Originally published at: Lego made some pieces that can't be pulled apart | Boing Boing
…
3 Likes
Maybe they’ll issue a tool for that soon. Is the wedge end of their existing tool too blunt to do the same work?
9 Likes
When we were young, my brother used to steal all the cool Lego pieces from my kits to make spaceships that, under the threat of perpetual wedgies, could NEVER be touched, looked at, breathed on or, God forbid…disassembled.
7 Likes
Meh - a couple parts that are needed for mechanical function? I’ll allow it.
Besides, who the hell is going to be dismantling their $800 AT-AT??
10 Likes
I wasn’t sure if the end of the tool would fit- so I dug the pieces out.
1: Amazing call on your part. The blade end of that tool fits perfectly in that slot.
2: I didn’t realise the genius of that particular slot and the tool prior to now. The slotted cylinder I had actually had a piece stuck in it. That piece was a spring-fit 1 high tube. the tool blade fit perfectly in that slot and let me push it out, as easy as could be. Really cool!
3: The problem with the axle stuck in this cylinder- there’s nothing for the blade to grab on to in order to enact that pushing motion. on those little 1 length axles, there’s a fingernail slot carved into the ends.
if this blind axle had that same ridge machined in where the cylinder was, it’d be a perfect mechanical fit. As it is, you’d have to notch it yourself before you inserted it- or use a knife afterwards to try and get enough bite to move the axle.
16 Likes
16 Likes
Agreed. Most folks should not be buying this kit as a “donor” (in AFOL lingo). Also, all pieces seem to be conventional Technics parts, and not intentionally made to be one-way build.
There must be more “irreversible” build in Lego universe where there will be captive parts. I wonder how much of build can be this way.
4 Likes
8 Likes
MacGyver would just use his chewing gum to tug that pin out.
5 Likes
I always thought the kits with one-use parts violated the spirit of Lego. Like, the point was to use one’s skill to build as best a model as possible using the regular mix-n-match parts. Feels like cheating to have special one-use parts that shortcut straight to looking exactly correct. Where’s the imagination and improvisation.
5 Likes
The headline could use an edit.
It’s not that these pieces are designed specifically for this part.
The pieces aren’t designed to be not taken apart.
I don’t even think this kit put the pieces together in such a way as to make them permanently stuck- but the tolerances invoked here accidentally got the collection together.
The biggest issue is the single-piece rectangular frame. That’s used in several sets. It’s partially to provide non-standard angles, but also offers a lot of rigidity for a part under torque.
Then inserting a few captive pieces in such a way that they stay captive it’s actually kind of unique. There’s other pieces that could have been used (a longer axle instead of that flat head pin) but the whole unit rotates, so a longer piece wouldn’t have fit. It’s interesting, for sure.
8 Likes
Brilliant!
3 Likes
Having played with my son’s Technic stuff (all models with in the last 4 years) it’s not the same as it was 30 years ago. Now there are all kinds of angled pieces, tiny bars, and links with multiple sets of holes. I would have loved some of these as a kid, but now I kind of feel like it’s almost cheating.
Sometimes Lego does things just because. I have the Lego Beetle and that thing was an epic pain to assemble. Not because it was complicated, but because it was all little pieces. You can kind of see it in the picture below, the door is just layers of light blue bricks. It doesn’t nothing for the design or esthetic, just a way to say it has MOAR bricks.
3 Likes
Me. I have built, enjoyed, dismantled meticulously, and then sold for profit 3 star wars Lego sets now. UCS star destroyer, Millennium Falcon, and the death star. I plan to do the same here after it’s retired. Hopefully I can do so without destroying that piece.
3 Likes
Sometimes “things” happen, things like a cat, or a house move induced accident. Things that partly disassemble lego models. Sometimes you can reassemble them from that state without tooooo much trouble. Sometimes it so so hard to access things and get places and such that it is simpler to just “take it all apart and start from page one of the book”.
That said, if a few pieces of a big AT-AT model don’t come apart when I am planning on “just putting it together again”? That won’t really be an issue. I mean it might temporarily be an issue because I have this giant pile of lego and I’m not 100% sure I have it all, and I really just want to get it back together. Like after I realize that I have heat, a roof over my head, food, and those are really the only things I should be upset about, having a giant pile of lego is just a chance to enjoy putting it together again.
2 Likes
If I would build this model I would drill small holes using a lathe at the end of the blunt ended axles. I would then tap the holes (into M2 perhaps?) so I could extract the axles using a screw. The axles would still function like regular Lego parts.
2 Likes
If you’re going to sell it for profit, it looks like the only pieces at risk of damage are that studless pin, and perhaps the notched barrel. There’s nothing proprietary to those in the AT-AT.
I can find the "Tube w/ Double 4.85 hole " are for sale new from lego’s pick a brick at $0.06 apiece, the 4L Axle with stop you might have to go to the secondary market; they’re about $0.25 each.
https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?id=90241#T=C
3 Likes
