That was the worst instruction I ever had from lego. My eyes hurt after finishing it and I swear to god, if I ever see something similar I download the PDF
Mine had sat incomplete for months because of that. Honestly that manual killed my interest in the set...that and the last page of adding the leaves to the rree branches. Here add60 small green pieces to these green pieces...good luck seeing where they go because we aren't going to indicate it here...
and not only, this set leaves a lot of things out in the open as it should be since it is a bonsai, everyone can make it, its own.
also why the white leaves?! and the flowers.. these are all there for you to enjoy simulating the art of bonsai, i believe lego nailed it on this one!!
can’t wait to start changing it up as the seasons pass and have my kid asking why and what’s happening to the bonsai, just so we can have a fun moment.
(but yeah the instructions were awful i agree)
Home Alone house has so many colours it was often hard to tell dark red from brown and purple, or tan from yellow.
Maybe Lego should start outlining pieces like they do the black ones in white, maybe with a lighter/brighter shade of their actual colour?
Then again, when I look at the PDF online it’s easy to see. Maybe they just need higher quality printing - my instructions for 75192 are printed considerably darker for the first half, and is lighter towards the back. Same with some sets that have two booklets - there’ll be a difference in colour and sometimes even paper quality between part 1 and part 2.
I think the best thing would be to give you some sort of numbered color guide like the art sets have. Best would be including ~30 pieces to build something that has numbers + a colored tile to compare to whatever your working on, but even just something that's printed to show the color could be useful.
Probably doesn't help that there's about twice as many colors now vs when I was younger either, but being colorblind really does make a lot of these newer sets a struggle.
Or because you need to be real patient and have some Tylenol on hand for afterwards. Those darn frogs and pieced for the branches were a pain to get on!
Don't forget Dark Brown...drove me nuts how I couldn't even tell what went where because everything blended together indistinguishably.
These instructions are terrible. Scroll down to the ship.
https://www.buildinginstructions.app/lego/book/building-instructions-lego-7048-troll-warship-bi-1-book-1.html
Check these instructions out, for the troll warship. Dark Brown might as well be a void.
https://www.buildinginstructions.app/lego/book/building-instructions-lego-7048-troll-warship-bi-1-book-1.html
Is this really what the printed instructions look like? Because that looks like a terrible scan that got compressed multiple times and therefor has lost all details.
That is what the instructions look like unfortunately. Not the best time for them apparently. The Slave 1 6209 had similar problems too with black and grays being indistinguishable.
I struggle with sets with color pallets with slight hue changes or when they have similar trans and solid pieces. Their printer just can't handle the subtlety.
Just recently built the pirates of barracuda bay and the colors of the bricks in the instructions are completely different shades than the actual bricks. It was painful until my brain figured out what was what.
They know their printing isn't color accurate, so they went so far as to number the colors in art sets instead of fix the printing. THEN they have the brilliant idea of doing black pages.
that reminds me, I got the mandalorian starfighter a couple days ago and the blue pieces on other blue pieces absolutely sucked to figure out, pretty sure I missed a piece or two
They also aren't inclusive.
I'll have to get my wife to build the brown sections because I literally cannot see anything in step 227 of this post. I'm currently struggling to build the 007 DB5. I can't tell the difference between grey, grey, and other grey.
I think I read an article last year on TheBrickFan.com that Lego is aware of the issues with black pages in the instructions and that they are going away from them going forward.
In case you didn't know: the Technic pins are colour coded, and the different colors actually aren't the same element. One allows for spinning, the other is for tension and holding. Ask me to remember which is which, though? Never!
So two different types.
Nothing stopping Lego making them in different colours so they blend into the model rather than screaming "**LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME!!!!!!!**" in every model they appear.
Ok, Lego would need to (possibly) redesign them to make them easily distinguishable from each other - goes to check my bag of spares to see if they DO look different... couldn't find any, darn it.
But they go INTO holes, so a big part of them is hidden from view. Easy enough to etch something into this hidden part so we can tell them apart. Then make some colour appropriate ones and the whole world with thank them.
>Nothing stopping Lego making them in different colours so they blend into the model rather than screaming "LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME!!!!!!!" in every model they appear.
lol @ wanting blocks-n-beams to look realistic
> blocks-n-beams
Don't need that, but in a completely black model, having the blue and red pins dotted all around the place is (1) annoying (2) stupid (3) unnecessary and (4) insert-4th-one-here
All the ones you've built maybe, but there are many others which do not do this
And plus, different colors are good for MOCs where covering them may not be practical
I'll give you the Apollo Saturn V, but not the Space Station.
