Article: The Bargain Hunter's Guide to LEGO

[Raphy]

And what about poeple in Poland? I live in Poland and there is no such thing as cheap lego, let alone garage sales or resale shops.

Darnblammit . . . .

[Eilif]

Update, I went on craigslist today, and among "buying lego" posts, i found one about legos for sale. I got three boxes of them for $20!

SCORE! It happened right after I read your article. BE PROUD!

Glad to be of help to your LEGO acquisitions!

Another suggestion is bankrupt stock re-sellers, I have got old, discontinued and uncommon sets from shops like TKMaxx (TJMaxx in the US) and smaller resellers that are more commercial.

Look in odd places, I don't know about your area's but my stamping grounds have numerouse indoor markets and newsagents that have smaller impulse sets from years ago sat around at a very good prices.

Lastly keep an eye on big supermarkets and toy shops, really old sets sometimes turn up reduced.

That's a good suggestion. I've found a few really good deals on sets at TJMaxx and similar stores. However, I've never found anything in regular stores that approaches the 1-cent-per-piece goal.

And what about poeple in Poland? I live in Poland and there is no such thing as cheap lego, let alone garage sales or resale shops.

Darnblammit . . . .

Is there anywhere in Poland that people sell used things?

[martinsuper]

Glad to be of help to your LEGO acquisitions!

Ok, here is my info-merical response to your article:

Since reading you article, here have been my acquisitions:

1. Three boxes (about 6-7 pounds) $20

2. Two boxes (about 5 pounds) Free donation from a friend

3. TWO tupperwear bins (more than my entire collection so far, I estimate 40-50 pounds? Maybe more?) FREE!

4. Three LEGO boxes (6 pounds or more) $20

5. I have also been contacting the guys with "buying LEGO" ads on CraigsList, and trading with them for parts I need with ones I don't.

6. I put a note and a new status on my facebook asking everyone I know to hook me up with their old LEGOs, this resulted in the free donations. Its worth the couple people who will give you a jab, to get all the free bricks!!!

-Super

[ILikePi]

You got a 50 pound box of LEGO for free?

[Ricecracker]

6. I put a note and a new status on my facebook asking everyone I know to hook me up with their old LEGOs, this resulted in the free donations. Its worth the couple people who will give you a jab, to get all the free bricks!!!

Great idea! I just did that now, so thanks.

[Eilif]

6. I put a note and a new status on my facebook asking everyone I know to hook me up with their old LEGOs, this resulted in the free donations. Its worth the couple people who will give you a jab, to get all the free bricks!!!

Wow, that is brilliant! Of course, I'd need a facebook page first... Maybe my wife will let me use hers?

[Ricecracker]

Wow, that is brilliant! Of course, I'd need a facebook page first... Maybe my wife will let me use hers?

Hehe, "My husband is looking for all of your Lego, I repeat, It's my husband, not me, so if you have any, send it this way please"

[Deemo]

Great guide, I have a question though. Will washing the bricks make discolored white bricks look same as new bricks? Or at least make all the used bricks look the same so my walls aren't all discolored.

[Eilif]

Great guide, I have a question though. Will washing the bricks make discolored white bricks look same as new bricks? Or at least make all the used bricks look the same so my walls aren't all discolored.

Thanks.

In answer to your question, unfortunately washing won't usually change the color of your bricks. Cleaning will take away dirt and two cleanings will usually get rid of a smokey smell, but it won't change the effects of yellowing which is a chemical process. However, there are a few meathods that folks have tried that will remove or reverse much of the yellowing. They usually revolve around oxyclean, hydrogen peroxide, or bleach. Don't go mixing those unless you know what you are doing. I've got alot of yellowed bricks, and I'm on the lookout for some 30% strenth hydrogen peroxide, as that seems to be a good, relatively safe meathod.

Do a search on EB for "yellowing" or "bleaching" and you're likely to find what you are looking for.

Edited April 15, 2009 by Eilif

[martinsuper]

You got a 50 pound box of LEGO for free?

Yeah, it was from a friend of mine's mom. He didnt want them, and he had way more than me as a kid. So she just gave them to me.

Its a blessing and curse because they are all in one MEGA tupper wear bin. So now I have to spend HOURS sorting these peices because there might be some I really need on ym build list. The real issue is that its slowing down my build schedule because I have to sort all this stuff out...

[Skipper 24]

A great bargain hunter guide ! By resale shop do you mean Charity Shop? I don't know if they are the same thing. Besides if they aren't charity shops are great too.

[Eilif]

Its a blessing and curse because they are all in one MEGA tupper wear bin. So now I have to spend HOURS sorting these peices because there might be some I really need on ym build list. The real issue is that its slowing down my build schedule because I have to sort all this stuff out...

You'll get no sympathy from me...

A great bargain hunter guide ! By resale shop do you mean Charity Shop? I don't know if they are the same thing. Besides if they aren't charity shops are great too.

