Big Ben Bricks is closing

[Shiva]

Btw, site seems to be up.

[Sven J]

Great!
Let's hope they continue to supply their European retailer blokbricks.nl.

These days it's not easy for EU residents to order from the US ...

[Murdoch17]

10 minutes ago, Shiva said:

Btw, site seems to be up.

Thanks for the heads up!

[Shiva]

7 minutes ago, Sven J said:

Great!
Let's hope they continue to supply their European retailer blokbricks.nl.

These days it's not easy for EU residents to order from the US ...

The wheels, if I someday get to actually build what I want, would be sizes 6, 8 and 10. The sizes only Brick Train Depot has. And a few that would have tender wheels at size 7.

[zephyr1934]

It's good to have BBB wheels back

[Vilhelm22]

On 4/6/2026 at 11:25 PM, Shiva said:

The wheels, if I someday get to actually build what I want, would be sizes 6, 8 and 10. The sizes only Brick Train Depot has. And a few that would have tender wheels at size 7.

Pretty sure Joe (Breckland Bricks) does them in those sizes, and if not he's got an amazing custom design service that I use fairly often for any rods and wheels you may be able to think of not immediately available.  I know with new EU laws he's unable to sell to that market anymore though.

[Shiva]

1 hour ago, Vilhelm22 said:

Pretty sure Joe (Breckland Bricks) does them in those sizes, and if not he's got an amazing custom design service that I use fairly often for any rods and wheels you may be able to think of not immediately available.  I know with new EU laws he's unable to sell to that market anymore though.

Yeah, there is a text on his webpage that says "Due to new General Product Safety Regulations, we can no longer ship to the EU and Northern Ireland."  It is possible to fix this, but I can't remember how.

 

[Murdoch17]

Does anyone know if BBB is even open yet? I ordered from the redesigned and reopened Big Ben Bricks site that's now owned by OKBrickworks on the 26th of April. I've heard nothing since and am wondering if they backed up with a ton of orders, or are not even open yet. (although the website lets you place orders!)

Thoughts?

Edited May 7 by Murdoch17

[Murdoch17]

On 5/6/2026 at 5:32 PM, Murdoch17 said:

Does anyone know if BBB is even open yet? I ordered from the redesigned and reopened Big Ben Bricks site that's now owned by OKBrickworks on the 26th of April. I've heard nothing since and am wondering if they backed up with a ton of orders, or are not even open yet. (although the website lets you place orders!)

Thoughts?

Ok, so I messaged OKBrickworks a week ago today, and again last Friday - once through email, and the latter through the contact form on the BBB site. It's been two weeks since I ordered, and I've got no response, no communication from them at all. Any guesses / ideas / thoughts as to what's going on? I'm really not trying to be impatient, but I really need those XS wheels sooner rather than later (any other size won't work)...

Edited May 10 by Murdoch17

[Jeff B]

Please keep us updated as to what happens.  I started using OKB in 2020 for custom decals due to being able to print white on clear and Andrew was great to work with and never had an issue with what he charged, but as the company got more popular lead times got longer and longer, which I was fine with and planned accordingly.  Unfortunately, about 6 months ago I tried reaching out several times to him and never received a reply.  I’m still trying to find alternatives as I can’t afford a copy machine that prints white and can only do so much with a Cricket and vinyl.

Edited May 11 by Jeff B

[rjr]

@Murdoch17 and @Jeff B, thanks for the info! I'll wait a little and see what happens before placing an order then! Or maybe find an european source.

[Murdoch17]

2 hours ago, Jeff B said:

Please keep us updated as to what happens.  I started using OKB in 2000 for custom decals due to being able to print white on clear and Andrew was great to work with and never had an issue with what he charged, but as the company got more popular lead times got longer and longer, which I was fine with and planned accordingly.  Unfortunately, about 6 months ago I tried reaching out several times to him and never received a reply.  I’m still trying to find alternatives as I can’t afford a copy machine that prints white and can only do so much with a Cricket and vinyl.

Wow, now I'm really worried! I'll keep you all informed on what happens next... I just messaged him via Facebook (my third message across three methods of communication) as well just to be careful. I am really, REALLY hoping he responds with a timeframe and / or shipping info soon, because if I don't hear from him in some fashion by a month after the order date, I'm gonna try and get my money back.

