Bricks & Pieces

[Junior Shark]

What? I've never broken a 1x4 hinge plate. You must have gotten some faulty pieces.

[Actor Builder]

What? I've never broken a 1x4 hinge plate.

Same. Mine are all very sturdy.

My brother claims I sat on his X-Wing set when I was a toddler and broke a hinge-brick though. I don't recall it happening exactly like that...

[Junior Shark]

Okay, so on March 2 I put in a B&P and PaB order. The PaB shipped on March 8. This past Friday, March 11, I shot an email over to Lego Customer Service asking about the Bricks & Pieces order. I think the longest time between ordering and shipping with B&P has been 3-4 days. Today, March 14, I finally received a shipping confirmation on my B&P. That's 12 days between ordering and shipping! 3x longer than I've ever experienced w/ B&P (and I've experienced a lot). Does anyone know if there's some issue over in Billund? Or is this semi-normal, and I'm just an impatient goon?

[MAB]

I've also been waiting - order 1st March, dispatch note today!

[kibosh]

What? I've never broken a 1x4 hinge plate. You must have gotten some faulty pieces.

I don't know that I have ever broken any LEGO piece through normal use. Nor accidental use for that matter.

[Robianco]

I'm just an impatient goon.

Et voila! ;)

[Junior Shark]

Et voila! ;)

Man, I was really hoping it wasn't that.

[Junior Shark]

Double post, but a verrry interesting piece is newly available from B&P! It's the balloon shells from the Heartlake Hot Air Balloon (http://shop.lego.com/en-US/Heartlake-Hot-Air-Balloon-41097), part # 18969! It's only available in white and magenta, no dark orange, black or red yet.

[anothergol]

Yeah it was already available some months ago when I checked (at the same high price - more expensive than on BL).

I wish there was a website dedicated to monitoring what's new on B&P, we must be many people checking every day.

Edited March 29, 2016 by anothergol

[Exetrius]

Is using B&P ethically correct again (e.g. can you order pieces instead of "replacement bricks")?

[Junior Shark]

Is using B&P ethically correct again (e.g. can you order pieces instead of "replacement bricks")?

I assume you're referring to the holiday shutdown of the option to buy bricks. If so, the answer is, "Yes, you can now buy bricks through B&P again!"

[Exetrius]

I assume you're referring to the holiday shutdown of the option to buy bricks. If so, the answer is, "Yes, you can now buy bricks through B&P again!"

Ah, okay, thank you!

[Unijob]

I was happy that I finally found the code for the black cat from the CMF Witch (it's 22378), until I realized it's out of stock! Many pieces are out of stock, in fact. I have the impression the service seldom restocks. It feels bad that I found out about this service so late.

[Gnac]

There's a load of stuff on there that was technically never in stock ever since being added, such as 6123815 / 22961. I want DOZENS of these already. Then there are all the bits that appeared in sets four months ago, yet still aren't even listed.

WHY DON'T THEY WANT MY MONEY

[Exetrius]

Could be old news, but virtually all of the printed pieces from the Simpson Kwik-E-Market are available! Too bad I'm not a Simpsons collector, though

[MAB]

I was happy that I finally found the code for the black cat from the CMF Witch (it's 22378), until I realized it's out of stock! Many pieces are out of stock, in fact. I have the impression the service seldom restocks. It feels bad that I found out about this service so late.

I don't believe it has ever been in stock. Most CMF parts never make it, unless they are generic ones that make it into regular sets.

[Actor Builder]

So my order is $60 from normal Shop, and $15.75 from BaP. It says I've qualified for Mr. Freeze, but it doesn't show a picture of it in my cart...I don't know if it's there or not. I know this was addressed earlier with the Robin's Fortrex promotion, but my situation is a tad bit different, methinks, what with it saying it's there but not being there. Anybody know what's up?

I'm just bad at technology.

Amendment - It's shown in the basket now. Ignore me.

Amendment II - Actually, that was because I accidentally had two of the normal thing in my basket. My question still stands. Please don't ignore me. That was a mistake.

