Does anyone here buy custom instructions? If so, what designs interest you and about how much are you willing to pay generally?

Here is a ongoing list of websites where you can purchase MOC instructions from.

• Brick City Depot
• Brick Builders Pro
• Modulars (offline)
• The Unique Brick (offline)

Here is a new marketplace where you can buy work by others or sell your own!
MOCPlans (Beta)

I don't because they are usually priced too high. I'd pay for well designed ships that aren't 5000 pieces huge. It's gotta be realistically possible to procure parts for. (Not more than 1500 pieces) It's unrealistic to expect printed copies, so 5-10 bucks for digital downloads. It also helps to have some a few pages as a preview.

Yes...I buy STAR WARS, STAR TREK and BATTLESTAR GALLACTICA custom instructions. Here is a quality seller I have used many times for some very cool MOCs. http://www.ebay.com/itm/CUSTOM-Battlestar-Galactica-Classic-Cylon-Raider-Instructions-Only-/181006717651?pt=Building_Toys_US&hash=item2a24d752d3

I have been trying to figure this out on my own based on context, and I feel very dumb for having to ask, but what is MOC and acronym for?

Darn it... I knew I should have just googled it before I exposed my ignorance. And the sad thing is... my guess that I had formulated was correct. So for anyone else who may be wondering, MOC = My Own Creation. Lol.

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I don't because they are usually priced too high.

I'd pay for well designed ships that aren't 5000 pieces huge.

It's gotta be realistically possible to procure parts for. (Not more than 1500 pieces)

It's unrealistic to expect printed copies, so 5-10 bucks for digital downloads.

It also helps to have some a few pages as a preview.

Good pointers there.

Decent sized build using easily accessible pieces, fair price range, and a little preview.

This definately narrows the field for me. Thank you.

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Yes...I buy STAR WARS, STAR TREK and BATTLESTAR GALLACTICA custom instructions. Here is a quality seller I have used many times for some very cool MOCs.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CUSTOM-Battlestar-Galactica-Classic-Cylon-Raider-Instructions-Only-/181006717651?pt=Building_Toys_US&hash=item2a24d752d3

Hey, a true space fan! I like those theme designs myself. The model in the link is friggin' awesome! Then again, so is that sellers other work. Thanks for sharing!

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Darn it... I knew I should have just googled it before I exposed my ignorance. And the sad thing is... my guess that I had formulated was correct.

Ah, don't feel bad. A lot of the 'net lingo' still gets me like with IMO (in my opinion), I still have to stop and think about it. First time I saw IMO I thought, "The heck's IMO? I know a girl that's an 'emo'." Haha.

Let's see we have ships, spaceships,.... What about custom modulars or other styles of buildings and architecture? Maybe "Ultimate Collector Series" style builds? (All within reasonable piece counts.)

I've bought quite a few from ebay from brick builders pro and miran pris... wax museum, train station, victorian mansion, post office, ice cream shop, italian restaurant etc. I started sourcing the parts with enthusiasm initially but found some of the parts were very expensive and some of the most expensive were used in large amounts... plus sometimes there were bugs in the xml upload to bricklink meaning some parts could not be found. The upshot of this ... I only ever built the post office (which I ended up modifying a fair bit too when I realised even after lots of checking and re-checking my wanted list I'd missed bits). I got 80 % parts for the Victorian Mansion and tried to convert it to modular style but found it too clunky, seemed to be very "brick heavy" with lots of parts that weren't necessary (guess I'm used to the way LEGO modulars are fairly economical with their brick use and then decided to make a town house version. So I now take the approach of using the instructions as inspiration but pretty much do my own thing. I found googling modular and taking screen shots of particular build techniques and compiling them in a word doc (now 85 pages long) has been a more effective tool for gaining ideas. good luck

I can relate to you on the frustation of parts sourcing or designs being ridiculously heavy on certain odd (and pricy) pieces or just overloaded on bricks in general. Gave me some good ideas and confirmed a few others, madaboutsesame.

I understand the fact with MOC's you can go whichever way you please, but some designs really do need a few 'once overs' to reduce the brick count and fine tune the build overall (the same way LEGO pretty much would). It is very easy to go overboard with a personal design, which is fine if it's just meant for you, but for other people you should tone it down a little. Make it more accessible & reasonable.

I think with certain designs, like a vending machine or van, there should be alternate color setups.

Such as a soda drink vending machine design that was originally red with white trim, should have atleast a picture, and perhaps parts list, showing that design using an alternate set of colors (like lime green with blue trim for example). That way you have referances showing what it would look like if you used a different set of colors, plus it helps when you're limited on parts in one color, but have plenty of them in another. Just a thought....

