Leaderboard

Hello... Jeff and I just added two new forum categories...Bricklink Marketplace and Non-LEGO Deals. The Bricklink section can be used to discuss buying and selling techniques and ideas based on the Bricklink site. Please do not promote your Bricklink stores here. The Non-LEGO Deals will work like the LEGO Daily Deals page. Members can post great deals on NON-LEGO related items like toys, collectibles and electronics that they want to share with other members. Jeff and I are going to monitor the activity on these two sections to gauge interest for our upcoming DAILY DEALS 2.0 and Brick Classifieds and decide whether or not we will incorporate these ideas into one or the other. Any questions, feel free to ask... Ed

As it seems like there are some members new to the part buying aspect of Bricklink, I thought I'd share some information on programs that can make it easier. Bricklink is a great thing to have, but using it at first feels like a time machine to 15 years ago and shows you just how bad online shopping can be on an outdated website design. That said, two programs that can relieve some of the pain are Brickstore and Brickficiency. Brickstore essentially lets you manage the Bricklink database in a more powerful and easier to use way. Imagine the Bricklink parts/sets catalog combined with Excel. I primarily use it to check prices and inventory levels of parts and sets, to create wanted lists for missing parts I need or sets I'm trying to build from scratch, and to verify inventory of a Bricklink order or a used set I bought. It has the ability to import set inventories, import Bricklink orders, export Bricklink wanted lists, etc which make it much faster to use than the Bricklink website. Brickficiency is a program that takes a Bricklink wanted list or Brickstore .bsx file and scans Bricklink to find the cheapest combination of 2-5 stores to purchase the parts from. This makes it very easy to find where to purchase a list of parts from, rather than having to manually and tediously use the store list on the Bricklink Wanted list page. Hopefully this is helpful to anyone who has not heard of these programs, and if you already have, you probably know how useful they are . If it would be helpful I can write some short tips and guides on using these programs to accomplish certain tasks such as verifying completeness of a used set, identifying a used set based on a few bricks, Bricklinking a complete set from scratch, etc, or even just basic Bricklink tips and info, just let me know

completed more steps. added more underneath and top paneling. both circular panels w/ turret cannons are done (the top one is missing from the pictures below). now on step 77.1 of 97. the set is now just "large" i am finally have missing elements (ugh!) : 2 of the 3 "Light Bluish Gray Dish 6 x 6 Inverted (Radar) Webbed - Type 2". I contacted the seller.

It's a sort of mental illness, I'm coming to suspect. There's something incredibly satisfying about creating and maintaining a complex inventory of beloved plastic bits. We had our biggest order so far (800+ pieces) yesterday, and found every last one of them quickly and easily, it was pretty cool to see "the system" work on a bit larger scale!

http://www.brickpicker.com/bpms/set.cfm?set=76013-1 When I looked at the Lego 76013 'The Joker Steam Roller set', I was astounded by the retail price difference between Europe and the US. If I convert the Dutch Price of 64,99 euro's to dollars, (64,99 : 0,725) the outcome = 89,64 dollars! It isn't far off to say that the price in The Netherlands is almost double of the US price. I cannot think of a good explanation for this price difference. I think it's unfair of LEGO to the European Customers. Has anyone got an explanation for this?

I see a second Black Pearl in this set. Even though it has experienced some major discounts, I can almost guarantee that people will be kicking themselves for not buying more of these. This is a very iconic place in both The Hobbit and LOTR. There are five exclusive minifigs, and with it being so iconic, I cannot see someone losing money on it.

Yes, the Wanted List is what you want - it's not a pretty website, but it does have a lot of cool, functional things that work well, and the wanted list is among them.

Thanks I will use the affiliate link, do not really go in for rewards sites. Quick picks 5%off + 3%cash back is good enough

It's on sale on amazon. 399.95. Four cents off.

