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LEGO pieces missing or broken? What to do?

There may be times when a LEGO set you purchase is missing some parts, or perhaps you notice quality issues with an element as you assemble a LEGO set. So what is the best way to deal with these situations? This is what we will be discussing today. 🙂

LEGO Customer Service Page

MISSING LEGO ELEMENT(S): Opening a brand new LEGO set is always an exciting event. You expect to spend quality time putting the set together either by yourself or with your building-buddies. You may even play some music in the background as you absorb yourself in putting the set together. Discovering that a part is missing can definitely jerk you out of your absorption in building a new LEGO set.

Fortunately missing elements from LEGO sets is quit rare. LEGO is very good at making sure that every set contains exactly what it supposed to. In fact in all the LEGO sets I have ever gotten I have only run into a truly missing element issue once (in a recent LEGO Mixels set). Having said that, there were several times when I thought a part was missing while I was putting together a set. In situations like this I take a deep breath before disappointments floods over me and remind myself that LEGO is really good at this, and most likely the part I can’t find is just hiding somewhere…

In my experience 99% of the time the piece that I thought was missing was in either of two places: stuck inside an inner bag (those clear plastic baggies you can find inside large sets to separate elements), or stuck inside another (usually larger) element. It is also a good idea to check around your work-area. If you are building on a table or other raised surface, parts could have easily rolled off. (I build on the floor so this is not an issue for me.)

If you are truly missing a LEGO element it is very likely that you already have it in your own LEGO collection and can easily replace it – especially if it’s a common part. You will likely think it’s no big deal, replace the part from your own collection, and keep building. This will allow you to continue uninterruptedly, however there is one problem; LEGO will never know that the part was missing. If a LEGO element is truly left out of a LEGO set, it is very likely your set was not the only one. So even if you were able to replace the part from your own collection, it is a good idea to give LEGO customer service a call and let them know. They will not just send out the part to you, but will also make notes. If several people notify them about the same missing parts they will notify the appropriate department to correct the issue.

So if you encounter a missing LEGO element, give LEGO’s customer service a call. The LEGO customer service phone number in the USA is 1-800-835-4386, or you can also call the main LEGO shop phone number at 1-800-453-4652 and they will transfer you to customer care. For other countries you can check the LEGO customer service website: service.lego.com. You can also fill out an online form to report and request missing pieces at the same website.

LEGO Customer Service Page

MISSING BAGS FROM LEGO SETS: For larger LEGO sets elements are grouped together into clear bags. This is to help you in the building process and to not have to search in a heap of thousands of pieces. The bags are usually numbered based on the building instructions, but please note that there are usually several #1 bags all related to the first steps in building, then several #2 bags, etc. Also, larger bags may contain smaller bags inside (usually with the tiny parts).

In very rare circumstances entire bags may be missing from the box, or you get several bags including the same pieces, while missing other ones. Unfortunately in situations like this you are usually stuck as it is less likely you will be able to replace all the missing elements from your own collection. Again, this is a very rare situation, but it has been reported happening sometimes. Your best course of action is to call LEGO’s customer service right away. They will send you the missing bags and take note of the problem.

A variation of this scenario is when you shop from a LEGO retailer and not directly from LEGO. This could be either at a local retail shop (like Wal-Mart or Toys’R’Us) or an online retailed like Amazon. You get a set that has been returned (and carefully resealed) by a previous customer and when you open it either entire bags are missing, or the content of the box have been replaced by non-LEGO (random toys, garbage, etc.). In situations like this you should contact the vendor immediately for a replacement or refund. If it is a local store you can just stop by, or if it is an online vendor give them a call. It’s not a pleasant experience having to deal with such things, but retail-theft is a very real phenomenon and calling the vendor helps them monitor these issues.

LEGO Customer Service Page

MISFORMED & MISPRINTED ELEMENTS: It is extremely rare to find misformed LEGO element in a brand new and sealed LEGO set as LEGO’s quality control is excellent. However if you do find such a part, you can call LEGO’s customer service to replace them. A bit more common is misprinted parts; perhaps part of the printing is missing, or applied on the wrong surface. These can actually be quite nice variations. Some misformed and misprinted elements are highly collectible and desirable and can go for quite a bit of money. For example LEGO bricks with more than one color (referred to as marbled bricks), or some facial misprints on minifigs that actually look really good.

