Additional Notes:The contents of the bonus boxes was intended to vary.
The color of the gray parts in the tubs has been found to vary: either they are older "classic" grays or newer "bluish" grays, and generally all one or the other, but see below.
Here are some pointers to help identify the variations. They are anecdotal evidence gathered from several high-volume sellers on BrickLink. But please note none of these should be regarded as absolutes. They may be somewhat redundant in nature, and they may change as more information develops.
The bonus boxes have numbers pressed into the side. Number 2417 is a box containing many minifig heads.
The "minifig head" bonus box comes attached to a tub that has the OLD grays.
The other bonus boxes come attached to a tub that has the NEW grays.
The instruction books are different sizes between the tubs. A smaller book comes with the NEW grays, a larger book comes with the OLD grays. The books appear to have the same content, just one is printed smaller.
The NEW gray tubs have 9 part bags, the OLD gray tubs have 10 part bags. None of the bags are packed the same between the two.
The bags in the NEW gray tubs are mostly of the perforated variety.
The bags in the OLD gray tubs are all solid, non-perforated bags.
Tubs that had two plastic straps (around the girth) holding them to the bonus box had the old grays and ones with three straps (one extra, lengthwise) had new grays.
The weight of the bonus boxes can distinguish them. If they are near 890 grams (range 886 to 898 grams), it is the "monotone" selection with many large 1x3x5 light grey bricks. If it weighs under 750 grams (from 670 to 748 grams), it is the "wide variety" bonus box.
Tubs stamped '2714' and '2814' contain the old grays, with the bonus box with the greater variety of parts, and are attached with two parallel packing straps around the long axis of the tub. Tubs stamped '3534' contain the new grays, with the bonus box containing five similar bags,
and are attached with three packing straps, two around the long axis of the tub and one around the short axis of the tub.
Regarding the 1 x 1 bricks with grim eye patterns: some tubs have dark gray, some have dark bluish gray, some have a mix, and there is no pattern to it.
This information is repeated in the catalog entries for each of the two BrickLink-defined sub-sets composing this set.
The contents of the bonus boxes was intended to vary.
The color of the gray parts in the tubs has been found to vary: either they are older "classic" grays or newer "bluish" grays, and generally all one or the other, but see below.
Here are some pointers to help identify the variations. They are anecdotal evidence gathered from several high-volume sellers on BrickLink. But please note none of these should be regarded as absolutes. They may be somewhat redundant in nature, and they may change as more information develops.
The bonus boxes have numbers pressed into the side. Number 2417 is a box containing many minifig heads.
The "minifig head" bonus box comes attached to a tub that has the OLD grays.
The other bonus boxes come attached to a tub that has the NEW grays.
The instruction books are different sizes between the tubs. A smaller book comes with the NEW grays, a larger book comes with the OLD grays. The books appear to have the same content, just one is printed smaller.
The NEW gray tubs have 9 part bags, the OLD gray tubs have 10 part bags. None of the bags are packed the same between the two.
The bags in the NEW gray tubs are mostly of the perforated variety.
The bags in the OLD gray tubs are all solid, non-perforated bags.
Tubs that had two plastic straps (around the girth) holding them to the bonus box had the old grays and ones with three straps (one extra, lengthwise) had new grays.
The weight of the bonus boxes can distinguish them. If they are near 890 grams (range 886 to 898 grams), it is the "monotone" selection with many large 1x3x5 light grey bricks. If it weighs under 750 grams (from 670 to 748 grams), it is the "wide variety" bonus box.
Tubs stamped '2714' and '2814' contain the old grays, with the bonus box with the greater variety of parts, and are attached with two parallel packing straps around the long axis of the tub. Tubs stamped '3534' contain the new grays, with the bonus box containing five similar bags,
and are attached with three packing straps, two around the long axis of the tub and one around the short axis of the tub.
Regarding the 1 x 1 bricks with grim eye patterns: some tubs have dark gray, some have dark bluish gray, some have a mix, and there is no pattern to it.
This information is repeated in the catalog entries for each of the two BrickLink-defined sub-sets composing this set.