Lego thread: Shiiiiiiiit, I don't got the money for this.

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Hobbies, Crafts, & Houses > Lego thread: Shiiiiiiiit, I don't got the money for this.

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Lizard Combatant: Sep 29, 2010; I have some notes.

PKMN Trainer Red posted:

My birthday was a little bit ago, so I bought myself a nice present off The Internets.

Was supposed to be delivered on Saturday, got confirmation it was delivered, turns out they delivered it to a mystery house somewhere else. No idea where the package went. Went back to the site on Monday, explained the situation, they apologized and told me they would send me a replacement. My replacement got here today.

Huh, shipped in a Lego 'ready to ship' box, that's cool. But it's here!

Wait... wait a second...

Extremely cursed.

# ? Sep 7, 2023 01:07

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# ? May 30, 2024 07:02

Lizard Combatant: Sep 29, 2010; I have some notes.

Carbohydrates posted:

Hey the fuckin' MOC Pop-Up Store is live what the heck!

it's over here! And, more importantly, MY THING is here!

What it is:

This is an official LEGO pilot program intended to streamline the process of buying instructions and pieces for other peoples' MOCs. It can be daunting to get into custom models because BrickLink and PAB can be confusing enough each on their own, and using them in tandem is a big ask. This program intends to take all the work out of that stuff and make it a super swift process by providing instructions directly from sellers, and then automatically generating shopping carts utilizing and cross-referencing both Pick-A-Brick and BrickLink for optimal efficiency. It does all the work, you just buy 'em. You can choose to prioritize absolute part cost, lowest number of stores, or other variables. And, if you already have some of the pieces on hand, you can edit those elements out of the carts and only buy what you need.

My Apollo Motel, originally designed for the BDP Series 1, was selected as a model for this program! That means if you want a copy for yourself, you can have one! Just go to my thingy and throw some money at it!

And why should you buy my thing?

Because I worked real hard on it and I want money.

Also, hey trevorreznik, STL's downtown loft is part of the program as well!

Nice one!

# ? Sep 7, 2023 01:08

Waltzing Along: Jun 14, 2008; There's only one
Human race
Many faces
Everybody belongs here

It's the Mrin Codex.

# ? Sep 7, 2023 01:12

wheatpuppy: Apr 25, 2008; YOU HAVE MY POST!

Waltzing Along posted:

It's the Mrin Codex.

poo poo, where'd I put that orb, it was just here.

# ? Sep 7, 2023 01:14

Captain Duvel: Dec 14, 2009

Dogen posted:

Is that text crazy or am I having a stroke

We're both having strokes

# ? Sep 7, 2023 01:25

Zwille: Aug 18, 2006; * _{For the Ghost Who Walks Funny}

Mildly related but between bowser being piano sized and chewie being fender sized I wonder what the next band member/instrument will be

# ? Sep 7, 2023 05:42

TorakFade: Oct 3, 2006; I strongly disapprove

Carbohydrates posted:

Hey the fuckin' MOC Pop-Up Store is live what the heck!

your MOC is really cool and I like the "easy MOC program" thing in general, but the prices to get all the needed bricks are kind of eye-watering (never mind the fact that you'd probably have to buy them from a bunch of different vendors if you want to save as much as possible, ugh, what a hassle), "original" Lego sets are already expensive and these seem to all be even more expensive per piece than those.

Regarding my previous conundrum with Lego City stuff, well, local Amazon had both 60380 Downtown and 60365 Apartments for 25% off, making them 0,8�/piece which is ... normal value rather than bad value as usual per City sets? They're also pretty big for being city sets so might make sense that the value is better than the smaller 200/350 pieces ones. Anyway, I got both + a new roadplates "pack", should be quite enough to start a town and if it grabs me and I can find some extra free space, then I'll get 3-in-1 houses and stuff or make some buildings on my own

after watching a few videos, the fact that they're both "sort of modular" sets really intrigued me, I love Eldorado Fortress because while a "worse" build than Barracuda Bay, it's a lot more playable and easily reconfigurable which is something that fascinates me a lot. Also seems like the City line got a new lead designer last year so the most recent sets are quite a departure from "police station #923" and "small fire brigade, medium fire brigade, big fire brigade" imho.

I dunno, maybe I'll get bored with them but they could eventually be very nice part packs anyway. :v:

TorakFade fucked around with this message at 07:40 on Sep 7, 2023

# ? Sep 7, 2023 07:35

Carbohydrates: Nov 22, 2006; Listen, Mr. Kansas Law Dog.
Law don't go around here.
Savvy?