LEGO Customer Service Page

BROKEN & CRACKED LEGO ELEMENTS: You can be pretty confident that all elements in a brand new and sealed LEGO set are going to be in excellent condition. LEGO is also good at packaging their sets, so it is rare to find an element that is broken right out of the box. (Of course if the box itself shows damage due to handling or shipping, it is likely that the parts inside are also damaged.) If you do find a broken part LEGO’s customer service is happy to replace it for you free of charge. A more common issue is parts that break during or after assembly of the set. Some elements are especially prone to breaking and cracking with very little use. One well-known such element is the small “cheese-slopes”.

Such problems can be the result of defective moulds, worn out moulds or just weak designs. Also, certain colors can be more prone to cracking and braking than others. This likely has to do with the chemical composition of different dyes. Again, the answer is to contact LEGO’s customer service. They will send you replacement parts and will also note recurring problems to alert the quality control department. The more people call and complain the better.

LEGO Customer Service Page

INCONSISTENT COLORS: While having completely wrong colors in a LEGO set is almost unheard of (like including red parts instead of yellow), having several shades of a color in the same set is unfortunately quite common these days. In the past LEGO used to buy already dyed granules from another company and the colors were very consistent. However since LEGO has been doing the dying themselves, they have been unable to achieve a reliable consistency. This is especially visible in dark colors like dark-red, dark-green and dark-blue. In the recently released #10246 LEGO Creator Detective’s Office I have counted at least four distinctively different shades of dark-blue. I ended up replacing them from my own collection and also called LEGO’s customer service. If you are not happy, call them. LEGO’s motto is “Only the Best is Good Enough”, so hold them to their word.

LEGO Customer Service Page

OTHER QUALITY ISSUES: There are other issues you might run into on rare occasions. For example recently LEGO fans noticed serious problems with the large LEGO baseplates; the studs won’t hold elements properly and almost anything you put on them simply falls off. This has likely to do with a worn out mould. The issue was recently raised at the LEGO Ambassador Forum, and Keith Severson, who is the Senior Manager for community support at LEGO said the following:

“I understand you are addressing a potential quality issue. However we do not have the power to inform or affect it. The only way quality and engineering review potential issues is through data that is gathered through customer service. Every time a customer calls in, it is logged with the specific element. Once that element receives a certain amount of issues they will review it. So the best thing you can do is to report issues through the system.”

Another element that has been having problems due to an old and worn out mould is the robot-arm that has been around since 1985 and is included in many sets. LEGO fans especially noticed this in the #21109 LEGO Ideas Exo Suit set, where the part simply fell off from its position. In addition the part had a bad shade of the light-gray color, not matching any other elements in the set. Just a few months later this same part was still included in the #10243 LEGO Creator Parisian Restaurant where it keeps falling off due to the worn out mould (this time in black color). LEGO is now aware of the problem and last I heard they are working on fixing it.

LEGO Customer Service Missing Pieces

As you can see, in all in all of these scenarios, the best course of action is to contact LEGO’s customer service. That is the most appropriate and effective way to alert them of any quality or other issues, get replacements, and also save other LEGO fans from disappointments. LEGO cares about their reputation and their customer service is excellent. Missing defects before a product gets on store shelves can happen to any company. In general LEGO’s quality control is one of the best, but things can still slip through with the staggering volume of LEGO bricks, sets and minifigs they produce on a daily basis. We can do our part in keeping the quality high by promptly reporting issues we notice.

LEGO Customer Service Contact

Have you run into any problems with your LEGO sets? Missing parts? Misprinted parts? Something else? Did you call LEGO’s customer service? Or how did you handle the situation? Feel free to share your thoughts and own experiences in the comment section below! 😉

And you might also like to check out the following related posts:

{ 68 comments… add one }
  • Sarah February 24, 2015, 10:26 AM

    My “puzzled” Unikitty face in my Double-Decker Couch set was horribly scratched up. I contacted LEGO and they promptly sent me another. 🙂

  • James February 24, 2015, 10:28 AM

    I never had a problem with malfunctioning parts. But I plan to buy the Detective’s Office, so I’ll keep an eye out for that.

    Yellow and Dark Red are the biggest offenders of poor color-matching that I have noticed, with Yellow taking the crown as most egregious.

