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Here's a first draft of the first few questions - comments please!
Buying Lego FAQ
Before reading the individual questions and answers, there are four
resources you should know about which may well, between them, give you
the answer to these and many other questions. In no special order, they
are:
LUGnet (www.lugnet.com) the website and news server dedicated to Lego.
Hosts 747 (last I looked) newsgroups on every possible aspect of Lego,
the Pause and Fibblesnork set databases, and much more.
The Lego company website at www.lego.com. Has a searchable catalog
(including all current sets, service packs and accessories for Europe,
N. America and Asia) although you can't order from it, a builders
gallery, and more.
Rec.toys.lego, (RTL) the international lego newsgroup. Not as good a
signal-to-noise ratio as the LUGnet newsgroups, but not bad compared to
most unmoderated newsgroups.
Lego Shop-at-home (S@H) (also known as Lego Direct or Lego Service). In
North America S@H sells sets as well as accessories and parts packs, and
publishes a catalog several times a year with sets which are "not sold
in stores" and special offers. Call 1-860-763-4011 in the US, or
1-800-267-5346 in Canada. In Europe and other places, Lego Service only
sells accessories and parts packs. All Lego sets except the very tiniest
include a leaflet in the package with numbers and addresses for local
countries, along with a mini-catalog.
Where's the best place to buy Lego?
It depends on what kind of lego you're looking for, what your resources
are (time and/or money), and where you live, among other things. Check
out the more detailed questions and answers below for a more focused
answer, and read the linked descriptions of the possible places to get
Lego:
Lego Shop-at-Home/Lego Direct/Lego Service
Garage sales / flea markets / car boot sales / jumble sales / thrift
stores / charity stores
Classified ads / free ad paper ads
Independent toy stores
Large chain toy stores
Department stores
Discount department stores
Public Internet auction sites
Independent internet piece auctions
Independent piece sale internet sites
Private auctions on RTL or Lugnet
Private Trades on RTL/Lugnet
Individuals Web site trade/sale pages
What is Lego Shop-at-Home/Lego Direct/Lego Service?
A phone or mail-in service, which sells accessory packs and spare parts.
In N. America, sells sets including most/all of the current line and
some discontinued sets, plus "not sold in stores" sets, and prices
include shipping. In Europe most of the sets marked "not sold in stores"
in N America are actually sold in stores.
What kind of Lego can I find at garage sales / flea markets / car boot
sales / jumble sales / thrift stores / charity stores
Used / secondhand Lego. It takes a fair bit of searching to find it,
since it is usually snapped up early, but if you can find it this is the
cheapest way. Condition of what you get varies from almost new to chewed
and scratched and sticky! Lots may contain partial models or bits and
pieces from many sets with none complete.
What kind of Lego can I find in classified ads / free ad paper ads
Used / secondhand Lego, usually a bit more expensive than at garage
sales, but still a good deal.
What kind of Lego can I find at independent toy stores
Usually expensive but can have a good range, and sometimes have older
stock of discontinued sets.
What kind of Lego can I find at large chain toy stores
Large selection of current sets and occasional older sets, may have good
prices, may have sales from time to time. May also have clearance sales
to get rid of slow-moving stock where you can get very good buys.
Sometimes large chains have exclusive or limited edition items.
What kind of Lego can I find at department stores
Varies wildly: may have good or poor selection, may have only current or
some older sets, may be expensive, may have sales from time to time.
What kind of Lego can I find at discount department stores
e.g. Target, Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Zellers, etc
Varies: may have good or poor selection, often have good prices on
current sets, may sometimes have leftover older sets. Often have
clearance sales periodically. Often the best place to find bulk brick
buckets or tubs. Some large "superstores" also have Lego and can be good
places to buy current sets.
What is a public Internet auction site
e.g. eBay, Yahoo, Serious Collector
These sites allow anyone to register with them and list items to sell.
They can be the easiest place to find old or rare sets, but you pay a
premium for them. Especially eBay is so big that eventually you can
always find what you're looking for. Whether you can afford to buy it is
another matter. Yahoo has very little in the way of Lego auctions but
can be cheaper than eBay. Serious Collector is an excellent place to
find good quality older Lego sets - not as much traffic as eBay and
includes sniping protection. You can also find parts on eBay, often in
larger lots than the piece auction sites. Windows and bulk bricks are
especially common. Used parts are often sold here: buyer beware as
condition varies from good to terrible and the sellers description may
not be accurate.