Yep,not a bad CAGR at all. By my calculations, making the assumptions of 12% Ebay fees that would equate to a CAGR of: 9629633978455400000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000% That's the best Excel could do. Actually in short hand it is 9.63 x 10 ^ 148. Bear in mind that a "Googol" is 10 ^ 100 i.e. 1 with 100 zeros behind it. So a pretty damn big CAGR. Pity you couldn't reinvest it at the same rate over a longer time period than your 1 day investment. you'd probably end up owning all the money in the world in a matter of weeks

Oh I loved reading Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot and some of her one off mystery novels. I could not stand Ms Marple though. That was more a testament to the brilliance of Agatha Christie that she could write 2 popular characters with very distinct personalities and methodologies

OMG! I loved the Gobstoppers...the sour middle...Yum!

I love Nerds.

My son really likes Chima. Does that mean he's abnormal? The wife and I can try again.

I'll ask Jeff to add one... Sent from my iPad using Brickpicker

Since we have a pretty popular "Complaint Thread", I thought it might be a good idea to start an "I Love It! Thread". I'd like to begin with: I love it when I make a big $500 or more purchase because of a sale or great deal and shortly afterward make enough back in sales to cover the costs and then some. It helps with the buyer's guilt.

After 2 years of waiting, I finally used some of my profits toward a 10179. It's an open box non-special edition set with a very good to excellent conditioned manual. Was able to pay under Brickpicker and Bricklink values. Honestly, I wasn't ready for the 27 pound box that FedEx delivered. I wasn't home but a neighbor signed for it so that meant, your's truly carried this heavy beast 1/4ths of a block. I did a quick inspection and everything looked good enough. The key elements were there. I'm estimating a 3 week build since this will be done only during my spare time (usually when everyone is sleeping). I also decided to use the downloaded PDF version of the instructions on my iPad to limit wear on the manual. Plus, I like being able to zoom in when needed. My previous build reviews. 7780: The Batboat: Hunt for Killer Croc : http://www.brickpick...-croc-batman-1/ 7782 The Batwing: The Joker's Aerial Assault : http://www.brickpick...arison-to-6863/ 7786: The Batcopter: The Chase for Scarecrow : http://www.brickpick...-for-scarecrow/ 10123: Star Wars Cloud City : http://www.brickpick...ars-cloud-city/ 10173: Holiday Train : http://www.brickpick...-holiday-train/ 10179 UCS Millennium Falcon : http://www.brickpick...lennium-falcon/ 10226 Sopwith Camel : http://www.brickpick...-sopwith-camel/ 10181 Eiffel Tower : http://www.brickpick...l-tower-advice/ 10194 Emerald Night train : http://www.brickpick...-emerald-night/ 10196 Grand Carousel : http://community.brickpicker.com/topic/13647-building-10196-grand-carousel/ 10225 UCS R2D2 : http://www.brickpick...0225-ucs-r2-d2/ 75059 UCS Sandcrawler : http://www.brickpick...59-sandcrawler/ 21021 Architecture Marina Bay Sands http://www.brickpick...rina-bay-sands/ 21108 Ghostbusters Ecto-1 : http://www.brickpick...busters-ecto-1/

It's not even retired yet. Patience...

yes. totally agree. i can live with using substitute elements until the proper ones arrive. however, this $.35 dish element isn't widely used in any color. sure, it surfaces from time to time in random colors. of all the sets i own, only 5 different sealed sets and 1 loose set has it regardless of color. thus, i borrowed a medium bluish gray one from my son's slave 1 and that was used as the round window on the top turrent. i don't have another one for the cockpit once that is built. worse case is that i can contect lego support for replacements but i really don't want to do it since there might be more missing pieces (don't want to contact them twice for the same set). regardless, i'm 2/3rds done and missing just 2 elements isn't too bad for a set of this size. too bad it's not a more common one.

Use uncle Google ;)

Please use the Brickpicker affiliate links.

