PAB Cups: What Did You Get?

[Peshkavus]

dr_spock (or other TO locals) I was thinking of taking the 2 hour drive to TO next sun, any chance you could give me a quick rundown of what was on the wall to know if it is worth the drive? last PAB I went to was the temp store in downtown disney and it was sparce.

thanks

I was at the Fairview store last night. The BrickBuildr page is pretty far off now.

Things they didn't have anymore: red containers & door, dark red wedges, levers, the modified wide wheel holder(they had the 2x2 plate one still and a black 1x4 one).

Things they now have:

Panel 2x2 Trans-Clear

Brick 1x2 Trans-Black

Brick 1x2 Dark Red

Tile 1x4 Green

Tile 1x8 White!

Plate 1x1 Trans-Clear

Plate 2x2 Corner Tan

Cheese slope Trans-Clear

Plate 1x1 Round - Trans-Light Blue (I'm pretty sure they're light blue and not medium blue)

They had a bunch of square plates, I THINK they had 4x4 in black and white.

They had a wheel mudguard I think it was this one in Dark Bluish Gray.

Edited February 3, 2012 by Peshkavus

[Ricecracker]

Tile 1x6 White

The tiles are 1x8.

[Peshkavus]

The tiles are 1x8.

Even better!

Some little girl grabbed my cup full of 1x1 rounds and cheese slopes, oh man, if she had dropped that.

What's the easiest way to inventory those walls for BrickBuildr? I guess the most obvious way is to take a bunch of pictures of the wall, or more discretely would be to lay them all out in order on the counter, and take one picture...

[splatman]

Even better!

Some little girl grabbed my cup full of 1x1 rounds and cheese slopes, oh man, if she had dropped that.

What's the easiest way to inventory those walls for BrickBuildr? I guess the most obvious way is to take a bunch of pictures of the wall, or more discretely would be to lay them all out in order on the counter, and take one picture...

When the place is buzzing with kids, I keep an eye on my cups.

I always use a small cup (or bring a container for this purpose) to scoop a bunch of bricks from the wall, then take them to the counter to pack into my cups.

When inventorying, I just take pix of the wall. I stand far enough back to catch 3 rows and 4 columns in each pic. Photobombs? Take 2! Catch all of the top half, then all of the bottom half of the wall. If I'm not sure if I'll be able to see what's in a bin in a pic, especially black, I'll balance a piece atop its respective bin.

[Follows Closely]

My twin boys ( age five ) and I got 700 1x2 log pieces in the Holliday box

[Hrw-Amen]

Well I finally managed to get to a PAB wall over the last few days, (02/02/12 and 03/02 2012.) so was quite excited by this. It was a good three and half hour drive to get there from where I live so not something to be done if I had not been going there anyway, but as i was it was good to take advantage.

I had gone away with my wife to celebrate our tenth wedding anniversary and luckily for me we booked to stay in a place near to a LEGO store. (Cardiff.) What a coincidence that was I wonder how I happened to choose that location?

Anyway, after reading this thread I was prepared to stack my PAB cups as best I could. I was surprised though at how many people came in whilst I was there and just randomly dropped bricks into the containers getting hardly any in at all as though they just did not care about what they were getting for the price. Even a couple of men who came in with (I presume.) their partners commented on how much I had and that stacking was the way to go, but then just didn't and haphazardly filled the cups anyway?

So what did I get? Well I cannot claim to be the worlds best stacker and I have no doubt that many of you could have done a lot better but I was pleased. I got two large cups on Thursday 02nd and then went back on Friday 3rd to get two more, obviously taking advantage of the 75p off for reusing my cups. I've kept them for when I go back, although it may not be for a long time. Does anyone know if they use the same cups at each store, if I took them to another LEGO store in a different city would I be able to use them? Not sure where my next holiday will be that is all.

The inventory from the 4 cups though was as follows:- (My descriptions are not that LEGO/Bricklink accurate but I expect you know what I mean.)