TorakFade posted:

your MOC is really cool and I like the "easy MOC program" thing in general, but the prices to get all the needed bricks are kind of eye-watering (never mind the fact that you'd probably have to buy them from a bunch of different vendors if you want to save as much as possible, ugh, what a hassle), "original" Lego sets are already expensive and these seem to all be even more expensive per piece than those.

Yeah, I haven't gone through the checkout process myself so I don't know how accurate those prices will be, but that's kind of the rub here. For a lot of folks, a more accessible program like this will be their first foray into custom models, and those folks might not know that ordering parts for a MOC will pretty much always cost more per piece than buying a set off the shelf. I do know that the checkout program should let you prioritize ordering from as few stores as possible to help with the shipping costs of ordering from a bunch of vendors, and the carts are auto-generated to prevent you from having to go put together each of those vendors' shopping carts yourself, but your point definitely still stands.

The price estimate assigned to mine is $176.07 to $264.76. At 1,631 pieces, that's a PPP of 10.8 to 16.2 cents. It's high, but doesn't feel exorbitant to me, and I bet I can find worse ratios in Star Wars sets! In my head, I was guessing the price would end up around or below $200. Keeping in mind this was originally designed for the BDP, not this program, the goal was always to have a sub-$200 price tag. I'll see how that shakes out in practice under this program when I get around to ordering it for myself.

# ? Sep 7, 2023 12:23

Baron Von Ghoulosh: Dec 16, 2005; There was a time when I fed from golden chalices,
but now...

Now, I feed as
an old man pees.

Any chance we'll see the "lost cat garage" you did Carbs? Still my fav.

# ? Sep 7, 2023 13:54

HootTheOwl: May 13, 2012; Hootin and shootin

I'll probably buy your instructions, but they really need a PAB+Domestic option because I don't want to wait for Romanian bricks to clear customs.

# ? Sep 7, 2023 14:11

trevorreznik: Apr 22, 2023

Yeah it's a great idea but definitely needs more customization options (especially for people with a lot of bricks already). I'm glad you can buy the instructions standalone and another thanks for carbs for mentioning they'll go away in a few months so FOMO will actually get me to pull the trigger.

# ? Sep 7, 2023 14:16

smackfu: Jun 7, 2004

HootTheOwl posted:

I'll probably buy your instructions, but they really need a PAB+Domestic option because I don't want to wait for Romanian bricks to clear customs.

Also tough when they include TBD shipping costs.

# ? Sep 7, 2023 14:33

Fingers McLongDong: Nov 30, 2005; not eromenos; Fun Shoe

I need exactly 9 pieces to finish this 2300 piece set I bought secondhand, but the bricklink market thing seems so unfriendly at first glance that I keep putting it off.

# ? Sep 7, 2023 15:38

Carbohydrates: Nov 22, 2006; Listen, Mr. Kansas Law Dog.
Law don't go around here.
Savvy?

HootTheOwl posted:

I'll probably buy your instructions, but they really need a PAB+Domestic option because I don't want to wait for Romanian bricks to clear customs.

Iiiiiiiinteresting. You know, I was hoping for a "as much as possible via PAB, with the minimum amount possible via BL" option. And yes, "PAB + domestic BL" is such an obvious option I'm surprised it's not the default, and utterly shocked it's missing entirely.

# ? Sep 7, 2023 15:40

HootTheOwl: May 13, 2012; Hootin and shootin

Carbohydrates posted:

Iiiiiiiinteresting. You know, I was hoping for a "as much as possible via PAB, with the minimum amount possible via BL" option.

Same, I think that's the one on the left?

# ? Sep 7, 2023 15:42

Cojawfee: May 31, 2006; I think the US is dumb for not using Celsius

You'd be surprised how quickly international brick link orders can arrive. Keyword can, they can also take weeks.

# ? Sep 7, 2023 15:48

Waltzing Along: Jun 14, 2008; There's only one
Human race
Many faces
Everybody belongs here

Carbohydrates posted:

Iiiiiiiinteresting. You know, I was hoping for a "as much as possible via PAB, with the minimum amount possible via BL" option. And yes, "PAB + domestic BL" is such an obvious option I'm surprised it's not the default, and utterly shocked it's missing entirely.

It does seem to have that. But it still was only around 1/2 the pieces.

I think I got the exact same estimates as the one posted. I balked at the cost, too. As much as I want to support, I just didn't want to spend around $240 after tax and shipping for a 1600 piece set and digital instructions.

# ? Sep 7, 2023 15:51

Dogen: May 5, 2002; Bury my body down by the highwayside, so that my old evil spirit can get a Greyhound bus and ride

Yeah that�s why I was like, I�d like to buy the instructions since that�s the part Carbs gets money for and I can do the rest myself

# ? Sep 7, 2023 15:53

Carbohydrates: Nov 22, 2006; Listen, Mr. Kansas Law Dog.
Law don't go around here.
Savvy?

