Posted January 22, 20169 yr Hi Everyone, I've been an Afol for the past 3 years, and have a fair idea of what sort of themes I like. However when I was starting out it wasn't that easy figuring out what sets or pieces I should start with, let alone what sort of themes I'd be interested in. Obviously when it comes to themes it's a personal choice, but I thought it might be a nice idea to have a topic where you help out all Afols new to the hobby, with a sort of Starter Parts list. Perhaps if you have a certain theme you enjoy, you'll find that there are certain pieces that you use over and over again. It would have been nice to stumble over something like this when I was starting out, and would have given me a bit more of a focus when it comes to my MOCS. I've got a wide range of theme interests, so I thought I'd kick off with more a basic starter kit that doesn't really focus on any particular theme. Please note I see these as the sort of pieces you should have in bulk, and will stay away from the more specialized pieces, that might not be used as much. Plants Having a variety of plants works in pretty much whatever sort of theme you enjoy. Whether its for landscapes or just to add a couple of details having a lot of these pieces always comes in handy. Plant Brick, Round 1 x 1 with 3 Bamboo Leaves Plant Flower Stem Plant Leaves 4 x 3 Plant Leaves 6 x 5 Plant Leaves 6 x 5 Swordleaf with Clip Green Plant Flower Stem 1 x 1 x 2/3 with 3 Large Leaves Brackets Brackets are great for Snot work - Having a variety of these in multiple colours (or just a couple as they are usually hidden) will help your builds look completely studless! Bracket 1 x 2 - 1 x 2 Bracket 1 x 2 - 1 x 2 Inverted Bracket 1 x 2 - 2 x 2 Inverted Bracket 1 x 2 - 2 x 2 Bricks Bricks are usually found in abundance in most Afols collections, but the ones below can certainly help with your SNOT work. Having a variety of these will certainly help. Brick, Modified 1 x 1 with Stud on 1 Side Brick, Modified 1 x 1 with Studs on 2 Sides Brick, Modified 1 x 1 with Studs on 4 Sides Brick, Modified 1 x 2 with Studs on 1 Side The below Brick is a newish Brick to LEGO, but has certainly come in handy for a variety of MOCS. If you like any sort of buildings you'll need a ton of these in a variety of colours. Brick, Modified 1 x 2 with Masonry Profile (Brick Profile) Hinges Curves are always difficult to produce in LEGO. These pieces may help. Hinge Brick 1 x 4 Swivel Hinge Plate 1 x 4 Swivel Top Plates I dont think there there are any Afols out there who wouldn't place the following piece as one of the most useful pieces LEGO has created. So useful in ensuring that you can offset your bricks! Plate, Modified 1 x 2 with 1 Stud (Jumper) The following pieces are super useful in getting different angles on the builds, and I know Mecha and Robot builders have been waiting for these pieces for a long time! Plate, Modified 1 x 2 with Small Towball Socket on End late, Modified 1 x 2 with Small Towball Socket on Side Plate, Modified 1 x 2 with Towball on Side Slopes I don't think i need to into detail about why slopes are so useful. These are the ones i'd recommend having in bulk. Slope 30 1 x 1 x 2/3 Slope 45 2 x 1 Slope 65 2 x 1 x 2 Slope 75 2 x 1 x 3 Tiles I was going to put a list of tiles here that I thought would come in handy, but quite honestly,whatever tiles you can get your hands on in bulk (and obviously a colour you like) will always be essential. They're super useful, so having a lot of tiles in as many shapes and sizes as possible will definitely benefit you as a builder. Let us us know what your idea of a "Starter Kit" is!
January 22, 20169 yr Technic fans can get started by simply buying a selection of sets. Technic is pretty much a vehicles theme, and the parts seem even more interchangeable than system stuff, so it doesn't take much to get started. It is my new short-term goal to use plant parts in a meaningful way on a Technic model! Edited January 22, 20169 yr by Gnac
January 22, 20169 yr Your list is good but it isn't necessary for all AFOLs. Your list applies to people wanted to build MOCs. Some people also just build the Lego sets and display them. Others may want to make brick films or comics. Granted they will probably need to build MOCs for scenery and such but they don't have to. Even if you build MOCs, someone interested in building vehicles might not need plant pieces. Some MOCers do mosaics which don't need a lot of the pieces you suggest.