90 X Dark Blueish Grey Brick 2X8.

23 X Tan Brick 2X8.

15 X Reddish Brown Brick 2X8.

8 X Reddish Brown Brick 2X2.

12 X Black Brick 2X3.

9 X Black Brick 1X4.

11 X Black Slope End 45degree 1X2.

25 X Tan Slope 45degree 1X2.

32 X Green Brick 2X8.

12 X Lime Green Brick 2X8.

27 X Red Plate 2X8.

4 X Orange Brick 2X2.

16 X Orange Brick 1X4.

5 X Orange Slope 45degree 1X2.

39 X Lime Green Brick 1X2.

11 X Blue Brick 1X2.

40 X Light Bluish Grey Gear stick (Black stick.)

1 X Trans Clear Cheese 1X1.

1 X Red Curved Slope Brick 1X2.

16 X Light Bluish Grey Modified Plate 1X2.

23 X Green Plant Stems.

270 X Yellow Tiles 2X2.

295 X Orange Round Plate 1X1.

409 X Lime Green Round Plate 1X1.

32 X Red Brick 1X6.

102 X Red Brick 1X3.

31 X Red Brick 1X2.

47 X Tellow Brick 1X3.

34 X Yellow Brick 1X2.

111 X Red Plate 1X4.

113 X Yellow Plate 1X4.

21 X Lime Green Plate 1X4.

215 Yellow Jumper Plate 1X2.

76 X Trans Green Cheese 1X1.

6 X Trans Green Plate 1X1.

8 X Trans Green Tile 1X1.

7 X Trans Red Tile 1X1.

10 X Trans Red Tile 1X1.

16 X Reddish Brown Round Brick 2X2.

31 X Black Round Brick 2X2.

75 X Light Bluish Grey Slope 45degree 1X4.

60 X Light Bluish Grey Slope 45degree 1X2.

2 X Red Cupboards 2X2X2 with white doors.

I was a bit surprised to find that the Trans green/red cheese, plates and tiles were all mixed into the same hole in the wall but then I guess they are only small. The 1 X Trans Clear cheese and the 1 X Red curved slope were an odd thing to find in with the Lime Green Plates, and I could not find anymore which was a shame as I use a lot of those curved slopes on railway truck roofs but there you go.

It is a good job I do not live near to a LEGO store or I guess I'd spend all my time there. It was a real surprise when my wife had finished looking around the clothes stores and was back looking for me before I'd finished packing my cups. Normally at home I'm sat waiting in the car for ages until she returns!

[Sid Sidious]

How often are plant parts on the walls? A lot of the pictures in this thread have the flower stems in them. Is this the norm, or are these pics posted just because the stems and plant parts were there, making them seem more common?

[Zeya]

How often are plant parts on the walls? A lot of the pictures in this thread have the flower stems in them. Is this the norm, or are these pics posted just because the stems and plant parts were there, making them seem more common?

At my nearby store, there is always the three-flower stem piece, and almost always the bamboo (three leaf) piece. They're pretty much a mainstay.

Same is true for certain other things. Wheels, tires, 2x4 bricks in colors you don't want (lol). But seriously, certain things always seem to be there when I go.

But this may vary from store to store. I spoke with the employee at mine who orders the stuff for the wall, so they do kind of determine what to order, and they do change it up. But yeah, certain things are always there like the flower stems.

[Jareth]

Anyway, after reading this thread I was prepared to stack my PAB cups as best I could. I was surprised though at how many people came in whilst I was there and just randomly dropped bricks into the containers getting hardly any in at all as though they just did not care about what they were getting for the price. Even a couple of men who came in with (I presume.) their partners commented on how much I had and that stacking was the way to go, but then just didn't and haphazardly filled the cups anyway?

I've packed the cups by stacking before but I found that it takes too long and it encourages me to get bricks that I don't really want.

Now my strategy is to find a tiny piece I like, Start with that (to fill in the groove at the bottom)then add the pieces I want and occasionally fill in the corners with the tiny piece. If there are hollow pieces I want like Barrels, I'll fill them before putting them in the cup, and I usually end with a solid 4x4x2 structure for the lid, but it took me WAY too long to fill a cup by stacking.

Plus I usually like pieces that DON'T stack well, like bamboo or domed windows.

[Toadtorrent]

To anyone in Canada, I updated the Fairview mall PAB inventory HERE.

As well, somebody else updated the Calgary store inventory HERE.

[Rosethorn]

To anyone in Canada, I updated the Fairview mall PAB inventory -url removed 'cause I'm a former lurker-

As well, somebody else updated the Calgary store inventory -url removed 'cause I'm a former lurker-

Calgary would be me :) Trying to keep it more up to date now that the worst of the PAB box rush has passed. Somebody was asking about grab bags; we usually put them out every 2 or 3 weeks, although it's been very erratic since Christmas. We had about 50 out early last week, and they all sold within a day and a half.

[Duck]

A nice guide to getting the most out of PAB cups! I was going to follow the technique in Liverpool today but sadly what was on offer wasn't really what I was after and was often illogical (such as tyres but no inner parts...). I shall try next time however!

[llb]

A nice guide to getting the most out of PAB cups! I was going to follow the technique in Liverpool today but sadly what was on offer wasn't really what I was after and was often illogical (such as tyres but no inner parts...). I shall try next time however!