    • admin February 24, 2015, 11:37 AM

      I actually tried getting some replacement parts for the dark blue elements on BrickLink. I was already placing a few orders anyway, so if the seller had them I got them. I got some 2x2s and 2x4s, and unfortunately none of those matched as well. So I ended up re-allocating some of the bricks on the Barber Shop’s wall and hide the ones on the inner walls that were really off color. I also replaced some of 1x1s with black bricks. Oddly, dark-blue matches black better than lighter shades of the dark-blue. This was the only problem I encountered with the Detective’s Office. All other colors were fine, and the whole set is just so much fun. I stayed up until 1 AM (again) last night playing with it after work. 🙄

  • James February 24, 2015, 10:33 AM

    I only ever had one missing part from a Lego set, and that was a yellow technic piece in the Creator Fire Brigade. I looked everywhere and couldn’t find it (the first place I checked was the plastic bag). I contacted Lego and they sent a new piece ASAP without any questions. And they apologized.

    Then, mysteriously, two weeks later, I found an extra yellow technic piece (the same one!) in under the sofa. Wierd. 😉

  • LegoGeek February 24, 2015, 10:34 AM

    I get a few missing pieces (all small) because I buy a load of sets each year.
    Lots of times minifigure heads are printed a little too low or too high, but LEGO customer service is great. On licensed themes they ask you for the number on the back of the instructions to make sure you actually own it.

    • admin February 24, 2015, 11:43 AM

      I like most of the variations in minifigs heads. They give more variety. Occasionally there is a really odd one, but other than that they are just interesting varieties. They usually ask for verification numbers on the larger sets – not just on the licensed ones. I had to get some replacement parts for my Alien Conquest HQ as they cracked right after assembly, and they asked me for the number printed on the clear tape that sealed the box.

  • Rob February 24, 2015, 10:48 AM

    The Sydney Opera house had two fairly well bent (curved) 2 x 16 plates, but since the design of the model was able to keep them straight I didn’t worry about contacting Lego. I didn’t know they kept track of these things, but in future I’ll be sure to let them know if I see any more wonky parts.

    Great info here; thanks for sharing!

  • Superweapon February 24, 2015, 11:02 AM

    I have a Jek14 helmet piece with the printing 1/4 cm off center. Too lazy to replace it.

  • legotrooper91 February 24, 2015, 11:07 AM

    the only time any thin like this has happend to me was wen i got the nether one of the gahsts face was messt up a bit

  • Maethorneth February 24, 2015, 11:23 AM

    I can only think of two times when I had a problem with missing pieces. One technic piece was missing from the Star Wars Twilight set and then my Exclusive Elrond Minifigure from preordering the LEGO LOTR game had a short cape instead of a long one. Customer service sent me a new cape but I didn’t know about the replacement parts thing when I discovered the Twilight was missing a piece.

  • cynicalbuddha February 24, 2015, 11:56 AM

    I’ve only had one issue in all my years and that was a deformed piece in a smaller Hobbit set, Gandalf Arrives. I filled out the online form, which was pretty painless and in about a week I had my new piece. There’s a reason Lego is the best at what they do.

  • Tom February 24, 2015, 12:23 PM

    I have bought Legos since I was 4 (50+ years). Never once a malformed or broken piece. I worked in the automotive industry until I retired, buying metal and plastic parts for cars. I wish some of my suppliers would have as good of quality control as Lego. When young I would buy off brand, but that stopped because of lack of quality.

  • LegoUniverse Bob February 24, 2015, 12:24 PM

    This doesn’t really count I don’t think, but I had a 2×3 cupboard piece (two bricks tall) that was slightly burnt. I don’t remember which set it’s from, but I remember it from using it to make a fridge in one of my Creator Houses. It was quite cool and I still have the “fridge” in one of my houses (in the place of the former Creator House).

  • Darth Weevil February 24, 2015, 12:35 PM

    I’ve fortunately not yet had any missing pieces or pieces broken when I open the set, but I have had some issues with pieces cracking after first assembly. The worst offender was a free Friends polybag (Emma’s ice cream cart, maybe?) where about half the pieces cracked within about six months of sitting assembled in a drawer. Cheese slopes, 1×2 slopes, arches, etc.—it was like the entire set had been assembled with the pieces LEGO knew were crap. I didn’t call or anything, as it had been free to begin with and was no longer offered, but it was disappointing.

