So I guess you could consider me an AFOL now. Haven't built Legos in forever until I got the itch a week ago and bought the Parisian Restaurant. Now I might be addicted lol.

I wanna build my own modular to connect to it now, but I'm curious on what the best way to gather an assortment of Legos it. I know the Lego Stores in malls have assorted pieces, but am wondering, is their selection small and basic or is it pretty good? Will I be able to get most of what I need from their assortment there or will I have to order parts from online?

Thanks for any advise!

One of the cheapest ways to get another modular to connect to it is to buy another one like the Pet Shop, Palace Cinema, ...

 

If you really want to design and build yourself one from scratch, then you probably need to order parts online.

The selection @ the PAB walls are too random, meaning it's not likely they will have the parts nor the colours that you want. You will have to have much patience and time to wait and check.

 

You can easily find the necessary parts you want @ BrickLink.

 

Or you can buy other sets and use the parts included to make a bigger one.

Thanks Covi!

Would you recommend starting with the PAB wall at the store to start to build up a collection, and then using BrickLink to get specific build pieces I need? Or would you recommend getting everything from online?

I am just looking for the most economical and fastest way to build up enough of a lego collection to where I can sit and build on an idea, even if I need to order parts here and there as needed. I wish I had all the Legos I built as a kid! Haha

I would recommend starting with LDD.

It will give you an insight in the pieces you want/need, and then you can see which is the best buying option for the pieces you need.

I would recommend starting with LDD.

It will give you an insight in the pieces you want/need, and then you can see which is the best buying option for the pieces you need.

I wonder if there is a way to convert list of parts from LDD to a "wanted" list on Bricklink...

Yes! You can find it here.

Buying from "bricks and pieces" section from Lego Shop at Home also gives you a huge amount of parts to choose from.  PAB walls are going to be a pretty bland selection unless they have that one part you will need and you can load up on it.  You will always want to compare and contrast between the services as some parts are cheaper one one and some are more expensive. 

 

If you're doing modulars, I would go ahead and pick up the ones available to make sure you have them.  It is almost always going to be more expensive to build your own than what Lego puts out for $150-$200.

You could maybe try buying large sets with pieces you think you want and part out minifigs and unwanted elements.

You could maybe try buying large sets with pieces you think you want and part out minifigs and unwanted elements.

To add upon this, use Bricklink to see all parts included in any set at a glance before purchase to help determine if it contains pieces helpful towards whatever you wish to build. I do it all the time for my own designs.

For these modular house builds, you generally want the 'thin' bricks such as 1x4's all the way up to 1x12's when constructing the walls which is a main reason why brick buckets do not help as much as they should for this sort of design. Tiles such as this 1x4 with a single stud at both ends are perfect for in-between floors as it makes floors easy to remove from each other. The one piece that should be more common than it really is you need a ton of is the 2x2 tile in dark bluish gray. Only the modular house sets contain a good amount of them whereas every other regular set typically contains one or two which is frustrating for certain. The 1x4 tiles and 1x6 tiles in light bluish gray are relatively common and only a couple is required when building the sidewalk area.

To add upon this, use Bricklink to see all parts included in any set at a glance before purchase to help determine if it contains pieces helpful towards whatever you wish to build. I do it all the time for my own designs.

For these modular house builds, you generally want the 'thin' bricks such as 1x4's all the way up to 1x12's when constructing the walls which is a main reason why brick buckets do not help as much as they should for this sort of design. Tiles such as this 1x4 with a single stud at both ends are perfect for in-between floors as it makes floors easy to remove from each other. The one piece that should be more common than it really is you need a ton of is the 2x2 tile in dark bluish gray. Only the modular house sets contain a good amount of them whereas every other regular set typically contains one or two which is frustrating for certain. The 1x4 tiles and 1x6 tiles in light bluish gray are relatively common and only a couple is required when building the sidewalk area.

Awesome info thanks!

If I were ever to do something like this, I would probably take an existing modular like the Pet Shop and modify it, rather than starting from scratch. IMO, it will save you a lot of hassle and will be easier. If you are the adventurous type, I suppose you could go the long way... In the end, I think you will end up using Pick a Brick or BrickLink anyways, since there aren't enough pieces to make a whole modular.

Some of the Creator houses such as Seaside House, Family House, or Bike Shop & Cafe for example are excellent if not the very best parts packs for building modular homes. Shoot, I built a small abode using only the pieces from three Log Cabins that is easily modifiable into the modular system and I have one design built digitally at the moment from three Small Cottages which was a challenge but doable. The Treehouse out now won't help though as it has too many oddball parts and barely enough for even a small hut. If you really like the color of sand blue then you should definitely pick up a Pet Shop as it is filled with them and the only set with any of those color bricks perfect for building your own modular structures out right now.

