Is this the Best Brick Mosaic(k) Software Yet?

If you've looked around at the LEGO fan sites and some of the photo streams, you're bound to have seen some mosaic MOCs.  If you haven't seen any of them, you can see a few of the record holding mosaic creations at this site.  I fully admit that I am not artistic enough to build one on my own, but I have looked into some of the free software options online.  If you do a search for 'LEGO Mosaic Software' there are a few sites that will let you submit a picture, tweak it, and then will spit out instructions and a piece count.  From my limited experience, most of them need specific types of pictures and have a hard time turning pictures with details or certain color schemes into LEGO brick mosaics.  

Well Bricklink just recently released their version of brick building mosaic software called Mosaick (and since I'm promoting them, here is a promotion for the Bricks for Bricks Bricklink Store).  Why are they doing this?  Well Bricklink is a great place to get bricks and you can find about all of the bricks ever made out there.  So why not build a software that encourages people to buy bricks.  Then of course when you buy bricks from someone who sells on Bricklink, they get to charge their fee and make money.  How does this version stack up?  Here is a quick example of how Mosaick worked using a pretty detailed picture.  

I am into aviation (despite not doing a lot of builds related to that area) and specifically fighter jets.  So here is picture of a formation of F-35s.

Picture from http://www.af.mil

To use Mosaick, you don't have to download anything.  All you do is drag and drop the picture file that you want to use onto the website.  Easy!  I took the F-35 picture and dropped it in.  

The first task is to figure out how you want to set up your mosaic.  My options for this picture were square, 4x3, 3x2, and 5x3.  Having messed with the software some, different pictures give you other options and some will let you customize it.  Square lets you move a square around the picture to select what you want to do.  For this case, I picked the 5x3 aspect ratio just to see what it would come out like.  The first was 25x15 inches or 80x48 studs (or 2.5x1.5 standard sized LEGO base plates assuming a standard sized base plate is 32x32 studs) in color using plates.

It's not super detailed, but you can tell what the picture is for the most part.  And for a little over $1,800 you can buy all the parts to make this through Bricklink (yikes!).  

Okay, so money is no issue for you.  You just want a super cool mosaic built from LEGO plates.  How about 75x45 inches or 240x144 studs(7.5x4.5 standard baseplates).  In my opinion, this looks awesome!  Wow!  Considering how detailed the original picture is, this definitely captures it... granted it is huge, but that's another story.  And for over $16,000, you can buy the parts right away!

Just for fun, you can also grey scale the picture.  Same size as the previous one, but obviously less colors.  As you can see the one aircraft on the bottom left is hard to see, but the details are mostly there.  Given that the parts are mostly dark and light grey with some black and white, the price comes down substantially to ~$1,500.

If you've looked at the pictures I've posted or into Mosaick itself, you've seen that you can choose plates, tiles, or bricks.  This obviously will adjust the price based on what parts are available and the colors of those parts.  So again the same picture with the same dimensions, but back in color, this time in tiles.  The picture looks almost the same and the cost goes down from ~$16,000 to ~$7,500.  To me it looks like the detail is still there.  

Same picture again, but with bricks.  This one brings the price to just under $4,000.  Again, it still looks just as detailed to me.  

Also, I took the picture down a size so now it is 50x30 inches or 160x96 studs (5x3 standard baseplates).  This brings down the cost to ~$1,800 with bricks.  The detail isn't as good, but I still think it looks pretty sharp.  

So failure on my part... I didn't capture any of the piece counts or numbers of separate colors.  I did however save a version of the instructions.  You have the option to print, but I think using a computer would probably be easier when it comes time to build.  Tracking where you're at would be a challenge for a mosaic this big though.  I'm sure you could come up with a good method though.  

Whew!  If you've made it down this far, I'm curious to know what you think.  Have you messed with Mosaick at all?  Has anyone actually built anything?  I think that the key is to try the different methods out to see how you can keep the detail in your picture while keeping the parts cost lower. Overall, I think Mosaick is the best LEGO brick mosaic software I have ever seen.  It's only in beta version so hopefully the Bricklink team will continue to make it better.  I'm excited to see what happens with this tool and I look forward to someday having the time a bricks to build a giant mosaic for my wall.

The (not so) Secret to Finding Discount LEGO Sets

9 March 2022 update: Added some tips from Target.com. Added the Reddit Lego Deals page.

Buying LEGO can be expensive.  At the in person sales that I have done, I have seen many a parent balk at the prices of sets and minifigures.  "That set is how much?"  While I don't know what the LEGO Company's profit margin is per set, I do know that they are doing okay.  Thankfully, there are some ways to get discount LEGO sets.