If I was whatever the Australian's equivalent to Mark Zuckerburg or Bill Gates and found out my mom threw away my copy of that set while I was off making my billions, I might buy it for that much. An awesome iconic set that I have fond memories of, luckily I think I've still got all the pieces for mine although they're mixed into a big old tub that I've been meaning to sort through for ages...

76019 76020 76021 Some high res pictures via thebrickfan

Exactly, the storage and organization is addicting. Must be a personality disorder. haha I tried the decrease prices by a percentage. It works well

There are many reasons why people don't go to the Lego store. (Parking, Driving, Time, Carrying the DSS & Risk it not being there..etc....) If you do the math, its not that much of a savings if you live in a No tax Amazon state. My state charges 7%, 2x vip point is 10%, so 3% saving =$12 for a DSS. Remember its $12 toward another Lego store Purchase. No polybags this month, so Shopping from Amazon would be the way to go for some folks who makes more than $12/Hour. The only issue with Amazon is only 2 per order until you receive it.

Woah! Somebody dust off the Blacktron!

IS there a reason why someone would order from amazon Walmart or target relative to the 2 points via lego? Even 3% back via Amazon or 5% via target, and the Lego points are only valid in the future w them, assuming a state w no sales tax, why would Lego direct not be the most viable?

Picking up another bulk set today or tomorrow, have over 150 lbs now that i am sorting through. But I also enjoy it, it's like an all time consuming treasure hunt.

If you need some for personal collection or gifts sooner than later, Amazon.ca has these new sets at 20% off. Obviously I would wait for investment purposes. These little sets are very cool. Also Arctic Batman is $19.86 (not a bad CAN price if you still want/need it).

Due to our reserve status as we print money other nations have to buy dollars to maintain their capital accounts. It is a bad cycle that will one day cause a currency crisis. We will then be in worse shape price wise and will either not have dollars or they will be greatly devalued, i would say 70% or so maybe far worse. The Euro is a group of many nations that screwed themselves going to the euro because now you all are getting stupid high debt bubbles as.well on diminishing revenues, gdp, and ever increasing unemployment. Strap in because it is going to be a bumbp ride, someday. I hope i will have transitioned the majority of my lego holdings into hard assets by then.

This may not be correct, but don't the US prices shown exclude tax as it varies per state, while in Europe the prices displayed are including the tax?

It's almost worth it to import from the USA. But this difference is not just Lego. Beside the standard MSRP price differences the sales prices are even worse.. I never see any LEGO sales with 50% off at Dutch retailers.

HE'S A FIRIN' HIS LAZOR!!!!

Often a lot less than local retail as well, especially if US Amazon is on sale. It has it's downsides for sure, but one of the positives is that people can buy and import then flip locally for less than local retail and make a decent profit.

Funny post.

I am definitely glad to see something that is not a fire station or a police station. lol.

Are you talking about the SSD? Then you are certainly mistaken sir. For people loading up it will be a disappointment if its only a 600-700 set.

U must have missed the HD mania

I love getting a shiny new Lego set in the mail that's for my collection. When investment sets come in, it just means more work to inventory and store it. Sets for my collection make me feel like a kid on christmas. I love bringing an expensive Lego set up to the checkout and having the cashier say "nice job man" after processing all of my reward points and coupons to get it dirt cheap. Kmart and TRU are the most fulfilling since you really have to pay attention to what coupons you use and how to apply them to get the largest discount. I love my newborn son, I know it's cliched but there really isn't any feeling quite like it. I love that my wife and family are just as geeky as I am.