January 22, 20169 yr That's a great list! Having all those parts in quantity will surely help the MOCing process. I have at least 50k parts and I still find I am missing particular parts when I built. Lately I made a decision to just build with the colors I have, then if I like the MOC I may order proper colors if I want to use the MOC for something specific. Since building is the most fun for me and display space is at a premium I may just build, enjoy for a while, then back to the parts bins. I'm going to do this for both Technic and System MOCs. Lots of the parts you discuss are really good specialty parts, very useful! Just MHO, YMMV Andy D
January 22, 20169 yr Author @Dulsi That's sorta of the point though isn't it? I never said my list was the be all and end all of what Afols would need. In fact I asked for some help in identifying certain parts depending on what theme people might want to build. Perhaps you could assist with the parts someone who's into Mosaics would like. Or vehicles. Or castles, or the myriad of other themes and build that people like to do.
January 22, 20169 yr You know, I went nuts for plants at a pick-a-brick once. ("ARghlblragh!!! Sooo much greenery I need it alllllll!") because I wanted to move from my building all vehicles all the time. Diversify a little. That said, anyone who wants to build cars can't go far wrong in picking up the Creator car builds, Speed Champions and the appropriate City/Friends sets. They provide all the basic parts anyone could need to get started and a crash course in techniques to build with. Once you understand how parts can be used to create the basic car, you can learn to make new shapes using parts that fit the aesthetic you want. Oh, and if you want to build Action? You need Colour, Crystals and bombastic appeal! All right, so the best way to start there is to choose where you want to set it, study the design cues from former themes and the kinds of media that fed the idea and then collect parts that re-occur in the thematic colours you decide on. Aquasharks is lots of trans-orange, black and blue. Power Miners used plenty of lime green and orange. Adventurers are rooted in pulp-serial tropes and a 30's design look. A great way to get parts is on eBay when people are selling lots of old parts for spares. Plenty of sellers at least know the theme the parts are coming from, so you can pick up a lot filled with 90s Aquazone, or Dino 2010. Those sorts of sellers usually sell the figures separately, but reliably have the unique parts in a lot that can work out cheaper than choosing parts on bricklink.
January 23, 20169 yr I would add to the list: Power Functions: Battery boxes XL motors M motors L motors servo motors IR Receivers IR controllers IR speed controllers Train motors PF extension wires various gears and train tracks Technic fans can get started by simply buying a selection of sets. Technic is pretty much a vehicles theme, and the parts seem even more interchangeable than system stuff, so it doesn't take much to get started. It is my new short-term goal to use plant parts in a meaningful way on a Technic model! I suppose plants could be used with Technic. Day 228 of 365: Grass Trimmer Tester by dr_spock_888, on Flickr
January 23, 20169 yr For me, the snot techniques and tiles were different than I was used to. I wanted to get ideas on how to build so I got the latest Lego Idea book. I really enjoyed the Legoland Idea Book 6000 as a kid. You could buy sets or even look at instructions online or mocs to learn building techniques. One thing the idea book has going for it is that it helps you learn some of the names for pieces which can be a big help when talking to others. For parts I did Peppermint_M's suggestion of buying a collection from ebay. Because of that I don't have a lot of the pieces suggested in the first post. I recently purchased a whole bunch of 3 babboo leave plants because I couldn't make a good forest scene. Unfortunately they didn't have other plant parts.
January 23, 20169 yr I would add to the list: Power Functions: Battery boxes XL motors M motors L motors servo motors IR Receivers IR controllers IR speed controllers Train motors PF extension wires various gears and train tracks I suppose plants could be used with Technic. Day 228 of 365: Grass Trimmer Tester by dr_spock_888, on Flickr Been a long time since you've posted a Jar Jar ;) I think you left out... Various lengths Technic beams and lift-arms Various lengths of axels Various types of (lost of) Technic pins Various gears (whoops, you had gears) Just a start of Technic supplies Andy D Edited January 23, 20169 yr by Andy D
January 23, 20169 yr If the AFOL is interested in CCBS an assorted pack of beams, torsos, shells,and other add ons would be a great starter. If you want Trains you'll need lots of wheels, couplers,base plates, and track. It really depends on who the kit is for what should be included.
February 18, 20169 yr It is my new short-term goal to use plant parts in a meaningful way on a Technic model! Back-to-front, but I recently made a trippy night garden using a few Technic-compatible bits: ALSO: spot the clikits!
February 18, 20169 yr Nice handy list. I've recently re-awoken my lego craving and have been buying random bricks from Bricklist, mainly masonry pieces, flat plates, 1x1 rounds and squares, for moc buildings. I've gon bonkers on LDD, building instructions and now sitting here with a pile of random bricks wondering what the hell to do with it all. Then i remembered to get some base plates!!!! It can be confusing for a new AFOL like myself, so these sort of lists do help. Thank you
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