PAB Cups: What Did You Get?

[gogocar]

Can someone explain me what are those PAB cups?

There's no PAB, nor LEGO store in Croatia, but I see people are getting some great pieces in those cups, so I'm a bit

curious.

What's the price of those cups? What do you get in them? etc.

What?!!?

You guys who live in countries with LEGO store are so lucky.

15 bucks for a huge bunch of bricks...

That's like a dream.

Thank you for explaining.

Ah, Stardusty, stop trolling around the forum, making useless posts.

You're playing stupid.

Like you don't know what are PAB cups, you've seen thousands of pictures and we talked about them thousands of times. Oh please!

Edited May 8, 2011 by gogocar

[Stardusty]

Ah, Stardusty, stop trolling around the forum, making useless posts.

You're playing stupid.

Like you don't know what are PAB cups, you've seen thousands of pictures and we talked about them thousands of times. Oh please!

Yes, you have mentioned those PAB cups, but I didn't know what they are.

I didn't know the price, nor did I see them thousand of times like you.

I got interested in them once I read about them in this forum.

And usually moderators decide what's spam (I guess trolling is another word spamming ), not members.

Also, I'm pretty sure that your post is spam (just like mine).

Admit it, you never described what they are used for, what's the point of them or said anything except:

"Oni tamo imaju one plastične čaše." or "They have those plastic cups." when we were talking about PAB, S@H

and LEGO stores.

[Zyniker]

Had my first small cup last week. It's a brilliant solution. And the staff here at Berlin is very eager with helping^^

Picked some orange and lime 1x1 round studs plus dark bley grille tiles and filled it with some 1xX bricks and black SNOT bricks. totally worth. Next thing I'm going to try is the Minifig bar. Need to finish some figs.

[Tervlon]

Went to the LEGO Store last week and filled up a few cups for myself. I was floored by what I saw and had to stock up! It was so worth it...

Best PAB loot ever... by Tervlon, on Flickr

Here are the packed cups. I bit of Dark Tan, yum.

Best PAB ever, breakdown by Tervlon, on Flickr

Here is what I was able to fit into the cups.

Highlights:

Dark Tan 1x2

Dark Tan 2x2

Dark Red 2x4

Reddish Brown Modified Log Brick 1x4

Reddish Brown Modified Log Brick 1x2

Tan plate 1x2

Dark Blue 2x2 Corner Slope

Keep an eye out for the good stuff, folks! I'd love to see more reports from people on what they are finding.

[fred67]

Went to the LEGO Store last week and filled up a few cups for myself. I was floored by what I saw and had to stock up! It was so worth it...

That's awesome! No tiles at my LEGO Store! D'oh!

I'd love to get my hands on a few large cups of dark red, tan, or lbg tiles.

[kibosh]

Wow. Totally jealous of all those tiles and 1x2 brown palisades. I picked up a large cup of 1x2 tan palisades and another cup of 1x2 dark red bricks last week. May have to make the trip this weekend to see if they have any tiles...

[unbornchikken]

That's an amazing score Tervlon!

I had been itching to go to the LEGO store since recent reports of new elements like the white horse and the dark red bricks, but I'd been holding out because of gas prices and other obligations. Those dark tan tiles however bring my urges to a whole new level.

[WhiteFang]

Seeing this thread especially the ones with images, simply made me drool with envy.

We don't have such service and you guys are extremely fortunate to enjoy these kind of purchases.

[Tervlon]

That's an amazing score Tervlon!

I had been itching to go to the LEGO store since recent reports of new elements like the white horse and the dark red bricks, but I'd been holding out because of gas prices and other obligations. Those dark tan tiles however bring my urges to a whole new level.

Yes, the store had white horses, too. I just couldn't fit any in. They are sort of awkward to put into a cup. I had limited cash to spend anyhow. I'm extremely pleased LEGO has put so many great elements into PAB lately. Makes up for them taking a few of the bins for the Hero Factory garbage. :)

[Follows Closely]

Went to the LEGO Store last week...

Looks like you have visited the Tyson's location.

[Big Cam]

I love seeing pictures of peoples hauls. I never get a chance to visit the LEGO store that is 3 and a half hours from me, it's just not practical.

Keep the pictures coming.

[NiceMarmot]

Very jealous of all those tan tiles and the reddish brown log bricks! Took a look at the Hillsdale/San Mateo PAB wall when I was there on May (the) 4th, but didn't see anything I was interested in, except light bley 2x4s. But didn't have the time it would take to assemble those correctly to get 168 or so in the cup to make it worth while. Did notice that they had about 4 bins full of Hero Factory parts. Guess they're moving towards an assemble-your-own-hero model. Bummer they had to take up a bunch of the PAB bins for that though.

Has anyone been to the Santa Clara store recently? Anything good there?

