Where do Rare/HTF Parts come from?

[jonwil]

I have a few not-seen-in-any-sets elements like the 2 x 2 round tile in trans-clear. Where I got it from I dont know but boy is it a cool part to have (great for things like the front of a front-loader washing machine or dryer)

[dvsntt]

I needed a lot of rare colored pieces for a model (not so rare they were never released in a set), and Lego Brick Buy came through. They were rather expensive still, but they could get them in quantity.

[Meatman]

OOP Black technic bushings used to be a very rare piece, then all of a sudden a German seller magically has 5,000 of them and then another German seller has 1,000+

[eurotrash]

However they're getting these pieces (and I'm afraid to ask) I'm grateful that we, as end consumers, can get them easily. There may be a premium prices to be paid, but no-one is twisting our arms to buy.

[JopieK]

It came in brown in 7184

You can search a BL store using HTF (hard to find) or RARE in the comments. Some stores have quite a lot of those parts, like this shop :

http://www.bricklink...e.asp?p=icemanr

I'm sure it did not came in that set, it is still very rare on bricklink: 4315 the accompanying part 2873 is indeed also rare but indeed came in that set ;)

It makes such a wagon more than 100€ I'm afraid ;)

[1974]

You're right Johan, my mistake Yeah, both are quite rare. They could both have found good use the Western theme though .. I sure would like a bunch of both parts

Not all rare parts a expensive though. I've managed to find many rare parts outside BL in local ads/marketplaces. We have dba.dk in Denmark (which oddly enough is now owned by ebay.com, but we have no actual ebay.dk in Denmark) and I've found many gems there. How about 50 complete micromotors for a few euros each? I guess being in the same country as TLG main factories does help ..

[LEGO Historian]

1974... it must be nice to be Danish... and live in Jutland!!

It is funny how some rare parts are very collectible and high priced... and others are not. I guess if you have a part that is rare AND is in a known popular LEGO set (such as those blue arches from the Modular set)... then they command even more premium prices.

I once owned over 200 of the Maersk blue 1x1 round bricks... which I paid 25 cents each for (a bargain!). These were never found in any set... and they all originated from the Windsor England model shop. I needed them to produce the 10 REGINA MAERSK (1954) model ships I was selling a few years ago.

The folks who live near Billund are the luckiest of all!! Back in the 1950s and 1960s factory second printed bricks and marbled bricks were sold to factory employees for "øre on the krøne" (pennies on the dollar)... and today these are highly prized by collectors!

I wonder what other rare collectibles are still out there to be found! I have seen the circa 1990 castle Monarch's Ghost in 8 different colors... those must be worth quite a bit today as well!

[obsidianheart]

Once upon a time, I bought quite a few Flat Silver spearguns off of a Bricklink seller that specialized in Off-Color parts. They weren't expensive, but more than I would have payed for spearguns if I didn't have a specific use in mind for them. The seller had hundreds of them in stock, too!

Two years latter they became pretty common in the second wave of Atlantis.

Moral of the story is that sometimes the rare stuff might not be rare forever, I think?

[Scrib]

After spending some time poking around on the customer service site, I'm reasonably convinced that it is the avenue through which the seller I mentioned is getting his part stockpiles. Maybe they're out of stock on the dark red hoods because he cleaned out their inventory?

I did notice that certain license-specific parts are not available through the system. I'm sure it's part of the licensing agreement. For example, another old part in a new color I'll be wanting to snap up from 75025 is the Luminara Unduli hat in white. That piece isn't even listed on the service website, but the hood is because it is a more generic part, even if it only ever appears in dark red in the one SW set.

[TheLegoDr]

They say you are not supposed to sell that stuff purchased from them. So obviously some idiot will and get the whole program shut down for fans that actually legitimately use it for the intended purpose.

[Carrera124]

It came in brown in 7184

You can search a BL store using HTF (hard to find) or RARE in the comments. Some stores have quite a lot of those parts, like this shop :

http://www.bricklink...e.asp?p=icemanr

Does the BL store search need a special syntax?

E.g., I know that this shop offers lots of parts in unusual colors:

http://www.bricklink.com/store.asp?p=MAGICBRICKS

All special parts are marked with "HTF" in the text description.

But when I type HTF into the "search store" textbox, no items are found.

Technical issue within Bricklink?

[1974]

You need to click the search function and input HTF in "keyword" AND mark 'comments' ..

Gary, it's "krone", not "krøne"

[Carrera124]

Thx, didn't realize that "search" is a link that leads to a detailed search form.

[LEGO Historian]

You need to click the search function and input HTF in "keyword" AND mark 'comments' ..

Gary, it's "krone", not "krøne"

Thanks 1974... I love to use the International ASCII table of special characters.... and lately I've taken to using them "in excess"!!!

üäößáøàéëæå......