Amendment III - I decided to buy some Pick a Brick to reach the $75 mark. Better safe than sorry. Ignore me.

Edited April 29, 2016 by Actor Builder

[Forresto]

That's a real stinker, man. I just got my B&P order with all parts there and accounted for. The kicker? All licensed parts. I mean, if you specifically paid for that part, and you've already been charged, then you should get it.

Does this phenomenon apply to if you own the set and enter the code?

[TheOneVeyronian]

Then there are all the bits that appeared in sets four months ago, yet still aren't even listed.

Has anybody tried contacting Customer Service to find out why almost all the 2016 parts are completely missing? My OCD is going absolutely bonkers that I can't even easily find out about new parts via Brickset or Rebrickable, and my recent MOC's that use 100% existing PCC's are considered by Rebrickable to use non-existent PCC's (and sometimes parts that are considered to not exist (but they do)! Like the 3M axle with stop) - because TLG has failed to update their parts database. Yeah there's Bricklink but even that isn't completely up to date either. I wouldn't even mind if everything was marked OOS like the parts from last June were, at least they'd be there for reference... that's all I want at the moment

It's not like they don't have them either, I had to request some missing 2016 parts that don't show up on their database back in February and TLG sent them out to me no problem. But I had to email them with element ID's and everything. What if a parent with no prior experience of using BnP has the same problem?

And I know it's not just me who's unimpressed with the incomplete inventories either.

[anothergol]

Yeah there's Bricklink but even that isn't completely up to date either.

I find BL's inventory very good. Not only they list pretty much every single part, they also list every single printed part, and even stickered ones (which is a crazy waste of time IMHO)!

To me the only, bug very big problem with BL, is that there is no giant shop that has everything, & thus that means shipping from many shops.

[x105Black]

I find BL's inventory very good. Not only they list pretty much every single part, they also list every single printed part, and even stickered ones (which is a crazy waste of time IMHO)!

To me the only, bug very big problem with BL, is that there is no giant shop that has everything, & thus that means shipping from many shops.

It can also take a while to update all of the parts when new sets are released. I was looking for specific minifigure parts from Nexo Knights, and it took around a month or so before all of the minifigures had updated inventories.

As far as Bricks & Pieces goes, it's a similar complaint. It takes a while for things to become available. I've been waiting for certain parts from Nexo Knights to become available, and have not seen them yet (specifically shield tiles and pyramid bricks). There's also the complete lack of certain minifigure parts (like Jestro, the Ash Attacker torso & legs, or Lance's Visor).

It's not worth buying the whole set for the few good pieces contained within, and it takes a while for both BrickLink and Bricks & Pieces to get up to date. Also, I'd rather buy directly from LEGO when possible.

[anothergol]

It can also take a while to update all of the parts when new sets are released. I was looking for specific minifigure parts from Nexo Knights, and it took around a month or so before all of the minifigures had updated inventories.

I'm pretty sure they were already available, only as the full minifigures. Less sellers split minifigures into parts.

I'm still waiting for the blue shoulders from the little robots in Nexo Knights, but they are already available on BL, only you have to buy the full minifigure.

Also, I'd rather buy directly from LEGO when possible.

Why?

If I compare both:

-they both make mistakes in orders. It's even the norm, for both, equally.

-BL has a better service. Like, BL wouldn't charge money behind your back, you pay exactly what was billed.

-BL works very well whereas Bricks&Pieces is terribroken (like you keep losing your order) & you can't even browse parts

-most BL sellers actually pack better, many of them pack parts individually (less sorting), and most do protect transparent parts. Lego will put a windshield in the same bag and there are chances that it will get scratched.

-Lego generally has a better shipping rate

-Lego is generally more expensive for common parts, & can be less expensive for rare parts - but for a reason.. they're the ones producing the parts

So if Lego was a BL shop, it wouldn't be badly rated but I don't think it would be at the top.

Edited April 30, 2016 by anothergol

[x105Black]

I'm pretty sure they were already available, only as the full minifigures. Less sellers split minifigures into parts.