    • admin February 24, 2015, 4:29 PM

      Yeah, cheese-sloped are really bad. I really hope that LEGO is going to improve the design on those. I always buy extras so I can replace the cracked ones. Even if the set is now retired it is worth giving them a call and letting them know about the condition of the pieces. I even one time sent them a package with the broken pieces I got in a set so they see how they look.

  • Darth Weevil February 24, 2015, 12:39 PM

    That said, I did have a great misprinted piece from a knock-off brand (in this case, Sheng Yuan)—a LOTR orc’s left arm wasn’t completely formed, so the hand piece didn’t fit inside. But, it actually looked awesome, like the arm had been amputated below the elbow. And since it was an orc, it made a certain sense. I could probably have gotten a replacement from the seller, but decided I liked it as is.

    Again, this was a knock-off brand, and I’ve not had similar problems with LEGO (and thus fully appreciate the “I don’t buy knock-offs because of the lower quality” argument).

  • John February 24, 2015, 1:51 PM

    Interesting that there are problems with robot arms. I’ve had most then in the creator monkey break whilst building or taking apart the 3 models. I need to request my 3rd set of replacements for that set, I think 8 or 10 parts in total.

  • Ollantigh February 24, 2015, 1:59 PM

    I had a whole bag missing from a star wars set several years ago- about 80 pieces or more, i phoned the customer help line (quite afew times that day and spoke directly to the uk bloke in charge of lego- wow!) and they where very helpful- although it did take about a week to return the kit back to lego and the hassle of posting a large parcel back to lego too (registered mail etc).. about a month later i got a replacement set, however i didn’t get an apology as such directly from lego themselves, and i had to email alot of my personal details and photos etc as proof of what happened too- first and only time its happened and i’ve bought tonnes of lego since.

    • admin February 24, 2015, 4:33 PM

      That’s interesting. I never had the experience of having to send a set back, nor have I ever heard anyone mentioning that. But you said this was year ago, so it looks like they improved on how they handle situations like this. Now you just call in, tell them what’s missing, and they will send it to you. They do monitor though of people trying to abuse the system and just get free parts. If someone calls in too many times, or keeps asking for expensive replacements (like rare minifigs, etc.), they can ban the person from ever using the service again.

      • BLProductions February 24, 2015, 5:59 PM

        Hm… would that include using the replacement part system many times to order missing parts? Because my brothers and I have ordered from them about 5 times since July 2014. We’re trying to rebuild some of our older sets, and have found that we’re missing a huge number of their parts (courtesy of the vents and cracks in the floors of our house), and since we can never get all the parts we need at once, we use the site multiple times. I have to wonder if LEGO’s gotten suspicious yet…. 😕

        • admin February 24, 2015, 8:56 PM

          LEGO knows their error rate. If someone keeps claiming that pieces are missing from their sets on a regular basis, they know something is amiss, and they can and will refuse service. This is especially so when we are talking about claiming to be missing rare parts and minifigures. There was a guy on Reddit a few months back who was bragging about getting a bunch of free replacement SW minifigs from LEGO. That’s stealing.

          Please note that the missing parts service is not for getting lost or misplaced parts due to cracks in your floor or the dog eating the pieces or whatever. The only legitimate use of the service is when a brand new set just opened is missing elements, or some elements breaking while you are building the set the first time. If you loose elements later on your own, you should pay for the pieces. It is the same link, same service, but you should select the box “I want to buy a piece”.

          • BLProductions February 25, 2015, 1:32 PM

            Oh, you can’t use it for missing parts? Bum. That’s about the only way I can get parts I don’t have. I can’t Bricklink them, or Pick-a-Brick them, or buy them in any way, because I can’t buy online. The LEGO Customer service site does say “enter your own age,” and I choose to follow that (unlike my brothers). The “buy a piece” option doesn’t come up unless you put your age in as over 18, otherwise I would have bought some parts already. 😕

            • admin February 25, 2015, 4:18 PM

              That’s interesting. Looks like it’s a loophole in the system. Anyhow, the point is that this service is a courtesy from LEGO to fix their own mistakes, not the mistakes of customers. If you are using it a couple of times a year for some cheap parts I don’t thin it would be an issue, but if you are using it like every month to get a bunch of random elements, including expensive/rare ones, you could be banned from ever using the site again. I know people who were banned. Don’t risk it.

