Bricklinking pieces vs buying a whole set

[Captain Pirate Man]

ok so I've been contiplating buying some older sets recently, but I am wondering if Bricklink the pieces individually is a better way to go. I have never actually bought a set in individual pieces before, so I don't know what kind of advantage (if any) this presents. Obviously, it changes depending on the set. But let's say for reference purposes, you wanted to get The Imperial Trading Post. It goes for $225 or more, depending on new vs used and what not. But let's say you can get that set used for $240 with shipping. Do you think it is wiser to buy it via individual pieces? And if so, ballpark how much you think it will cost?

I'm just trying to get some informed opinions before I make any decisions, and I'm sure many of you have done this before, so ANY thoughts or opinions you have on this matter I would appreciate.

BTW, I meant to say WHOLE set, not WHILE. Stupid autocorrect.

[Darkdragon]

Generally speaking the prices tend to be very close to the same, but if you set out to purchase all the parts for a set you are looking at multiple shipping charges which could make buying it in parts a lot more expensive than as a used set.

[Andy D]

I have "Bricklinked" a couple of sets. In two cases I wound up paying more for partial sets I "Bricklinked" than I would for the whole set (at that time). For me, now it all depends on price difference. If there is a minor difference (interpret that in your own terms 20%) I will choose the complete set (new or used depending on condition).

I BL'ed the Cafe Corner and Green Grocer I think I paid at least $100 each over then current set cost.

Short answer... It depends, but now i try to choose complete sets vs Bricklinked sets.

Just MHO, YMMV,

Andy D

Edited January 13, 2016 by Andy D

[Sven F]

No simple answer for that.

Bricklinking sets is tedious work and the success rate depends a lot on your skills with using software and the website database itself, patience, location and pure luck - so that's just the process with about 3 main variables, not even considering your time (which you will use a lot of)

Then there's the set itself - depends if it's made of mostly common bricks and colors or has certain pieces that are hard to get - that alone will play a very major role in determining weather it's worth even trying.

And then there's the 3rd thing - How original do you want your end result to be? Do you need all the exact minifigures? do you want the box and instructions? Do you want all the original part molds if new ones were made in the meantime? Are you willing to substitute rare color pieces if they are hidden in the build?

As a rule, a new set will always cost more in parts than complete because that's how bricklink sellers make money. Raw part-out value of a set can be viewed on bricklink.

To make it short, It only makes sense if the set has a very high markup due to retirement and you are willing to substitute parts, box and instructions, and you won't know how much it will cost until you do it.

If i was to bricklink the imperial trading post, I would make up a wanted list with just the rarer pieces, presumably the sails, white panels, baseplate and any printed pieces, and then see how obtainable they are. If you don't want to guess the rare pieces, this is where software such as "brickficiency" comes in handy, it will list the parts in order of shop inventory quantities.

You can use the same software to calculate the cheapest option to order from, but keep in mind it doesn't consider shipping and other fees.

Edited January 13, 2016 by Sven F

[dulsi]

I've never really looked. If you are looking to recreate the exact set, even if it is cheaper to buy the pieces you may find the time/effort too much. Personally I wouldn't try to recreate the exact set. If a piece isn't visible from outside but is expensive, replace it with something equivalent. If the piece is visible but visible, determine whether you wouldn't mind if it was slightly different color. When I created the Batrazor as a birthday party favor, I made two different color versions because I got 50-50 split on which looked better and ordering the two colors was easier than finding all the pieces in one color.

[Captain Pirate Man]

Has anyone here brinklinked The Imperial Flagship, (the big one) piece by piece? Of so, about how much did it cost?

I asked this question in the thread similiar to this topic in Pirates, but never got a response. But that is one set that I am interested in getting piece by piece, because the official set is so expensive. If only Lego would just release a blue coat ship, I wouldn't worry about it...

[Sven F]

It wouldn't mean much to you if anyone bricklinked it before because shop inventories change all the time.

A quick look at the parts tells me it's mostly about the sails, baseplate and certain minifigs. If you are lucky to find these expensive parts from less than 3 separate sellers, you might just pull it off.

Edited January 14, 2016 by Sven F

[Boettner Builds]

Sven F has it right. I started bricklinking most of the old pirates sets but gave up (for now) sails are drying up, as are the minifigs and getting really expensive if you can find them. Between BL and eBay you can find some deals on the sail and figs if you get lucky.

