Random part of the day: Design Element 4X4X2, W/ Magnet, No. 1
Posted by Huwbot,
Today's random part is 65209, 'Design Element 4X4X2, W/ Magnet, No. 1', which is a System part, category Functional Elements.
Our members collectively own a total of 2,696 of them. If you'd like to buy some you should find them for sale at BrickLink.
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I already made an M-Tron joke when the piece that this one goes with was the RPotD, so I got nothing.
People are really attracted to this part. I have no idea why... maybe it has a magnetic personality?
I was wondering what this was then I saw magnet. Without the magnet it could have made a nice engine cowling for a propeller plane. I'm really surprised this piece hasn't been used in some sort of construction or cargo related set. Unfortunately all Lego thinks about is police, but this would be great in a harbour set or train set for lifting containers and so forth.
@Brickchap: Hey, Lego thinks about other things than police! Sometimes they think about fire, too!
@TheOtherMike:
It’s yellow, so clearly it’s been repurposed for use by Blacktron.
Also, Star Wars, Ninjago, and a bunch of other non-City themes…
Was this piece any good magnet-wise? I'm surprised it hasn't been reused since 2020 'cause it looks cool but if it had a bad rap that might explain it.
I think this piece was the main reason the sets it came in were so expensive. R&D is a cruel mistress.
@PurpleDave: Blacktron's trying to beat M-Tron at their own game, huh?
on the plus side, it would take a pretty conscious effort to swallow one of these.
@NotProfessorWhymzi said:
"on the plus side, it would take a pretty conscious effort to swallow one of these."
That sounds like a wager to me!
I remember the cartoon for 60243 where the magnet had the star role of lifting the jeep with the police helicopter (worth watching if not seen). Does anyone have any experience of how that worked out in practice?
@NotProfessorWhymzi:
Nobody cares if you swallow one magnet, unless you choke on it, or it contains lead. It’s when you swallow two or more that things get messy. If two magnets of strong enough attraction are passing each other in different sections of your intestines, they can attract through the intestinal walls, pinching the flesh between them. In the short term, this can cause intestinal blockage that backs you up like a diet of bread and water. In the long term, this can lead to necrosis where the magnets are cutting off blood supply, and then you need surgical removal of any dead flesh before the infection spreads somewhere critical. If that doesn’t happen, dying cells release chemicals that signal nearby cells to die as well, and if those chemicals start spreading through your circulatory system, you’re pretty much screwed.
Far worse than anything TLG has produced, Bucky Balls are sold in cubes of tiny, very powerful, easy-to-swallow, brightly-colored magnets. They look sorta like non-pareils, so the company that produces them was pretty much going to be sued into the ground and forced to remove them from the market (like Jarts), until they started marketing them as an adult-only trinket, instead of a toy that was fun for all ages.