Answers.Body: <p>One aspect could be to make the models more interesting to build.</p>
  
  <p>As far as I can see, Lego is at it's core a kid's product.<sup>No offense. I love it too and last time I check I didn't qualify as a kid.</sup></p>
  
  <p>And a varied set of bricks seems to me more appealing to "the kid" than a uniform engineering-streamlined set of bricks.</p>
  
  <p>Then, I don't know the design process for Lego models, but maybe the designers just pick and choose what they feel like. (Essentially following what I described above.) </p>
  
  <p>Disclaimer: Of course, pure speculation on my part.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2013-02-18T15:20:33.363Z
Answers.Text: The designers are certainly the key actors in picking the parts required for the set they are designing, but they aren't free from constraints, far from it. As such, the example of the 1x2x2 bricks in 7436 is really weird since the designer had to face the extra cost of including an additional part instead of just using some more regular 1x2
Answers.UserDisplayName: Joubarc
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2013-02-16T09:02:48.633Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2013-02-16T09:02:48.633Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Martin Ba
Answers.Body: <p>Some of the reasons (including some you've mentioned):</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>To make building easier / sturdier, so that the set is more suitable for its intended age range</li>
  <li>The larger pieces are sometimes cheaper than the component pieces would be</li>
  <li>The component parts may not be part of the current inventory of parts available to designers</li>
  <li>To make the build interesting</li>
  <li>To provide an interesting variety of parts</li>
  </ul>
  
  <p>In the case of the set you mention (and this is pure speculation) it is possible that 1x1x5 bricks are more expensive to make or that they were unavailable in the right colour at the time the set was designed. At the same time, the designers might have felt that the 1x2x2 bricks reduced the part count to the extent that the set was viable for the intended market.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2013-02-16T14:07:11.843Z
Answers.Text: It looks like your hunch about the 1x1x5 bricks may be correct. I checked bricklink, and these don't seem to exist in medium blue.
Answers.UserDisplayName: jncraton
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2013-02-18T15:22:19.837Z
Answers.Text: A non-existing part is certainly a good reason for the 1x1x5, but the 1x2x2 makes no sense whatsoever to me.
Answers.UserDisplayName: Joubarc
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2013-02-16T08:54:23.597Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2013-02-16T11:30:45.177Z
Answers.LastEditDate: 2013-02-16T11:30:45.177Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Kramii
Body: <p>One of the things that makes Lego so great is the ability to rebuild sets into something new and different. However, I know that sometimes TLG uses large pieces to lower costs and/or build complexity. Some examples:</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li><a href="http://www.peeron.com/inv/parts/54092cx1" rel="noreferrer">54092cx1</a> - Plane nose</li>
  <li><a href="http://www.peeron.com/inv/parts/30295" rel="noreferrer">30295</a> - Large car base</li>
  <li><a href="http://www.peeron.com/inv/parts/6082" rel="noreferrer">6082</a> - BURP</li>
  </ul>
  
  <p>It seems to me that some part choices are quite strange. For example, <a href="http://brickset.com/detail/?set=7346-1" rel="noreferrer">7346 - Seaside House</a> contains 2 1x2x2 bricks and 28 regular 1x2 bricks in medium blue. It doesn't seem like the double height bricks provide a much simpler or sturdier build, and the part is less reusable. I would have rather seen 1x2 bricks used throughout, especially since this is a Creator set, which focuses on being rebuildable.</p>
  
  <p>I also found it strange that they chose to use 1x2x2 bricks in two places, but kept 1x1 bricks stacked 5+ high in others. It seems that if the goal is to create a sturdier model, replacing these stacks with 1x1x5 bricks would have been a good place to start.</p>
  
  <p>So, I guess my question is: what goes into the decision of which specific parts to use in a production Lego model?</p>
  
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2013-02-17T10:31:59.957Z
Comments.Text: Your example of 7346 seems very bizarre indeed since it would also mean one less part in the set, reducing the production cost.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Joubarc
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2013-02-20T16:01:40.780Z
Comments.Text: @Joubarc Maybe the 1x2x2 happened to be available to the designer in the right color, and the designer decided to include a couple for the sake of "getting the piece out there"? It's not really important to this set but I could see it being useful, and it's a fairly rare piece...
Comments.UserDisplayName: KRyan
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2015-10-18T05:58:37.647Z
Comments.Text: That plane nose would be ideal for some custom bullet train models as well.
Comments.UserDisplayName: diynevala
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2016-12-21T19:22:34.200Z
Comments.Text: I suspect this question would be clearer if you concentrated on examples like the 7346 set; large pieces that do not have a different appearance than combinations of several smaller pieces. After all, at least the look of 54092cx1 is rather impossible to exactly replicate with the same curvature and "streamlinedness" when using smaller pieces, and while the outside of 6082 can be achieved with normal bricks, BURPs are often used as structural components whose interior space is used, as well.
Comments.UserDisplayName: O. R. Mapper
Tags: <sets>
Title: Why do official Lego sets sometimes use 1 large part when several would work just as well?
UserDisplayName: jncraton
ThreadText: # Why do official Lego sets sometimes use 1 large part when several would work just as well?
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2013-02-16)
  
