PAB Cups: What Did You Get?

[Follows Closely]

Get to know the employee that stocks the wall. Once you get an in with this guy/gal you can go in the back and the selection gets much better!

[Bearded Castle Guy]

One "trick" that hasn't been mentioned here (or recently) to updating the Brickbuilder or whatever the database is called, is to (if you can spare the room or the wall is mostly small parts) is to start a cup with 1x each piece in the wall, then fill.

When you sort at home, log each unique piece.

This seems the easiest way, but you do sacrifice some room in the cup to update with this method.

I suppose if you are really knowledgable you could write it all down or take pictures...

How easy this is to do depends upon how BIG the PaB wall is, for smaller walls this would work, for one like the MoA LIC (MPLS) not so much , especially since there are a few parts from my photo set that I've added 3 or 4 times now.... I don't necessarily wish to purchase one of each of these parts, especially since some of the parts I've been starting to get allow stacking (aka they're not tiles or cheese slopes)for maximum cost effective ratio.

I just fit a decent amount of bins into a photo and went click (most shots hold 24 bins in a 4 by 6 pattern, camera turned sideways). A few bins, mostly black are.. indistinct but I just shot a pics moved, framed shot the next one (some bins benefit from the overhead lighting more than other bins). A couple of the bins I'm going to leave un-updated as I don't remember the contents and the mass of black didn't turn out a recognizable shape. Next time I'll know to get a close up of any black pieces or others that look likely to show up as a dark indistinct mass (some of the dark brown parts were this way).

It's taken me a fair bit of time to get all the pieces entered so far and I've got 20ish more to go but i wanted to see it a bit more... accurate even if it's likely already changed somewhat already

[splatman]

A few bins, mostly black are.. indistinct but I just shot a pics moved, framed shot the next one (some bins benefit from the overhead lighting more than other bins). A couple of the bins I'm going to leave un-updated as I don't remember the contents and the mass of black didn't turn out a recognizable shape. Next time I'll know to get a close up of any black pieces or others that look likely to show up as a dark indistinct mass (some of the dark brown parts were this way).

Before taking pix, I put 1x of each dark-colored piece balanced atop their respective bins. Now, I have one piece against a white background.

Or you can take closeup shots of the "offending" bins. I've done that, too.

[meyerc13]

Bear in mind I collected my photos late on Sunday afternoon so the selection has a number of duplicates that will likely be consolidated when they get a chance to refill the bins on a less busy day/fresh shipments come in.

Really? That's the only LEGO store I've been to, and it's 300 miles away so I only get there every other month or so, but every time I've been they have had duplicate parts on the wall in several spots. And during my week in MN I generally visit on Monday or Tuesday, sometimes a second trip on Thursday or Friday. I've seen them change the parts between my visits within a same week, but every time they have duplicates. It's great having the bigger wall there, but duplicating so many parts on the wall negates some of the advantages of having the larger wall.

I could see it making sense if they have certain parts that are really popular, but generally the parts that show up doubled aren't the parts that would be in high demand.

[Bearded Castle Guy]

Really? That's the only LEGO store I've been to, and it's 300 miles away so I only get there every other month or so, but every time I've been they have had duplicate parts on the wall in several spots. And during my week in MN I generally visit on Monday or Tuesday, sometimes a second trip on Thursday or Friday. I've seen them change the parts between my visits within a same week, but every time they have duplicates. It's great having the bigger wall there, but duplicating so many parts on the wall negates some of the advantages of having the larger wall.

I could see it making sense if they have certain parts that are really popular, but generally the parts that show up doubled aren't the parts that would be in high demand.