So, any other kind of designs you look for in MOC instructions?

Maybe dioramas of movie scenes & such?

Remixes of older LEGO sets? (Like a redesign of CASTLE "Forestmen's River Fortress" 6077)

Designs done 'in the style of' official sets? (Like a SPYRIUS esque spacecraft or robot)

How about designs for completely original themes?

I'm pretty much in the design and build phase of a very large city so anything that fits with that at the moment is what i keep an eye out for... only limited by imagination. The more refined (less superfluous parts that ramp up the cost unnecessarily) but with high detail, the better if I'm going to build from instructions but honestly I am having too much fun with designing my own now that it would have to be pretty kick butt and easy to recreate for me to purchase more instructions at this point in my LEGO Lifecycle...

The more refined (less superfluous parts that ramp up the cost unnecessarily) but with high detail, the better if I'm going to build from instructions but honestly I am having too much fun with designing my own now that it would have to be pretty kick butt and easy to recreate for me to purchase more instructions at this point in my LEGO Lifecycle...

Hey, you can NEVER have too much fun creating your own designs! ;-)

Gave me a couple more good ideas there.

Refine the design and detail. Add alot of bang for your buck. (Be unique could help, too.)

It feels wierd, on the couple of websites that do sell instructions I've seen alot of City-style MOCs & designs, but not much else. (No space, divers, racing, etc.) Maybe I haven't come across a website that actually does?

Does anybody know of a website that sells instructions for MOCs besides City or Train stuff?

I have not bought any MOC instructions as of yet......however, I am going to try and create some of the already completed designs that are out on the net. I believe plagerism is a form a flattery....(dont ask my Masters advisor that question) If your doing any Modular builds, start with just the shell. Im trying that approach, remember its all what you like. (Many hours of trial and error) but its enjoyable time!

I've bought quite a few from ebay from brick builders pro and miran pris... wax museum, train station, victorian mansion, post office, ice cream shop, italian restaurant etc. I started sourcing the parts with enthusiasm initially but found some of the parts were very expensive and some of the most expensive were used in large amounts... plus sometimes there were bugs in the xml upload to bricklink meaning some parts could not be found. The upshot of this ... I only ever built the post office (which I ended up modifying a fair bit too when I realised even after lots of checking and re-checking my wanted list I'd missed bits). I got 80 % parts for the Victorian Mansion and tried to convert it to modular style but found it too clunky, seemed to be very "brick heavy" with lots of parts that weren't necessary (guess I'm used to the way LEGO modulars are fairly economical with their brick use and then decided to make a town house version. So I now take the approach of using the instructions as inspiration but pretty much do my own thing. I found googling modular and taking screen shots of particular build techniques and compiling them in a word doc (now 85 pages long) has been a more effective tool for gaining ideas. good luck

Where did you buy these instructions (wax museum etc.)? I thought I saw them on Ebay, but the only place I can find them is on his website: www.modulars.nl. Have you also bought them over there? If so, how was the delivering procedure? Very interested in purchasing these.

Where did you buy these instructions (wax museum etc.)? I thought I saw them on Ebay, but the only place I can find them is on his website: www.modulars.nl. Have you also bought them over there? If so, how was the delivering procedure? Very interested in purchasing these.

Got them via electronic delivery after purchase on ebay - haven't gotten around to starting piece collecting for it yet though - was gonna try and do it in white rather than tan to keep costing down with a dark bluish grey roof as I think white and black may be too stark in contrast. The other thing you have to watch with any custom mocs is that their xml coding is correct as its a real pain in the pooper when its wrong in uploading into your wanted list. Good luck

PS = the other thing I hate about custom instructions - I don't always have the $ for interiors so I'd love it if the xml lists (for upload to wanted on Bricklink) and instructions were clearly divided between internal and external bricks (as long as these don't intercept of course) so that I could just buy the parts needed for outside - so if you are looking to design for re-sale keep that in mind as a possible thing to work into your designs (or maybe I'm the only one who does this LOL )

I didn't see anyone mention this yet, but it is so worth for those out there that may have never visited this site (http://rebrickable.com/mocs) There are some truly great MOCs on the site with many FREE downloadable instructions. Some do cost a few bucks but I think its mostly the much larger or more complex ones. Take a look if you have never been there before.

I didn't see anyone mention this yet, but it is so worth for those out there that may have never visited this site (http://rebrickable.com/mocs) There are some truly great MOCs on the site with many FREE downloadable instructions. Some do cost a few bucks but I think its mostly the much larger or more complex ones. Take a look if you have never been there before.

