Collecting for MOCs?

[Bran_]

TWENTY YEARS!? Man, we'll be building Lego out of smart matter using telepathic nodes attached to our foreheads by then. Lego will be an amorphous intelligent gelatin that can transmogriphy into any shape we need so you'd just buy bags of goo.

Set your sights in the nearer future bro.

Oh I don't know about that, I'm still waiting for my hoverboard and my moon house.

If it does all turn to goo, however, I'll need a few staunch members for the Plastic Purists Collective. I'll pin a sign-up sheet in the lobby in twenty years' time. Keep an eye out.

Slogan tbc.

I believe the challenge and wat always refrain us from starting a MOC is we always have a worrying mindset that we do not have enough/right bricks.

Parts are certainly more limiting than imagination (or dreams perhaps). That's the biggest trouble I think. I'm looking forward to the day when I have so many parts that I don't know where to begin. Then I'll create a whole new topic about my over-abundance woes!

In the meantime, I think it's a case of starting small and keeping an eye out for kids chucking their collections. I'm already sifting through ideas for a vitgnette! This topic has been most inspiring.

[The_Cook]

So... In summary, everyone has a different strategy.

Some buy sets to break apart, some buy sets and can't bear to break them apart. Some sell the figures to finance purchasing bricks, some hoard figures to build armies. Some use Pick-a-Brick, some use Bricklink, some trawl through garage sales, some use eBay. There are lots of ways to get hold of bricks, some might be cheaper than others, some might get you more pristine bricks than others.

Some have the money to buy bricks that they might use one day, some buy just the bricks they need for the next moc. Some have money to buy thousands of bricks for giant MOCs, some have to limit their ambitions to the size and style of their brick collections.

The question becomes not "how do others collect", but "how can I collect the bricks I would like at a budget I can afford?" Only you can answer that question, because you know your circumstances, but there are lots of options out there; choose the one that work for you.

[Bran_]

Pretty much sums it all up, The_Cook.

Plenty of food for thought. It's been a very useful and inspiring post. I'd like to take the opportunity to thank everyone for their input.