[Aanchir]

Very jealous of all those tan tiles and the reddish brown log bricks! Took a look at the Hillsdale/San Mateo PAB wall when I was there on May (the) 4th, but didn't see anything I was interested in, except light bley 2x4s. But didn't have the time it would take to assemble those correctly to get 168 or so in the cup to make it worth while. Did notice that they had about 4 bins full of Hero Factory parts. Guess they're moving towards an assemble-your-own-hero model. Bummer they had to take up a bunch of the PAB bins for that though.

Has anyone been to the Santa Clara store recently? Anything good there?

Did you not know about the Hero Factory thing until now? It was on the store calendar about a month ago. It's partly to tie in with the addition of Hero Factory parts to DesignByMe, the online Pick-A-Brick, and the online "Hero Recon Team" application.

[Crackseed]

I'll post a pic of my next cup I snag too. I find the 15 dollar cup is really the best overall deal too. And most of the employees, at least here, don't mind us stacking the cups as tightly as possible. Hell one of them helped me shuffle some parts around haha. My only annoyance at least at my local store is that there are some non-accesible PAB bins high up on the wall that aren't open and the employees say they're not supposed to pull from those because they are about to be rotated off/sent back. I did get lucky though and one of them had a ladder and pulled me a HUGE couple handfuls of trans-green small elements like cones, lights and 2x2 inverted dishes.

They're getting better about stocking good elements too. Some of the new items like the multipurpose wheel hubs that can be used as ship engines, etc and a smattering of plates/bricks. Ahh, PAB - I love you.

[Peppermint_M]

-Homer Simpson noises- Mmmm... Dark Tan...

Gotta keep going to the Lego shop in cardiff then. Maybe I should cultivate a staff member to let me know when PaB changes.

[Lego Otaku]

-Homer Simpson noises- Mmmm... Dark Tan...

Gotta keep going to the Lego shop in cardiff then. Maybe I should cultivate a staff member to let me know when PaB changes.

I think a few changes daily depending on when it runs empty. Your phone would be ringing every day. ;)

[RileyC]

I love this thread too. I never been to a Lego store and I love to see how much Lego how many bricks you can get in these tiny cups. If we had s Lego store in new Zealand I would so stock the cup full of dark tan. Its definitely my favorite Lego colour of all time. For you people with PAB walls, is the wall your primary source of buying loose bricks? Is it easy to find the better colours or do they only come around only so often?

[davee123]

For you people with PAB walls, is the wall your primary source of buying loose bricks? Is it easy to find the better colours or do they only come around only so often?

It's frustrating and awesome. At any given time there are maybe 50-70 different parts on the wall, and they're mostly things you don't care about. 2x4 blue plates, 1x4 yellow bricks, black staircases, etc. Really coveted parts are pretty rare on the wall-- they show up now and again, but not all that often.

When we first got the PAB walls in our area (2003?), we thought they were a godsend. People filled up cups routinely and got hordes of brick. But as time went on, it became less of a thrill. Nowadays I'll only fill up a cup if there's something really awesome (which I haven't seen in a while, actually).

For the record, I've gotten roughly 64 PAB cups (25 small and 39 large), and about 22,191 parts out of it. I tried packing things a few times, but honestly, I stopped because it wasn't worth the extra time to me. Depending on how serious you are about packing a cup, it can take as much as an hour for one cup! (that was pretty exceptionally long, admittedly). I also bought a box of 4,812 1x2 old gray bricks back in 2003, which they used to let you do for pretty cheap.

Anyway, I wouldn't say it's the PRIMARY source of bricks in general. It's nice for certain things, and it's pretty cheap considering how many parts you can get out of it (my average is about $0.03 per piece). But when something really cool hits the PAB wall, THEN it's the primary source of THAT brick.

Examples:

- Flower stems

- 4x3 foliage pieces

- Dark Green 1x2 tiles

- Lilly pads

- Sand green 1x2's

- Brown 1x4 tiles

- Dark Brown 1/2 arches

- White 1x2 jumper plates

- White 1x4 fences

When those have hit the wall, I've filled a couple cups with them and have never been left wanting those particular elements ever again.

DaveE

[kibosh]

This!

I tried packing things a few times, but honestly, I stopped because it wasn't worth the extra time to me. Depending on how serious you are about packing a cup, it can take as much as an hour for one cup! (that was pretty exceptionally long, admittedly).

Totally agree. My time is worth than the extra Lego I might be able to pack into a cup.

I tend to buy the stuff you listed. The smaller stuff like that packs pretty tightly on it's own.

[NiceMarmot]

For you people with PAB walls, is the wall your primary source of buying loose bricks? Is it easy to find the better colours or do they only come around only so often?

Not my primary source, but definitely a good source.

