Balls?!

[Tclancey]

Hi there.

I'm in need of a large quantity of Lego balls.

First of all let me just say, - I hate fake Lego, I won't buy it, I'd sooner strip naked in the street than have any near my house - but for the love of god, 2 to 4 dollars/gbp for 1 ball?  I hope no one will be offended if I offer to stick that idea somewhere very uncomfortable!

So, I'm going to ask the unforgivable:  What other balls do people use that are the same size and wont push a small country into abject poverty?

Many thanks.

[anothergol]

Toy stores are full of.. marbles. They roll nicely, they have a weight to them, they cost nothing, and most importantly, they don't have a nasty mould mark.

[Lyichir]

This site may have the answers you seek: https://www.planet-gbc.com/planet-gbc-tutorial-get-your-gbc-balls/

[dr_spock]

What size balls do you seek?  14mm?   16mm?   Duplo balls? 

[MxWinters]

I agree, the price of LEGO balls these days are just ridiculous and is nothing short of extortion.

I forget who suggested it now but someone on here gave me a link a while ago to these balls on Amazon which I ended up buying. I am a purest too but I refuse to pay like £2 per ball. These Quercetti balls, made for marble runs, cost me about £8 shipped for a pack of 100, although the pack actually contained 152 balls which is far more reasonable. They are moreless the same size and weight as the LEGO footballs and basketball the people use for GBC. If you need a large quantity of balls for GBC, I suggest using these Quercetti  marble run balls.

[Driver Brandon Grumman]

I need some too. I plan to put a basketball court in my town soon. 

[1963maniac]

https://pv-productions.com/product/lego-gbc-balls/  €12.95 – €18.95 for 50 balls= .26- .38 euros per ball

Lego has them in replacements for $0.64 for part #72824 (14mm GBC size -soccer).

Edited October 23, 2019 by 1963maniac

[MAB]

I think you will end up naked in public!

Everyone wants the real ones for GBCs and so there are not many on the secondary market and so they are expensive. You either pay the price or go non-purist. Many people go non-purist for the balls, at least to test their own modules.

 

[LucyCol]

  On 10/18/2019 at 9:42 PM, MxWinters said:

 these balls on Amazon 

Expand  

Can also recommend the Quercetti balls the only issue is that they are shipped from somewhere in Eastern Europe which makes shipping expensive, £20 on something that cost £9.29

[MAB]

  On 10/22/2019 at 1:21 PM, LucyCol said:

Can also recommend the Quercetti balls the only issue is that they are shipped from somewhere in Eastern Europe which makes shipping expensive, £20 on something that cost £9.29

Expand  

These are shipped by Amazon, so shipping is free for UK orders (or for orders over £20 if not on prime).

 

[MxWinters]

  On 10/22/2019 at 1:21 PM, LucyCol said:

Can also recommend the Quercetti balls the only issue is that they are shipped from somewhere in Eastern Europe which makes shipping expensive, £20 on something that cost £9.29

Expand  

 

  On 10/22/2019 at 2:06 PM, MAB said:

These are shipped by Amazon, so shipping is free for UK orders (or for orders over £20 if not on prime).

 

Expand  

When I bought my pack, it was shipped from Italy. I paid £7.88 plus £4.49 for express shipping for a total of £12.37GBP. The price therefore per ball was £0.08GBP which is much more reasonable than the ~£2.00GBP for the official LEGO balls and the 0.39GBP for the balls suggested by @1963maniac.

Edited October 22, 2019 by MxWinters
spelling

[MAB]

Yes, and they are good for testing GBCs or if you run one at home. Obviously for a collaborative display they are no good as they get mixed up with genuine LEGO ones but then the organisers often supply the balls anyway.

[dr_spock]

Generic balls can be fine for running a GBC display outside of house by yourself too.  The majority of the general public is not going to notice the difference between real LEGO® balls and compatible balls. I even hear people called them marbles looking at my display.  Many of them didn't know LEGO® even made balls.  Chances of being called out a non-purist by a non-AFOL is pretty slim.

For collaborative GBC displays, it is best to use only one person's balls whether it is real LEGO® or other types of balls.  Sorting out whose's whose afterwards is both time and effort consuming.

[MAB]

  On 10/23/2019 at 3:49 PM, dr_spock said:

Generic balls can be fine for running a GBC display outside of house by yourself too.  The majority of the general public is not going to notice the difference between real LEGO® balls and compatible balls. I even hear people called them marbles looking at my display.  Many of them didn't know LEGO® even made balls.  Chances of being called out a non-purist by a non-AFOL is pretty slim.

For collaborative GBC displays, it is best to use only one person's balls whether it is real LEGO® or other types of balls.  Sorting out whose's whose afterwards is both time and effort consuming.

Expand  

Yes, I wasn't meaning for purist reasons as most people won't care, just that for collaborative displays where balls are shared often people don't mind mixing and taking back however many (or whatever weight) they put in, but not if they are all mixed up with non-LEGO ones. I've only displayed a couple of times recently and the LUG has provided the balls.