So some of you suggested LDD, and I started to play with that last night.

Can someone explain the difference between LDD and LDD Extended though, because I can't find a clear answer.

The only thing I noticed was that LDD Extended allowed you to individually change the color of every piece while LDD had all the pieces as they were, and you could then sort by color.

If this is the only difference, and I won't lose any other functionality, I think I prefer regular LDD. Especially when you are looking through specialty type pieces, it is frustrating when they are all soldo colors. It's hard to distinguish what many of them even are.

Edited July 11, 201411 yr by Robert Allred

Can someone explain the difference between LDD and LDD Extended though, because I can't find a clear answer.

The only thing I noticed was that LDD Extended allowed you to individually change the color of every piece while LDD had all the pieces as they were, and you could then sort by color.

Basically the Extended mode gives you access to every single piece in every color available in the program. I think Regular mode is supposed to be more of restricting your access only to pieces actually made in those colors where Extended gives you free range over it all. I notice when in Regular mode that when you pick different colors to sort by, the selection can grow or shrink substantially. If you pick a color in Extended, the parts list never changes; just the color of every piece displayed.

Basically the Extended mode gives you access to every single piece in every color available in the program. I think Regular mode is supposed to be more of restricting your access only to pieces actually made in those colors where Extended gives you free range over it all. I notice when in Regular mode that when you pick different colors to sort by, the selection can grow or shrink substantially. If you pick a color in Extended, the parts list never changes; just the color of every piece displayed.

Cool, so no other functionality is lost? I can still create instructions, parts lists, etc with the regular mode? If so, that's what I'll be using.

Really appreciate all the feedback from everyone on this thread, y'all rock!

If you want to read more information about using LDD, I would recommend hopping over to the EuroBricks forum.

You can find a ton of information and inspiration there!

 

 

Here you can a quick link towards their section index about LDD.

Cool, so no other functionality is lost? I can still create instructions, parts lists, etc with the regular mode? If so, that's what I'll be using.

I don't think any major function is lost but then again I just work in Extended mode. Anyway, Covi is right on Eurobricks having a very good forum going into more thorough detail about the program as well as some of the other similar ones like LDraw and MLCad.

I don't think any major function is lost but then again I just work in Extended mode. Anyway, Covi is right on Eurobricks having a very good forum going into more thorough detail about the program as well as some of the other similar ones like LDraw and MLCad.

Just curious, what benefit do you find personally to using extended? Do you make the MOCs that you make up in the LDD extended, and if so, don't you run into issues with pieces (particularly specialty type pieces) that you use not being made in the colors you selected?

When I got back into Lego, I also wanted to start making some larger MOC's but was lacking pieces; I really only had vintage sets at that time and didn't want to break those sets up for parts.  I bought sets on clearance, like 50%-70% off, sold off the minifigs, and then sorted the pieces into bins.  Most of the time you get the bricks for free or at very little cost after selling the bits you don't want.  I don't really plan a build, I just dive into my parts bins and start putting things together, so having a selection of random parts is fine for me.  If I get to the point where I think I need more of a specific type of piece, I'll hit bricklink.

Just curious, what benefit do you find personally to using extended?

I like the unlimited aspects since it allows me to primarily focus more on what I am building. It's easier for me to select a color in the palette and have every piece in front of me that way although sometimes I do need to select a different brighter shade when working with the darker tones to make out the part I am looking for.

Do you make the MOCs that you make up in the LDD extended, and if so, don't you run into issues with pieces (particularly specialty type pieces) that you use not being made in the colors you selected?

When I have a very specific idea I wish to flesh out or just randomly put stuff together seeing where it goes, I always pull up LDD and have at it. Sometimes I do run into the usual case of using a part in a color that has not been made yet or insanely rare but it doesn't happen often and I am flexible enough to find something to put in place of the one or two imaginary pieces if need be. I actually have a general idea as to many of the parts in my collection and the consistency for certain ones almost always being made in one color or another like tires being black or Technic pins can be black, blue, or gray.

If in doubt there is always good ol' Bricklink to find out whether a part in a certain color exists at all. Bricklink is a MOCer's best friend when it comes to the inventory of every single set ever made.

Also I like coming up with alternate designs using only the pieces that came with a set or combining a couple together to form up one model as a way to limit what I use and knowing exactly what I have at hand.

So ya, the pick a brick wall at the lego store sucks. Very disappointed with the lack of variety. Gonna have to build my collection the old fashioned way haha