Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Bricklink.com


Bricklink is a great place to find missing pieces for sets or to acquire bulk pieces at a reasonable price. It's users build their own stores where they can sell sets, instruction manuals, individual bricks, and original boxes. It is a little awkward to use at first, but after a little while it gets pretty easy.

The feature that I use most is "Wanted". In this section you can go through and add a part, minifig, set, manual, or box to a list. You can specify how many you need, what color, what condition, and check to be notified if it becomes available at a users store. Once a list is built you can search by shop to find which user has the most parts you are looking for. I've used this many times to replace damaged or missing parts for my sets.

Finding the right store can be a little tricky, as some have a minimum order value or are located overseas. I have never had an issue with users not shipping an order, including overseas sellers. I have always got my order in nice padded envelopes. Sometimes my orders had some wrong parts in it, but after contacting the seller it was resolved; I got to keep the wrong parts!

If you need a specific part and Lego doesn't have it in their Pick-a-brick, check Bricklink. After you get your list all set up, it's a breeze to buy.

SET: 392 - Fire Engine

picture courtesy of peeron



Set #: 392
Year: 1986
Pieces: 23
Figs: 1

It's only fitting to post my first set as my first set review. This set features a Fabuland minifig. Its a bit bigger then a regular minifig and has movable arms, legs and head. The overall red engine features a yellow ladder and the 2 x 4 x 2 curved brick in front has a yellow grill and headlight pattern. It is very easy to build for any age. Only con to this set is that the ladder is in a fixed axis. Wouldn't be too hard to modify it with a turntable. Great starter set for any young child.

Welcome!

Welcome to my Lego blog.

This will be the place for all Lego fans to come. I will have lots of information about starting, maintaining, organizing, cleaning, and building a Lego collection. I will also post any interesting news about Lego. Eventually there will be reviews and insights on Lego sets, old and new. I want this to be a one stop place for all Lego fans, so any help on what is needed in terms of content would be appreciated.

About myself, I have been building and collecting Lego for over twenty years. I have 66 unique sets ranging from 1983 - Present day. My first recollection of Lego is the set 392 "Fire Engine". My favorite set that I currently own is 6542 "Launch & Load Seaport". As it stands right now, my collection contains about 22,000 individual pieces; that will grow. I'm a bit of a set purist, by which I mean pieces from a set, stay with the set. I don't buy sets specifically to throw in with my bulk pieces. My bulk pieces come mostly from garage sales and eBay/ bricklink.

So over the next few days I will add photos of my collection, and more info about creating a Lego collection. Come back soon.