      • Ollantigh February 25, 2015, 1:26 PM

        18th September 2009- yeah, a few years ago and its because of the number of parts missing, we both agreed that the kit should be sent back to head office here in blighty- apparently it seemed that something in the factory had gone badly wrong and a few alien pieces got into the kit too- a right mess, however lego wanted exact details of where exactly the kit was sent from- and due to the rather large number of expensive kits i had bought over the years- i didn’t get any sense from them that they thought i was trying something on- however they did give me a refund on the postage- it never occured to me to try any sort of fiddle- lego’s records of such activities are well recorded- again it was the first and last time anything like that ever happened to me. I’ve had no complaints since.

        • admin February 25, 2015, 4:13 PM

          Looks like they got something really messed up and wanted to get the bottom of what happened. I think these days they have other methods to check as I haven’t heard LEGO asking to resend a set any time recently.

    • rainey February 24, 2015, 9:59 PM

      Many years ago when my adult kids were small we got a delivery of multiple sets involving one of their early monorail or sky train sets ups and others of that modernist flavor. Only thing is I had never ordered it. I had asked for some replacement parts and they had my address on record and mistook it for someone else.

      So, the kids arrive home from carpool and find several hundred dollars worth of this stuff (at 1980’s prices) and I tell them it’s a mistake and we have to return them. Oh the looks on their faces! I can still see the horror.

      I called Lego. They thanked me profusely for returning them. They said they would send the kids a “gift”. Seemed appropriate enough. When it arrived it was some pathetic cello bag of something. I’m not entirely sure my kids have forgiven me yet.

      • admin February 24, 2015, 10:50 PM

        LOL! Great story! Or not so great… from the kids point of view. I think if I were a kid I would be forever traumatized too. 🙄

  • Doug February 24, 2015, 2:43 PM

    I’ve only ever had one item missing from the many many lego sets I’ve purchased – a sticker sheet for a Star Wars set. My son and I have a rule . . . if we curse Lego when we think a piece is missing, we have to apologize when we (inevitably) find it. “I’m sorry Lego for doubting you.”

    • admin February 24, 2015, 4:34 PM

      LOL! I actually do something similar myself and say sorry to LEGO when I doubt their preciseness.

  • BLProductions February 24, 2015, 4:21 PM

    I have never gotten a set with broken or missing parts or missing bags, but my brother recently got a #76017 Captain America vs. Hydra set, and the Captain’s head was missing! That was kinda funny, and we got a replacement in a week, no problems.
    Of colors, my 42006 Excavator came with three different shades of yellow parts. One of those shades was so dark I almost mistook it as Flame-Yellowish Orange. I’m not going to replace those though, as I’m not much bothered by it.
    There is a post on the Brickset forum regarding deformed and odd-colored parts, which I found quite interesting, and another on the mis-prints on Dareth vs. Nindroid. I’m okay with the Nindroid’s face, but if Dareth’s torso is messed up, what’s the point of making a minifig of him? 😕

    • admin February 24, 2015, 4:36 PM

      Minifig misprints can be quite interesting. I usually keep those. I have also sold some. Some people are willing to pay crazy money for them. 😉

  • Ninja of Stealth February 24, 2015, 5:47 PM

    I have two LEGO elements that where printed wrong out of the five to eight years I’ve been enjoying LEGO sets so LEGO is definitely excellent on quality. Unlike Megablocks, BOO! both where minifigures: the Hair (or whatever you wish to call it.) for one of the dwarves from the hobbit sets and one was a Nindroid that’s face was VERY “tiny!”

  • Ninja of Stealth February 24, 2015, 5:51 PM

    Is there anyway to replace LEGO from the minifigure series? I have the gorilla guy from series 3 and it never had its head piece. 🙁 (Then I got another one and it’s head piece was sucked up in the vaccum cleaner but that’s besides the point. :roll:)

  • Zepic February 24, 2015, 7:15 PM

    Just did this. my mincraft bow broke

  • Marcla February 24, 2015, 8:26 PM

    I got the “Frozen” castle, was missing one trans rod. BUT I have noticed since my Lego are now made in China, they are not as quality as when I first got addicted. China was not on the label as a manufacturer of elements. I noticed red pieces not of quality.
    I recently purchased 3 new green baseplates as well as an early purchase of some “Elves” sets. Am having trouble rebuilding my own creations and getting the elements to lock/stay in place.
    I am AFFOL, recently got into Lego, about a year & 1/2 now, loved the fact that Lego did not use China in the past 1 year. Now China is in the list. I wonder if this is the problem.
    I have loved my Lego set. Have been building and rebuilding, and now seem to be getting more and more frustrated with elements not fitting and staying locked.
    I also noticed my green smaller baseplates do not match up to my grey larger.
    I have complained to Lego, don’t subject us to China bullshit, but I guess they are.

