MOCs, MODs & PMS help...

[shaggy]

MOC = the stuff I am trying to make....MOD = The kits I am modifying...and PMS = what my wife claims to have now that yet another lego box arrived today..

Seriously now..I've got a few questions about building your own lego designs..

1 - Where does everyone get their bricks? Yes I know about bricklink!! But are the majority of your bricks coming from? new sets being broken down? lego.com parts desk? bricklink?

2 - My experience so far with bricklink.com is a little mixed. I am finding the parts easy enough...but ordering minimums and expecting them quickly is another issue...at least according to other ppls feedback..

3 - In some of the more complicated designs are ppl planning them out w/ lego designer? or just winging it?

[Siegfried]

1. Sets. I have a policy this year to limit full price sets to $500 worth and buy the rest on sale. I need more!

2. Generally no problem, but I don't do much dealings there as it doesn't seem as good value for money.

3. No. Most of my MOC are too complicated. My Shouse for example; that overhang pushes the balance as far as I could push it. While building it I considered using a brick built tree to hold it up but eventually I was able to brace it enough to avoid that. Using a digital tool you can't detemine balance and structural strength.

[Jipay]

Pick a Brick might be the answer to most of the questions. You don't have access to that many different bricks, but you can get loads of them for cheap and they're sometimes coming in non existing colors.

[shaggy]

Thanks for the fast replys!

After starting this little adventure a few weeks ago with both of the RC train sets and the 9v hobby set I went to Lego's "Pick a Brick". But could not find all I wanted. Then found out there is a Lego part's desk. Got some more....but still missing all I wanted.

I have gone to bricklink.com for the rare parts but those little guys were $5.- ea !! :(

I've now resorted to buying sets on sale to break up. I feel bad about this actually. Breaking up a set. But the parts came out to $0.07 ea for stuff on brinklink that sell as high as $0.90 ea.

[SlyOwl]

1 - Where does everyone get their bricks? Yes I know about bricklink!! But are the majority of your bricks coming from? new sets being broken down? lego.com parts desk? bricklink?

Sets are the main source for most people I think, but buying "unsorted lots" off eBay and Bricklink is a good way to get a lot of bricks and some unexpected parts. However, these may often be a kid's old collection, so you'll expect broken parts, lots of yellow, red and blue parts and, of course, some green army men mixed in, not to mention the odd bit of K'nex X-D

2 - My experience so far with bricklink.com is a little mixed. I am finding the parts easy enough...but ordering minimums and expecting them quickly is another issue...at least according to other ppls feedback..

Unless you're building for a gathering or contest, time shouldn't be too much of a problem...well, it shouldn't really :-D Bricklink's best for obsolete parts and colours and rare parts. I wouldn't order bricks off it, just smaller more useful parts; supply seems to fit demand here ;-)

3 - In some of the more complicated designs are ppl planning them out w/ lego designer? or just winging it?

Any LDD is generally slower than real life building, the only advantages being you have unlimited parts (so you know what to buy) and you don't make a big mess! However, you can't get structure right and it can be harder to find the right LDD - MLCAD has mainly older parts, but Lego DD only has new parts.

[blueandwhite]

Well, I amassed a pretty large collection of old grey when LEGO used to offer the bulk brick minibags. I'm also a major supporter of Bricklink. For amassing specialized bricks, there is no other way to go. Buying 10 sets so that you can get that must-have brick that only appears twice in a $50 set is not exactly the cheapest exercise; particularly when you won't use most of the other bricks. For this purpose, Bricklink is golden. Pick-a-brick is ok, however I find that prices tend to be higher than what you find on Bricklink and the selection is aweful. If they have something you want, then that's great but more often than not I find that this isn't the case.

As for oder speed. That depends greatly on the shops you use. I typically only visit major sellers with excellent reputations. I don't need to be taken for a ride by some obscure seller who has only made seven sales; three of them with negative feedback. A good shop will generally have your order to you within a couple of weeks (depending on geography). I've never had an issue with ordering minimums as I try and limit the number of orders I place. I'd much rather wait and make one large $100+ order rather than several smaller ones. If you're looking for a diverse collection of unique bricks, there is no other solution.

As for designing MOCs:

WING IT *y* !

Edited February 7, 2008 by blueandwhite

[TheFrisian]

1. Most of my collection consists of sets that I got in my younger years. Sadly, most sets are incomplete so I've sorted the parts by color now.

2. Bricklink is great for getting those few hard to find parts that you need, but you do need some patience because it can take a while before your packages arrive. Pick a Brick or ordering directly from LEGO is probably a lot cheaper when you need large quantities of certain parts.

3. Since my collection of bricks is not that large, I really enjoy designing stuff with MLCad. If only I had the money to actually build my creations for real...

[Capn Frank]

Blue and White said it nicely *y*

...

Bricklink's best for obsolete parts and colours and rare parts. I wouldn't order bricks off it, just smaller more useful parts; supply seems to fit demand here ;-)

...

I order lots from BL. 8-|

I usually seem to find some good deals on BL,

but you have to look around ;-)

and it helps to order only from stores in your country to save on shipping. X-D

Oh, and i always wing it! ;-)

P

[CP5670]

1 - Where does everyone get their bricks? Yes I know about bricklink!! But are the majority of your bricks coming from? new sets being broken down? lego.com parts desk? bricklink?

It's mostly Bricklink for me these days. I buy sets too, but I tend to keep those on display and usually only take them apart if I have multiple copies or if they contain some rare parts I can't easily get elsewhere.

2 - My experience so far with bricklink.com is a little mixed. I am finding the parts easy enough...but ordering minimums and expecting them quickly is another issue...at least according to other ppls feedback..

I generally try to buy from only one or two sellers at a time, but order a lot of parts/lots (typically around 1000/100) from each one, so minimum orders aren't much of an issue for me. I don't think I have ever had to wait more than about a week for the order to come.

3 - In some of the more complicated designs are ppl planning them out w/ lego designer? or just winging it?

No, it takes far too much time for most things and especially for Technic models, you can't tell how well the mechanisms are working or how strong things are.

However, I sometimes plan out the basic overall shape in MLCad, especially for large models. I only use a handful of big pieces, just to get a rough idea of what I want it to look like. Also, I make MLCad versions of all my major projects after the real versions are finished, just for my own reference. In case anything happens to the real ones, I can rebuild them again easily.