Why the Tan Kanoka Exists

[Illuminatus]

So I recently came into possession of a bunch of "Tan Kanoka" or more precisely, tan throwing discs. Upon close inspection, I couldn't help but notice that two of the discs, both branded 01-1, had an identical rough texture in the middle. Here is one such disc as compared to a 01-2:

 

My assumption is that at least one out of every eight discs had such a texture and hence an entire batch of these discs was discarded because they were considered defective. And they'd probably been sitting in a store room somewhere until someone in 2005 decided they might as well give them away at LEGOLAND Billund.

The same logic may very well apply to the black throwing disc.

[chuckschwa]

There is the possibility that the some of the Tanoka are actually Rock/Granite's Slizer/Throwbots Discs. Perhaps someone scrubbed off the printed illustration to make a quick buck and the process left the discs a little rough. Just a theory.
I checked the numbers under my Tan colored slizer discs and the numbers don't seem to have any correlation between the set or pip numbers of each disc. The numbers also don't seem to suggest a sequence of any kind (I have two 01-4 and two 01-8 discs). Incidentally, my Millenia disc (which is Tan with a metallic gold coating) is 01-5.

[Illuminatus]

On 5/10/2020 at 2:06 AM, chuckschwa said:

There is the possibility that the some of the Tanoka are actually Rock/Granite's Slizer/Throwbots Discs.

Well I mean it's not really a possibility lol; I'd say it's pretty certain that all of the Tanoka are Rock/Granite discs, as that color of discs was only produced in 1999. The mold and inventory number also checks out 100%. The black throwing discs on the other hand were produced in 1999, 2000 and 2001, so their origin might be different.

On 5/10/2020 at 2:06 AM, chuckschwa said:

Perhaps someone scrubbed off the printed illustration to make a quick buck and the process left the discs a little rough. Just a theory.

I have yet to discover a method of removing print from LEGO pieces that doesn't leave so much as a hint of tampering. In that respect, I find it doubtful that anyone would attempt to sell discs with the print erased on the actual market, although I'm sure it's crossed plenty of people's minds.

Anyway, the batch I have has various (production?) numbers, ranging from 01-1 to 01-8 (possibly indicating that the molding machine produced these discs at 8 pieces at a time) and as I already mentioned, only the 01-1 copies have that distinctive rough texture which is more or less identical on the two discs and appears a bit raised. So I would safely exclude the possibility of these having been scrubbed off. I can't fathom of a scrubbing technique that would produce precisely this type of roughness, let alone twice.

On 5/10/2020 at 2:06 AM, chuckschwa said:

I checked the numbers under my Tan colored slizer discs and the numbers don't seem to have any correlation between the set or pip numbers of each disc. The numbers also don't seem to suggest a sequence of any kind (I have two 01-4 and two 01-8 discs).

That's not surprising; I would assume that these discs (ranging from 01-1 to 01-8) were produced in massive heaps and then quite possibly jumbled together before being assembled for branding. Only in the end were they assorted into lots according to each set's inventory so it makes sense that there are mixed types of discs in your sets, just as every individual piece most likely has a number on it that appears haphazard.

On 5/10/2020 at 2:06 AM, chuckschwa said:

Incidentally, my Millenia disc (which is Tan with a metallic gold coating) is 01-5.

You know, these tan throwing discs may very well have been originally intended as Millennium/Millennia discs, now that you mentioned it!

In any case, I still stand by my initial assumption that these only exist because they were discarded. Think about it: you run a batch of several thousand discs one day, then you discover that some of them have an odd texture. You inspect the machine and realize that it's gotten slightly deformed (maybe from overheating) resulting in 12.5% of the produced discs being substandard in quality. Now you can either start going through the pile by hand to pick out the shoddy discs or you can discard the whole pile as defective, quite possibly earning yourself a pay deduction too.