[Jeffinslaw]

On 5/11/2026 at 10:43 AM, Jeff B said:

Please keep us updated as to what happens.  I started using OKB in 2020 for custom decals due to being able to print white on clear and Andrew was great to work with and never had an issue with what he charged, but as the company got more popular lead times got longer and longer, which I was fine with and planned accordingly.  Unfortunately, about 6 months ago I tried reaching out several times to him and never received a reply.  I’m still trying to find alternatives as I can’t afford a copy machine that prints white and can only do so much with a Cricket and vinyl.

I don't want to hijack the thread but I am the owner / operator of PNW Steam Shop (link in signature). I do all of my own printing for my train cars and accept commissioned work as well.

[Murdoch17]

Ok, so he read my May 11th Facebook message on May 13th, and did nothing about it - no response, no package, no nothing. I posted another message last Thursday (May 21st) requesting info and he's not read it or responded to anything I've sent over or info requests I've made. If he doesn't reply by end of day Tomorrow - the 27th of May - I'm going to Paypal to get my money back as I told him I would in my last message. I will also leave a negative review on Google and probably on the BBB site itself (if I'm able - I have no faith in him or whether he will keep anything but positive reviews up). This is, quite frankly, ridiculous and I'm infuriated he's doing this...

Edited May 27 by Murdoch17

[zephyr1934]

4 hours ago, Murdoch17 said:

This is, quite frankly, ridiculous and I'm infuriated he's doing this...

While I have no idea what is going on and I would agree that being so unresponsive to customers is inappropriate, I would also encourage patience. You got me wondering if Big Ben's web page went to a legitimate store (a few months back it looked like a random site hog had it, in which case any purchase would be a black hole sucking in your money).

It looks like OKBW posted on Facebook shortly after your post here that they are working on stocking 33k parts. That could explain why they are moving slow. And who knows, there might have been a child added to the family or ??? that sucked up a ton of time away from Lego.

Yes, they should not have populated their store when they were so far from actual fulfillment, and yes, they should have responded to your inquiries. But be kind to those who bring parts that we would not otherwise have. It isn't easy running a small business.

You certainly have a right to be pissed and it seems fair to me that if you are done waiting, to ask PP to refund your money. But for me at least, it would be premature to say that they are universally evil.

[Murdoch17]

9 hours ago, zephyr1934 said:

While I have no idea what is going on and I would agree that being so unresponsive to customers is inappropriate, I would also encourage patience. You got me wondering if Big Ben's web page went to a legitimate store (a few months back it looked like a random site hog had it, in which case any purchase would be a black hole sucking in your money).

It looks like OKBW posted on Facebook shortly after your post here that they are working on stocking 33k parts. That could explain why they are moving slow. And who knows, there might have been a child added to the family or ??? that sucked up a ton of time away from Lego.

Yes, they should not have populated their store when they were so far from actual fulfillment, and yes, they should have responded to your inquiries. But be kind to those who bring parts that we would not otherwise have. It isn't easy running a small business.

You certainly have a right to be pissed and it seems fair to me that if you are done waiting, to ask PP to refund your money. But for me at least, it would be premature to say that they are universally evil.

I don't know what to say to this, besides the fact that if the store isn't open for business, they certainly shouldn't take people's money for products they don't have yet.

It's a bit like going to a gas station, going inside to pay for a tank of gas, and all the gas pump gives you a IOU saying "Sorry, we're out of gas. Come back another time for your fuel!" Then, when you ask the clerk when another tanker truck is coming, he ignores your inquiries, but keeps taking other people's money for gas he doesn't have.

If the store wasn't ready, he should have gotten a landing page put up on the site saying it was reopening soon (Instead of taking in money for products he couldn't get out in a timely manner!) or at least explain they were opening for preorders and when then would be shipping them out at the earliest.

[aFrInaTi0n]

Hello, I am having no history with the exact page - but can add from the IT perspective:

It may just be fraud by a third party - somebody in the markets of bricks did understand "this domain is going out of business" and registered it for himself as a new owner. A scam shop may be set up which is surfing on former owners' business trust from the users. Money may just be taken to an account from where it gets money- cryptocurrency-washed.