Great site. After visiting REBRICKABLE.COM, your next stop will be Bricklink to buy bulk LEGO to build the awesome models on the site. It is an addictive site that I really need to stay away from. LOL

My favorite...

Wow....and here I thought this thread was dead and buried.

Glad it still has some life in it, heh heh.

Great site. After visiting REBRICKABLE.COM, your next stop will be Bricklink to buy bulk LEGO to build the awesome models on the site. It is an addictive site that I really need to stay away from. LOL

I know what you mean, ha ha. It is a pretty good site that I had found from someones post on Brickset I believe. And that Venator ship is pretty darn good.

PS = the other thing I hate about custom instructions - I don't always have the $ for interiors so I'd love it if the xml lists (for upload to wanted on Bricklink) and instructions were clearly divided between internal and external bricks (as long as these don't intercept of course) so that I could just buy the parts needed for outside - so if you are looking to design for re-sale keep that in mind as a possible thing to work into your designs (or maybe I'm the only one who does this LOL )

I thought about doing something similiar with my own custom designs by having the partslist separated into different sections. Like you just mentioned, one listing all of the parts used for creating the exterior, and another for parts used in the interior.

Something I wonder, just how well do those XML files work anyway? They seem to be more trouble than they are worth. How about in the PDF file right next to each piece in the partslist, a hypertext link that takes you right to that specific part's page on Bricklink similiar to this.

Where did you buy these instructions (wax museum etc.)? I thought I saw them on Ebay, but the only place I can find them is on his website: www.modulars.nl. Have you also bought them over there? If so, how was the delivering procedure? Very interested in purchasing these.

Got them via electronic delivery after purchase on ebay - haven't gotten around to starting piece collecting for it yet though - was gonna try and do it in white rather than tan to keep costing down with a dark bluish grey roof as I think white and black may be too stark in contrast. The other thing you have to watch with any custom mocs is that their xml coding is correct as its a real pain in the pooper when its wrong in uploading into your wanted list. Good luck

Thank you for your reply!

I've found another seller on ebay with two very nice MOCs. Here are the links to the ebay listings: http://www.ebay.nl/itm/300846060111?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649#ht_500wt_1376 and http://www.ebay.nl/itm/300846057662?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649#ht_500wt_1376 I have bought both of the instructions and both .xml files work perfectly. Thought you guys might be interested.

I've found another seller on ebay with two very nice MOCs. Here are the links to the ebay listings:

http://www.ebay.nl/itm/300846060111?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649#ht_500wt_1376

and

http://www.ebay.nl/itm/300846057662?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649#ht_500wt_1376

I have bought both of the instructions and both .xml files work perfectly. Thought you guys might be interested.

......wow.

Both of those are very nicely done. Smooth lines, great detail, and good use of colors. The first one must cost quite a lot to build considering it uses so much orange and dark orange. (I am just guessing though.)

Actually, it's not that bad. The calculation that I have made (using some used parts as well), Brickstreet will cost me around $450-500. And the Orange Building will be around $250.

I didn't want to restart a thread this old but my question relates to the subject closely. For anyone who has bought (or perhaps plans to buy) MOC instructions, do seeing physical shots taken of the build itself help sway your decision in buying the set of instructions, or are you okay with digital renders, or does it not matter either way?

For example, here is a digital render of Brick City Depot's City Residential Pack #4.

And now both physically built.

I personally like seeing the actual builds in real life over a digital render when looking around at various custom designs. I know the instructions themselves are rendered digitally but still when it comes to making that final decision initially, seeing the real result beforehand helps.

Either way works for me. Always nice to see the real deal, but that`s not essential. I haven`t purchased any custom instructions yet, but have seen way too many to count, and from my point of view, there really isn`t one that matters more over the other. Speaking of which, this may be something fun to do over the holidays. I`m going to take a browse now 

I absolutely prefer to see the real builds, with lots of photos.

Speaking of which, this may be something fun to do over the holidays. I`m going to take a browse now 

Well, here are a couple of sites I remember off hand.

Brick City Depot

Brick Builders Pro

Modulars

The Unique Brick

On Flickr, RedCoKid has some great designs to check out (although nothing for sale).

Well, here are a couple of sites I remember off hand.

Brick City Depot

Brick Builders Pro

Modulars

The Unique Brick

On Flickr, RedCoKid has some great designs to check out (although nothing for sale).

I appreciate the suggestions! Thanks!  Only familiar with one of those, so I will give the others a look asap.