but there are several in one set. I am leaning toward defect.

I'm not sure I get it? What was wrong with the production run? I have four from this run...

I tried to take a better pic it is a camera phone. It is on the brown elements as well but most noticeable on the dark green because of the contrast.

I have 3 sets all with the same thing and I guess it was bad enough for amazon to pull it do to returns.

If the mark is uncommon, then there would be one of these marks in every 100 or 1000 sets, but there are several in one set. I am leaning toward defect.

 

Here is a random stock photo I just grabbed from online. If you look closely, you will see some here & there.

 

No biggie really IMO.  

No biggie really IMO.  

I honestly thought that this was part of most lego pieces?  I'm not worried about it.

Well if you sell one after EOL and the buyer goes to build it. The dark green should look like this

I agree that these marks shouldn't be there, but I have seen them many times and it never bothered me personally. But that's just my opinion.

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On every lego plate you get a small odd bit on one stud, I think this is the mould pip, eg, where they squirt in the plastic.

Is the mark on more than one stud per plate?

On every lego plate you get a small odd bit on one stud, I think this is the mould pip, eg, where they squirt in the plastic.

Is the mark on more than one stud per plate?

That's exactly what it is, the injection point of the mold.  You can see it on about every piece if you look close, these just happen to be more evident because the dot is larger and the color enhances it.  Not a big deal, I'm surprised that Lego is actually doing something about this.  Must have gotten enough calls about it that they took notice.

That's what I thought, it does stand out more on some coloUrs.

That's exactly what it is, the injection point of the mold.  You can see it on about every piece if you look close, these just happen to be more evident because the dot is larger and the color enhances it.  Not a big deal, I'm surprised that Lego is actually doing something about this.  Must have gotten enough calls about it that they took notice.

Yes one dot on every piece. I built one anyway wasn't until I read amazon pulled it do to returns I called Lego not sure if they are going to do anything on a larger scale the customer service rep said she would send me a replacement or a refund.

Perhaps a mod can change the thread title.

No biggie really IMO.  

 

Yeah Im not too worried,

I don't think it affects the display quality unless you're a total perfection freak with LEGO.  Really hard to see.

If you are referring to the injection point for the piece from the mold, it is very common as in just about every other part has one of them somewhere. Some can be a bit more pronounced than others but any plastic goes that way at specific stress points when the excess is cut off. I agree it is definitely more noticable on colors other than the typical grays.

I really doubt it is and injection point, mainly for two reasons, these run on hot runners and the most probably is a submarine gate on a side for

faster and more efficient mold filling and second , they would not put an injection point over a machined or in this case electro erosioned lego logo......

Bit of an over reaction but to each their own.

I thought you were talking about the color of the pieces overall, trying to say half of the piece's color was faded. After 6 replies I see you are talking about the "injection mold"? dots. Like everyone else has said, most Lego pieces have these....I've been buying Legos for 20 years and every set has these. I hope Amazon and Lego didn't recall them over your complaint, because it seems like OCD to me. I hope your instruction booklet was folded at exactly the halfway line. (okay, I'm being a jerk. )

It is 05 R4 the same as the code on the amazon box.

Thanks for the feedback. My number is 35S3 but I won't open it to check the plots...

I understand it can be annoying for resell because when it's EOL the buyer (who bought it a high price for example) could ask for a perfect item. It shows that you respect your customers and I think it's cool.

But that color issue is (to be honest) not a real big problem IMHO. Maybe it's because of some new molds.

It has been standard practice for them to replace or refund sets with this problem if the customer feels it is extremely noticeable in their set. I have had up to 3 replacements sent one after another with this problem. Non was better than the other. It happens more with certain colors. Prior to 2004 all the pellets used to make Lego were pre-colored, so it was never seen before then. Now the pellets are clear and the color added as the pieces are being molded. The result is a whitish clear spot at the injection point. When asked about this at the 2013 Bricks By The Bay, Kevin Hinckle (Senior community coordinator for the Americas) acknowledge Lego was aware of the problem but were not going to go back to the previous method nor was there any solution in the works currently. It is something we will have to live with for now.

My Tower Bridge has these on all the blue plates. I'd noticed it, but wasn't particularly concerned. I'd be interested in people's ideas about what they'd do 10 years after EOL if they made a sale then, and the customer complained

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