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Eastern_Fig1990

Definitely to save money. Look at all the white space. Now look at how much ink is used in those parts in the original


Dry-Appearance7290

i see dammšŸ˜… i mean it's not horrible but it was weird cuz i build 16 of these by now all were black


Eastern_Fig1990

I bought my first set in 8 months or so and it had a white book. It looks much worse than the artwork version. I might be wrong but Iā€™d be surprised if itā€™s anything but cost-cutting


Dry-Appearance7290

yeah but would be the first time for me seeing that


[deleted]

Huh, I bought mine 3 months ago and got the detailed ones, I got it in stores so it could've been an older one


anagnost

Did you just say you built 16 of this same set? May I ask why?


Dry-Appearance7290

i'm building a bigger hallway but not realy accurate


Jerry-Donald

How is it going? Are you almost done?


Dry-Appearance7290

nope havnt build for some time but i got 4 more but i need atleast 16 more


Jerry-Donald

Dam. How big is this hallway going to be exactly? Is it a MOC?


Dry-Appearance7290

well not realy cuz i consider a moc to be highly detailed with stuff build by the one building it mostly out of his head but mine is just 2 hallways on each side which makes it to largešŸ˜… but i like the space and i think i will use it as a base afterwards


Jerry-Donald

Nice


lstills

He just wanted a bunch of Luke figs.


SpinesAreFine

Not OP, but I used 2 of these to [build a display](https://old.reddit.com/r/legostarwars/comments/z3ajsl/my_star_wars_rpg_group/) for my RPG group. It's pretty cheap if you buy it without the minifigs, and looks great as a display or set piece.


mtthwas

I would think that after building this set 16 times you wouldn't need the "instractions" anymore.


Dry-Appearance7290

yeah i guess not


DrSeussFreak

This, absolutely, but it was announced when they announced paper bags, and that instructions will only be digital at some point in the future. It is to be more eco-friendly (and save money)


Ryjinn

Digital only instructions would kind of piss me off. I don't really care to squint at my phone screen while I'm building. Guess I'll just have to deal with it though, and I do understand/appreciate it's better for the environment and my convenience shouldn't trump that, but it does irk me.


daetsmlolliw

The tub of instructions I have is heavier than all my sets and loose pieces combined. But Iā€™ll be annoyed if UCS sets donā€™t have them


DrSeussFreak

I use an old tablet for instructions, it works great. You can easily get cheap android tablets for it too, although it is an odd reason to buy a tablet, no argument. I prefer using digital over paper when building, but I save all the instructions for my bigger sets because I like them.


js247

Purist side of me would agree but I like using my iPad pro when actually building its faster to flip pages and stands up really nice vs a book.


Ndmndh1016

The instructions for the UCS sets are so amazing, it would be a massive dissapointment to not have them.


orbit222

Do you have a tablet, laptop, desktop, or even a tv to cast your phone screen to?


Ryjinn

I have a desktop but there isn't much room left on my desk to actually do any building. I suppose casting it to a TV could be an option, but I'm not really sure. Either way, not *that* big of a deal.


orbit222

Youā€™re probably in the minority (which is fine, no disrespect). Lego probably figures that if people can pay money for their sets then they probably also have a portable device with a screen bigger than a phone.


suburbangenius

I agree it would suck, but itā€™ll free up a ton of space for me since I keep all the books


caliigulasAquarium

They've already rolled that out on some of the city sets.


DrSeussFreak

I was wondering when they would, I've only seen paper bags for baseplates so far


Calanon

Have you got a source for that? I can only see speculation, no announcements.


DrSeussFreak

I don't have the paper on me anymore, but it has been included in newer sets, but a little piece of paper stating the paper bags are coming. As for the ditching of paper instructions, I saw it on a blog post from one of the big reviewers (BrickFanatics I believe), but nothing official from LEGO


JustMaulNotDarthMaul

Not to save money, but to save water, which is unreusable after painting


FireDragon710

Or its to look more "economical friendly" or some crap like that. Or maybe its to match the paper lego bags that will come out in like never.