Dogen posted:

Yeah that�s why I was like, I�d like to buy the instructions since that�s the part Carbs gets money for and I can do the rest myself

Cheers! Yeah just deleting the carts is a totally valid option. Plus, I spent some rounds of iteration getting the unique part count as low as possible to make sourcing easier.

# ? Sep 7, 2023 15:56

xzzy: Mar 5, 2009

Cojawfee posted:

You'd be surprised how quickly international brick link orders can arrive. Keyword can, they can also take weeks.

I've had really good luck with it as well. It's harder if you want a handful of specific bricks to finish a build, but if you're a little more open-ended you can get some good deals.

What I tend to do is find an overseas store with a couple parts I need at low prices, then pad out the order with my "if cheap" wish list.. basically a long list of parts I can always use more of. Usually this offsets the shipping fees and my library of parts steadily grows.

A bunch of the bigger American stores jack up their prices so loving much that they aren't worth looking at even with cheaper shipping (and I blacklist them whenever I encounter one).

# ? Sep 7, 2023 16:47

Carbohydrates: Nov 22, 2006; Listen, Mr. Kansas Law Dog.
Law don't go around here.
Savvy?

Baron Von Ghoulosh posted:

Any chance we'll see the "lost cat garage" you did Carbs? Still my fav.

Oh, not in any official program like this. Too many specialized and older parts used, and way too parts-dense. It wasn't designed for all that.

xzzy posted:

A bunch of the bigger American stores jack up their prices so loving much that they aren't worth looking at even with cheaper shipping (and I blacklist them whenever I encounter one).

My blacklist is pages long now. Overinflated American sellers, American sellers with $10 minimum shipping costs, anyone with a "minimum average lot cost," and international sellers with $100+ minimum orders.

# ? Sep 7, 2023 16:49

Dokapon Findom: Dec 5, 2022; But have you considered whether the child murdered by the driver of that truck was riding an oversized bike?!?! Children riding oversized bikes are the scourge of our roadways!!

Carbohydrates posted:

international sellers with $100+ minimum orders.

The worst!!!

Love to have a half dozen parts on my search list and be directed to spend $150 on bricks from Portugal

# ? Sep 7, 2023 17:17

Carbohydrates: Nov 22, 2006; Listen, Mr. Kansas Law Dog.
Law don't go around here.
Savvy?

HootTheOwl posted:

Same, I think that's the one on the left?

Circling back on this: No! It seems that the "BL + PAB" option does NOT prioritize minimizing how much has to come from BL. I don't know why, or what it does prioritize instead. But I plugged the parts list into Brickhunter, and only one single element is currently out of stock on PAB. The other 346 out of 347 lots are currently in stock on PAB.

# ? Sep 7, 2023 20:44

Waltzing Along: Jun 14, 2008; There's only one
Human race
Many faces
Everybody belongs here

Carbohydrates posted:

Circling back on this: No! It seems that the "BL + PAB" option does NOT prioritize minimizing how much has to come from BL. I don't know why, or what it does prioritize instead. But I plugged the parts list into Brickhunter, and only one single element is currently out of stock on PAB. The other 346 out of 347 lots are currently in stock on PAB.

What is the total cost from PAB for all that?

# ? Sep 7, 2023 21:04

Carbohydrates: Nov 22, 2006; Listen, Mr. Kansas Law Dog.
Law don't go around here.
Savvy?

Waltzing Along posted:

What is the total cost from PAB for all that?

190.24 shipped, not factoring the two missing brackets. But, I see the issue, and perhaps the reason the Pop-Up Store does what it does: PAB orders have a max number of unique lots per order. So you'd have to run it through as two back-to-back orders. Still fine, and still would reach free shipping thresholds, but understandable why the auto cart system doesn't allow for it.

edit: for any turbo nerds looking to optimize this that are reading this, here's how I would handle it: I would generate a wishlist of all the necessary pieces (I can provide you the file for this) and then split it approximately in half in BL into two wishlists. Then, I would use BrickHunter (a browser plugin) to export one of them to PAB and order it. Then, do the same for the other on a separate order.

edit 2: more of a step by step:
1) go to Bricklink, create a new wanted list, and hit "upload"
2) upload this file
3) select about half of the parts on it and move them to a new wishlist
4) download these two separate wishlists as XML files
5) open up BrickHunter
6) upload each XML file as a separate part list
7) choose one and export all of its pieces into PAB by hitting "transfer" for both bestseller and standard parts
8) check out on PAB
9) repeat steps 7 and 8 for the other list

Or skip all of this using the program's automated cart system and pay I guess like $20-30 more or whatever the difference comes out to.