  One of the things that makes Lego so great is the ability to rebuild sets into something new and different. However, I know that sometimes TLG uses large pieces to lower costs and/or build complexity. Some examples:
  
  * [54092cx1](http://www.peeron.com/inv/parts/54092cx1) - Plane nose
  * [30295](http://www.peeron.com/inv/parts/30295) - Large car base
  * [6082](http://www.peeron.com/inv/parts/6082) - BURP
  
  It seems to me that some part choices are quite strange. For example, [7346 - Seaside House](http://brickset.com/detail/?set=7346-1) contains 2 1x2x2 bricks and 28 regular 1x2 bricks in medium blue. It doesn't seem like the double height bricks provide a much simpler or sturdier build, and the part is less reusable. I would have rather seen 1x2 bricks used throughout, especially since this is a Creator set, which focuses on being rebuildable.
  
  I also found it strange that they chose to use 1x2x2 bricks in two places, but kept 1x1 bricks stacked 5+ high in others. It seems that if the goal is to create a sturdier model, replacing these stacks with 1x1x5 bricks would have been a good place to start.
  
  So, I guess my question is: what goes into the decision of which specific parts to use in a production Lego model?
  
  **Tags:** sets
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_1**: Your example of 7346 seems very bizarre indeed since it would also mean one less part in the set, reducing the production cost.  
  > **username_2**: @username_1 Maybe the 1x2x2 happened to be available to the designer in the right color, and the designer decided to include a couple for the sake of "getting the piece out there"? It's not really important to this set but I could see it being useful, and it's a fairly rare piece...  
  > **username_3**: That plane nose would be ideal for some custom bullet train models as well.  
  > **username_4**: I suspect this question would be clearer if you concentrated on examples like the 7346 set; large pieces that do not have a different appearance than combinations of several smaller pieces. After all, at least the look of 54092cx1 is rather impossible to exactly replicate with the same curvature and "streamlinedness" when using smaller pieces, and while the outside of 6082 can be achieved with normal bricks, BURPs are often used as structural components whose interior space is used, as well.  
  
  ---
  
  ## 2 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_6 on 2013-02-16. Score: 13 | Accepted answer
  
  Some of the reasons (including some you've mentioned):
  
  * To make building easier / sturdier, so that the set is more suitable for its intended age range
  * The larger pieces are sometimes cheaper than the component pieces would be
  * The component parts may not be part of the current inventory of parts available to designers
  * To make the build interesting
  * To provide an interesting variety of parts
  
  In the case of the set you mention (and this is pure speculation) it is possible that 1x1x5 bricks are more expensive to make or that they were unavailable in the right colour at the time the set was designed. At the same time, the designers might have felt that the 1x2x2 bricks reduced the part count to the extent that the set was viable for the intended market.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_0**: It looks like your hunch about the 1x1x5 bricks may be correct. I checked bricklink, and these don't seem to exist in medium blue.  
  > **username_1**: A non-existing part is certainly a good reason for the 1x1x5, but the 1x2x2 makes no sense whatsoever to me.  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_5 on 2013-02-16. Score: 6
  
  One aspect could be to make the models more interesting to build.
  
  As far as I can see, Lego is at it's core a kid's product.No offense. I love it too and last time I check I didn't qualify as a kid.
  
  And a varied set of bricks seems to me more appealing to "the kid" than a uniform engineering-streamlined set of bricks.
  
  Then, I don't know the design process for Lego models, but maybe the designers just pick and choose what they feel like. (Essentially following what I described above.)
  
  Disclaimer: Of course, pure speculation on my part.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_1**: The designers are certainly the key actors in picking the parts required for the set they are designing, but they aren't free from constraints, far from it. As such, the example of the 1x2x2 bricks in 7436 is really weird since the designer had to face the extra cost of including an additional part instead of just using some more regular 1x2  
  
  ---
  
  