It really comes down to time and money. You'll have to cruise BL and eBay to see if the rare parts are even available and then do some math to see if buying the whole set makes more sence.

Edited January 14, 2016 by redtrooper27

[VintageLegoEra]

To me, buy a full set ( vintage ) is cheaper than BLing it. Because when BLing the vintage sets, the price can go up for minifigures, sails and some other rare parts. I was getting good rate buying full set instead of BLing them.

[Legononymous]

Good question. I've been wanting to add the plane from 7893 to my city but haven't decided just how to go about it.

[mpfirnhaber]

Use the Price List feature on BL to check the part-out value of a set (used, last 6 month selling average). Compare that to the price of a complete set. Factor in some money for shipping, and whatever you think your time is worth.

I have never BL'd a complete set, but I've purchased thousands of Classic Space parts, and am very close to having "just enough" parts to build any CS set ever released. Not cheap, but much less expensive than trying to buy all the sets individually and having tons of duplicated pieces!

[TheLegoDr]

I've been slowly piecing together of blacktron and mtron sets. But I have used my own new collection and old pieces. I can't tell too much fun the outside and I still get the set. But it was definitely cheaper than buying the actual sets. However shipping does eat up a lot of money.

[anothergol]

Don't forget that, on BL, old parts are quite often as or more expensive than new parts (I've seen "old" parts for 3x the price of "new" in the SAME shop), while new sets are A LOT more expensive than old sets, especially in pristine boxes (& is generally made for collectors who won't open them, & value manuals & boxes).

So by BLing parts, you can get it partially new for the same price. Used, it may be in good shape, or have belonged to the fithiest kid.

Stickers however will suck in both ways. Old sticker sheets will be expensive, while used parts will have stickers badly applied as usual.

Edited January 21, 2016 by anothergol

[xboxtravis7992]

I have found that Bricklink prices are rather decent for common pieces; but shipping is what kills my wallet :P

I have yet to Bricklink a large system set, and have so far only been using it for CCBS parts and replacement pieces for battered pieces on my oldest Bionicle sets. I have though a few system LDD projects (RIP LDD) that I want to Bricklink/Pick A Brick/ Bricks and Piece someday; and I am a bit worried about what that would do to my wallet.

[vinchente000]

I tried this once to replicate part of a lego star wars set: Palpatines arrest. I really liked the landing platform and main door.

So I went to bricklink. I really love bricklink but replicating sets can be hard. The price I think is alright especially for non star wars sets as the pieces might be more accessible but you will probably have to buy form a vast amount of stores as most stores do not have all parts.

I think it is a fun experiment and you can certainly save money if you do extensive searching.

[Johnathan1986]

I was tempted to do this for a few of my LEGO ideas creations but id have to save up alot of money to do that foe all 21 of my projects

[Vorkosigan]

...but you will probably have to buy form a vast amount of stores as most stores do not have all parts.

I think it is a fun experiment and you can certainly save money if you do extensive searching.

Perhaps, but you really need to use a tool like Brickficiency. You will end up buying from many more stores than you need to if you are manually trying to find the right combination.

[newfie675]

I usually buy used sets to make some of the more expensive sets (i.e. Death Star II). That way I can BL it for much less than the cost in bricks even with some of the expensive parts. If you buy cheaper sets that contain some of the parts then sell the remaining parts off on BL then it gets cheaper still. The only caveat is that you have to be diligent in selling the left over parts.

[Phadeout]

Also depends where you live - international shipping would mean paying over the odds for small orders would result in a much greater difference between the final costs compared to a one off purchase. And if you live a a small or relatively isolated country where domestic sellers and therefore pieces are limited it makes a big difference - even here in the UK, which isn't really that small, we can end up getting serious price hikes on rare pieces because only two or three people have them for sale - over in the states the same part might be half the price but shipping and customs means it isn't worth it either.

I generally check on somewhere like Brickset how many rare pieces are in the set (look to see how many sets it has been used in is very quick and easy) and then get some BL ballpark prices, that will normally tell you if you are going to struggle or not.

Somebody mentioned the Greengrocer Modular earlier - I have the parts to build that now, although I haven't built it yet as I have re-purposed some of them for a while, the sand green 1x8s will bankrupt most people for example so many like me have chosen to swap them out for a different colour, also there is in that set for example a dark red 2x4 inverted slope brick you need a couple of for curtains - buying both in the UK was going to cost me about £9 so again I swopped them, I now have them in green which looks quite nice and cost £1. Some people though would think this was unacceptable so ymmv.