My favorite one so far is a small Hungarian town.... Hódmezövásárhelykutasipuszta .....

[Wodanis]

They say you are not supposed to sell that stuff purchased from them. So obviously some idiot will and get the whole program shut down for fans that actually legitimately use it for the intended purpose.

I really hope not! I am enjoying the fact I can get the parts I need through this service. I doubt anyone would look too deeply. A sale is a sale.

[Junpei]

I've always wondered about this too. 1974, could you take some pictures of your pneumatic cylinders? I've never heard of them in colors other than trans-blue, yellow, and trans-clear.

[1974]

I've always wondered about this too. 1974, could you take some pictures of your pneumatic cylinders? I've never heard of them in colors other than trans-blue, yellow, and trans-clear.

Here you go, my friend

Cheers,

Ole

Edited August 21, 2015 by 1974

[1974]

Pic is not that good, but the trans parts are (BL colours) "trans neon green" and "trans neon orange"

I have a bunch of other odd/interesting parts, like what could be best described as a 'double POP arch'. I have never seen this brick anywhere before. Maybe we should make a thread with all these funny parts? (<- Or is there allready one?)

[Junpei]

Sorry I missed your PM, those cylinders are awesome!! :wub: Now if there were just large cylinders in white...

Where the hell did you get these? Oh man, I want that trans-neon green cylinder, imagine that in a Blacktron MOC..

[boba_jagoda]

I have non-printed dark blue barding, black barding and some bright orange parts like the knight visor...

My favorite one so far is a small Hungarian town.... Hódmezövásárhelykutasipuszta .....

Completely off topic, I'm actually an accidental honored citizen of its shorter-named cousin Hódmezövásárhely

http://query.nytimes...750C0A9639C8B63

Edited November 3, 2013 by boba_jagoda

[1974]

Hungarian .. that's so off world (no price for anyone who gets that reference)

I'll be posting some serious rad parts in this weekend .. stay tuned

[1974]

Where the hell did you get these?

Well, all these wonderfull parts came pretty much straight from Billund with a slight detour From time to time I recieve a package from my friend and I often get surprises like this

Oh man, I want that trans-neon green cylinder, imagine that in a Blacktron MOC..

Ah, but for Blacktron you only need yellow, black and trans yellow

Cheers,

Ole

Edited November 7, 2014 by 1974

[1974]

Today, I got another package from my friend

He threw in a couple of kilos of dark purple parts. I wasn't sure what to expect, though. Purple is not exactly a colour I'm looking for, but ever since I picked up a few HP busses, I've allways wanted to make an epic starship for Brick Daddy with those train windows

Getting good looking trans yellow window panes for that project seems kinda impossible though .. I've only gotten a bunch of scratched parts of BL. It's not that hard to get good looking trans yellow parts, but ordinary panes must have been a favourite amongst kids to scratch up

But alas, even a blind bat like me should be able to spot it's just regular purple, NOT dark purple

Here's a shot with some dark purple bricks from the HP bus and a large purple Belville frame (I actually do have a bit purple bricks, so I should have checked, sorry) :

So, here's the loot :

As you can spot there are many parts, not currently in the BL catalogue!

Before I proceed to the real goodies, I'll add that ALL of these parts from my friend are at least 12-15 years old. So as you can see TLG have indeed thought of all the bricks we lust for in years in advance

Among the parts I think are not officially released are many long plates, technic bricks, tiles and wingplates

More later ...

Edited August 21, 2015 by 1974

[1974]

Ok, back from a zip of redwine ..

Amongst those parts were these :

Yes, that IS a an inverted 4 x 2 slope! The counterpart 4 x 2 slope was released in 1999, this part is at least a few years older :

On the bottom is has stud indents so it can connect to a plate, much like the larger 4228 :

See here :

My batch also have clear markings on the end as coming of a sprue? :

So this might be a test mold? (Or is it mould, I can't quite figure out the right word - is this another bloody US/UK thing??)

The Technic brick is a bit of a .. hmm .. But I guess this was about the time when TLG was going studless and things got a bit offset?

Last part is just a standard 2875

In case you're wondering if these parts are genuine, I can asure that they are. They all have TLG numbers inside, but I do not have the vision to check them out I'll borrow a USB microscope from work and try to get the numbers, if anyone is interested

Edit : Checked, there are no markings or numbers on any of those two funny bricks

Thanks for the patience

Cheers,

Ole

Edited August 21, 2015 by 1974

[Junpei]

You bastard. Actually the black pump already came in a set, now it's quite expensive tho. Sorry I said blacktron, I meant to say blacktron 2. So I was partially right.

Do you have any more large cylinders?

Those purple parts...

I just posted the same time as you, what is this?

That technic brick too, WTF?

Very interesting.

Oh man, that 2x4 inverted slope...