    • admin February 24, 2015, 8:46 PM

      Marcia, LEGO elements are made in Denmark, Hungary and Mexico. Only gift items, the collectible minifigures, mini-dolls and some specialty moulds (like unusual Star Wars head pieces) are made in China. Not regular LEGO elements. So you don’t have to worry about standard LEGO elements being made there. LEGO does not have a factory in China. They are working through a third party to manufacture specialty pieces. As I mentioned in the article, the issue with the new baseplates is a known problem. It is the result of a worn out mould. I have not encountered the issue of pieces not locking together with other parts. However if you do, you just need to let them know. With the amount of elements they produce on a daily basis it is normal for moulds to wear out.

  • David Tennant Lover February 24, 2015, 9:21 PM

    One time I lost a Lego piece and was so frustrated! I looked around everywhere, and 30 minutes later I found out the small piece was stuck inside the bigger brick. Sometimes you just got to look really hard cause some of those bricks play tricks on you. I have never got missing pieces or bags, however. I’m actually interested in misprints on legos because they are really cool and unique! I like the Lego prototypes that are red (example is the Red Ghost) and these red lego pieces/figures sometimes slip into bags, but vary rarely. Search the Red Ghost in your web searcher and check it out. But yeah, Lego misprints could be really cool and people could pay good money for them.

  • rainey February 24, 2015, 10:08 PM

    I’ve been buying Legos since the 80s so lost pieces have happened to us from time to time. Never a clearly damaged piece. But in the Christmas Market set there was a mini fig that fell from a counter to the floor. One leg broke off. I have to think — since we still have the 80s minifies which are doing fine — that that was some quality issue of the plastic.

    Of course they provided replacement legs.

    On a slightly related issue, when it’s not a question of Lego’s failure but a customer one, I’ve found that long pieces that get bent — I’ve had some jammed in storage in SoCal heat for 20 years at a time — can be repaired. I put them in the hottest water I can get from the tap for 20 minutes or so. They won’t actually get soft but It somehow resets the memory of the warping. So when I retrieve them from the water if I put them on a flat surface with something heavyish (like a can of soup) on top, they cool to their proper attitude. One of the things I had to repair was a long suspension bridge from one of the Robin Hood sets. I placed minifigs along the bridge to keep the proper distance and they did the job. For other things locking new bricks on ensures that they cool to the right dimension and pitch.

    • admin February 24, 2015, 11:10 PM

      Those are excellent suggestions! Thanks for sharing your repair tips! 😀

  • Tom February 25, 2015, 4:46 AM

    Hey does anyone know if this service is for free???

    • admin February 25, 2015, 10:22 AM

      Tom, all the details are in the article. If you buy a new set and pieces are missing, they will replace them free of charge. If you loose the pieces yourself, you go through the same website, select the option that you want to buy extra pieces, select the set, and buy the pieces you want. We will talk about this aspect of the service (buying extra parts) in a separate article. 🙂

  • kai February 25, 2015, 10:47 AM

    Btw, would they replace parts that faded shortly after getting the set/minifigure? I have a good deal of problems with faces fading not to long after buying them.

    • admin February 25, 2015, 4:11 PM

      Kai, I have never heard of such an issue before. Print on LEGO elements is extremely durable and usually lasts for decades. The only thing I can think of is that you might be using some kind of oil or soap that melts off the print as you handle the pieces.

      • kai February 25, 2015, 5:22 PM

        Oh, well for example, I have a face from the newest castle line that has a little fading in the eye, it didn’t when I got it though, the only thing I can think of is the buckets I was keeping heads in wearing the paint off. It only has happened to faces though.

        • admin February 25, 2015, 5:25 PM

          Kai, that’s possible. Perhaps keep minifigs parts separate from your main LEGO buckets? You can get a small box just for those, along with other special/printed pieces. Or even jst putting them ina ziplock bag inside your LEGO bucket would help them from getting scracthed.

