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Jamie Faith posted:Does anyone know of some good plastic shelving units with sorting drawers for lego? The big sterilite drawers suck for organization, and akro mills drawers are too specific for me right now. I’ve been looking at the Papimax drawers, but they’re backordered for awhile and pretty pricey. In the meantime I bought about 80 clear rubbermaid shoe bins for ~36$ on sale to begin a rough organization of my bricks before deciding on anything more granular. I’ve started sorting each bin into stuff like: Sloped Plates Minifigs Minifig accessories Clear & chrome Large building pieces like doors, log walls, castle blocks Smooth tiles Snot bricks 3+ by 3+ Plates 2 by X plates 1 by X plates Brick depth plates 1 by X bricks 2 X bricks Specialty pieces Printed or stickered pieces Technic (will subsort that probably by akro mills organizer drawers soon) Round pieces Road plates and base plates in a larger bin Etc From there I can subsort based on quantity. Here’s a good link for sorting methods: https://brickarchitect.com/guide/bricks/
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Feb 18, 2020 19:02
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Thinking of getting into making MOCs, but the majority of my collection I’ve built up since childhood is at my parents’ place and I can’t feasibly transport it to my place at the moment. What’s generally the best way to build up a collection for making MOCs? I’ve seen some sets in stores that seem to just be “a whole bunch of various parts in various colors” - are those worth picking up as a general part booster, or am I better off just designing the MOC in a 3D builder and then just ordering the parts individually?
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Feb 18, 2020 19:15
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Well first, get some kind of idea what you want to build. It doesn't have to be specific object but at least know what colors or theme you want to play with. Then buy sets that are on sale in the colors you want and start playing. As you experiment you'll find pieces you don't have that you want, so start building a wishlist on bricklink and buy an order every so often. If you got a lego store visit a few times a year and see if the PAB wall has anything cool.
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Feb 18, 2020 19:37
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Is there any rhyme reason to what’s in Pick a Brick? Is it per individual store or do they all have a similar selection? How often does the selection turn over?
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Feb 18, 2020 20:19
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COMPAGNIE TOMMY posted:Is there any rhyme reason to what’s in Pick a Brick? Is it per individual store or do they all have a similar selection? How often does the selection turn over? From what I've spoken to employees it seems like there is a catalog of what they can stock and then it's up to the store to decide. Lego is running a VIP raffle to win a 2012 comicon exclusive minifig of Shazam. An employee like a year ago told me they were going to do this with old exclusives that they still had in the warehouse. I had pretty much forgotten.
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Feb 18, 2020 20:44
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CodfishCartographer posted:Thinking of getting into making MOCs... The first thing to do is to identify what you want to make. Then look at sets with a similar theme. Say you want to replicate the taco truck you go to on your lunch break. Look at the instructions for the ice cream truck and burger truck that are on shelves right now. And maybe the pizza truck from last year. Maybe buy one and try to modify it. Buy the pieces you need from bricklink. Modify it again and buy more pieces. I usually need to repeat this step at least twice to get everything perfect. The first step is the most important. You've got to have something in mind that you want to make, something that you are passionate about creating. Edit: I sometimes sketch out a rough idea of what I want on graph paper side-on and from above to get me thinking about the object in 3d. deoju fucked around with this message at 04:35 on Feb 19, 2020 |
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Feb 19, 2020 04:28
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Everyone builds MOCs differently, there's no one right way. And like any other skill the only way to get better is to put the time and effort in. Personally I've never really bothered with digital building, I find having the parts in front of me is so much easier. It also means that I'm restricted by what I have and that can be really good for finding creative ways to build things, or maybe I'll find inspiration for using parts I normally wouldn't. Of course, you need the parts in the first place to be able to do that! I'd echo what others have said about deciding what you want to build first, even if it's really vague. Then you can buy sets which have the colours or kind of parts you need, or even a set as a base to modify from. I'd say it's probably worth picking up some Classic sets to bulk out your collection. They generally have a decent selection of parts and colours, and you can always use the weird colours on the inside of your build where you can't see them. Same goes for Technic. It's very different to regular Lego but very useful for making strong frames for models. Bricklink is great for individual parts, but if you're just starting out I wouldn't worry about it too much, there's a learning curve and you really should know what you want before you order. You'd also need to order a lot if you don't have any/much Lego already!