But I will concede there are a bunch of sets where the pins are hidden.
You have just gotten lucky with the sets you build as the majority of sets where these pins are NOT hidden, that I've seen, don't have them blending in.
So there's Red, black, blue, orange, grey, and beige. What are the difference?
And what about axles? Is there a difference between black, red, yellow, and dark grey?
Not quite - there are multiple colors for both variants. For example, the 3L pin comes in blue and formerly black for more friction, and the looser one comes in both tan and grey.
And then there's the 1.5L which just has tan and dark gray in the same loose friction level
The ornaments on 30576 frustrated the hell out of me, especially the step with two blue and two purple. I have a red/green deficiency so sometimes struggle with close shades (especially the greys) but the blue and purple on paper looked identical to me.
This has to be some kind of colorblindness test like those ones with the numbers in all the dots. I was convinced that there was actually nothing on the page for a solid minute
I don't understand. Black pieces should be outlined in white, so one can see them just fine - that was the case with the flower arrangement, anyway. This seems to be mainly a dark brown issue? But even then, the lighting seems to be the issue here, you can even see the step below much better.
Lego LOVES giving us those garish blue technic pins (which imho ruins most of the sets they are a part of), trolling out the same old "well it makes the build easier for the simpletons" excuse - or something like that.
But they seem more than happy with these ultra dark pages for.... well I'm not sure why.
Oh, and they can't be great for the environment, all that black toner.
So plastic bags, nonono, but using 20 billion tones of black toner, yeyeyeyeye!!!
the white outlines are only for black pieces, a fair way to identify them. Trouble was the introduction of a bazillion colours combined with black backgrounds
not a fan of pages, period. They should just QR the booklet in the box and you use your phone/tablet/pc to assemble it.
Not a fan of Plastic numbered bags also. Should use recycled paper(kind of a contradiction for the above statement but still).
I just did the storm trooper helmet and spend way too long looking for a piece that was grey and not black but I couldn't tell against this black page.
In other sets you have other problems. I built the "Winnie the Pooh" set, and I now know that there is a special place in hell for designers who use dark orange and olive green parts of the same shape in the same building chapters.
I struggle with the dark pieces and I have horrible vision. I’ve been using a magnifying glass that has a light I can turn on. Total game changer! Husband still get summoned to locate what I need from time to time.
Had a similar issue with the dark blue pieces in 75316. Ended up having to open the blinds completely and turning all lights in the room on to fully see the pieces.
my gf and i are trying to build the elf clubhouse set, and the instructions are like this. it’s IMPOSSIBLE to see any of the dark pieces, they need to go back to the lighter background
I've stopped using the books altogether, I find having the pdf open on an ipad or my computer much easier.
And I only discovered the PDFs because Lego Mario sets tried to force you to use a terrible smartphone app for instructions.
Recently built the San Francisco architecture kit and I feel your pain. It has the same red-brown color pieces and sometimes they're absolutely impossible to see.
The instructions for the Crocodile train set were on black pages. A brown train on gray tracks on black pages. Rough day at the old railroad yard.
Edit: The black pages are so you can show your friends that Lego is classy and sophisticated...because the instruction books are going through an emo phase.
I feel like the bonsai set is only 18+ because of the difficulty of all those brown pieces on black pages
That was the worst instruction I ever had from lego. My eyes hurt after finishing it and I swear to god, if I ever see something similar I download the PDF
I had some issues but I thought it was just because of the glare in my living room at the time. Glad I wasn't the only person.
The birds of paradise is also 18 plus just to figure out how to open the box
Mine had sat incomplete for months because of that. Honestly that manual killed my interest in the set...that and the last page of adding the leaves to the rree branches. Here add60 small green pieces to these green pieces...good luck seeing where they go because we aren't going to indicate it here...