Since you never know what they're going to have, you can't count on it. So if I'm doing a build, I'll buy off BL mostly, since it's a sure thing. Otherwise I'd go to the LEGO store and they don't have anything that helps my build, so no PAB purchase. So my PAB purchases tend to be opportunistic -- I'm in that mall anyway, drop by the store, and cool, 1x8 blue tiles in the PAB wall, I need those for water MOCs!

Sometimes there's not enough interesting stuff to make filling up a cup worthwhile. I don't want to fill up half the cup with junk I'm never going to use, or with stuff that I can get cheaper on BL. And some of the stuff (e.g. wheels) takes up too much room in the cup to make it worthwhile.

However, they usually always have 2x4s, 1x4s, and 1x2s in a few decent colors (such as tan, LBG, DBG, white, reddish-brown, black, etc), so you can always load up on them. You can get about 168 2x4s into the bigger cups if you pack them right (search the site, there are some threads with pics on how to do it). That's about $0.09 per piece, and you usually can't buy them off BL in quantity for less than $0.12-0.15, and you don't have to pay shipping. Plus you can usually jam another 100 or so small tiles or something around the edges, bringing the price per piece lower. So I will use PAB for some of the common bricks when I need to bulk up on them.

They always seem to have foliage too, like 2x2 flowers or plant stems or the bamboo leaves, so you can load up on those too.

I'm lucky enough to live near two stores, so I can drop by once a month or so and check it out. The real problem for me is that I usually have the kids with me, and then it's hard to get out of the store without buying stuff for them too.

[unbornchikken]

Anyway, I wouldn't say it's the PRIMARY source of bricks in general. It's nice for certain things, and it's pretty cheap considering how many parts you can get out of it (my average is about $0.03 per piece). But when something really cool hits the PAB wall, THEN it's the primary source of THAT brick.

This about sums it up for me. I'm "new" to LEGO (came out of Dark Ages in January without any of my childhood collection) and so initially the PAB wall was a great source to expand my collection. When you pack the cups with a mix of small pieces and larger pieces (to maximize the piece count per cup), you definitely get your money's worth.

The problem is that you will likely end up getting a lot of pieces you don't really need (although you certainly wouldn't mind having).

Lately, as my collection has grown, and especially considering the price of gas, I've found myself using Bricklink even for pieces commonly available via PAB. It is easy to gloss over the fact that you pay for gas when you run to the store. I live within 15-30 minutes of two LEGO stores, and very much enjoy going there, but @ $4+ per gallon of gas these days, I've found that paying for shipping is cheaper than driving!!

All that said, like a lucky find at a Garage Sale or in a clearance isle, PAB can be really profitable if you check it often and wait for the right moments to stock up. In addition to the pieces others have specified, you can occasionally find things like fences, doors and door frames, windows, containers, etc. Some days you'll walk out of the store with nothing. Other days it'll feel like you just committed daylight robbery. Either way, it pays to either check frequently (gas withstanding) or have a source in the store/call ahead to find out what's available.

[kibosh]

I can get to my local lego store on my lunch break, so I tend to go every week or so if for no other reason to get out of the office for a while.

Today's haul netted me large cups of the following:

1x1 dark gray

1x2 dark gray

1x3 dark gray

2x2 dark gray corner bricks

1x4 white arches

1x2 dark palisades

This weekend I'm getting started on a couple of modular building MOCs; a pizza shop and a pub.

I found out I scored a mistake on the PAB wall last week. I got half a cup of gold chalices. They were for the build a fig station, not the PAB!

[Marckeyh]

....

I found out I scored a mistake on the PAB wall last week. I got half a cup of gold chalices. They were for the build a fig station, not the PAB!

You're very lucky with those chalices Kibosh. They go on bricklink for £0.15.

So half a cup is probably worth £30 or more

[NiceMarmot]

I got half a cup of gold chalices. They were for the build a fig station, not the PAB!

Sweet! Was the build a fig station right next to the PAB wall? Or were they actually in the PAB wall? And nice haul in general, especially the palisades and corner bricks. Envious of you being able to walk there over lunch.

And, unbornchikken: I hadn't thought of the gas costs. I'm about 13-15 miles from two stores, and get about 21 mpg, so that's close to 1.5 gallons per trip, or about $6.45 in gas alone, not to mention wear and tear on the car. So $6.45 pays for a fair amount of shipping, and if the BL seller is out-of-state, you'll save about $1.00 per cup in tax. But then again, the gas cost is fixed no matter how much you buy (unless you're filling up more than one car!). And if you happen to be in the area anyway, like I often am, it's a sunk cost.

[kibosh]

Sweet! Was the build a fig station right next to the PAB wall? Or were they actually in the PAB wall? And nice haul in general, especially the palisades and corner bricks. Envious of you being able to walk there over lunch.

No where near the fig station. An entire PaB section filled with hundreds of chalices.

I must say, the staff there are fantastic. They're going to try ordering tiles and tan 1xX bricks for me.