LEGO Shop @ Home: Buying from the source can sometimes be a good deal.  This however is not always the case.  For most of the year, they throw a lot of sets up for sale that they weren't able to sell.  There are a few key times however.  The Star Wars set sales during the May the Fourth sales and the Brick Friday Sales offer some great deals.  Often they throw a few other sales in there, but you need to pay attention to them.  If you get on their mailing list, you can get notices of when they are coming up.

LEGO Shop VIP Program: While it’s not the greatest VIP program in the world, it gives you the opportunity to build points to garner discounts in the future. For every $100 you spend, you get $5 off in the future. Sometimes LEGO offers double VIP points so $10 back for spending $100. While some of the other deals they offer aren’t the most exciting, if you plan to buy a set from LEGO, you might as well get the points that go with your purchase.

BrickSet.com - Amazon.com deals in the US: Amazon has kept a good deal of discounts on sets.  If you pay attention, they have a great deal of some of the main lines (CITY, Friends, Star Wars, etc.) at a 20% discount.  As they approach Christmas time, they often increase sales to include discounts of 30% or more.  It's definitely worth it to check this site out before buying a LEGO set to see if there's a discount.  BrickSet used to have a Walmart sales site, but that one has since been shut down.  

BrickPicker.com: BrickPicker is more of a resource for those who collect, invest, and sell on the secondary market.  It focuses on LEGO sets that have long since retired and where people are willing to pay big money for some of the rarer sets.  They do show some current discounts on Amazon in various countries and if you follow the forums, you can see what deals people are finding at some of the big brand stores.

Walmart and Target: Both of these retailers have either pushed all of the fan sites to take down their sales searches or people took them down on their own.  I'm not sure what happened, but I have yet to find an easy way to find the LEGO deals at these stores.  Has anyone found something useful out there?  If so, please let me know. I have found that joining Target Circle gets you 1% of every purchase that you can use towards your next purchase. It’s not a lot, but it’s something. Also, Target will run deals every so often where they will send you a $10 eGift card for every $50 purchase.

Ratuken.com (formerly Ebates.com)- Okay so this is not a way to save money buying LEGO in a direct way.  However, there are a few ways you can take advantage of it.  For those of you not familiar, Ratuken/Ebates is a website where you sign up, go to the website before you shop, and then Ratuken/Ebates and you get a cut of the total sale when you are done.  If you sign up, you get spam emails every day.  The good news is, you can use it to buy LEGO.  LEGO Shop @ Home typically offers 2.5% cash back.  You place an order, they hold onto 2.5% of the sale, and then they return it to you in quarterly payments.  You can receive a check or link it to your PayPal account.  Historically around Christmas time Ratuken/Ebates has between 5% and 7.5% cash back deal on LEGO Shop @ Home.  Combine that with Double VIP points and it was a pretty good deal!  Also, you can share their site with friends and get a referral payment (amount varies).  The link I placed is just to the site and not an attempt to get the referral payment out of you.  Amazon.com and Walmart are linked to Ratuken/Ebates too, but often they are linked to specific categories of products.  I have yet to see them give cash back for toys.

Of note, recently I stopped getting cashback on Ratuken with purchases from LEGO.com. Perhaps I over purchased? Has anyone else seen this issue?

Brickseek.com - A reader told me about this one. This site was originally created to help people find LEGO sets. It has since expanded to a much larger inventory. You can still search for sets though. You can pick stores near you or you can search for online deals as well. While I have not used this site personally, I’m told it’s not always 100% accurate for what is in the store, but often times it lets you know when items have been placed on clearance. The reader who emailed me about this one said he got a few sets for around 50% off.

SlickDeals.net - A reader mentioned this one to me as well. It is another site that lists deals and you can search specifically for LEGO sets. The site is run by people posting the deals they find. So it’s only as good as the information that is posted. If you live close to a store and go often, it might be useful for you to use if someone posts a tip. It looks like this site works overseas as well.

Facebook Groups - I will admin that I don’t have the time to use social media so I’m not the best advocate here. A reader mentioned to me that there are Facebook groups out there for people to share deals they have found related to LEGO. If you are into Facebook, it might be something worth checking out.

Thanks to OJG for the last 3 tips!

Reddit Lego Set Deals - Some of the deals may not be deals to you or ones you care about, but you can always scroll through to see if there’s anything worth your hard earned funds.

What else am I missing?  Feel free to comment on any sites I'm not aware of or you can email me here.  

I'm not an affiliate to any of these sites and I am not paid to endorse any of them.  If you want to support Bricks for Bricks, you’ll have to wait until my BrickLink store re-opens in a few years. Thanks and happy building!