Had the same problem when I went there a couple of months ago...off to Cardiff in May so hopefully will be able to pick up some useful pieces.

[TheKingOfBuilding]

A couple of photos of my Holiday Pick A Brick box. Considering stores in the UK have fairly bad selections, I'm quite pleased with my haul. Plus, the best part, all of the 314 pieces I got for free! I those Holiday Pick A Brick boxes.

Using some simple stacking techniques, I built a solid cube in the shape of the box and used the prison doors as fillers (note the 1x1s with clips inside the windscreens). When taken apart, it came out as this...

...probably the best of the UK PAB's selection!

Edited February 15, 2012 by TheKingOfBuilding

[egadzook]

For Vancouver and Seattle area folk, I updated Brickbuildr with the PAB wall inventory for the Bellevue store.

[Wardancer]

Do you guys think PAB is the cheapest and fastest way to buy a lot of normal white bricks? A friend of mine wants to build a 1x1 meter modell of the real house he is building and asked me for help.

[Peshkavus]

Do you guys think PAB is the cheapest and fastest way to buy a lot of normal white bricks? A friend of mine wants to build a 1x1 meter model of the real house he is building and asked me for help.

Well if the average price of a white 2x4 is $0.13 and you use the 169 bricks in a cup guide, it would cost about $22 on Bricklink, not including shipping.

Pick-A-Brick would probably be cheaper, but if you need to fill a bunch of cups, can your hands take the stacking!

[The Blue Brick]

Do you guys think PAB is the cheapest and fastest way to buy a lot of normal white bricks? A friend of mine wants to build a 1x1 meter modell of the real house he is building and asked me for help.

PAB would be cheaper. I think there are larger PAB green tubs, but are far more expensive, I think around $75 or $100.

Edited February 21, 2012 by The Blue Brick

[splatman]

PAB would be cheaper. I think there are larger PAB green tubs, but are far more expensive, I think around $75 or $100.

The green tubs were discontinued only a year or 2 after they were released.

They did have a cardboard box that you could fill up for $150, but that was also discontinued just a few years after introduction. The box was an 8-inch cube, and the volume was almost exactly equal with the equivalent in large PaB cups, price-wise.

I took pix and uploaded them to my Flickr account:

I reused the box until I was told LEGO was no longer selling this item. There was no reuse discount (I asked).

During one of those Product Suggestion surveys that TLG put out, I asked for a new PaB bulk box, that went like this:

Starting with a 32x32 green or blue baseplate (purchased separately), you build walls 32 bricks high, fill it with the pieces of your choice (or build it solid), then cap with 2 layers of plates, to make a 10-inch cube, which would be dead equal (volume-wise) with 15 large PaB cups. The cashier would just ring it up as 15x large PaB cup refills (since no actual cups are involved, it would be the same to TLG as if you brought in your own PaB cups to refill).

[The Blue Brick]

The green tubs were discontinued only a year or 2 after they were released.

They did have a cardboard box that you could fill up for $150, but that was also discontinued just a few years after introduction. The box was an 8-inch cube, and the volume was almost exactly equal with the equivalent in large PaB cups, price-wise.

I took pix and uploaded them to my Flickr account:

I reused the box until I was told LEGO was no longer selling this item. There was no reuse discount (I asked).

During one of those Product Suggestion surveys that TLG put out, I asked for a new PaB bulk box, that went like this:

Starting with a 32x32 green or blue baseplate (purchased separately), you build walls 32 bricks high, fill it with the pieces of your choice (or build it solid), then cap with 2 layers of plates, to make a 10-inch cube, which would be dead equal (volume-wise) with 15 large PaB cups. The cashier would just ring it up as 15x large PaB cup refills (since no actual cups are involved, it would be the same to TLG as if you brought in your own PaB cups to refill).

Yes, I never knew they discontinued the green tubs. I just thought they never had them at my pay wall. Anyways, I love your idea of the 32x32 baseplate box idea. I would definitely get one of those. I always end up buying about 10 PAB cups if they have a decent amount of bricks in certain colors. They really need to bring back the larger boxes. We would go crazy.

[GeluNumber1]

How much do the large PAB cups cost?

Large PaB cups are $20 USD.

[ACWWgal2011]

Last time i went to the lego store, large are 15 a piece and small is 8 a piece.

[Vindicare]

Last time i went to the lego store, large are 15 a piece and small is 8 a piece.

Same here. I was last at a LEGO store last December.

[prateek]

Large PaB cups are $20 USD.

They are $15 in USA and $20 in Canada.

[caperberry]

The best thing to check the PAB walls is Brickbuildr

fW

Thank you freakwave. You have just alerted me to the very best page on the interweb ever.