          • Ollantigh February 28, 2015, 7:25 AM

            If your looking for replacement printed parts then there are several speciallist shops on ebay, they supply sticker sheets of exact copies of old kits, however i don’t know how much they are, or how long they last- more speciallist websites, eg brickarms etc sell sticker sheets of faces, uniforms and details on objects like boxes, wall features and vehicle related details, i’ve seen sites with traffic signs and various window shaped stickers too, the list is almost endless depending at what your aiming at. The big BUT is that iv’e never tried them and have no experience of using them- trying to find them on the internet does take time- again it depends on budget and whats generally available, most i’ve found are american sites so postage would be an issue too.

  • Nicolas February 25, 2015, 1:39 PM

    Yay it’s about time they did a replacement, my lego Dino T Rex has a crack in it arm beam so had to get a whole new torso. Is it totally free or is it on account?

    • admin February 25, 2015, 4:20 PM

      Nicolas, as mentioned in the article, the replacement service is free if the issue is LEGO’s fault (missing pieces right out of the box, or pieces breaking right after assembling them the first time). The Dino sets have been discontinued though quite a while ago so you won’t be able to get a replacement for the broken arm.

    • Ollantigh February 26, 2015, 2:02 PM

      If lego doesn’t do that part anymore (worth asking first), then i have a look either on ebay for collections of junk and try to spot your missing part (old lego kits are excellent for hunting for, i had a missing piece from 918 and found it in another seller for pennies mixed in with some odd junk)OR i go to bricklink and hunt specially for the piece i need- the unfort point is that restrictions are in place, like mininum buy and there not cheap… i once paid out £4 for a lego technic piece that was very rare indeed and i required over 20 of them!

  • kai February 26, 2015, 7:45 AM

    Yea, I’ve been doing that, hope it will help 😉 !

  • Fikko3107 February 28, 2015, 10:54 AM

    I should probably note that they even ship outside of the US! Inconsistently, but they do nonetheless. They actually heard that some of the pieces I got was broken, and they shipped it here to Indonesia from who knows where. Quite impressive, in my opinion.

    Personally though, I would love it if LEGO is willing to sell some of these pieces they can offer to replace. I lose tons of parts, and I’m careless enough that some clips have broken; I mean, if, say, I can use the Pick-a-Brick service to replace said parts, their option is pretty limited, and my luck would have it that the part I lost/broke is not in there…

    • admin February 28, 2015, 11:52 AM

      Fikko, LEGO does sell pieces through the replacement service as well. I’m not sure though if they would ship to your country, but you can try. You go to the same website, just choose “I want to buy a piece”. It will walk you through the same process of selecting a set, picking the pieces you want from that set, then you pay for it. Shipping is a flat fee. 🙂

      • Fikko3107 March 1, 2015, 12:01 AM

        Oh wow! Seriously? I have some acquaintances going to the US. I might just try to employ this service…

        • admin March 1, 2015, 8:42 AM

          Keep in mind that the parts are sent from Europe, just like with PAB and replacement parts. So allows 2-3 weeks for the pieces to arrive.

  • Clumsybumsy March 15, 2015, 2:36 PM

    I once step on a 5×3 L shape Light grey technic piece when i was young and that broke. They send me a new one and even a mr. freeze keychain with it.
    Later I had a Grievous head of which the clip broke during assembling the figure. I also had a white 1×6 in The Grand Emporium that should have been tan(thank [fill it in yourself] for my collection of parts). I’ve also had numerous occasions with cracked cheese slopes. I usually use the cheese slopes from the extra pieces if I replace them and the contact the customer service. Of course there are the super battle droid legs which break more often than not.

  • Bobby August 5, 2015, 9:50 PM

    I just recently got the Volvo 350 and 4 pieces were missing. Went over the instruction at least 4 times because I couldn’t believe it – but it does happen.

    I remember when I bought the 8862 Backhoe loader (still my favorite set after 25 years, I was missing a few small bushings, and had a cracked piece, straight out of an (undamaged/unopened) box! I was depressed for about a week – didn’t know about any such Lego service back then – but the nice lady at the store I bought it at ordered the parts for me and I had them 2 weeks later.

    Overall Lego has been really nice about missing pieces, but it’s certainly not as rare as you make it out to be – there must be many people out there – myself included – who simply replace the part with one from a prior set, or work around it – as I did with the Volvo – and never call Lego.