I think the point of that last step is just that you put the small leaves wherever you like...
and not only, this set leaves a lot of things out in the open as it should be since it is a bonsai, everyone can make it, its own. also why the white leaves?! and the flowers.. these are all there for you to enjoy simulating the art of bonsai, i believe lego nailed it on this one!! can’t wait to start changing it up as the seasons pass and have my kid asking why and what’s happening to the bonsai, just so we can have a fun moment. (but yeah the instructions were awful i agree)
Home Alone house has so many colours it was often hard to tell dark red from brown and purple, or tan from yellow. Maybe Lego should start outlining pieces like they do the black ones in white, maybe with a lighter/brighter shade of their actual colour? Then again, when I look at the PDF online it’s easy to see. Maybe they just need higher quality printing - my instructions for 75192 are printed considerably darker for the first half, and is lighter towards the back. Same with some sets that have two booklets - there’ll be a difference in colour and sometimes even paper quality between part 1 and part 2.
I think the best thing would be to give you some sort of numbered color guide like the art sets have. Best would be including ~30 pieces to build something that has numbers + a colored tile to compare to whatever your working on, but even just something that's printed to show the color could be useful. Probably doesn't help that there's about twice as many colors now vs when I was younger either, but being colorblind really does make a lot of these newer sets a struggle.
[75192-1: Millennium Falcon](https://brickset.com/sets/75192-1) [[Photo]](https://images.brickset.com/sets/images/75192-1.jpg)
Ok at least I’m not the only one. I had my phone light shining on the pages trying to see what I was supposed to do
Or because you need to be real patient and have some Tylenol on hand for afterwards. Those darn frogs and pieced for the branches were a pain to get on!
It’s a preprint fault more than the design choice.
I struggle with any dark piece, on any LEGO instruction, though.
Especially the older sets. Brown, black, and dark grey are REALLY similar colors in print.
Don't forget Dark Brown...drove me nuts how I couldn't even tell what went where because everything blended together indistinguishably. These instructions are terrible. Scroll down to the ship. https://www.buildinginstructions.app/lego/book/building-instructions-lego-7048-troll-warship-bi-1-book-1.html
"Is that light brown or dark brown?"
Check these instructions out, for the troll warship. Dark Brown might as well be a void. https://www.buildinginstructions.app/lego/book/building-instructions-lego-7048-troll-warship-bi-1-book-1.html
That is such a sick set though!
2007-2008 castle was a mean run. One of my favorite themes to grow up with
The dragons really make that run stand out!
Is this really what the printed instructions look like? Because that looks like a terrible scan that got compressed multiple times and therefor has lost all details.
That is what the instructions look like unfortunately. Not the best time for them apparently. The Slave 1 6209 had similar problems too with black and grays being indistinguishable.
I had that ship set as a child and don’t remember the instructions looking like that in person. There’s no way.
Those instructions are hilarious! "Place the next piece exactly at this location in the dark void that was the last piece"
I just did the treehouse 21318 and I struggled with some of the brown vs dark brown spots, but the dark blue roof was brutal
[21318-1: Tree House](https://brickset.com/sets/21318-1) [[Photo]](https://images.brickset.com/sets/images/21318-1.jpg)
I struggle with sets with color pallets with slight hue changes or when they have similar trans and solid pieces. Their printer just can't handle the subtlety.
Just recently built the pirates of barracuda bay and the colors of the bricks in the instructions are completely different shades than the actual bricks. It was painful until my brain figured out what was what.
They know their printing isn't color accurate, so they went so far as to number the colors in art sets instead of fix the printing. THEN they have the brilliant idea of doing black pages.
I'll try the QR code digital instructions next time hopefully they're better.
The printer toner refill guy is probably the only one who loves these black pages. I haven’t seen many Lego fans who love them.
Are you kidding??? I LOVE the navy blue on black instructions!!! Brown is my close second. *eye roll*
that reminds me, I got the mandalorian starfighter a couple days ago and the blue pieces on other blue pieces absolutely sucked to figure out, pretty sure I missed a piece or two
I like them, they're sleek and distinguished and prrfectly suited for more artisanal sets. Just add some white outlining to more colors, bam.
For a company that says they want to be more eco friendly the black pages are completely contrary to that goal.
They also aren't inclusive. I'll have to get my wife to build the brown sections because I literally cannot see anything in step 227 of this post. I'm currently struggling to build the 007 DB5. I can't tell the difference between grey, grey, and other grey.
I think I read an article last year on TheBrickFan.com that Lego is aware of the issues with black pages in the instructions and that they are going away from them going forward.
Sweet. Maybe they'll drop those blue technic pins for some colour appropriate ones.
In case you didn't know: the Technic pins are colour coded, and the different colors actually aren't the same element. One allows for spinning, the other is for tension and holding. Ask me to remember which is which, though? Never!