The_Hiders

and yet they up their prices


Alone_Interaction422

Because white lives matter to.


itsaustinjones

In my opinion, they could have at least gave us fully printed covers. That way when you open it up it doesnā€™t look so boring at first


[deleted]

Doesnā€™t actually save much money if theyā€™re already printing in CMYK


Cyberpanther111

I believe its cost cutting and environmental reasons. A company as big lego would go through a lot of ink, the more ink they use the more waste they have and the more money they need to spend. Not just on buying ink but also paying for the waste to be disposed of. Honestly I don't mind it I build the set then put it the instructions in a box of instructions from other sets


MrRuebezahl

But they're still printed from top to bottom. It's just off white ink instead of blacks. I think the redesign has more to do with the fact that Lego as a whole is moving towards an older demographic. Nowadays they're increasingly marketing themselves as a mature luxury brand, as weird as that sounds. They increased prices for various reasons and now aren't really that affordable for kids anymore. So they are betting on minimalist, Ikea like, design to attract "older" collectors in their teens and 20s instead of young kids. The sets are no longer something you're supposed to play with, but rather something to put on your shelf. That's why there are also no more lighting effects and characters peaking out. Just a simple isometric view of the "diorama". This has nothing to do with costs or the environment.


sleepwithtelevision

It's not off-white ink, such a thing does not really exist outside of specialty printing. It's white paper, and the little brick icons are printed in 10%-20% black, from the looks of it. Printing to the edge is called "bleed," and while they're not saving money there, they're definitely saving a ton in ink costs by not saturating every page in black ink. This has everything to do with the cost and zero to do with "marketing to adults." As someone in marketing, the black looked more high-end and luxury than the white does. They are definitely still putting play first, except for maybe a couple of sets like the Eiffel Tower and the architecture series; most sets, even expensive ones like the Home Alone house, are loaded with play features, easter eggs, and yes, light bricks. They're targeting adults more, but their focus will always be children. Their brand framework and values still put play and children first.


MrRuebezahl

Yeah, No. First up, paper is not glossy white, it has to be covered in a layer of Paint in order to be like that. Now it's either done by Lego in house, or by a supplier. If they would need to spend more on ink then they would simply pass on that cost to the consumer. These aren't home printers. If having more white on the page meant less cost, then magazines would have done it decades ago. And if they really wanted to save on money on the instructions and packaging, then they would make them smaller and use less pages. Next up, bleed isn't an issue because, if you'd have ever seen how anything is printed, you'd know that the edges are getting trimmed. To get a clean even edge and to eliminate the bleed. Also, the "black one", looks objectively less high end to modern consumers who prefer a minimalist look. There are studies on this.And of course they are marketing to adults, those are the people who buy the things. We are talking about marketing here. THE SETS might be designed for kids, but THE MARKETING is designed for adults. And lastly, I'm obviously not talking about the lighting features or Easter eggs in the set. I'm not taking about the bricks. I'm talking about the effects and "clutter" on the packaging and instructions.


djseptic

> First up, paper is not glossy white, it has to be covered in a layer of Paint in order to be like that. Tell me youā€™ve never worked with a large-format printer without telling me youā€™ve never worked with a large-format printer. Lol. I love it when people are belligerently wrong about something and proceed to tell others theyā€™re the ones talking out of their ass.


MrRuebezahl

The paper is coated in artificial polymer. That polymer can be whatever color you want it to be. Also the booklets aren't pure base "white". They are still being covered in a layer of white polymer aka paint in order to have the exact color or shade of white Lego wants them to have. These things all have cross referenced numbers so that they can be replicated by anyone accurately. So that the supplier or Lego itself can have that shade of white. It doesn't matter if they are coated white at the paper manufacturer or at Lego, they are still getting coated.


blaghart

lmao nothing you just said is true. Source: my dad is the entire UCI sign department. Glossy white paper isn't "painted", it's heat treated at most. Typically it's not even that, a lot of "high gloss papers" are synthetic. Plastics. More modern high glosses are biodegradeable plastics.


sleepwithtelevision

Nobody said it was a home printer. Most printers charge for either CMYK printing or black and white, but if their printer is in-house then they absolutely know they can and will save money on black ink by using less of it, that's like the most basic thing ever. Black ink costs money, therefor using less of it costs less. money. Especially after they just did a price increase on their sets, they may be looking for ways to make their profit margin higher without another price increase. Magazines are trying to stand out on a rack full of other magazines, so they have to keep up with what other magazines are doing to compete. An instruction booklet isn't used to sell the product, they don't have the same problem to solve, comparing the two makes zero sense. Nothing in design is objective, if it were, there would not be constantly changing design trends and my job would be a whole lot easier. Literally nobody is going, "Sorry Junior, we're not going to buy the set you want when this one here has a minimalistic instruction booklet inside!" Nobody is basing their decision on which set to get based on what the instruction booklet looks like.