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Feb 19, 2020 05:00
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Thanks for all the help and advice! I have a somewhat sizeable collection where I'm at now, but the color spread is somewhat limited - lots of old UCS star wars sets, so mostly gray and white pieces, and lots of larger plates. At the moment I'm most interested in making micro scale vignettes, probably small cityscapes built on landscaping. I've always found landscaping in MOCs interesting so I'd like to dive into that as well, I think. I have some ideas in mind, sketching them out sounds like a good idea but boy am I bad at drawing, haha. I also am interested in interesting architecture, creating a scene that captures the feeling of a world, but I haven't got many cityish sets to start from. I guess the MOCs I have in mind are mostly "creating a small glimpse into another world" This is completely different, but I also have always loved ship and mech designs in MOCs. These would probably be easier to do with the pieces I have on hand, so maybe I'll sort out what I've got and then just start putting stuff together and see what happens. Hopefully this wasn't too rambly!
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Feb 19, 2020 05:41
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If you're near a Lego store you could go to the Pick A Brick wall and grab small handfuls of any brick that inspires you. It's probably the cheapest way to get an assortment of parts, and who knows, you might find it's a fun new financially crippling addiction.
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Feb 19, 2020 05:58
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One idea that will both help you begin a collection to build mocs with and also allow you to really flex some creative muscles with limitations is to buy a handful of sets, maybe medium to large ones, that you can find at a discount and build something using ONLY those parts from a single set. It will force you to improvise to, say, make a wheel when given no tires. Or joints when given no joint pieces. I can elaborate further when I get home from work but it has been a big source of building fun for me for the last few years. In fact, just a few pages ago I took the overwatch hamster ball mech set and made a car out of it:Captain Invictus posted:took that overwatch hamster ball character set and made a car
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Feb 19, 2020 07:19
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One thing that’s changed how I look at creating anything custom with LEGO is how many more new pieces have come out since I played with it as a kid. With SNOT techniques you can pretty much build anything now. Any shape you want to create, there’s a piece for it now when once there wasn’t. I would say look at some new sets just to see what advances have been made since the LEGO of youth, and you’ll get some good insight on the new building techniques that are possible. Any piece you could think of now exists and in almost any colour. It’s amazing.
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Feb 19, 2020 13:41
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okay, a bit further elaborating on my single-set MOCs thing, and working with what you're given rather than finding pieces that will solve your problem way back when, I bought two of this set.  It is basically all bricks and wedges, and a few wheels/pin blocks to connect them to. I was determined to turn two of these sets into a robot with full articulation and stability. it took some doing. eventually, I ended up with this, an old-rear end post from this thread about it: Captain Invictus posted:I did a sort of similar thing with a "Dog-Bot" I made using a pair of old yellow Creator car sets(or it might've been a half dozen mini-excavator Creator sets, can't remember). Apologies for the very old digital camera pictures, that sucker was like, 2 megapixel. Hopefully this provides some ideas or thought processes in how to make a humanoid figure. This was all done without any actual joint pieces, only wheel-plugs and pins. Despite this, he held together remarkably well, as the posing pictures show.
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Feb 19, 2020 14:29
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COMPAGNIE TOMMY posted:One thing that’s changed how I look at creating anything custom with LEGO is how many more new pieces have come out since I played with it as a kid. With SNOT techniques you can pretty much build anything now. Any shape you want to create, there’s a piece for it now when once there wasn’t. I would say look at some new sets just to see what advances have been made since the LEGO of youth, and you’ll get some good insight on the new building techniques that are possible. Any piece you could think of now exists and in almost any colour. It’s amazing. My favorite example is the early 2000’s statue of liberty vs the recent re-release:   Voxel art vs snot techniques with a technic superstructure
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Feb 19, 2020 14:32
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Don't forget the most important mod! Always intended to do an entire face but it's real hard in that color at that scale.