So anyone who follows LEGO on the internet (which is everyone and their dog) knows about this promotion by now. I have some points and suggestions/comments to make on this interesting promotion. 1. "Always two there are, an opened, and an investment. No more. No less." "But which one was purchased? The opened, or the invested?" * I personally will be getting two either way I think, one for my own collection and one to invest in. After all, if I buy stuff I would anyways, I didn't really lose anything. I just made less money than I thought. And he IS a cool looking figure. Well designed, and goes great with the other EU sets. 2. Speaking of EU, this is something that will affect the value of the figure. He's not necessarily a mainstream character...just like Martian Manhunter though, he's a POPULAR non-mainstream character. This could go either way for investors, though. I think Super Heroes is generally a safer bet than Star Wars though. It's hard to say how much this could go for, but if point number 3 is any indication, he could go for a nice $25. 3. TC-14. That droid that was seen for 10 seconds in Star Wars, Episode I: The Phantom Menace. He was a May the 4th figure, maybe the first, but I can't remember for sure though. But he is selling for about $15-25 on eBay and the secondary market. My only question is, why? Other than rarity, there's not too much more to the figure. He's a silver C-3PO, and that's it. To me, Gold holds more value than Silver, if you catch my meanin'. Darth Revan is different, he's a very cool looking figure to me. I don't see why he couldn't go for $25+ within a year or so. 4. Rarity plays a fairly large part of the value, I understand that. And if it's a promotion open for 3 days, it's going to be pretty rare, is how I see it. You can only get this figure from May 3rd-5th, probably meaning a lot less will be produced. However, that's not to say you won't see him again at other Star Wars/LEGO SW events. After all, I got my own TC-14 at the LEGO Kidsfest in Portland last year. They were handing them out to anyone wearing a Star Wars or LEGO SW shirt. I didn't even know about that, so lucky me! Anyways, he probably won't be EXCLUSIVELY exclusive forever. However, he may be exclusive enough to get some good money out of him. 5. $75 of Star Wars LEGOs. I don't know about you, but it is pretty easy to rack up $75 worth of sets with only 2-3 small items in your cart. LEGO is expensive. I don't know how thrilled parents would be about trying to spend $75 on LEGOs unless a birthday was coming up. How many would that be? I know parents would be hitting their heads if they just bought cool Star Wars, and then a couple months later, their kids are begging for new summer release sets. They would rather spend "less" money on eBay. I say less because we investors wouldn't really see that the same way. So that's most of my thoughts on this promotion. Can you let me know what you think, and confirm or deny my own suspicions and comments? *Yes, I know that it was Darth Bane who established the "Rule of Two," for any SW fanboys who might get on my back or something.

Now would be a great time to re-read the thread from last may the fourth and laugh at all the naysayers on the B-wing.

After nearly 6 days of not being able to build, i completed more sections today although it doesn't appear like much in the picture. - the landing ramp, underside of the escape pod opposite the ramp, 2 additional lower areas under the front (bow) mandibles, and 4 small sections that has greebling (visible through the top and lower circles in bow mandibles). - it's now entirely two heavy for carrying w/ one arm. - Now on step 68.1 of 97. - also added paper towels to the picture for size scaling.

Most of all I LOVE my wife and my kids!!! Without them, I probably wouldn't be doing this. I also love the opportunity that Lego has presented us!! Otherwise none of us would crossed paths!! Lego on!

As someone else pointed out in a different thread... Conditioned like Pavlov's dogs. That cha-ching sound the eBay app makes each sale. Rush of excitement every time.

Walmart.ca is still selling the train too : and still at full price.

made some progress after '3 days of rest'. finally installed the masts now on step 58.1 of 97 (page 93). next steps are to build the outline of the left front "?" of the ship.

I see no reason why this shouldn't be worn as a hat at all times.

Would you try this ?

More or less. First you have the standard torso. Then you place this add-on on top of that. And voila! Instant weirdo! I believe so. Pong Krell was a big guy compared to all the Clone Troopers and Garmadon was a bit taller when he turned into a quad guy.

That is a very cool vest. And that is not something I say lightly. I'm actually very much anti-vest. I wrote a blog about it: Actually I didn't. But I might. Or maybe this one very cool vest has redeemed all vests. I'm so confused.