How Much is a Waffle?

First off, thanks to all those who came out and supported Stapleton Elementary School in Rio Rancho.  We sold a lot of minifigures and our new addition of minifigure Christmas ornaments.  Support from Bricks for Bricks and other vendors there will help the school with many of their programs.

At the shows I go to, I get to talk to many fans of Lego.  Some are kids, some are parents with kids who are fans, some teens and adults who are fans, and many others.  I had some interesting conversations at the Stapleton Elementary School event.  One of them involved a missing waffle.  Not a real waffle, but a LEGO waffle.  It's a 2x2 round tile plate and I'm pretty sure that it comes from set 70818 The LEGO Movie: Double Decker Couch.  It looks something like this:

This screen shot comes from www.brickset.com on the parts lists for set 70818.

Long story short, a boy at a friend's house lost the waffle part and they wanted to replace it.  So they went onto E-Bay and found the part for $4.  Needless to say they weren't happy to pay that much for the new part.

So what should you do if that happens to you?  Well first off, be warned that there are a lot of folks out there on E-Bay, Amazon, and other sites looking to make a quick buck.  Did someone profit on this one?  My guess is yes.  

Set 70818 was sold on LEGO.com from 1 January 2015 to 23 November 2015.  I didn't catch when the part was lost, but if it was before 23 November, it would have been good to just buy the set for the $14.99 that it retailed for versus paying the $4.00 for the one part.  

Another option is to check with the LEGO Company themselves.  If you lost a piece, they will sell you replacements.  I have never used the service, but it is available.  You can go to their website HERE.

If you need to find the part info, you can go to www.brickset.com and type in the set number.  They will give you an inventory list with all of the info on every part in the set.

Another option is to go to Bricklink.  Bricklink is not as easy to use, but the competition is much greater so sometimes you can find some good deals.  I looked up the part and the info I found is HERE.  233 sellers are selling 1,797 waffle parts on Bricklink.  You have to weed through a few if you don't want to deal with foreign sellers.  The first US seller I found is from Texas and has the part for $0.30, but the shipping is $2.45 and the minimum order is $2.00 so you'd have to find a few more things to buy from that seller.  Either way, $0.30 is much better than $4.00 for the part.  Granted you'll probably end up paying a little more than $4 due to the minimum order, but you'll get a few more things.

I hope my suggestions helped.  Worse case, find a LEGO fan (or nerd if you want to call me that) and I'll be glad to help you find the missing piece and give you a bunch of options.

Want to see cool things that builders have made?

Ever seen any of the amazing builds out there?  A LEGO creation of a classic building in a popular city?  A recreation of a vehicle?  A mosaic painting created with bricks?  Where are the best things to see all of this besides just going to Google and searching?  First off, a definition.  A "MOC" is an acronym for My Own Creation.  These are the various items that people create on their own.  So where can you see MOCs?

Here are a few sites where LEGO fans post their creations:
http://www.mocpages.com - This is a site where anyone can post their creations for free.  You get everything from new builders just testing out their skills to some of the most experienced and creative pros.  
http://www.brickshelf.com - This is another site where creations are posted.  They break them up by category so if you are looking for something specific, you can find it a little more easily.  They also have a section where groups and clubs post their displays from shows or group creations.  
http://rebrickable.com - Besides the ability to buy stuff and and search sets and parts, you can also search MOCs built by some talented people (and buy them if you want).
http://www.brothers-brick.com - There are a lot of LEGO themed blogs out there.  This one has been around for a while and they often times write about some of the amazing things that various builders put together.
LEGO Certified Professionals - The LEGO company certifies various builders to be professionals.  This site explains who they are and how they came to be.  You can also go to the sites of these various people and see their amazing builds.

So those are just a few.  Do know of any others or do you have any favorites?

Where to buy LEGO (Part 4)

Looking for the one piece that you lost that is hard to find?  Need to get a new set of stickers for that set?  Want to buy a large amount of 1x2 red bricks?  Looking to get a mint condition set no longer available from stores or from LEGO?  Have you tried Bricklink.com?  Never heard of it, let's review it here.

Price: You'll find a huge price range on Bricklink.com.  Individual sellers to bigger stores selling new and used items.  You need to do your research before you buy.  Make sure you're getting the best deal available.  Some stores charge packing fees, handling fees, PayPal fees, or other random fees.  Read closely and pay attention.  Feel free to ask questions of the sellers prior to ordering to make sure you know what you are paying for.  