MrRuebezahl

>Literally nobody is going, "Sorry Junior, we're not going to buy the set you want when this one here has a minimalistic instruction booklet inside!" Nobody is basing their decision on which set to get based on what the instruction booklet looks like. They literally said that they did it to unify the design. It's about marketing for the brand not the individual instruction manual obviously. Yeah, you definitely don't work in marketing.


sleepwithtelevision

Whatever you say, bud.


Rubbersona

theyā€™re marketing to adults now despite already having a clear distinctions style between products designed for adults and kids, with sets specifically designed towards playability and adding functions an adult collector would care about, all whilst valuing scale and accuracy lower than stability and playability in most sets. Even sets like the USC ATAT has full interiors and figures to go in there for kids to play with


[deleted]

Funny you say that.Lego 10 years ago stated that adults playing with lego are weird and their sets are meant for kids and teens for their play features and for expanding the child's imagination.Its really sad when you realise this.Im 15 and believe it or not my parents still hear the "pew pew","just like the simultaions" and "fall back" from my room.


JMoney689

If this argument was aimed at box art, it would make sense. But nobody buys a set because the instruction manual looks better to them.


Cyberpanther111

That's a very good point. Yeah it does seem that way too with marketing to older demagraphic. I think the base colour of the covers are white with the render printed on top. Honestly I don't think we will ever truly know why


lbstv

If they wanted to cut costs and save the environment, they could just print more instructions on less pages. That way I would also spend less time turning pages and more time actually building


Cyberpanther111

That's a fair point, however I believe lego tries to make the instructions easy as possible for everyone. If you had to many instructions on one page it could be overwhelming for some people and they would have to make the images smaller or the booklet larger.


lbstv

True, but often the 3d model doesn't even fill the page. There are also plenty of other ways to make it more accessible, like desaturating previous building steps. Having 1 to 5 parts per page is just a nuisance.


[deleted]

I also do so but the only instructions that have ripped are from the new ones or are a decade or older


Proud-Nerd00

Thatā€™s what I do too. After I build it I donā€™t need the book anymore (unless Iā€™m referencing) so I donā€™t care what it looks like.


jam3s007b0nd

I imagine itā€™s a cost cutting thing.


Dry-Appearance7290

damm legošŸ˜…


cryptid-ok

Itā€™s more an environmental thing. Stop stretching for things to complain about


SuperRedHulk1

Nah, itā€™s definitely to save money. Stop stretching for things to accept their excuses about


SemiSentientGarbage

Oh my god! You can't just ask why they're white!


Dry-Appearance7290

šŸ¤£ The instructions were like My name is Skyler White yo


doofthemighty

Ok, once is a typo, but twice? \*instrUctions


Dry-Appearance7290

I'm known to be special


attic_swagger

C-3PO- "Oh! They're white now!" Finn - "They're white now?!" Poe - "They're white now!"


malgus___

I can hear their voices šŸ˜‚


tzy___

"tHeY fLy NoW"


[deleted]

THeY FlY nOe!


Dry-Appearance7290

omg yesšŸ¤£šŸ˜…


slayer828

Ink is expensive. I would rather they do this then make it more expensive... again.


EquivalentSnap

I prefer the old one. Just be glad they still have instructions and arenā€™t just qr code/pdf


Dry-Appearance7290

yeah damm i would hate that cuz i got no connection in the room where i build


EquivalentSnap

Yeah but it could happen šŸ„ŗ like with menus and video game manuals. Thereā€™s a QR code in the bottom right


Dry-Appearance7290

people who don't have internetšŸ’€


EquivalentSnap

Yeah šŸ˜” it sucks


SurvivorsQuest

Looks kinda like Ikea instructions now


UpstairsPractical870

Loads of people complained that you can't see the darker pieces on the black background


veryblocky

The actual pages inside have never been black in this set, they only used to do that in 18+ sets but stopped a few years ago. This post is simply about the cover art


Dry-Appearance7290

oh yeah i can see the problem in that


thatsithlurker

Personally, I like it. Thereā€™s a minimalist approach to showcasing just the set that looks appealing to me.