Yep, I think that Charity shops, Resale stores, Thrift stores, etc, are pretty much all the same thing: shops selling used stuff at low prices. In the US, we have resale shops of several varities. We have alot of resale shops run by charities such as Salvation Army, Goodwill, St. Vincent DePaul, etc. We also have some resale shops that are run as for-profit organizations. Ironically, alot of these stores buy in bulk from charities who accept donations but do not have thier own retail outlets. Finally, there are some shops that operate soley by taking items on consignement and taking a percentage of the sales.

[Ricecracker]

My doorbell literally just rang. Guess who was there? I'll give you a hint, he's from Denmark .

Got this all for a price of my choice. Gotta go through it now and decide what it's worth. The money is going to charity, so I might overvalue it a bit.

[Luke McAwesome]

This is very helpful!

I once scored at a thrift store and they had around eight giant bags of LEGO. I got one or two bags filled with pieces from the Clone Turbo Tank, heck, I even got a Kasyyyk trooper in that sucker!

But it had Mega Bloks in it, too.

Thanks for this article, it'll help me out in the future!

[Bartram]

Thanks so much for this excellent article!

Great tips on washing lego - never knew to put it in the washing machine

[Hinckley]

This is an excellent article! It gives me hope.

Mini-sidetrack: I suggest bagging up the random toys and clone brick in a ziplock even if they are small- and donating them back to the resale shop. That bag of crap, can fetch a buck or two for a charity. In this world every cent counts, and every bit that goes back to the shop is a bit that doesn't end in a landfill.

I do have to point out that you most likely sort the exact same pieces back out the next time you purchase that pink hat... I have to vote for the landfill in that instance.

[salty tbone]

I, too, feel a new energy to go hunting.

I haven't had much recent luck finding Lego at resale shops, but this has encouraged me to keep trying. I'm pretty picky about my bricks, too, but the cleaning tips (and hopefully cheap prices) will help me get over that, as well.

[vexorian]

Yay! Let me bump this one. This has inspired me to look out for the Bolivian equivalent of a resale shop. Which turns out to be an outdoor fair that is the size of a city. They sell these huge bags of LEGO with random pieces (and other things), of course, most are dusty, some are nastily dirty and a few are broken, but at the end it still turns out really cheap. Washing the parts and then actually finding storage space has become my biggest issue.

6. I put a note and a new status on my facebook asking everyone I know to hook me up with their old LEGOs, this resulted in the free donations. Its worth the couple people who will give you a jab, to get all the free bricks!!!

-Super

What? An actual use for facebook? I can't possibly believe I am regretting my decision not to ever, ever get an account there.

I do have to point out that you most likely sort the exact same pieces back out the next time you purchase that pink hat... I have to vote for the landfill in that instance.

I keep getting clone bricks, but they are not that bad. My current plan is to take the non-broken/terribly scratched ones and wash them then I will donate them to a yearly Christmas charity give away of toys for the less fortunate. The clones are really fine as toys once "recycled" through cleaning so I think if it gets a kid into creativity it will ultimately be good news and also there will be less plastic in water and land fills. I just hope it doesn't turn out that they just resell the bricks at the fair :(.

[Asterios]

Sad thing is i've used all those sources, but ever since eBay came out its been harder and harder to find LEGO anywhere or even at a decent price, now a days I see people at flea markets and garage sales selling LEGO for more then it would cost me in the store, craigslist is a joke now too since 90% of ads for LEGO are people looking to buy LEGO, thrift shops and goodwills used to be good locations to buy LEGO but now several shops have orders to reship sealed boxs of LEGO and such to another location even(I asked about that and they said it was corporate policy now), and loose LEGO is dumped.

So Blame eBay for making LEGO more readily available and for causing the secondary market to sky rocket in price.

[AhabDarab]

I know this article helped me when I first came out of my dark age.

All of it's information is still good.

Ahab out..................

[Asilla]

Thanks a lot for this article, its really good advice and I'll try some of them -

just used the facebook ad.

Here in Denmark there is not much Lego to be found in 2.hand shops, people save it for

kids and grandchildren ;)

[The Green Brick Giant]

I have never seen LEGO at a resale shop, Goodwill and such. I have lucked out a few times because my mom goes to so many tag sales and flea markets, but if you want LEGO right now or just starting out you need to watch for the sales at regular stores.

[Follows Closely]

I have gotten most of my LEGO from garage sale postings off from craigslist. I wrote a program that emails all new postings and ask them if they have any LEGO at their sale. I hear back about 1/2 the time, once or twice a week I will get a yes. And a yes is usually LEGO at a very good price.

[Eilif]

Wow,

Good to see that two years later, this article is still helping folks out, even in Bolivia!

I agree that Ebay has hurt the hunt for cheap LEGO in places like Craigslist (I haven't gotten any LEGO off craigslist since I wrote this article). However, I still find LEGO at resale shops, though as the article says, you have to look often!

Good Hunting,

Eilif

PS.Follows Closely, That is Brilliant!

[slopemodified]

With respect to cleaning Lego, should magnets (from the old space sets) be washed separately in a bucket, instead of the washing machine?