Best Ways to Get LEGO Pieces for Your MOCs!

5 ways we get our LEGO bricks and pieces (on a budget)! Building MOCs is the next step after we run out of sets we like, but buying LEGO pieces can be a real challenge. In this video, we share what we've learned about about saving money on LEGO.

Chapters:
0:00 — Intro
0:19 — The problem
0:45 — 1. The Pick-a-Brick wall
4:18 — 2. BrickLink
6:55 — 3. LEGO.com pieces
8:52 — 4. Basic bricks boxes
9:32 — 5. Parting out sets
10:59 — Can we build the wall?

Method 1: The Pick-a-Brick wall at the LEGO store
Here you pay by volume, instead of per piece. Depending on the type of part, this can get you 40 to 90% off of what you'd pay elsewhere.
Tips: Call before you go to the wall, and go when it's been restocked recently. Pack your cup well — fill all the spaces! And ask the employees for tape.

BrickLink lets you buy exactly what you need, from third-party sellers. It can be way faster than LEGO.com, which also lets you buy specific pieces on demand.
Tips: Figure out how to minimize shipping costs. Buy in bulk. Use BrickLink wanted lists to maximize how many parts you can buy from each store. Definitely buy retired pieces here. Do due diligence on the seller's history.

Method 3: The LEGO.com online parts store ("Bricks and Pieces")
LEGO's first-party online parts shop. LEGO sells most of its non-retired parts here, split into categories they call "Bestsellers" and "Standard". Slow, but reliable. Free shipping over $35.
Tips: Use this for low piece counts (because there's no lot minimum) and for rarer colors (because all colors are the same price).

Method 4: Classic brick boxes, especially Bricks Bricks Plates 11717
Can be very cheap if all you need is generic bricks and plates. We've used these extensively for building out the bulk of the invisible infrastructure of our city.

Method 5: Parting out sets that are on sale or just a good price per piece
The overall price per piece for sets is cheaper than picking out individual pieces anywhere else, except the Pick-a-Brick wall.
Tips: Buy sets for parting if they're deeply discounted (like at least 30-40% off), or if they're very similar to what you're hoping to build.

And we finish off the video by seeing if we've assembled enough pieces to build a LEGO city wall! (Secret LEGO city update!)

[MrPolleyr]

In my area, we have a weekly local paper full of ads and a “Buy & Sell” section. I have bought two “significant” Lego lots that way. The first time a teenager decided he was too old for Lego and wanted to sell his entire collection. It was well over $2000 dollars worth of Lego for $250, which included 3 train sets and tracks. They alone were worth far my than my cost. The second purchase was even bigger, which got me over $3500 of Lego for $500. That lot took me over a month just to separate, clean and store. I had to buy two large storage systems just to accommodate the pieces. Buying second hand can be a huge savings. Sometimes there are non Lego bricks mixed in, but I use them in support and unseen ares in some of my MOC’s.

[Yuscha]

Youtube just recommended this channel, and I really love your small lego city. Mine is at a similar spot, and it's nice to see something other than the gigantic basement-sized lego cities from other youtube channels. I think the multi-level design is a great idea; it adds a lot of depth and dimension to the smaller build, and I might have something similar as a long-term goal of mine, depending on PAB-wall contents of course!

I also really like the spider plot to show the benefits/drawbacks of various brick purchasing options. I wish I had seen this earlier on, it would have saved me a lot of money buying parts.

[kunghayfahtchoy]

Another option that I have found are thrift shops where they will sometimes have a bunch of used LEGO for very cheap and I’ve been lucky to get some expensive parts and minifigs that way but it will require some cleaning and the condition varies widely. Alternatively there is also Facebook marketplace where someone will sell a huge collection or bulk parts but I’ve found less luck this way.

Also both will have some other third party toys or bricks mixed in too but usually I’ll avoid those whenever I can

[flungusbog]

this is unironically the most important lego video ever uploaded

[Chuck_vs._The_Comment_Section]

If you live on the other side of the pond, in Germany to be precise, you have another way to get your hands on clamp-on building blocks. The company Bluebrixx has stores in many cities, where there is also a "pick-a-brick wall". However, the difference is that you pay per gram rather than per cup. So you only pay for what you really need and are not forced to fill your cup as full as possible. And the bricks offered by Bluebrixx also have a higher clamping force.

And while we're on the subject of other clamping block manufacturers. They also have their own online shops such as webrick or yourwobb.

[Styreta]

I havent seen that much hand movement since trunks attacked frieza

[RebeccaJensenRunBosco]

What a great breakdown- the radar chart was a thoughtful touch!

[EidolonandOnly]

Pack the under side of bricks with small tile pieces. Connecting pieces together can save on space, especially with clip pieces. Connect the clips to any bar or piece that can fit within the clips.

[dabearcub]

The video production is so beautiful. You two have a movie in you.

[JPOlmin]

This was really good content. Loved the diagrams, examples, and calculations. I'm really happy I found your channel.

[empatheticrambo]

Best guide on this issue. Very thorough

[craigmushens]

Nice breakdown! I like the use of the graphs. I often buy bulk used parts through kijiji here in Canada. I have gotten large Rubbermaids full of lego for really good prices. Unfortunately you spend a lot of time sorting and it can be a crapshoot for what you get but you can often get some really good stuff if you recognize specific parts.

[carubnut]

Very useful video. Your city is great !

[AMBRBuilds]

Very informative! I love the charts you made after each method

[gregg]

Your video's edits are really getting better!keep up the good work!

[serrademers]

I am so happy I stumbled across your channel! I just love your video production quality, thoroughness in delivering information, and focus on added value like methods in which you can use points or save money as Lego can be quite an expensive hobby. Please continue creating videos as I am certain that you will do extremely well with your channel.

[sirjdawg]

Awesome love the knowledge, love the style of city so creative and rare, great voices pretty much asmr… seems kinda serious for Lego even tho it seems geared towards AFOL community ;from smiles to dead serious back to smiles it’s style feels like a Lego podcast…that might limit your audience to adults especially when the algorithm notices only adults are clicking liking and subbing

[tangentfox]

I'm really surprised you didn't mention thrift stores or garage sales. It's a great way to get a lot of stuff cheap if you wanna just have a good base to build from rather than targeting a specific thing.

[EidolonandOnly]

For a bulk of random pieces for cheap, craigslist is a good option too.

[charles]

if you need any ideas for something to do with 1, 000 eyes, you could look into making some lovecraftian monstrosity by combining it with tentacle parts and those horn/teeth parts to make a creature that looks like nothing that exists and also terrifying in some way