Product Availability: If you can't find it on Bricklink.com, it probably doesn't exist.  Search carefully.  Sadly, some sellers put fake items up so be careful at what you see.  If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.

Set Selection: See product availability in terms of the selection.  The issue with Bricklink.com is that it is not user friendly.  Items are coded in using LEGO's set and piece numbers.  Searching through the monstrous database can be a pain.  The items are there, you just have to find them.

Shipping: Most sellers ship pretty quickly.  If they do not ship quickly comment as such.  You can request overnight FedEx or get the slowest USPS shipping at the cheapest cost.  For the most part shippers package items so they are not damaged in transit.  

Customer Service: Bricklink.com runs on comments.  For each order, you will have the opportunity to post feedback on the seller.  They in turn will rate you.  In theory this keeps everyone honest and the system working properly.  There will be some bad eggs in the system, but you can read their feedback to determine if you want to work with them or not.  Be cautious of new sellers.  They may have no feedback posted or very few posted.  In theory their prices will reflect the limited comments.  

Overall: Bricklink.com is a marketplace focused mainly on dedicated to adult fans mostly.  It can be a challenge for those not into the LEGO hobby to use the site.  The buyer should beware and do research on the items they want and make sure the seller they choose to use has a good reputation in the system.  It can be a great place to make purchases though.  Especially if you are looking to find a lot of parts and pieces cheaper than buying them brand new from LEGO's Pick-a-Brick.

Where to buy LEGO (Part 1)

There are a lot of places you can buy LEGO sets and items these days.  It seems like they are everywhere from drug stores to supermarkets to online stores to well the secondhand market (we'll get into that later).  For the next few posts I will give some thoughts on where to get LEGO and some things to consider based on the items you are looking for.

So let's start at the most obvious place... buying LEGO from the LEGO company itself.  To buy from LEGO itself, you can purchase from LEGO Shop at Home via their web site or over the phone with their catalog.  If you happen to live next to a LEGO brand store, you can purchase there too.  

Price: LEGO controls pricing on its sets.  While they often run sales or have discounts, you are at the mercy of LEGO's pricing plans.  Can you get "cheap" LEGO sets from LEGO?  That's a matter of opinion... especially since they control the initial pricing which is the basis for all other sales.  The LEGO VIP program can help you save money (for more LEGO purchases in the future) or at least give you some benefits to shopping straight from the source.

Product Availability: LEGO controls production.  For the majority of items, they have large supplies.  However, as has been seen with some limited running sets or very popular sets, LEGO does run out on occasion.  If the set is still in production, they will put it on back order  for you.  LEGO brand stores are usually pretty good at that as well.  I'd be curious to know if anyone has experience with LEGO brand stores and back ordered items.

Set Selection: YES.  What else can you say about the company that makes the product itself.  They have everything.  LEGO stores may not carry everything or may run out, but they can order items for you or in the past I have seen them hand out discounted shipping coupons.

Shipping: There is no shipping at the LEGO branded stores, but obviously Shop at Home has shipping cost.  Thankfully now you can get free shipping with purchases of $75 or more.  However if you plan to spend less than $75, you can expect to pay for shipping.

Customer Service: From personal experience, I've found LEGO Store employees to be helpful and good to work with.  I'm sure there are employees that don't represent the brand well, but I have yet to be proven wrong.  Any horror stories out there?  I have never called LEGO Shop at Home, but have e-mailed.  They are quick to correspond and very pleasant with responses.  Again, that is my experience only.

Overall: LEGO is a great place to buy LEGO. Sorry, had to say it.  They control their brand and obviously they are the place to get things first or to get some sets that are not available elsewhere.  In terms of price they have you cornered on some items, but for other items there are better places to look if you'd like to save some money.  LEGO has proven to me that they have good customer service and that they care about the customer.  I hope they continue to focus on their fans to keep the product top notch among toy brands well into the future.

I lost the instructions!

Do you have a set that you got a few years back that fell apart and you can't find the instructions to put it back together?  Maybe you accidentally threw out the instructions with the empty bags.  What can you do?  

Well thankfully, the internet has a lot of options where you can find instructions online for free.  This gives you the opportunity to build those sets and you don't have to go to online stores to buy instructions.  So where are they?

The LEGO Company posts some HERE.  When I say some, it's only back to 2002.  You either need the set number or you can try and search for it by year or theme (like City or Friends).  If you have a set from much earlier, you can look here on Peeron.  Having the set number is key here, but you can try and search for it as well.  If you just can't find the set number, another great resource is Brickset.  You can search for sets by what you think the name is or look through the entire theme.  

So don't spend money on instructions (unless you really want them).  Just go online and build from there.