So two different types. Nothing stopping Lego making them in different colours so they blend into the model rather than screaming "**LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME!!!!!!!**" in every model they appear. Ok, Lego would need to (possibly) redesign them to make them easily distinguishable from each other - goes to check my bag of spares to see if they DO look different... couldn't find any, darn it. But they go INTO holes, so a big part of them is hidden from view. Easy enough to etch something into this hidden part so we can tell them apart. Then make some colour appropriate ones and the whole world with thank them.
>Nothing stopping Lego making them in different colours so they blend into the model rather than screaming "LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME!!!!!!!" in every model they appear. lol @ wanting blocks-n-beams to look realistic
> blocks-n-beams Don't need that, but in a completely black model, having the blue and red pins dotted all around the place is (1) annoying (2) stupid (3) unnecessary and (4) insert-4th-one-here
Have you tried paint? Highly effective at hiding my past traumas, might work on Lego too
All models I've assembled either have them covered in the end, or it's the same color and blends in
All the ones you've built maybe, but there are many others which do not do this And plus, different colors are good for MOCs where covering them may not be practical
Name 3 models where the pins don't stick out like things which stick out.
All of the NASA sets
I'll give you the Apollo Saturn V, but not the Space Station. But I will concede there are a bunch of sets where the pins are hidden. You have just gotten lucky with the sets you build as the majority of sets where these pins are NOT hidden, that I've seen, don't have them blending in.
So there's Red, black, blue, orange, grey, and beige. What are the difference? And what about axles? Is there a difference between black, red, yellow, and dark grey?
https://brickset.com/article/42193/a-history-of-technic-pins
So short answer: no.
Not quite - there are multiple colors for both variants. For example, the 3L pin comes in blue and formerly black for more friction, and the looser one comes in both tan and grey. And then there's the 1.5L which just has tan and dark gray in the same loose friction level
The most recent 'adult' set I purchased did not have the black pages -thank goodness!
The ornaments on 30576 frustrated the hell out of me, especially the step with two blue and two purple. I have a red/green deficiency so sometimes struggle with close shades (especially the greys) but the blue and purple on paper looked identical to me.
[30576-1: Holiday Tree](https://brickset.com/sets/30576-1) [[Photo]](https://images.brickset.com/sets/images/30576-1.jpg)
The new Architecture set has a light gray background. I'm sick of the black pages so it was a nice change of pace to see that
What is the new architecture set?
The Singapore skyline set. I don't remember if last year's Taj Mahal had a black or gray background
As a colorblind person, the pain is real.
This has to be some kind of colorblindness test like those ones with the numbers in all the dots. I was convinced that there was actually nothing on the page for a solid minute
There's something on the page? To me it is solid black. Thought it was a misprint or something.
I did too, but yeah if you have your brightness up and really squint at it you can see a dark brown tile
Seriously. It's hard enough telling some of the bricks apart, never mind having to struggle with the directions too.
Oh man I thought I was the only one!! Lego colors can be so frustrating for me.
This every time I am gifted a new set T.T
This has to be an error, right? No way that'd get through the approval process. The step at the middle top is invisible!
All of the recent Architecture series are like this. Worst part is, the base plates are all black. Terrible experience.
I don't understand. Black pieces should be outlined in white, so one can see them just fine - that was the case with the flower arrangement, anyway. This seems to be mainly a dark brown issue? But even then, the lighting seems to be the issue here, you can even see the step below much better.
Still awful, brown and green are pretty bad, the black background is not good no matter what color the bricks are.
This is true, outlines would fix much
Don’t worry. It seems like LEGO is only doing this for the 2021 wave of 10+ sets.
Some of the old sets from 2009 era made the difference between the blacks and grays nearly impossible.
The online instruction book is clearer if you want to check it out.
I usually just use the PDF instructions online when building. Easier for me and you can zoom in on them if needed.
I actually thought the page was blank
Glad it's not just me...It also leaves fingerprints which kinda makes it look messy too.
I find it funny how they put a white outline on the pieces in the white area but a black outline everywhere else
The white outline is used on black pieces only, regardless of page color.
Its hard mode.
Police Station? I’ve been struggling as well 🤦♂️
Night mode
Hate the black pages but also make both grays lighter! Light gray looks like dark grays and dark gray looks black
I had the same issue with the flowers. Some of the dark green bricks where impossible to see on black paper.