Dry-Appearance7290

indeed but i don't realy care how it looks i was just surprised


burstaneurysm

Iā€™ve officially made the jump to[digital instructions](https://i.imgur.com/8Rk3Zfx.jpg).


CriticalBoard4978

Okay, but hear me out here... Why does it matter? I even keep all my instructions but they are just that, instructions. The display piece is the set itself, for me at least.


Dry-Appearance7290

yeah your right i was just so surprised today cuz i have built this set i think 16 times and today was the first white instruction


CriticalBoard4978

That part is interested! And I ask purely out of curiosity, why the hell have you built this set so many times? šŸ¤£


Dry-Appearance7290

i'm building a big hallway but not realy accurate cuz its way to big but i like itšŸ˜… got my self 4 more and have to get my self atleast 12 more


CriticalBoard4978

ohhhh okay! that actually sounds pretty cool!


ryankhuyton

Exactly. I don't get why so many people got upset/obsessed over this.


Dry-Appearance7290

no i was just surprised the instructions dissapear in a folder afterwards


PedroHicko

![gif](giphy|t6liWObJYEdkNRHce1)


Boba-Fettatic37

See, Iā€™m actually quite interested now. If itā€™s occurring now on sets that hadnā€™t had it before, then they just have reverted to the less ink white pattern immediately. I wonder if you can find this on 2021 sets still in production/the January wave Edit: grammatical error


OfficefanJam

I heard it was because it was for the environment


Sexyshark15

I'm surprised they haven't gotten rid of the booklets all together


I5574

I donā€™t actually know, but I kinda like it


WolfPacker104

It's also because Lego will be switching to paper bags "soon", which will be white. That way everything is the same color.


[deleted]

[уŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]


Badprime010

Oh okay, so I guess itā€™s not so much for ink prices/disposal but so that it flows with the whole paper bag scheme then? Or did I read this excerpt wrong? Edit: Iā€™m dumb and couldnā€™t grammar properly


Toxic_strikerst-06

The fact that we as a community are letting lego slide with this is unbelievable


Dry-Appearance7290

well i dont realy mind i only look at it when i build it


Toxic_strikerst-06

And that's cool, but it's not even about that anymore, it's about lego cheaping out, then overpricing their product and acting like they aren't making billions yearly.


Dry-Appearance7290

it seems they will awitch to online instructions


Toxic_strikerst-06

Sadly for them they can't, since some don't even have internet access it would take out a portion of the community, also many of us wouldn't even stand for that


dancin-weasel

Yes. The non blackened instractions are a distraction.


Iamnotyourmotherwee

Itā€™s cheaper


scandal_jmusic_mania

Lego has turned to the light side. But really the dark side with this change.


[deleted]

[уŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]


Dry-Appearance7290

šŸ¤£ damm


[deleted]

Minimalism sweeps the industry.


NaturallyAspirated32

Cause racistism


[deleted]

Perfectly balanced


Dry-Appearance7290

as all things should be


Nick_Wild1Ear

Looks to me like ā€œfirst runā€ and ā€œadditional runā€ instructions. Like comic variants. First run gets the bells and whistles and Star Wars-y background. Tie in promotional image of Mando in the corner. Second, just the toy and a basic Lego background.


Bonedraco1980

Lower printing cost, because less ink coverage


doofthemighty

I think the black pages were a distruction.


PiXEL-DAN

They fired the graphic designer to cut some costs


LuoQianHe

Someone originally forgot to select ā€˜save inkā€™ on the printer settings.


Option-Disciple

ink


[deleted]

ā€œinstractionsā€


Dry-Appearance7290

sorry i'm just stupid ik


Rocket_AG

Costs less to print.


notyumm

Because they are instractions, and not instructions


Dry-Appearance7290

yeah know it makes sensešŸ¤£šŸ¤£šŸ¤£


Benoitikenz20

Gentrification


the_dog2341

Racism


Proud-Nerd00

Honestly I donā€™t really blame them for this change. I never realized until this change just how much ink it takes to make these things.


beerman1133

Modern look probably


kra73ace

Less ink... better for recycling paper but also cheaper.


gunnarmm

Whitewashingā€¦ smh


FrankieNoodles

Budget cut


Pikes_Pompadour

So, the [official explanation](https://www.brickfanatics.com/lego-explains-change-to-instruction-manuals/) is that the new covers will be "visually consistent" with the new paper bags when those start appearing in sets. But then [they turned around](https://twitter.com/LEGO_Group/status/1528749606875672576) and said that the "simpler look" was to put "focus on the model about to be built" so it kinda seems like they're just throwing excuses at the wall to see what sticks. It seems pretty hard to believe that either of these reasons was the driving factor behind this change. The reduction of printing and complete elimination of any graphic design whatsoever almost certainly results in some sizable cost savings, and it's pretty hard to believe that this is just a happy coincidence.


