>>8939081Plastic quality is definitely the biggest culprit for why parts crack like hell these days.
Originally Lego got their pellets pre-colored by Bayer which, you guessed it, is too expensive for those Danish cheapskates so instead they're now going with translucent pellets that have the color pigments added during the moulding process which also results in the recently quite rampant coloring issues.
Anyway, whatever they're using now is way more rigid than what they used like 15 years ago so parts, especially one stud wide ones like those cheese slopes or those small arches, get torn apart over time since they can't handle the constant stress from the clutch powers.
What got hit the hardest by this issue are clip pieces which WILL develop microscopic cracks tear now over time due to this shit.
Back then those 1x1 bricks with clips and square flags were actually made from a softer, more elastic plastic and actual bricks with clips had this split clip design as seen here to reduce stress.
Sure, they weren't 100% safe, either, but at least they put SOME thought behind preventing that issue.