What is an Independent internet piece auction?
e.g. Auczilla, Modern Auction, the Brickyard, JABA, Bricks@Guarded Inn
These auction sites sell pieces, usually in small lots of 1 to 100 or so
of a specific piece type and color. Some run continuously as a
collection of small individual auctions: some run one large auction to
completion then stop while everything from that auction is paid for,
packed and mailed, then start another large auction. Prices vary - you
can pay a lot for very popular pieces, or you can get some very cheap
deals
.
What is an independent piece sale internet site?
Sell specific pieces and colors as a straight sale not an auction,
usually you specify the quantity you want and that's what you get. Only
site I know of like this at the moment is BAYLIT.
What is a private auction on RTL or Lugnet?
Individuals sometimes run auctions by hand, advertising them on the
newsgroups and publishing updates there and to a mailing list of
interested parties. To find these you need to read the newsgroups.
Sometimes they are piece auctions, sometimes for sets, often older ones,
often used. Prices vary from low to high.
What is a private trade on RTL/Lugnet?
People often publish their wants lists or for-trade lists on the
newsgroups. If you have parts to trade, this is a great way of getting
what you want.
What is an individuals web site trade/sale page?
Many Lego fans have Lego pages on their websites, and often include
trade or sale items there. Sometimes they will post an announcement to
the newsgroups, otherwise, just surf the Lego webring and the Everything
Lego links page to find sites, then look for trade pages.
How can I get lots of bricks of just one color?
You have several choices.
a. Buy brick service packs from Lego Shop-at-Home (in N. America only).
Most expensive way, but it's convenient. Colors are red, blue, yellow,
white, black, grey and green.
b. Buy brick buckets or tubs, or large Classic or Freestyle sets, take
the color you want, and sell the rest (cheapest way - you can end up
getting the bricks you want AND making money, but it takes time and
effort).
c. Buy bulk color bricks on eBay (the people selling them have just done
(b) above!). This way you can sometimes get rarer colors like tan, dark
grey, or brown.
d. Search out private piece auctions and sales and buy them there. Time
consuming but can be reasonably cheap.
How can I get lots of bricks of just one color and a specific size?
a. Some people sell specific color/size brick lots on eBay. Not cheap,
but you don't have to work very hard to find them.
b. Buy brick buckets or tubs, or large Classic or Freestyle sets, take
the color and size you want, and sell the rest (cheapest way - you can
end up getting the bricks you want AND making money, but it takes time
and effort).
c. Private piece sales and auctions.
How can I get lots of plates of just one color?
This is more work than getting bricks:
a. Buy plate service packs from Lego Shop-at-home. These come in black,
white, red or blue.
b. Especially if you want colors other than the above, watch eBay for
large lots in a specific color (grey, tan, dark grey and yellow turn up
fairly regularly: brown or green are very rare).
c. Private piece sales and auctions.
Can I order bulk pieces from Lego?
The short answer is no. From time to time people have managed this but
it has never been easy and currently seems to be impossible. However,
the more people who write and ask Lego, the more they will realise there
is a demand. Success is most likely with large orders: tiny quantities
of pieces are not worth anyone's while to process. If you need a
replacement for a lost or broken part, see below.
What is a Parts Auction? (or Piece Auction)
These auctions sell pieces, usually in small lots of 1 to 100 or so of a
specific piece type and color. Some run continuously as a collection of
small individual auctions: some run one large auction to completion then
stop while everything from that auction is paid for, packed and mailed,
then start another large auction. Prices vary - you can pay a lot for
very popular pieces, or you can get some very cheap deals. Most parts
auctions run from a web site but some are run via newsgroup postings and
email. Check out Auczilla, Modern Auction, the Brickyard, JABA, and
Bricks@GuardedInn, for a start.
Where can I buy older sets that are not in stores any more?
Easiest place to find them is at public auction sites, but you will pay
top dollar and you need to be careful to get a good description from the
seller so you know what you're getting. If the set is used there may be
pieces missing or pieces substituted. Sometimes you can find older sets
in smaller independent toystores. There's no easy way: you just have to
keep looking.
Does Lego sell spare parts?
Partly.
If you have lost or broken a piece from a set, or if it came with a
piece missing (very rare), you can call Lego Consumer Affairs
(###phone###) in North America, or Lego Service in Europe, and they will
replace the part, normally at no charge. Usually you need to have the
set instructions so you can identify the part by instruction page, step,
and part description over the phone.
Extra parts are a different story: Lego does sell Parts Packs and
Accessory Packs for some pieces but not all. Most Lego sets include a
mini-catalog with either a listing of the parts packs available (in
Europe) or a few sets and the phone number for Lego Shop-at-home (in
North America) who will send you a catalog. You can also see the parts
and accessory packs on the Lego web site, but you can't buy them from
there.
