Random part of the day: Plate 1X2 Ball Ø5.9/Cup/Friction

Lego Dragon likes this

@Formendacil:
It certainly wouldn’t suck. The first real project I wanted to use Mixel joints for was Doomsday from Batman V Superman. The problem was, he needed to be almost entirely dark-bley, except the eyes and mouth, but there was that one Mixel socket joint that only came in light-bley. Except right around that time, some Marvel movie needed that joint in dark-bley. And I think light-bley sockets on a dark-bley model would stand out a lot more than the reverse.

A few years later, I made Starro the Conqueror, which relied even more heavily on Mixel joints (I think there are 40 total, with six forming the joints in each arm, and ten more as the pentagonal structure that forms the core). And again, I was able to eliminate any light-bley socket joints and keep the body entirely dark-purple and dark-bley. Well, except for two small brackets on each arm, which I had to use in light-bley until they came out in dark-purple.

I’d love to have all five in both shades, because each blends in better with some colors than with others, and having two options means you wouldn’t have half of the joints stand out really badly on, say, white or black models.

@PurpleDave said:
"So the Mixel joints were color-locked to dark-bley and light-bley because of the very critical tolerances for the sockets. There were five new ball and socket elements created specifically for Mixels. Two just have a socket, two just have a ball, and this one has both. The two socket parts are locked to light-bley (except one brief period when Disney made them produce one of the socket elements in dark-bley), and the two ball elements are locked to dark-bley. Why, then, is the one ball and socket locked to dark-bley like a ball element, rather than light-bley like a socket element? There are several other preexisting towball elements that the Mixel sockets are compatible with that get produced in several other colors (including light-bley), but the sockets were only intended for the bleys. So why both, and not just one?"

Why on earth did Disney make them produce one of the socket elements in dark-bley? That seems like such a random thing for them to request.

Edit: I just checked, and it turns out that part 14704 is still being produced in dark-bley and is appearing in recently released sets!

@Clutch_P:
Oh, wow. I had already started displaying Starro by February 2020, so 2017 was still the most recent appearance. 76051 was the specific set that caused the split. They needed it for Giant Man, and it seems to be common that licensing partners get approval rights on character depictions. Light-bley rubbed them the wrong way, so they got dark-bury, and a few other designers piggy-backed on the availability the following year.

As for the revival, I’m going to venture a guess that it’s the Minions who get credit for that. 75551 uses it in the giant Minion’s wrists, and using one of the two specific examples I noted, dark-bley blends into the black gloves better than light-bley. The sad thing is, I have four copies of that set (built one stock, and the alternate Bob with a second), and two copies of 76832 (built one), and I might have a sealed copy of 70612 somewhere, and I never noticed it was back. So that’s cool to know, and it means I have a few spares at hand.

And this means that the long socket is the only original Mixel joint that’s not available in dark-bley. The tricky thing is, since 75551 has returned to LEGO.com (so it’s been available in each of the last three years), it may still be the only reason all these other sets get to break the color lock, and next year things may return to the original format. It wouldn’t be a terrible idea to stock up just in case.

@PurpleDave said:
" @Clutch_P:
Oh, wow. I had already started displaying Starro by February 2020, so 2017 was still the most recent appearance. 76051 was the specific set that caused the split. They needed it for Giant Man, and it seems to be common that licensing partners get approval rights on character depictions. Light-bley rubbed them the wrong way, so they got dark-bury, and a few other designers piggy-backed on the availability the following year.

As for the revival, I’m going to venture a guess that it’s the Minions who get credit for that. 75551 uses it in the giant Minion’s wrists, and using one of the two specific examples I noted, dark-bley blends into the black gloves better than light-bley. The sad thing is, I have four copies of that set (built one stock, and the alternate Bob with a second), and two copies of 76832 (built one), and I might have a sealed copy of 70612 somewhere, and I never noticed it was back. So that’s cool to know, and it means I have a few spares at hand.

And this means that the long socket is the only original Mixel joint that’s not available in dark-bley. The tricky thing is, since 75551 has returned to LEGO.com (so it’s been available in each of the last three years), it may still be the only reason all these other sets get to break the color lock, and next year things may return to the original format. It wouldn’t be a terrible idea to stock up just in case."

Ahhh ok, interesting. I wasn't aware that licensing partners had approval rights on character depictions in Lego. I guess it just never came to mind, but it makes sense. I unfortunately don't currently have any sets with 14704 in dark-bley, so yeah, I'll definitely stock up on them as well.

I still wonder why they haven't at least molded them in black. I would think that the sockets would be strong enough, considering larger socket pieces do fine, such as the Hero Factory system or parts 92013 and 67696 which have been molded in multiple colors.

I have an entire pick-a-brick container full of these. I made them into one big long snake and then just put them back in the container, never thought of another use for them.

Just got my first instances of this piece in 40556 last month. I'd known they existed for a while, but this was my first time actually owning a set with them in.

I imagine they're pretty useful for making Bionicle-inspired creations? They seem like they'd allow for a similar aesthetic, but created on a smaller scale than official Bionicle sets... I'm sure it's been done before, but it still could be fun to experiment with sometime.

Such a useful part for many types of brick-built moving things.

This allows so many small mechs, animals and moving arms etc in many more directions compared to standard clips or click hinges.

This part variant is especially useful for chaining multiples in a small length and width as seen in many animal tails etc.

too much talking about mixel joints.
too little talking about mixels and when they are coming back :)

@Snail said:
"too much talking about mixel joints.
too little talking about mixels and when they are coming back :)"

Those monsters could use some mixel joints : 11017: Creative Monsters

I need some of these parts in red and white - so I am obviously against the colour block; but hey! costs are costs and what your customers want is not really important.

What would be very nice to see though (even with colour block) is part 26047 (plate round 1x1 with bar handle) but instead of a bar handle one would come with a ball (similar to 3614) and the other would come with a socket. The reason for this is: the round 1x1 allow the positioning of the part at different angles truly giving freedom on the connection. (might be difficult with the socket because its square shape would prevent that - if they ever consider doing it, I suppose they will figure out how to do it properly).