Drilled or undrilled parts

Petitbout

Hello everyone,

how do I know if a set needs a pierced piece or not? for example for references 3023 or 3004 there are some with a small hole and others without. Is there a way to know which one to use for a set, for example for the 6766-1?
thank you in advance for your help

P6tu

I am not sure, what do you mean by pierced or not, but I use ReBrickable as my source of identifying parts in sets and to see differences in different versions of the sets. At the same time I am also able to check different part variations there separately too.

Regarding set 6766, I do not see any pierced part:
https://rebrickable.com/sets/6766-1/rapid-river-village/?inventory=1#parts

Petitbout

if you take several ref 3004s from your stock for example, and you return them, there are some where the central tube is pierced (generally the recent parts) and full on the older ones. Same for the 3023, 3623, 3710 etc.

Petitbout

photo for example

P6tu

Ah, now I understand. There are MANY such mold variations and according to my knowledge, such mold variations are not paid attention to. If there is absolutely no difference in using those parts as alternate parts, then those are ignored (by my understanding). If the mold variation does affect the parts usability like ... Umh, maybe this explains a bit better the situation:
https://rebrickable.com/parts/4859/wedge-plate-3-x-4-without-stud-notches/

The 4895 can not be used in some cases instead of 48183 or 90194, so it isn't just mold variation but an actual alternate part and if I am ordering 4895 and the seller differentiates mold variation, then I expect to get 4895.

48189 and 90194 can be interchanged and do not hinder any build, therefor those are just minor mold variations and are by my standard the same mold and not alternate parts so if I order from a store who differentiates mold variations 48189 and I receive 90194, then I do not mind that at all.

I think the biggest issue comes from the choises of words. Everything is mold variation, but not everything is an alternate mold. So if a store differentiates molds, does the store differentiate all molds? Because there are SOOO MANY mold variations and one such part is https://rebrickable.com/parts/60897/plate-special-1-x-1-with-clip-vertical-thick-open-o-clip/ .

P6tu

Here is the part that you were talking about in your initial post:
https://rebrickable.com/parts/3065/brick-1-x-2-without-bottom-tube/
So they are by mold number exactly the same, but there are different molds for 3004 and those differences are not recorded...

Jay37

It's likely there's no definitive answer to this. Moulds will change over time and if LEGO have extra stock from a previous mould they will use these up so there will be a transitional period where both may be used. Even if you had a sealed set to check, there's no guarantee that would be indicative of the inventory for all those sets.

P6tu

Just thinking out loud - I think that mold variations in BO context are concidered different mold numbers, but if the mold number is the same, then it is OK... But then again I don't absolutely see a reason, why someone should differentiate 48183 and 90194, because it has no different use cases from build perspective...

Petitbout

Thank you both for your explanations and I take note of them. so if I sell a set with drilled and undrilled 3004s, the buyer won't blame me then?

P6tu

If the difference is just about the drilled and undrilled 3004 molds, then the buyer should not complain. If you are talking about the same 6766 set, then there seem to be two versions 6766 and 6763. I do not know, what the actual differences are, but it is something to note.

Petitbout

Yes, I'm comparing them and for the moment I can't find any difference. This is why I wondered about the pierced parts. But bricklink (site with which I use) indicates that it is the same set and just the number changes because the year of release is different.

Petitbout

I have to leave, so I thank you again for your help and wish you a good evening and good fun