Ever had a time when you THOUGHT you lost a piece?

[Da Death Star!]

Personally,yes.Some memorable times are:

1.When I got Turaga Dume and Nivawk,I thought I lost a piece when I really hadn't.

2.When I got the Y-wing for my B-day a couple of years ago,I was just getting to the "Wings",And needed a few Technic Pins.I searched and searched,but couldn't find any.Bewildered,sad and feeling defeated,I went to my Technic box and grabbed the pieces I needed.After I finished the ship,what did I find in the Box?A bag full of Technic Pins.

3.This happened a few hours ago:I had just got back from buying some PM sets at TRU(Mine Mech and the Thunder Driller,to be specific).I was just starting to Build the TD,and was looking for the minifig parts.I couldn't find a head.Panicked,I searched through the piece pile,not there.I decided to look in the bags,and there was the head,grinning that minifigish grin.Later,near the end,I was searching for a piece of the floodlight and couldn't find it.So I checked the bags again,it was there.

(_)The guy who loses pieces easily(_)

[WisrthanU]

When I bought the creator Beach House, One of the smaller bags "stuck" to the bottom of the box, so as I dumped the bags out, I thought I lost around 10 pieces. Sure enough when I shook the box, the bag fell out.

[YG-49]

It happened multiple time's when building the Republic Attack Gunship and General Grievous, it happened once while looking for the Snowtrooper helmet in the (UCS) AT-AT.

[donneyboy]

That has happened to me 2 times, once when I bought the Rough Shadow, and I thought I lost vaders helmet, It was under the windscreen piece, it was after I ordered it from Lego customer service, I found it. The second time was today when I bought the Imperial Dropship I thought I lost a black head piece, I found it in the bag, just before I threw it out.

[Mocha]

yes...many of times. The most recent was when I built the coast guard heli, I threw out the bag with a piece still in it. After an hour of searching I found it in my garbage can

[Lt. de Martinet]

It has happened to me several times; only the most memorable time of which will I relate here:

I had just bought this set: http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemPic.asp?S=6463-1. I took it home to build it, but I found that the sticker sheet was missing. I looked around for it -- Did it fly out when opening? No... Is it still in the bag? No...

After a short while of searching, I gave up, and decided the only thing to do (for, at that time, I did not know of LEGO's excellent replacement policy) was to return it. I arrived at the store (TRU), and, when asked, explained just why I wanted to return it -- a missing sticker sheet, of course. I handed the box to the cashier clerk... and the sticker sheet fell out! Now that was a little embarrassing!

[ProducePrincess]

Personally,yes.Some memorable times are:

1.When I got Turaga Dume and Nivawk,I thought I lost a piece when I really hadn't.

2.When I got the Y-wing for my B-day a couple of years ago,I was just getting to the "Wings",And needed a few Technic Pins.I searched and searched,but couldn't find any.Bewildered,sad and feeling defeated,I went to my Technic box and grabbed the pieces I needed.After I finished the ship,what did I find in the Box?A bag full of Technic Pins.

3.This happened a few hours ago:I had just got back from buying some PM sets at TRU(Mine Mech and the Thunder Driller,to be specific).I was just starting to Build the TD,and was looking for the minifig parts.I couldn't find a head.Panicked,I searched through the piece pile,not there.I decided to look in the bags,and there was the head,grinning that minifigish grin.Later,near the end,I was searching for a piece of the floodlight and couldn't find it.So I checked the bags again,it was there.

(_)The guy who loses pieces easily(_)

All of the things you have mentions have happend to me too , not the same sets but the same problem.

For me my latest missing part is the sticker sheet for the front-end loader .I nearly ripped the box apart trying to find it . I never found that SS so im rather disapointed.

A couple years ago when i was little I lost a few Technic pins for my starwars set when i was building it so i had to dig for 30 minutes in a big lego bin to find a few tiny pins , Ahh the memories

[AFOL SF]

Just a week ago, I finally found 8014 at a Target store and bought it. Out of excitement, I decided to build the set inside my car (yup, in the parking lot). Each and every piece was there except for the small decal sheet which I couldn't find. I had to devote a few minutes looking for it under and on the side of the seats and all places inside the car it might have accidentally dropped when I opened the box. I even checked the inside of the box and instruction booket several times! When I was about to give up cuz it's time to head home, I looked inside the box one last time and 'voila!'... it was there all along, stuck on one of the glued flaps. I still couldn't believe how I could've missed it. As I always say, all's well that ends well - the Clone troopers rode 'shot gun' with me all the way home.