I don't claim to know all the mysteries of the PaB wall, but at one point they normally got their trucks in on Monday's. One of the things about duplicate bins of parts is they don't seem to rush and empty out full bins of the duplicates, they let them sell down until they can combine them and then put out whichever part they've selected to from the new shipment, or if a bin is getting low and there's no bins to combine and no stock in back they seem to put the 'leftover' parts into the Grab-bag supply bin in back. A couple months ago I saw a guy refilling the wall in the afternoon, he was combining some bins, topping off others and in a couple of instances removing the low stock parts from a bin and changing that one out for a different piece. I know some of the folks in the local LUG get there once or twice a week since they live or work close and it's easy to take a couple of minutes to see what's new. My observations are based on what I've seen mostly, some guesses based on past retail experience and some on second hand knowledge from conservations with others.

More on topic I did pick up a large cup with primarly 4x4 Light Blueish Gray plates, some 2x2 Dark Blueish Gray corner pieces and a lot of trans-blue 1x1 round plates as filler, and Medium Blue 1x2's in the bottom circle of the cup. Not had a chance to count the parts wouldn't drive me insane keeping track of the numbers but it's a solid pack job.

Edited October 18, 2011 by Bearded Castle Guy

[Zeya]

I chatted a little bit with the guy who does the PAB part ordering at my local store (Santa Clara, CA). He was a really pleasant person. I learned a couple of useful things.

Apparently they don't put parts below a certain size on the wall, for fear of kids choking on them. He said he can't even order certain parts like that. I think he may have been talking about things even smaller than a 1x1 plate though, it wasn't clear. Also one of the more enticing parts (at least to him and maybe customers in general) was that they started carrying white horses. Oh, and he also said that new shipments come in twice a week or more. They're always refilling empty bins with new stuff.

He asked me what parts I would want on the wall, which was nice. I was kind of caught off guard. I told him anything green or plant-like would be nice, 1x1 or 1x2 bricks and plates. (And that prompted the discussion of smaller sized parts.) Told him we could live without tires and stuff like little hollow containers, lol.

But yeah, he sounded very open to suggestions and ideas of what to order. So you could probably ask to talk to the person who stocks the PAB wall at your local store and they might order what you want...

[Big Cam]

He asked me what parts I would want on the wall, which was nice. I was kind of caught off guard. I told him anything green or plant-like would be nice, 1x1 or 1x2 bricks and plates. (And that prompted the discussion of smaller sized parts.) Told him we could live without tires and stuff like little hollow containers, lol.

I love all the things you told him, hopefully he sends your feedback all the way up the LEGO chain so all stores are able to hear our voices.

[Sid Sidious]

One of the things about duplicate bins of parts is they don't seem to rush and empty out full bins of the duplicates, they let them sell down until they can combine them and then put out whichever part they've selected to from the new shipment, or if a bin is getting low and there's no bins to combine and no stock in back they seem to put the 'leftover' parts into the Grab-bag supply bin in back.

What is the grab-bag supply? I've heard it mentioned before, but not fully explained.

[Bearded Castle Guy]

What is the grab-bag supply? I've heard it mentioned before, but not fully explained.

The 'Grab Bag Supply' is what they fill Grab Bags with of course! Grab bags are prepackaged ziplock style bags that are filled with assorted parts form what tends to be 3 main sources.

One is damaged sets that are unable to be sold even at a discount, usually it means that these sets are ripped open vs merely being crushed.

Second is the 'Sweepings' from the floor in front of the PaB wall, parts that are dropped on the floor don't go back into the bins, they go into the 'supply bin' in back.

Third are the small leftover quantities that are insufficient to remain in the wall bins.

They run $7.99 and the one I got the other day looks like it's fill a little over a PaB cup and a half or so. I'm unsure if they fill by weight or volume, either is possible. While the parts are random it can be a good value for contents IF the parts are ones you can use...

There were some white fences, some white hinge bricks, white steering wheels, trans-red 1x1 round plates, plate click hinges, 1x2 black 45 degree slopes, and a few other odds and ends. One point to make regards paired items, you may or may not get equal quantities of things like hinges, I got 14 more of one side of the white hinge bricks, you just have to know that going in.

[Sid Sidious]

The 'Grab Bag Supply' is what they fill Grab Bags with of course! Grab bags are prepackaged ziplock style bags that are filled with assorted parts form what tends to be 3 main sources.