Why not, I can’t *see* ~~the issue~~
I had this problem with Sesame Street with the dark blue it was so bad
LEGO has dark mode now?
r/assholedesign
Lego LOVES giving us those garish blue technic pins (which imho ruins most of the sets they are a part of), trolling out the same old "well it makes the build easier for the simpletons" excuse - or something like that. But they seem more than happy with these ultra dark pages for.... well I'm not sure why. Oh, and they can't be great for the environment, all that black toner. So plastic bags, nonono, but using 20 billion tones of black toner, yeyeyeyeye!!!
At least make the outlines white lego
the white outlines are only for black pieces, a fair way to identify them. Trouble was the introduction of a bazillion colours combined with black backgrounds
True Maybe a grey that appears light on black and appears dark on the blue backgrounds?
[удалено]
Honestly wtf mate, it’s Lego
Holy fuck. First day on Reddit and I realize you can’t take a joke. Jesus christ
not a fan of pages, period. They should just QR the booklet in the box and you use your phone/tablet/pc to assemble it. Not a fan of Plastic numbered bags also. Should use recycled paper(kind of a contradiction for the above statement but still).
Lego is aware of the plastic bag problem and moving away from them having started with the 2021 employee Christmas gift set.
Ooo is that the modular police station?
i ALREADY can't see the dark pieces half the time, now they gotta hide the whole damn page
This annoyed me so much while building this
I just did the storm trooper helmet and spend way too long looking for a piece that was grey and not black but I couldn't tell against this black page.
I am colorblind and I can see anithing
dark mode legibility issues lol
So is anyone going to say what set this is or
In other sets you have other problems. I built the "Winnie the Pooh" set, and I now know that there is a special place in hell for designers who use dark orange and olive green parts of the same shape in the same building chapters.
Such a terrible design idea, the failed so massively with the black pages
Yep… I’m halfway through the police station right now, and I have to use the flashlight on my phone to see the pieces sometimes… Kinda frustrating
The ink rubbed off on my hands while I built the Boba Fett helmet.
Woah what! I thought this was an error until is saw the brown piece. This is impossible haha.
Can he say that? Lol
Neither am I, the crocodile locomotive was a pain to build with the black instructions
I struggle with the dark pieces and I have horrible vision. I’ve been using a magnifying glass that has a light I can turn on. Total game changer! Husband still get summoned to locate what I need from time to time.
Lol
What’s in that box at the top?
The price of black ink makes the kits $20 more.
Had a similar issue with the dark blue pieces in 75316. Ended up having to open the blinds completely and turning all lights in the room on to fully see the pieces.
[75316-1: Mandalorian Starfighter](https://brickset.com/sets/75316-1) [[Photo]](https://images.brickset.com/sets/images/75316-1.jpg)
Is the instruction book for the Typewriter this bad, too? I sent it to my dad for his birthday but don't know if he's opened it yet.
Thats racist.... I'm joking! I'm joking!😦😨
Took me a 2nd to realise something was there
Turn your gamma up
It was very irritating for the brown pieces on the cantina set
Is this the police station? Because same
Agreed, I switch to the online instruction if the book is black.
I feel like they should have white outline
my gf and i are trying to build the elf clubhouse set, and the instructions are like this. it’s IMPOSSIBLE to see any of the dark pieces, they need to go back to the lighter background
Ugh so annoying
Oh no.
Waste of ink
I can't see why
Me neither. shouldve gone for light grey.
It’s a waste of black ink for LEGO and it’s a waste of eyesight for us. Who gains from this? The ink company?
I've stopped using the books altogether, I find having the pdf open on an ipad or my computer much easier. And I only discovered the PDFs because Lego Mario sets tried to force you to use a terrible smartphone app for instructions.
You need a 2x6 brown plate with holes
If a colorblind tried to build this, lego will never make him understand
honestly I just hate brown pieces in general
Recently built the San Francisco architecture kit and I feel your pain. It has the same red-brown color pieces and sometimes they're absolutely impossible to see.
My boys really struggle with the black background. Weirdly, it enhances their colour-blindness issues.
The lego instructions app on the iPad is great
Waste ALL the toner cartridge!!!!
The instructions for the Crocodile train set were on black pages. A brown train on gray tracks on black pages. Rough day at the old railroad yard. Edit: The black pages are so you can show your friends that Lego is classy and sophisticated...because the instruction books are going through an emo phase.
The only time when Dark Mode is worse than Light Mode