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Feb 19, 2020 15:11
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Thanks again for the help everybody! I like the idea of building something unique out of a set, I might give that a shot! I have some old sets sets I was planning on breaking down for parts, may as well see what I can make out of those! OSU_Matthew posted:My favorite example is the early 2000’s statue of liberty vs the recent re-release: I love seeing comparisons like this, haha. I think SNOT is something I need more practice in - I've made more recent sets that take advantage of it, but not really enough to fully grasp how to best use it and take advantage of it.
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Feb 19, 2020 16:22
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Do ya'll think I should wash my childhood lego? They've been sitting in some containers for 10 plus years and my mom said they smell kinda funky. And if so, how does one wash lego? I have thousands of pieces...
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Feb 19, 2020 17:47
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If they've been sealed in airtight containers all that time, the funky smell is probably just volatiles which smells disgusting but is normal for plastics. Try letting them air out for a while and see if things improve. Washing won't hurt your bricks (but sort out stickers, printed pieces and transparent pieces) so it's totally okay to do. The IDGAF approach is to put the pieces in a pillow case, tie a knot, then run it through the washing machine. People that worry about scratching the bricks do the same thing in a dish washer.
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Feb 19, 2020 17:51
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OSU_Matthew posted:My favorite example is the early 2000’s statue of liberty vs the recent re-release: Guilty confession. I like the original more than the re-release.
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Feb 19, 2020 17:52
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VaultAggie posted:Guilty confession. I like the original more than the re-release. I mean they're both good and stylistically different approaches to the same thing. The old one is definitely more purist.
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Feb 19, 2020 17:57
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OSU_Matthew posted:My favorite example is the early 2000’s statue of liberty vs the recent re-release: This. Another great example is the 2008 Guggenheim vs the 2017 Guggenheim (I might have the years wrong, but comparing the two you can literally see there was a quantum leap in how pieces are designed and applied within a set, not to mention the new range of available colours- it’s a brave new world of sand green and I love it)
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Feb 19, 2020 19:52
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Jamie Faith posted:Do ya'll think I should wash my childhood lego? They've been sitting in some containers for 10 plus years and my mom said they smell kinda funky. And if so, how does one wash lego? I have thousands of pieces... If you have any pieces made of the OLD old plastic, make sure that water is no more than 40C otherwise they will warp horribly. I learned this recently through experience! Washing is easy. Drying is harder, making sure water doesn’t get trapped in the bottom tubes because they’ll just smell funky in a different way.
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Feb 19, 2020 19:56
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I wash in batches because the drying is the difficult part and I have only so many surfaces I can spread a bunch of blocks out on for drying without tempting the toddler or triggering my spouse. I just let them soak in a bowl of soapy water. Then rinse in a colander and spread out on a towel. As for MOC building and obtaining bricks I keep a project in mind and the shapes and colors I’m trying to achieve and then I’ll spend down time poring over brick links and building a few carts based around the parts I need. After balancing all of the factors like shipping, discounts I can apply, cutting chaffe from the cart I’ll pick a store and buy that batch. Sometimes coming back around and getting the other cart too or abandoning it if a better cart has shaped up. There are websites like brick.camp that are good for obtaining ideas and playing around with the shapes you’re trying to achieve. Another way is to look out for discounted sets. Rather than just picking up any mark down it’s good to get in the habit of pulling the set up on bricklink and scrutinizing the parts list. Sometimes you find it may have some parts you want but a lot of chaffe you don’t and pass on it. One project I’ve been working on that has sort of stalled out was a bee hive. I started by conceptualizing colors and shapes. I knew I would need a mix of browns, yellows, bright and dark oranges, in round shapes. From there I’ve started thinking of certain features I want to add and then added those to the list. It’s been a v slow project, I understand that the message of the first LEGO movie was about embracing the spirit of play and playing with your kids but at the same time you sort of understand why the project space was in the basement. It sometimes feels impossible to work on a MOC with young kids around.
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Feb 19, 2020 21:38
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Old (7194) vs new (75255)  UCS Yoda is a good example too And frankly I prefer the original. Although in this case it's more to do with the original being the wizened Empire Strikes Back Yoda rather than the flippy lightsaber bullshit prequel Yoda
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Feb 19, 2020 23:08
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Thats a furby
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Feb 19, 2020 23:24
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They could have made the newer Yoda show no studs at all if they wanted to. It would have increased the part count but every spot there is an existing piece. The older one too if it had been made in the last few years.
