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G'day folks,
Since I was hard up for a good time, I analyzed the cost-effectiveness
(or lack of it) for my first PaB encounter (in Ontario, Canada). I
bought 1 small bag and 2 large bags. I filled all with a mixture of
bricks, plates, and fences. The first bag I filled, a large one, I
didn't try to cram it full of little pieces when I was done. The
other two bags, one large and one small, I added tiny pieces to fill
the volume. I didn't stack anything, just stuffed the bags.
Here are the results:
Bag_____Price___Pcs_____Price/Pc____Volume__Vol/Pc__Price/Vol___Price/2x4
S1______5.95____66______0.090_______678_____10.3____0.0088______0.211
L1______9.99____76______0.131_______1128____14.8____0.0089______0.213
L2______9.99____125_____0.080_______1114____8.9_____0.0090______0.215
As you can see, the piece-counts of the bags vary widely, as they depend on
the size of the pieces. So this count is largely useless.
The "price-per-piece" is also relatively useless for a general assortment, for
the same reason that piece-count is useless. The only helpful thing about
this value is it shows how incredibly more expensive PaB is than
the retail tubs, which everyone already knows. My cheapest bag is 8 cents
per piece, based on relatively small pieces (see next paragraph). A
1000-piece tub at regular retail of $30 is only 3 cents per piece. The
2000-piece Walmart tub at $25 is only 1.25 cents per piece. But of course,
PaB gives pieces that you can't get in the tubs...
The "volume" is a number I use to estimate the total amount of LEGO. One
unit of volume is a 1x1 plate/tile. So a 2x4 brick is 24 units of volume.
You can see that the small bag only has about 60% the volume of a large
bag (678 / 1128 ~= 60%, or 678 / 1114 ~= 60%). You'll note as well that
a small bag also costs only 60% the price of a large bag, so clearly the
prices are in balance with the bag capacities.
The "volume-per-piece" indicates the average size of the pieces in the bag. For
comparison, a 2x4 brick is 24 units, a 2x2 brick is 12 units, a 1x2 brick is
6 units, etc.
I think the "price-per-unit-volume" is the most useful value of them all.
It basically represents the theoretical price for a single 1x1 plate or
tile. As you can see, this value is almost identical for all three of my
bags, at about 0.9 cents.
The "price-per-2x4 brick" is just a reference value to show a theoretical
price for a 2x4 brick. My numbers are about 21 cents per brick (ouch!).
CONCLUSION: The effective price of LEGO is pretty much the same regardless
of the bag size you choose. However it is more practical to stuff larger
pieces into a large bag and then pad with smaller pieces, than it is to do
the same with a small bag. So if you are buying large pieces, I'd recommend
using the large bag. Otherwise, it doesn't really matter. Even the
small bag can hold a surprising amount. Even without stacking mine held:
4 4x8 plates(!)
3 2x8 bricks
3 2x4 bricks
8 1x2 bricks
6 1x4 plates
26 2x4 plates
11 2x2 plates
5 1x2 jumper plates
Back to a life... :]
Enjoy,
KDJ
______________________________
LUGNETer #203, Ontario, Canada
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