Carbohydrates fucked around with this message at 21:27 on Sep 7, 2023

# ? Sep 7, 2023 21:18

moparacker: May 8, 2007

Concorde is in flight (Via On Trac) and should land today!

# ? Sep 8, 2023 16:18

Dogen: May 5, 2002; Bury my body down by the highwayside, so that my old evil spirit can get a Greyhound bus and ride

moparacker posted:

Concorde is in flight (Via On Trac) and should land today!

UPS says tomorrow for me and it�s in transit in their system, fingers crossed

# ? Sep 8, 2023 17:30

slothrop: Dec 7, 2006; Santa Alpha, Fox One... Gifts Incoming ~~~>===|>; Soiled Meat

Dogen posted:

UPS says tomorrow for me and it�s in transit in their system, fingers crossed

Mine was �attempted delivery� yesterday. Hopefully they�ll redeliver Monday, right in time for my fun-employment to start!

# ? Sep 8, 2023 17:48

3D Megadoodoo: Nov 25, 2010

Bought "pile of Legos" for 3��. Knowers will know what I'm about to build. (I already had most of the pieces but someone - likely my nephew - has nicked some of the regular bricks, and the modern grays are a different colour for some loving reason.)

# ? Sep 8, 2023 17:51

Deus Ex Macklemore: Jul 2, 2004; Zelensky's Zealots

3D Megadoodoo posted:

Bought "pile of Legos" for 3��. Knowers will know what I'm about to build. (I already had most of the pieces but someone - likely my nephew - has nicked some of the regular bricks, and the modern grays are a different colour for some loving reason.)

It's a schooner

# ? Sep 8, 2023 18:42

Waltzing Along: Jun 14, 2008; There's only one
Human race
Many faces
Everybody belongs here

I'm guessing a castle but with any pieces that would give it away missing.

This is a fun game. Let's just drop random assortments of generic bricks and make each other guess what set they belong to.

# ? Sep 8, 2023 19:15

HootTheOwl: May 13, 2012; Hootin and shootin

Waltzing Along posted:

.

This is a fun game. Let's just drop random assortments of generic bricks and make each other guess what set they belong to.

Guess the set.
Hints:
It's a single bag of parts

I confused it for another bag

It's bag 9

# ? Sep 8, 2023 19:20

Hopper: Dec 28, 2004; BOOING! BOOING!; Grimey Drawer

Flyinglemur posted:

It's a schooner

You dumb bastard. It's not a schooner... it's a Sailboat.

# ? Sep 8, 2023 19:22

Hopper: Dec 28, 2004; BOOING! BOOING!; Grimey Drawer

HootTheOwl posted:

Guess the set.
Hints:
It's a single bag of parts

I confused it for another bag

It's bag 9

Himeji Castle?

# ? Sep 8, 2023 19:23

3D Megadoodoo: Nov 25, 2010

A lot of non-knowers posting ITT. Sad.

# ? Sep 8, 2023 19:31

Waltzing Along: Jun 14, 2008; There's only one
Human race
Many faces
Everybody belongs here

3D Megadoodoo posted:

A lot of non-knowers posting ITT. Sad.

https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?S=6073-1#T=S&O=%7B%22iconly%22:0%7D

Seems to be the only possibility based on the parts you are showing.

# ? Sep 8, 2023 19:38

3D Megadoodoo: Nov 25, 2010

Waltzing Along posted:

https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?S=6073-1#T=S&O=%7B%22iconly%22:0%7D

Seems to be the only possibility based on the parts you are showing.

Yeah. Why is the gate red? Who the gently caress knows but it is.

# ? Sep 8, 2023 19:40

The 7th Guest: Dec 17, 2003

alright MEGA, alright

target-only

# ? Sep 8, 2023 19:55

mutata: Mar 1, 2003

3D Megadoodoo posted:

Bought "pile of Legos" for 3½€. Knowers will know what I'm about to build. (I already had most of the pieces but someone - likely my nephew - has nicked some of the regular bricks, and the modern grays are a different colour for some loving reason.)

MechaWatermelon.

# ? Sep 8, 2023 20:00

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# ? May 30, 2024 07:02

deoju: Jul 11, 2004; All the pieces matter.; Nap Ghost

Somebody on r/legoleaks posted something about a "sound brick" coming in a 2024 Harry Potter Sorting hat set.
https://www.reddit.com/gallery/16cztxy

Has there been anything like that before? I'm not sure how I feel about talking legos.

# ? Sep 8, 2023 20:00

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Hobbies, Crafts, & Houses > Lego thread: Shiiiiiiiit, I don't got the money for this.

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