One is damaged sets that are unable to be sold even at a discount, usually it means that these sets are ripped open vs merely being crushed.

Second is the 'Sweepings' from the floor in front of the PaB wall, parts that are dropped on the floor don't go back into the bins, they go into the 'supply bin' in back.

Third are the small leftover quantities that are insufficient to remain in the wall bins.

They run $7.99 and the one I got the other day looks like it's fill a little over a PaB cup and a half or so. I'm unsure if they fill by weight or volume, either is possible. While the parts are random it can be a good value for contents IF the parts are ones you can use...

There were some white fences, some white hinge bricks, white steering wheels, trans-red 1x1 round plates, plate click hinges, 1x2 black 45 degree slopes, and a few other odds and ends. One point to make regards paired items, you may or may not get equal quantities of things like hinges, I got 14 more of one side of the white hinge bricks, you just have to know that going in.

That makes sense, I thought they just sold the individual polybags from damaged sets.

[NiceMarmot]

Hit the Santa Clara store on Monday early evening. Updated all the bins on Brickbuildr (http://www.brickbuildr.com/view/pab/side/off/16/) (except one where I couldn't make it out from my iPhone photo). Boy, was that a tedious chore; done my good deed for the year. Hopefully it saves someone a trip, or prompts them to go to Santa Clara.

Here's the list of what I got:

Didn't quite pack them in as well as usual. I estimate I got about the equivalent of about 148 2x4 bricks worth of stuff in there; usually I can get north of 175. And a few things probably cost more on the PAB wall than BrickLink, like the reddish-brown 2x2 bricks. But I still got a total 76% discount off the BrickLink quantity average price and a 46% price off the lowest BL price with decent quantity for each item. Those lattice window inserts are a huge ripoff on BrickLink compared to the PAB wall!

Other items of note on the wall that I didn't get include:

• white horses
  
• 1x2x2 trans-clear panels
  
• 1x4 reddish brown logs, and 1x2 DBG logs
  
• reddish-brown and green 1x4 tiles
  
• a fair number of 2x4 and 1x4 bricks in various colors
  

[egadzook]

Yesterday I did my first ever Lego store visit (yay! but 2.5 hours away not including border wait times, boo) and first PAB purchase. DH and I went to the Bellevue store and here's what I got:

Full set on Flickr

150 white brackets

150 white 1x2 bricks

157 trans clear 1x2 bricks

385 trans green 1x1 plates

2 white 6x8 plates

23 white 1x8 tiles

10 decorative misc

$15 for 867 pieces worth $72 from Bricklink and $163 from Lego.com.

[Legoman]

In the weekend, A contact in the states picked me up some cups (He was able to get a good discount, so he made his cut and could still give me the cups for $7 and $13.50ea before postage- not bad!). Unfortunately, Because of postage cost, I'm only being sent the Lego (not the cups), but thats alright.

I got a total of 4 Small cups and 6 Large cups. I'll post pictures when it arrives

[Follows Closely]

In the weekend, A contact in the states picked me up some cups (He was able to get a good discount, so he made his cut and could still give me the cups for $7 and $13.50ea before postage- not bad!). Unfortunately, Because of postage cost, I'm only being sent the Lego (not the cups), but thats alright.

I got a total of 4 Small cups and 6 Large cups. I'll post pictures when it arrives

I have a couple dozen cups if anyone wants them. Pay for shipping and they are yours.

[Legoman]

I have a couple dozen cups if anyone wants them. Pay for shipping and they are yours.

Really? I'd be keen, But do you have any Idea how much postage would be to New Zealand? They're light, but they're a bit bulky

Edited October 24, 2011 by Legoman

[RubeusHagrid]

I have a couple dozen cups if anyone wants them. Pay for shipping and they are yours.

I'd also be interested. I'm in the UK.

I'm heading to Liverpool on Wednesday. Has anyone been recently? What's the PAB/BAM like currently?

[robuko]

I'm heading to Liverpool on Wednesday. Has anyone been recently? What's the PAB/BAM like currently?