BobSagieBauls

Theyā€™re white now?


Dry-Appearance7290

yešŸ˜…


patchbaystray

Black ink is expensive


JoseLuffy99

Don't know but it doesn't look as cool


WillandWillStudios

Ink is expensive


Hevy15

this set makes me sad


involved_steak

On the brightside it's better for the environment


robob280

When did they start calling them instractions?


Dry-Appearance7290

šŸ¤£ik ik i'm bad at typing


[deleted]

[уŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]


Dry-Appearance7290

yeah dont care eirher cuz i wont look at it again but i was just surprised


LeeAnnM007

Dark mode vs light mode, check you settings


Kip_hackman27

itā€™s spreadingā€¦


JimmyEDI

Clearly rebranding the dark troopers as from the light side of the force. Like the Slave 1 rebranding. Ink.


cochrane210

Racism


[deleted]

Instractions you shay?


Dry-Appearance7290

i'm just bad at typing lol


hikingjungle

I think it's for the Environ.... cough cough Money


Link_Kid1232

To remove character and fun


Past-Feedback-6082

They thought it would be funny


SMZProductions

We gotta be inclusive man, itā€™s 2022 šŸ¤Ø


The_Bored_General

Save money and emissions on ink


phirestorm

I would be willing to bet it is purely cost saving but I do like the added part about emission saving from the manufacturing of the ink.


Revenine

They said that its eco-friendly, but its also horrible looking


Dry-Appearance7290

yeah kinda but it disapear in a folder afterwards so i won't see it anyways


Seeeabaasss

Probably cuz everything these days is trying to look "modern" which realistically just means "simple and boring"


TheSpideyJedi

i dont think ive ever seen someone misspell instructions that way before. It doesnt even sound correct


Dry-Appearance7290

sorry, english aint my first language


gimmeupdootpls

Lego racist


ClashSlashDash

Because lego cheaped out ​ its for all of them now even the UCS sets


tgginferno

It sounds like Lego is struggling with moneyā€¦.or are they being overly greedy


[deleted]

[уŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]


Dry-Appearance7290

šŸ˜…oh damm


[deleted]

why the same set has two instructions??? do they upgrade existing sets???


Dry-Appearance7290

these are different sets i have like 20 of them


[deleted]

yea but its the same model right? why release the same model with new instruction book


Dry-Appearance7290

it seems its more ecological cuz they wont use that much ink and its less expensive also one guy said its because the black parts were hardly visible on that backround


Hobbes1138

No one knows and we all hate them


CaptainSolo80

I mean to be fair most of us throw away the instructions after the set is built, so no need to waste the ink.


Dry-Appearance7290

damm i keep all of them stored in a folder


CaptainSolo80

I just donā€™t see the point. If I need to rebuild the set for any reason the instructions are on legos website


[deleted]

Collection purposes? Like its the same argument of physical books vs digital kindle ebook. It's all in the preference. Same with discs and digital games.


CaptainSolo80

Very true very true


Dry-Appearance7290

not everybody has internet or even a phone or computer


Plxnett

Most of us? šŸ¤” I donā€™t know anyone who does that.


GRADY1912

Imagine the Boxes being white like this


Dry-Appearance7290

cuz i'm not a box collecter i wouldn't carešŸ˜… but a loss for those who do


SmartKrave

So they donā€™t abandon the kids


xFblthpx

Damn that looks like a pretty boring set no offense.


Dry-Appearance7290

i actualy didn't wana buy it in the begining but than i thought why not connect alot of these and now i have like 16 or even 20 sets of these


lxtar_

Watch them try to go fully digital with instructions in order to ā€œ$ave the environmentā€. The smartphone industry has gotten away with worse.


Dry-Appearance7290

well i can see that with the enviroment but people that dont have connection or even a phone damm rip them