I am just speaking about well known schemas, not that it may be the case here. But users may be advised by such conditions of an shop-owner officially closing his shop, others possibly trying to take advantage of this.

[Murdoch17]

17 minutes ago, aFrInaTi0n said:

Hello, I am having no history with the exact page - but can add from the IT perspective:

It may just be fraud by a third party - somebody in the markets of bricks did understand "this domain is going out of business" and registered it for himself as a new owner. A scam shop may be set up which is surfing on former owners' business trust from the users. Money may just be taken to an account from where it gets money- cryptocurrency-washed.

I am just speaking about well known schemas, not that it may be the case here. But users may be advised by such conditions of an shop-owner officially closing his shop, others possibly trying to take advantage of this.

I know it went to OKBrickworks, as I saw them as the recipient of my money on the Paypal invoice... but thank you for the advice @aFrInaTi0n!

Edited May 27 by Murdoch17

[Thomas Waagenaar]

11 hours ago, zephyr1934 said:

While I have no idea what is going on and I would agree that being so unresponsive to customers is inappropriate, I would also encourage patience. You got me wondering if Big Ben's web page went to a legitimate store (a few months back it looked like a random site hog had it, in which case any purchase would be a black hole sucking in your money).

It looks like OKBW posted on Facebook shortly after your post here that they are working on stocking 33k parts. That could explain why they are moving slow. And who knows, there might have been a child added to the family or ??? that sucked up a ton of time away from Lego.

Yes, they should not have populated their store when they were so far from actual fulfillment, and yes, they should have responded to your inquiries. But be kind to those who bring parts that we would not otherwise have. It isn't easy running a small business.

You certainly have a right to be pissed and it seems fair to me that if you are done waiting, to ask PP to refund your money. But for me at least, it would be premature to say that they are universally evil.

A month without ANY kind of information, response of reply is just bad business in all cases.

He clearly has had the time to post on social media, as such, a short message along the likes of "Sorry for the issues, we're working on it. Please be patient." would have taken much of the frustration out of the air and not taken too long.

Murdoch is completely valid in wanting it either cancelled via OKBW, or via PayPal. Just had to keep in mind that if he does it via PayPal, he will likely not be able to ever buy from OKBW again because it wouldn't surprise me if they blacklist him then 😬.

Either way, I would say invest in a 3D printer and learning how to CAD, or comission someone for it. Because I design and print my own wheels for a fraction of the price and can make them exactly perfect to the prototype. And sure, they're not injection moulded, but if they wear down too much I can just print another set for a few cents... 😅

[zephyr1934]

3 hours ago, Murdoch17 said:

I don't know what to say to this, besides the fact that if the store isn't open for business, they certainly shouldn't take people's money for products they don't have yet.

I agree that it is poor business, that you have every right to be pissed, and if you've run out of patience that it is reasonable to seek your money back. And for that matter, potentially you choose to never buy anything again from them.

But I don't think it is bad enough yet to say that nobody should ever buy anything from them ever again. Having seen various small businesses, there are so many challenges that customers never see. Maybe there was a third party delay transferring the inventory or doing a new production run that started out as "just another day" and stayed "one more day" for months? Maybe he's being strung along by a new landlord? Maybe there were life events that upended a one person business? These small business do not have the limitless resources of Amazon.

Again, I'm not defending the fact that OKBW is being a bad communicator or that the items are listed as "available now" even though apparently he is not fulfilling orders. I'm just one to give the benefit of the doubt and assume that everyone is TRYING to do as best as they can.

In the end, if you do not eventually either get your product or get your money back, then that would be time declare them evil

 

[Murdoch17]

Finally got a response from OKBW via a reply by me to his public Facebook post. He says he's responded to my messages and that I haven't replied to him, which is totally false. He's also saying the parts will be shipped late June / early July when they are restocked.

This then begs the question: why sell something you don't have available and won't have for about three months (April to July) without notifying the person buying said part about the delay BEFORE they place the order? Like, a simple warning on the BBB site's landing page would have sufficed!

Edited May 28 by Murdoch17

[Shiva]

Some news atleast.

That restocking message should have been sent way earlier, in my opinion.