I was there 2 weeks ago and I picked up a cup full of trans orange cheeses and 1x1 rounds, and new flames.

Edited October 24, 2011 by robuko

[legomonk]

Its sux cuz I live in Idaho no where close to a TLG store. I would love to fill one of or ten of those cups up.

[TomRoid]

In LEGOLand I got a yellow bag and bricks of colours orange, dark grey, green, light green, light blue, brown, maybe it. No cups though. They also had a smaller more generic section (more regular bricks and not too big).

[Peshkavus]

I hit up the new Fairview Mall location in Toronto. They just have the basics and nothing to fill gaps with.

Note to self, don't use a flash, especially with a white background...

In my first cup I managed 168 Dark Red's, using the one of the 2x4's in stacked layers guides. They hadn't seen anyone using a print-out yet.

In my second cup I used the same guide but improvised some of the layers. 62 Dark Red 2x4's, 20 Reddish Brown 2x4's, 104 Tan 2x4 plates, 45 Dark Bluish Gray corners...

Going by Bricklink's average prices, that's about $30 and $37. Which is better than I thought when I was doing it.

Edited November 1, 2011 by Peshkavus

[Si-MOCs]

In my first cup I managed 168 Dark Red's, using the one of the 2x4's in stacked layers guides. They hadn't seen anyone using a print-out yet.

... There's a printout?

[Bearded Castle Guy]

... There's a printout?

http://aboutus.lego.com/en-us/pressroom/Archive.aspx?y=313333&l=200071&n=2518 In the lower right hand corner of the page is a link for their 'high res' picture of the design.

[Peshkavus]

http://aboutus.lego.com/en-us/pressroom/Archive.aspx?y=313333&l=200071&n=2518 In the lower right hand corner of the page is a link for their 'high res' picture of the design.

Oh wow, they have a guide on their official site!! I don't feel so nerdy now. Although it's a little dated, and nets 136 bricks. I used this guys 169 brick version, it gets an extra row but sticks out a bit, so taping is needed, which they've always been cool with. http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=859676

[Legoman]

Just finished sorting my 10 cups of PAB.. Feel free to check out the picture here Quite an average picture as it doesn't capture how much is actually there, but you can see whats there anyway

[ChicoGoya]

I did my first PAB at the LEGO store in Manhattan, NYC right next to Rockefeller Plaza! It's a neat store with alot of large sculptures and mosaics. PAB wall had many basic bricks and plates in a ton of colors, but not much in terms of unique or rare elements. It was still very impressive: 15 high (of course you can only reach the first 6) totaling about 60-70 different pieces with minimal repeat!

Thanks to this thread, I was well prepared on how to maximize space.

Here's the haul!

My bucket is on the right and my girlfriend's is on the left. I went with the built up central core method and she opted for the shake and stuff method. Cap actually fit on with minimal tape!

I stuffed as much as possible and tried to fill every little space all the way to the top!

Here's the built up central core. The bottom lip was filled with 1x2 bricks and the space filled with 1x1 round plates. Then I put a base layer of 1x1 round plates and topped that off with a layer of 1x4 tiles. The core was built up the center. Larger plates were stuffed on the sides. Space filled with more 1x1 round plates. Flower stems also stuffed down the side. 1x4 plates were forced down whatever space space was left between the large plates and cup. It was all topped off with 2x10 plates and other filler. Finally, the cap was filled with 4 4x4 plates, flower stems, and 1x2 bricks. There wasn't much rattle in the end!

Last but not least, THE HAUL! I swear I did organize and count them, but never actually took a photo.

I had a lot of different elements, so I'm not going to list them. Here are some notables:

78 flower stems

110 1x4 brown tiles

136 1x1 round plates lime green

129 1x1 roudn plates trans blue

Whopping total of 777! Lucky 7's!

Click the link to see photos for the other bucket. http://flic.kr/s/aHsjwL8myG

This was a ton of fun, and I can't wait until my next cup!