Random part of the day: Fabuland Ship Wheel

In this orientation, it looks like one of those spinney things you see in restaurants where wait staff clip their orders for the kitchen staff to retrieve.

I like when they used this piece as a chandelier in the Hocus Pocus set.

@TheOtherMike said:
"I will never understand the old design for this piece. Why didn't it have the two cutouts that every other piece with a Technic connector pin had that allowed the pin to compress? Made getting the old wheel in or out a pain. Also, another piece I hadn't realized originated in Fabuland."

I have an old grey 1x2 technic brick with many bite marks on it because of this. And because of all those bite marks, I can say with absolute confidence that that specific 1x2 brick is still original on my Cross Bone Clipper.

@PurpleDave: All the Technic pins I've ever encountered have the cutouts I mentioned. I have some of the old friction pins without the cutouts in the middle, though. Those things would hold even in the face of Ar-mama-geddon.

@TheOtherMike:
Yeah, those are the ones I meant. Forgot to clarify fric vs non-fric.

I knew I was forgetting something!
Most recent set I got this piece in: 71797: Destiny's Bounty - Race Against Time

@MrNowack: Oh wow...I was just thinking "chandelier", surprised that it was done in a set...

Hmmm...turn-style gate maybe...:)

@TheOtherMike said:
" @PurpleDave: All the Technic pins I've ever encountered have the cutouts I mentioned. I have some of the old friction pins without the cutouts in the middle, though. Those things would hold even in the face of Ar-mama-geddon."

Just yesterday I removed a dozen of those from a 7823 that was first built over 30 years ago and never disassembled since. Without difficulty and using only finger and thumb. Very surprising! I thought they’d be as easy to take apart as an engine that’s been submerged in the Dead Sea for decades.

I’ve got no particular super strength or dexterity, so maybe later in the production run the material used was softened slightly? Or perhaps they’ve weakened a bit over time.

Just to clarify, they’re definitely the original 1980s design ( and yes I’ve plenty of chewed up ones from an 8851 Technic set that was taken apart when I was still a kid).

I would buy this at UCS scale.

Two of these (or at least, the older version) in the 10143 Death Star? That's definitely a surprising use. I had kinda assumed that set was almost entirely in shades of grey except for the superlaser trans-neon-green pieces (and the pins of course), so I could hardly imagine what they would have been used for in that set.

At least until I looked at the 3D render here on Brickset; I didn't realise these could be used as part of a technic frame like that. Clever!

@PurpleDave said:
" @TheOtherMike:
Have you ever run across one of the original Technic pins?"

Those were nice replacements for the often flimsy Pins in the 2003 Matoran's legs. The 2003 ones barely could support the figure's weight, while the pre 1992 ones Work perfectly :D

@Atuin said:
" @PurpleDave said:
" @TheOtherMike:
Have you ever run across one of the original Technic pins?"

Those were nice replacements for the often flimsy Pins in the 2003 Matoran's legs. The 2003 ones barely could support the figure's weight, while the pre 1992 ones Work perfectly :D"

The current batch might also offer enough friction to work. One trick that I've used in the past is to wrap the tip of the pin with a strip of the clear plastic part bags from a LEGO set before inserting it into the hole. Even a tiny increase in the diameter will significantly increase the amount of friction.

@PurpleDave said:
" @Atuin said:
" @PurpleDave said:
" @TheOtherMike:
Have you ever run across one of the original Technic pins?"

Those were nice replacements for the often flimsy Pins in the 2003 Matoran's legs. The 2003 ones barely could support the figure's weight, while the pre 1992 ones Work perfectly :D"

The current batch might also offer enough friction to work. One trick that I've used in the past is to wrap the tip of the pin with a strip of the clear plastic part bags from a LEGO set before inserting it into the hole. Even a tiny increase in the diameter will significantly increase the amount of friction."

That way I could also "have" a Tamaru :P