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Feb 19, 2020 23:26
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Control Volume posted:Thats a furby Ooh, that new Yoda plus some mindstorms or whatever and you really could have a good furby bot...
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Feb 20, 2020 06:05
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Ultimate Mango posted:Ooh, that new Yoda plus some mindstorms or whatever and you really could have a good furby bot... "Paid far too much for me, you did. Mmm!"
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Feb 20, 2020 07:07
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A friend was surprised to find out the price of the Falcon. He was shocked anyone would pay that much for a single Lego set. I just said Star Wars fans as a response. Just wondering, if you paid full price for it, do you feel it is worth the cost?
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Feb 20, 2020 07:10
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1000 Brown M and Ms posted:Old (7194) These are both hideous.
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Feb 20, 2020 07:12
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Yeah I hate both those Yodas.
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Feb 20, 2020 07:17
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Waltzing Along posted:Just wondering, if you paid full price for it, do you feel it is worth the cost? I didn't pay for mine, but I do have it and have a grasp on how much I value $800 and I'd say no. I mean it's arguably the greatest Lego set ever depending on who you ask, or at least definitely one of the best, but I still think it's overpriced as poo poo. I think $600 would have been fair for what you get with it. I don't think I'd have bought it for myself unless it was priced around $500 though. Which would have been what it would have cost without the Star Wars tax.
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Feb 20, 2020 07:20
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I would love the second one if they actually bothered to cover up those studs with tiles...It looks unfinished.
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Feb 20, 2020 07:20
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On one hand I am impressed with the job they did of sculpting the head on the new Yoda and on the other hand, I hate the way it looks. Really just don't like that style of set to begin with anyways.
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Feb 20, 2020 07:25
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veni veni veni posted:On one hand I am impressed with the job they did of sculpting the head on the new Yoda and on the other hand, I hate the way it looks. Really just don't like that style of set to begin with anyways. Me neither. All of those sculpture and bust sets are such charmless gargoyles.
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Feb 20, 2020 07:37
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Those eyes are haunting.
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Feb 20, 2020 07:43
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Jamie Faith posted:I would love the second one if they actually bothered to cover up those studs with tiles...It looks unfinished. I feel like you could just say that the studs on his clothes are just the texture of the cloth. All of his skin seems to be stud free.
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Feb 20, 2020 07:53
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OSU_Matthew posted:wise  we sort basically the same! My main problem is when I am finished with sorting in rather large quantities of bricks, I always get the idea that I should subdivide one or two categories, and I basically end up sorting for a day instead of building something...
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Feb 20, 2020 09:38
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about sorting
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Jamie Faith posted:I would love the second one if they actually bothered to cover up those studs with tiles...It looks unfinished. That's by design not laziness.
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Feb 20, 2020 10:58
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Waltzing Along posted:A friend was surprised to find out the price of the Falcon. He was shocked anyone would pay that much for a single Lego set. I just said Star Wars fans as a response. As someone who paid $1300AUD for it, Christ no. But at the same time, it's cool as hell and I'm glad I own one, because not buying the first one was a big regret of mine.
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Feb 20, 2020 13:34
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I sold my original UCS Falcon, UCS ISD and Super Star Destroyer the moment it became (mostly9 clear that Lego also releases remakes of the big ones/rumours about a new UCS Falcon intensified. I think I'm still in the plus with the money I made and what I bought from Lego since then, and I actually got the new UCS Falcon when Toys 'r Us over here went bankrupt, discounted everything and had some more discount-stuff going on. I think I got it for something like 500 to 550 EUR. That's still way to much for a set, but it's "okayish" imo if you really want it. The set is really cool, but it needs a lot of room. I got the stand from WickedBricks, so now I just need to build it  The space the old one occupied is now used by like three or four technic sets.There's also a funny XingBao war going on with importers over here, with one of them snatching the reseller rights and sending cease-and-desist letters to the others. So one of the shops just put all of his XingBao stock up for crazy discounts, and I managed to get all of the china town modulars for 40 EUR a piece. That's okay in my book.
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Feb 20, 2020 14:23
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