Once a year, since 2007, the LEGO company has released a modular building. You can see the full list here. They are typically made up of around 2,000 pieces and are full of different building techniques and styles. The 2015 set is the Detective Office. It includes a detective office, pool hall, and barber shop. While these sets are rather pricey, $159.99 this year, with over 2,262 pieces it makes it worth it. It has taken me a while to build this set, but once I'm finished, I'll post a picture.
Support the Zia Family Focus Center
Bricks for Bricks will not be at this show (sadly), but I'm giving them a plug anyways. I had two sales with them last year and we were able to donate $20 plus a bag of bricks back to them. So please go support this great place that helps kids out!
Set Review - Santa's Workshop - #10245
It's March and Christmas came a little late. For a number of years now, LEGO has been producing a Winter Village theme. They introduce a Christmas themed set in the October time frame and it typically remains on sale for a two year period. I try to order the year's set around Christmas time, but by the time I got to it this year, it had sold out. This year's set, Santa's Workshop, was on back order for quite a while. It took over a month for this set to show up after I ordered it. Lesson learned... if you want it for Christmas time, then order it sooner or wait for the summer time when no one is thinking of Christmas LEGO sets.
I built the set over a weekend. It's a creative build with some different building techniques, some interesting pieces, and a 6 minifigures. I was also pleased that LEGO worked to get rid of the number of stickers you had to apply. Some of the pieces had details printed on (the reindeer backs for one). Overall it was a good set to build and will make a great addition to the other LEGO Winter Village sets.
More people giving back with bricks.
I'm glad to see I'm not the only one trying to give back using Lego bricks. This week I stumbled across a site for a non-profit group in the Kansas City, MO area focused on giving back. They are called "The Giving Brick" and like my business, they started in 2014. Their goal is to collect Lego parts, put them into sets for building, and give them to kids in need.
If you're interested in finding out more, you can find them HERE. They accept donations of Lego bricks and cash. They are starting out local, but you never know, maybe they'll grow nationally or even internationally.
The verdict is in...
If you couldn't tell from my last post, I ordered the maximum amount of series 13 from LEGO and 32 small bags containing minifigures arrived. Did all 16 end up in the order? Sadly no. 11 of the 16 arrived with a lot of duplicates (as you can see below). The total list:
Classic King - 1
Sheriff - 1
Snake Charmer - 2
Goblin - 5
Alien Trooper - 1
Egyptian Warrior - 3
Carpenter - 3
Evil Wizard - 2
Disco Diva - 4
Hot Dog Man - 3
Galaxy Trooper - 7
The leaves the Lady Cyclops, Samurai, Fencer, Paleontologist, and Unicorn Girl. I'm disappointed that I didn't get all 16, but I have some extras to add in for future sales. My favorite from this set is Hot Dog Man. What are your thoughts?
Minifigures galore!
I'm often asked where I get all of the minifigures that I sell from. Part of the answer is from LEGO directly. Since 2010, LEGO has released a set of 16 minifigures a few times a year. There have been 13 sets, plus a set for The LEGO Movie and a set for The Simpsons. Series 13 was released on 1 Jan 15 and I'm excited to open them up and add them to my collection and sell some too.
One thing you'll notice, LEGO doesn't tell you what's in each of the bags. So to get all 16, you either need to buy large amounts in the hopes of getting the 16, you need to buy them from someone who has already opened up the bag to see what's in it, or if you're lucky, you can go to Walmart, Target, or another retailer and try and feel which minifigure is in the bag before buying it. I am not good at identifying the figures through the bags. I've gone with the other 2 options to find figures for my collection. When I buy straight from LEGO, I add duplicates to my inventory to sell to help others find the figures they are looking for. LEGO doesn't produce and sell even amounts of each figures so some are harder to find than others. I'll do my best to help you find the ones you're looking for. Just let me know if you are trying to find one.
Do you have what it takes?
Back in 2008, The Lego Group started what is today known as Lego Ideas. This is a site where you can post a picture of a creation you've built and if your creation gets 10,000 votes, a panel of reviewers will look at it to consider it for production. There have been 9 sets released so far with one more on it's way sometime in 2015.
Take a look and see what's out there. The site is here. You can see some of the creations up for review next, vote on creations if you think they are worthy, and add your own creations to the site. Be sure to read the guidelines before submitting.
Happy building!
Bricks for... The Zia Family Focus Center
After 5 months and a number of sale events, Bricks for Bricks was able to give back for the first time yesterday. Many of the sales I've been at have required fees and often times we can't make up that fee in one sale. Thankfully after two sales at the Zia Family Focus Center, we were able to make some profit above the initial sales fee and were able to give back. I wish it was a larger amount, but for now I am proud to say we donated $20 to help with activities at this great non-profit organization as well as a $5 bag of new, assorted Lego® bricks for the Center to use in their Lego® building class. I look forward to continuing to help the Zia Family Focus Center out in the future and increasing the amount I can give back to them.
Something to build on
A number of customers have asked about whether Bricks for Bricks sells base plates. The short answer right now is no. The reason is that I have not found a way to get them at a discount price. The LEGO® Company sells the bulk of them with other retailers charging the same price or higher.
Prior to 1 Jan 2015, you could buy green and blue 10" x 10" base plates for $4.99 each from LEGO® and a larger gray base plate for $14.99. With the new year comes lots of new sets from LEGO®, but also some new pricing. The usual green 10" x 10" base plate will now be $7.99 each and there will be a tan colored 10" x 10" base plate at the same price. It looks as though the larger gray plate will remain at the same price and size. You can also buy road plates (2 per pack) for $14.99 each. Check out the LEGO® Shop at Home website for details on these.
If you're looking for base plates, I recommend you buy them straight from the source. Wait until you are placing a larger order and you can get free shipping. If you don't have a larger order coming up, let me know and I can add them to one of my orders for a small fee.
What are you looking for?
Are you looking for that elusive set that you can't seem to find? Does the LEGO® fan in your house need one minifigure to complete a collection? Are you looking for a certain piece? Let Bricks for Bricks know. We can try to get the item for you or we can point you in the right direction to get the elusive item yourself. Send us a message with a description of what you're looking for and we'll do our best to help you find it at the price you are looking for. Contact us here.