    • admin August 6, 2015, 11:29 AM

      Bobby, thanks for sharing. Of course we all have our own experiences, however the point is that LEGO has an excellent and well-documented track-record of being accurate, and even if they make an occasional mistake they will replace the missing parts with no questions asked. In my experience 99% of the time the missing part fell to the floor during building, got stuck in another piece, or is still in the packaging. Those inner bags are particularly good at hiding pieces. In my entire lifetime, and after opening and building hundreds of sets, I have experienced one single missing part in a LEGO Mixels bag, and another one in a free LEGO Elves polybag. In all forums and personal discussions I had with other LEGO fans, this is the norm. However even with LEGO’s impeccable track record of accuracy, if they make a 0.001% mistake, that would still mean a few hundred people might experience a missing part, and they always fix it. 😉

  • Dave October 9, 2015, 12:58 AM

    I have been building Legos since I was a kid in the 70s and now my kids are really in to it as well. I have been collecting the star wars lego set for us since they partnered with lego and have never had an issue…… until now when we bought the new X-Wing (Poe’s) and it was missing bag 1 of 5. A bit distressed, I went back to target and they were more than happy to exchange it but they didn’t have another. So I called lego and couldn’t believe the level of customer service I received. Being a Lego VIP member, they had all my info and we’re more than happy to replace Bag 1. But it gets better. The agent asked if I was missing anything else and I said “I don’t believe so” but I was, the sticker sheet. I would have totally missed it and he made sure I would not. These days ot is hard to find good customer service, but after my experience with Lego my faith in humanity and customer service has been redeemed. I hope to pass the Lego Legacy to my children and their children’schildren.

    • admin October 9, 2015, 10:25 AM

      Yes, LEGO’s customer service is excellent. Thanks for sharing your story, and enjoy your X-wing! 😀

  • Andrew Ackerman November 6, 2015, 12:47 AM

    I just bought the new arctic truck and it had two left-hand pieces instead of a left and a right. I am annoyed to spend a couple hundred dollars and not have the correct parts. Their business is selling pieces that people put together — if they can’t do their job then they’ve failed at why they exist. Not happy.

    • admin November 6, 2015, 9:55 AM

      Andrew, you can just call LEGO’s customer service and they will send you the correct part. Dealing with millions of tiny LEGO elements, mistakes like this can happen. Although very rare. LEGO is known for their accuracy and excellent customer service. 🙂

  • Emily January 23, 2018, 4:45 AM

    I have an ewok village set and in the tenth bag there was a total of 72 missing pieces. I was able to finish the rest of the bags. I am currently awaiting the missing pieces.

    • admin January 23, 2018, 11:48 AM

      Emily, wow, that’s a lot of pieces missing! Good to hear that the replacement parts are already on their way. 🙂

  • Rebecca Howell February 25, 2018, 10:00 PM

    My sons have received three sets in the last few months and in each set at least one piece has broken. In the two Ninjago sets there has been numerous pieces that have broken. I have been able to order replacements but I can’t help but wonder if there’s something different about the way they’re made now or something…

    • admin February 26, 2018, 9:18 PM

      Rebecca, it is very rare to have missing or broken pieces in LEGO sets, so you may have just received sets from a bad batch. LEGO’s quality control is excellent though, so they will take all the information necessary from you to track down where the issue was and correct any problems. In addition, their customer service will replace the parts for you. With millions of pieces produced on a regular basis, some problems are bound to happen even with the most vigilant quality control. Due to the popularity of the brand, LEGO’s factories are running at full capacity 24/7. This is a good thing for the company and fans, but it also means that issues can slip through more often.

  • Brackin Jennings September 19, 2020, 10:29 AM

    I have the entire collection of LEGO Dimensions. I recently decided to get back in the game. I’ve discovered that several (10+) of the same piece (1×1 plate with hook) have snapped and can’t hold the item anymore. Also, I have a few toy tags that won’t read. I’ve contacted LEGO and still waiting for a reply. I’m really thinking about locating a store and just buying them. However, the toy tags will be harder to find.

  • Peter February 9, 2021, 4:19 PM

    I have bought two sets within the past month and both sets have had missing pieces. It’s frustrating and annoying. I build the kits one packet at a time, and layout each pieces within the packet before building, Unfortunately, in both these sets they were missing two to three pieces. So I have to put in a request for the missing pieces and hopefully I will get them within a couple weeks so I can finish the two kits.

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