I'm still waiting for the blue shoulders from the little robots in Nexo Knights, but they are already available on BL, only you have to buy the full minifigure.

Why?

If I compare both:

-they both make mistakes in orders. It's even the norm, for both, equally.

-BL has a better service. Like, BL wouldn't charge money behind your back, you pay exactly what was billed.

-BL works very well whereas Bricks&Pieces is terribroken (like you keep losing your order) & you can't even browse parts

-most BL sellers actually pack better, many of them pack parts individually (less sorting), and most do protect transparent parts. Lego will put a windshield in the same bag and there are chances that it will get scratched.

-Lego generally has a better shipping rate

-Lego is generally more expensive for common parts, & can be less expensive for rare parts - but for a reason.. they're the ones producing the parts

So if Lego was a BL shop, it wouldn't be badly rated but I don't think it would be at the top.

I wasn't talking about availability, I was talking about the actual product listing. There was no product listing on BrickLink for Lance's visor (now listed as 22401) for quite some time after the Nexo Knights sets were released. Sure, I could have bought the whole minifigure, but I wanted to see the piece. Also, the fact that sellers don't often part out minifigures is a negative for me. As much as there are many minifigures I want complete, there are also several that I want only a part or 2 from, and the excess parts are waste. Lance, for example, or the Nexo Knights Ash Attacker. I ended up buying 4 Ash Attackers at one point, but now I have heads, helmets, horns, and shoulder armor that I will likely never use. To me, that's a waste of money.

As for buying from LEGO, I've had more issues and mistakes with BrickLink. For example, people who list the wrong item, people who list used parts with a new condition, or fail to mention significant damage issues, people who are not accurate, don't send all of the lots, or send the wrong number of pieces, or send the wrong pieces, and people who fail to respond to issues. Also, once I got an order that was not as described (very used parts described as new). The seller apologized and asked that I send them back for a refund. Then they never responded to several questions about sending a return shipping label. In the end, I got my money back through a claim on PayPal, but had to pay to ship it back to the seller. Money spent for nothing but a headache.

These issues are certainly the exceptional cases, and are not normal. I have had much more success than failure, and most sellers fix any issues very quickly (and sometimes give a discount or bonus for the trouble). But I trust the quality and accuracy of LEGO as a company more than the unknown random BrickLink seller, despite the issues with Bricks & Pieces. I have had very few issues buying directly from LEGO, and any issues are solved quickly (and never at my expense). That said, there are so many items that LEGO doesn't sell. Old pieces, old colors, old minifigures, none of these can be found from an official source, and for that I love BrickLink. And for many parts, simple bricks for example, the prices on BrickLink can't be beat by LEGO. But there's a trade-off, as you mention above. Less common parts can often be very expensive on BrickLink compared to Bricks & Pieces (if they're even available on B&P).

In the end, there are good points and bad for each, but I trust the company as an official source of the product who will be consistently professional in dealing with customers. So, I would rather buy from LEGO whenever possible.

[Robianco]

I'm not even sure why there's a conversation about comparing BL and Lego.

BL is a marketplace for people reselling new and used Lego parts and or sets. Lego is the manufacturer who also sell parts and sets.

BL sellers acquire figures, parts, sets and split them accordingly... whether they split them quick enough for a buyer or at all is entirely up to the BL seller. BL sellers don't have to offer anybody anything.

If a seller doesn't split a figure into separate parts it's because they can make more from selling the figure as a whole... at least at first or until the individual parts may become more widely available and thus cheaper. That's also the reason Lego use figures to help sell particular sets.

Buy from people who sell things at the quality you want and the price you want.

[x105Black]

The reason it came up was people saying they preferred BrickLink. I was merely comparing the two and stating why I prefer Bricks & Pieces whenever possible. I'm not trying to come down on individual sellers for the way they part out their sets, to each his own. I'm just stating that I have preferences and that B&P more frequently caters to them.

Also, the fact that it took so long to even have a listing for an item on BrickLink (even if none were for sale) was something I was discussing.