Chrome gold/silver are going away, why?

[copyright]

Back in the days of awesomeness, chrome gold and chrome silver parts were common, but now Gold and Silver are found in a myriad of variations. Take gold, for instance.

Chrome Gold
Flat Dark Gold
Pearl Gold
Pearl Light Gold
Metallic Gold

My question: why? Is it that chroming parts is expensive or requires a third party producer, or is it just for the sake of variety?

[speaknspell]

you know thats the only real negative about dumping the old forum. I'm going to have to have to answer all of these questions again.

yes, Chrome is extremely expensive t produce because it goes through multiple processes (similar to printing, but moreso due to there being an actual bonding process). a single chrome element can cost 10-20 times more than its non-chromed version. this means less parts in the sets overall which makes the value suffer.

one reason that chrome was crazy available in the "days of awesomeness" is that no one was really regulating what was going on with the production process like we are now, and while that alone isn't what hurt us so badly, it certainly didn't help.

we're better now btw.

Steve

[Big C]

You sure LOOK better. Grrrraow.

[ThePlasticJedi]

you know thats the only real negative about dumping the old forum. I'm going to have to have to answer all of these questions again.

I'm going to go slightly astray of the topic at hand, since it seems to have been resolved, and offer up the suggestion of perhaps linking to the old Ask LEGO forum in a stickied thread in here. And along with that, if not already available, enable public usage of the search function on the old forums. Just so that people can maybe find what they need without harassing Steve. Just a thought.

TPJ

[Solo]

Oh honestly... no one used the search feature as it were, you think adding extra steps is going to increase that practice?

Steve, what would you think about setting up a FAQ post/quasi interview type thing to cover all the dead horses?

[Joedward]

Like why there's so many inconsistencies in the colours nowadays. The new, green Creator car I got recently has 3 slightly different shades of white...what gives?
- Possible first question

[Chief]

Like why there's so many inconsistencies in the colours nowadays. The new, green Creator car I got recently has 3 slightly different shades of white...what gives?
- Possible first question

I'd like to see a pic of this. I haven't seen any color inconsistencies in any of my sets lately..

[ThePlasticJedi]

Fair enough Don, if only the dang search function was more handy.

[MrCRskater]

Like why there's so many inconsistencies in the colours nowadays. The new, green Creator car I got recently has 3 slightly different shades of white...what gives?

I thought, too, that LEGO had this under control now. But I wound up with a few less-than-bley plates in my new Republic Attack Shuttle. Is there still a degree of "ironing out" going on with the production processes?

[Prince Kahuka]

It may just be that the parts made during the period of inconsistency haven't been used up yet and are still making their way into sets. Depending on how much a part is used and how many inconsistent parts were made, it could be a while before they are all put into sets. I think the original grays were still showing up occasionally for years after the switch to bley.

[speaknspell]

It may just be that the parts made during the period of inconsistency haven't been used up yet and are still making their way into sets. Depending on how much a part is used and how many inconsistent parts were made, it could be a while before they are all put into sets. I think the original grays were still showing up occasionally for years after the switch to bley.

that's actually a very astute observation. When I first broached the color problem with the quality department their answer was that there was an issue with the transition from colored pellets to color injection at the mould. they'd only put half as much color into the mix which lead to the transparancy problems and a lot of the other issues. They've fixed the issue, but it was going to take something like 2 years to work through the stock that was already produced and just throwing it out wasn't an option because there wouldn't be enough time to produce replacements for these parts.

Steve

[natelite]

yes, Chrome is extremely expensive t produce because it goes through multiple processes (similar to printing, but moreso due to there being an actual bonding process). a single chrome element can cost 10-20 times more than its non-chromed version. this means less parts in the sets overall which makes the value suffer.

one reason that chrome was crazy available in the "days of awesomeness" is that no one was really regulating what was going on with the production process like we are now, and while that alone isn't what hurt us so badly, it certainly didn't help.

we're better now btw.

Steve

if it costs 10-20 times more to chrome a part and to have it flake so easily when played with as a child's toy, i much rather have the money spent on creating more permanent color dyes.

chrome is the first to go when you bulk wash second hand lego. i always gotta sort out those coins and other chromed parts to avoid them losing the chrome paint after washing.

i agree chrome is awesome especially for afols who handle lego pieces more carefully than they would handle eggs. but in a kid's hands, the paint flakes too quickly under normal play condition.

i don't understand why the latest dooku saber is chromed if it's so expensive. it doesn't fit in with the rest of my mostly metallic silver saber hilts. :P

[Solo]

As explained elsewhere, the sabers need to be re-engineered to switch from chrome to non chrome. It's not so simple as "just don't put the chrome on" because the design accounts for that added thickness. The molds would have to be redone, and it's simply not worth it for the specialty saber. In that one case, it was cheaper to chrome this batch than it would be to start from scratch again. But the basic sabers get used so much and were already available in non-chrome so dropping the chromed versions was a good cost saving move.