For a company known for making plastic stuff, LEGO are doing their best to reduce exactly what plastic they produce, and like the rest of the world they’re looking predominantly at single use plastics. For example, you might notice the inner bags that hold your parts are slowly transitioning to paper, the CMF packets are moving towards cardboard boxes and now the PAB cups and Build-a-Minifig clamshells are getting a new look with some very nice cardboard boxes.
As seen above, they come in 3 different sizes, with the largest box matching the size of the large Pick-a-Brick cup, the smaller green box matching the small PAB cup, and the smallest box is supposedly replacing the minifig clamshell. The excellent artwork on the box seems to at least lean that way.
Lets have a closer look at what they hold.
First things first, volume comparison. Its the easiest way to put the pessimists and naysayers in their place. The large box holds the same amount of parts as the large cup. I used 1×1 round trans neon green studs as my test part. Don’t ask why I have thousands of them. I just do.
Yes, plenty bounced across my floor and yes I said various swear words starting with F and C and Q, but that’s beside the point. They’re the same volume when comparing parts of the exact same type.
Now, I know there’s a lot of weird people out there who simply must stack, brick for brick, plate for plate, to get the perceived value from each and every cup. I’m not one of those people. Most times, I just don’t care, and so I cant tell you exactly how well the box compares when stacking against a cup, but I did take a series of photos with bricks and plates showing internal measurements. Do with them as you will.
For what its worth, my personal opinion, not swayed by our relationship with the Lego Group, is that these are an excellent initiative. They’re well designed, beautifully decorated, and do exactly what they’re supposed to without filling land waste full of plastic cups.
The roll out will begin as stores deplete their current stock of cups, so there’s no exact date.
The only question to remain is, will this mean a price increase? Time will tell.
HOWEVER….
Additional testing shows some brutally glaring flaws and I do really wonder if the designers have any idea what theyre doing.
First up, the largest box absolutely WILL NOT FIT an Makita Cordless Brushless Driver fitted with a 5.0ah battery. I’m flabbergasted. Who didn’t think to test this before rolling out?
The next test I performed was for potatoes. Small white washed potatoes. A staple in every (good) household. To my horror, I could barely fit 7 small potatoes in the box, and as anyone would know, 7 small potatoes is hardly even a snack. By placing additional potatoes in the box, it was impossible to close the lid. “Oh, just eat less potatoes!” I hear some of you screaming at your computer screens. No, my answer is no, I will not.
Finally, I asked this dumb idiot to get in one of the boxes but clearly he is dumb and prefers to sit in the shoe basket. Because hes dumb. Have fun, Shoe Brains.
Perth Lego Users Group 