Where can I get sets which are "Not sold in stores"?
In N. America, Lego Shop-at-home sells many sets which are not
available to stores. (Why Lego doesn't make them available to stores is
another very good question!). Call S@H and get them to send you a
catalog. In Europe, almost all those sets are available in stores
anyway. There are some sets which are only available in Europe, or only
avilable in N. America, and the best way to get them if you're in the
wrong place is to post a message on the Lego newsgroups asking for
someone in the right place to get one for you. This is much better than
buying one for 3 times the price on public auction sites.
What's the cheapest way to buy Lego?
Want free Lego? Buy sets and buckets, keep the parts you want and sell
the rest. Apart from that, the cheapest way is to buy used Lego: next
cheapest is buckets and tubs. If you want a specific set, then you
simply have to watch the sales for it to go on sale or clearance.
Current sets sometimes sell on public auction sites for considerably
less than their list price and you can get a good deal that way if you
remember to add the shipping into the equation.
Where can I get more train track? Switches/points? Cross tracks?
In North America, you can only get modern 9v track from S@H: it's "not
sold in stores". (Why? Ask Lego.). You can also get it via auctions but
it is seldom cheaper than S@H. Older track (4.5v battery track, 12v
electric track) is no longer made but you can occasionally find it
tucked away in the back of a store. You also see it offered in auctions,
or you might be able to trade for it. The 9v cross track is new in 1999
but like all the other 9v is available from S@H.
How can I get lots of weapons for my Lego minifigs?
Don't you know Lego is completely non violent? Lego doesn't make
weapons. Those swords, revolvers, knives, bombs, spears, axes, rifles,
harpoons, pistols, muzzle-loaders, halberds, cannon, lances, space
lasers, etc etc are all imaginary.
Right. And I have a bridge right here you might be interested in....
Seriously, there are several ways to get more weapons. Lego makes an
accessories pack for almost all themes and the appropriate ones include
weapons: these are available from S@H or Lego Service and are the most
direct way to get more weapons. You can also find them in piece
auctions, by trading for them on the newsgroups, or in larger lots on
public auction sites from time to time.
Help! Lego doesn't make a bricks pack for Dark grey/tan/orange/light
blue/brown/...
No, they don't. However, people who buy sets and split them up advertise
less-common brick color lots from time to time. This happens with tan
and dark grey. Orange bricks are harder to come by, as even the sets
which use them only use a limited selection. The best source for orange
bricks was the 1998 Halloween bucket which was available in the US for a
few months only. Apparently they are still very occasionally to be
found, but you are more likely to get one by advertising on the
newsgroups or watching public auction sites. Either way they will be
expensive. Light blue bricks were only used in one or two specific
promotional sets for the Maersk company and they are very rare. Ask on
the newsgroups or find a Maersk set on eBay or Serious Collector. Brown
appears in more sets but never in quantity, although some of the new
2000 Star Wars sets may change that. Transparent bricks can sometimes be
found by getting old parts packs, but they are expensive too.
I need an army! How can I get lots of the right kind of minifig?
If you need current minifigs, look for one of Lego's minifig packs
which includes the figs you want, then sell off the others to recover
some of the cost. For older figs, try offering to trade or buy on the
newsgroups.
Where can I buy transparent pieces?
Where can I buy trees/flowers/bushes/fences
Where can I get more windows
Where can I get more roof bricks
I need roof bricks which are a different colour from red!
I need windows which are a different colour from red!
How can I get new sails for my pirate ship?
Where can I get the cool keychains and such that they sell at legoland?
Where can I get more / specific Technic parts?
Where can I get a blue air tank for my Technic models?
My Lego train is old and not produced any more. Can I get more track?
Can I get a new motor? Will the new trains run on my track? Can I run my
old trains on the new track?
I can't get Mindstorms anywhere! How can I get it!
The new <xxx> sets aren't available where I live. Help!
What is Shop at Home S@H and how do I reach it/them?
I lost a part from an old set. How can I get it replaced?
I bought some Lego recently from ...... and now I realise I paid far
more than I needed to. How can I make sure this doesn't happen again?
--
Email: kwilson_tccs@compuserve.com
Web page:
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/kwilson_tccs/default.html
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | "Buying Lego" FAQ to link auctions to
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| I have been thinking for a while of writing a FAQ on "how to buy Lego" which I could link to from my eBay and other auctions. This would include things like S@H, Ets Dya and Busy Bee, reading RTL and Lugnet, how to tell a good deal when you see one (...) (25 years ago, 12-Oct-99, to lugnet.market.theory, lugnet.faq)
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