[Lasse D]

Last time I was building , and came to the place where the engine had to be built, I was looking for the four , which I only have 4 of in my collection.

After searching for the fourth and last piston for a couple of minutes, I almost gave up only to find the piece...

in my other hand!

It seems that my keep-for-future-use strategy isn't always flawless

[ShaddowCroc]

Every time I get a LEGO set, this happens. I swear, I must have LEGO dyslexia or something, 'cause I always think that I lose a piece, or that a piece came missing until I find it in an obvious spot that I didn't look in because I thought it was too obvious. Maybe they just hide form me because they know it enrages me. They're like tiny little plastic bullies. Except I get the last laugh when they give up their individuality and become part of a larger being/structure. And are never heard from again. MWAHAHAHAH!!!

[CP5670]

I've had this happen many times. It usually occurs on large builds, when I accidentally used the wrong piece in a previous step and need it later on. This occurred quite a few times for me with the 8421 Mobile Crane a few months ago, since there are a couple of different colors that look similar in the instructions and it's easy to choose the wrong color somewhere. (and to make matters worse, the exact shades look different on some steps than others)

Last time I was building , and came to the place where the engine had to be built

That particular step is crazy and involves over 120 parts by itself. I think it may be the most intensive instruction step in any Lego set ever made.

[Matn]

It's funny, I have this always. Every time I have bought a new set, and I'm building it there is always one piece I can't find. Almost every single time. But it is there somewhere, so I just keep on searching. It's part of the fun, actually.

[Fluyt]

Yeah, sometimes I find a piece I need in 1 second, sometimes it takes me 5 minutes and several searches. But I usually dump everything in 1 big pile, not every bag seperate.

But I do occasionally think "hmm... this piece seems like it will be needed soon", and I lay it seperate from the rest in advance.

[Peppermint_M]

Yes. Often. Most of the time its a case of can't see the part amongst many, a bit of sepration later and I have the "missing" part. Once or twice a bag or a sticker sheet stays in the bottom of the box, but because I recylce my cardboard I always have the stack of boxes by me to search through. Most of the time I keep the box by me until I finish.

[Skinny Boy]

When building one of the Alpha Team Mission: Deep Sea sets, the big shark one, I could'nt find the two trans-green spears. To this day, I still haven't

[Ricecracker]

This always happens to me! When I was building the death star, I spent 5-10 minutes trying to find almost every other piece!

[DarthPineapple]

It's funny, I have this always. Every time I have bought a new set, and I'm building it there is always one piece I can't find. Almost every single time. But it is there somewhere, so I just keep on searching. It's part of the fun, actually.

Yes, that's the same reason why I dump all of the bricks on 1 big pile when I get a new set.

[Sycaris]

Most recently this happened while I was building the Rogue Shadow. I could not find the battle damaged Darth Vader helmet for the life of me.

I figured it would turn up like these pieces always do, but after I was done the build I still could not find it. I searched the bags, the box and the floor. So I called up partd replacement and ordered a new one.

In the meantime I decided to use a standard black head and put the normal Vader helmet on him. As I put the helmet on it would not fit. The lost head was stuck inside the helmet

[Millacol88]

I generally sort my pieces, so this doesn't happen to me often. I have, however, dropped a small technic piece into my parts bin while building a set, and could never find it (obviously, there are a lot of parts). I ended up having to replace it with one I found on in older set.

[Darth Legolas]

Happened to me in 2006 with the piraka stronghold. there was a dark white guy and a white guy, and after I built the dark white guy, I panicked because there were only dark white arms left over and the white guy needed light arms.

in the end I realized the dark white guy had white arms and the white guy had dark white arms.

[The Cobra]

Sure, it happened. Yet I actually thought the piece was missing from the box (and it once was... see my Samurai swordman review). But every other time, after I got rid of numbered bags and put everything together, it was just the piece was hidden under a BURP or it had fallen on the ground.