Special Pieces - Your Opinion

[legostarwars1425]

Ok if you look up "Custom LEGO pieces" you come to find a couple of things. Do any of you out there use the pieces in MOCS? Have you ever tried making your own? I have used them, like Brickarms, Brickforge, and Brickmania for my war models. What do you think about these or any other type?

[Aanchir]

I've bought a few custom parts out of curiosity (like the BrickForge centaur legs, or the Crazy Bricks Crazy Arms), but I rarely end up using them. A lot of LEGO parts tend to be geared towards genres of building I don't do a lot of, like military, trains, castle, or post-apoc. I don't even do a whole lot of minifig customization except making sigfigs for myself, friends, and family, or making goofy mashups of figs I already have on hand.

Edited March 27, 2017 by Aanchir

[Vindicare]

I'm a purist, so I pretty much don't pay them much mind. They are cool though, like the centaur legs mentioned above. I've taken a look at BrickArms before, years ago. Almost bought a few things, but ended up not doing so. Seeing them in a buddy's store earlier in the month has me rethinking that purchase though. They definketky are nice to have available. 

[Sven F]

Nope.  While I can appreciate the design and idea that went into it, there is one problem.  It's not made by The LEGO company. 

I hate the word "purist"  it makes me sound like some kind of incestuous royal snob. It's not about brand loyalty, I see LEGO as a system, just like I see chess as a system. Using alternative parts, glue or methods outside the system defeats the purpose of the game. The challenge is to build within the system. The limited elements and colors is what makes it challenging. Otherwise you can just do arts & crafts which is a different set of skills.  MOCing is a puzzle game for me. 

Well that and I don't care for military stuff.

[Peppermint_M]

I love swords and I love minifigure accessories. So I have somewhat curated a collection of "custom" swords for my minifigures to go with the official LEGO swords. 

[BubbaFit45531]

I prefer not to cross contaminate non-Lego parts with official Lego parts. I read cheaper PVC parts can leech bad stuff that ABS doesn't.

[Space Police XVIII]

I used to be a purist, then I got better.

There're some useful pieces out there.  Brickforge makes a 1x1 round tile with clip, and a 'nightstick' piece that's a t-shaped bar...thing longer than the Lego equivalents.  I've got a few 1x2 and 2x2 plates with studs on both sides, 2x2s with anti-studs, bar/antennae pieces longer than any Lego's made, other things.  And of course third party weapons, armor, wings and stuff are nice for variety.

[LAKAbricks]

Though I do not consider myself a purist per se, I do only buy and use LEGO. It is what I grew up with and love(d) as a toy. Not other brands or copies. I do not think it was even available 30+ years ago. So I stick with with the brick from Billund.

That being said, I am crazy about the scooter from Brickforge which I think is better made than the one from LEGO. But LEGO is LEGO 

[ReplicaOfLife]

Not made by Lego = not worth my time.

Seriously, I like what others do with custom train stuff (e.g. large driving wheels for steam locomotives, driving rods etc.). If I ever got into Lego trains, I'd very likely get some of those.

Pretty much everything else I've seen so far seems rather unnecessary to me - especially stuff like contemporary firearms and minifig accessories for contemporary soldiers/armies. I'm very happy about Lego's stance on these matters and hope they continue to leave that niche to their lesser competitors.

[legostarwars1425]

On ‎4‎/‎5‎/‎2017 at 4:36 AM, BubbaFit45531 said:

I prefer not to cross contaminate non-Lego parts with official Lego parts. I read cheaper PVC parts can leech bad stuff that ABS doesn't.

I can see why you say that... I personally would buy ABS pieces or a type that would not leech chemicals. That is a good thing to consider when purchasing.

[Orange Leader]

Only minifigs and lightning!

Maybe windscreens, but I don't have any from a non-LEGO brand.

[LEGOshibainu]

Personally the only non-Lego supplements I would consider are 3D printed Bionicle masks and some the cool stuff on Kickstarter nowadays, when I watch a stop-motion using brickarms pieces I just find it irritating, of course that is just a silly personal thing, not a real problem with the film.

[rodiziorobs]

I agree with @Sven F that part of the fun of Lego for me is making things work within the system. That being said, I don't mind when others use custom parts: to each his own.

I do occasionally use some Tyco parts from the 80's/early 90's that are literally the same quality as Lego. Those are mostly 2x4s or 2x2s that go in as filler, although they also have 1/2 size bricks (1 1/2 height of a plate) that come in useful with SNOT, but since my collection has grown I have mostly quit using them. It makes it easier to build for competitions when I don't have to rely on using them.

[Space Police XVIII]

9 minutes ago, rodiziorobs said:

1 1/2 height of a plate

One Tyco plate is equal in height to a Lego plate plus baseplate, which can be pretty useful.

[jonwil]

I use BrickArms and BrickForge in MOCs as well as some of the Citizen Brick printed tiles because those items are intended to complement LEGO products but I refuse to buy or use product from companies that directly compete with LEGO like MegaBlocks or Kreo or whatever. I also very much hate ANY bootleg products (Lepin, LEBQ etc) and would never use or buy them.

 

[Robianco]

For me, minifigures and accessories are different to bricks and building elements when it comes to specialist or custom parts.

I can't see myself looking for third party building elements but when it comes to customising minifigures I'm more than happy to use them. I love my SAS 80s Squad with custom moulded gas masks, tactical vests, grenades and H&K machine guns with pad printed balaclava head. Lego can't give me that but if third party customisers can then I'm more than happy.

I also like that my Han Solo minifigures have accurate DL-44 blasters and my Stormtroopers have accurate E-11s.

[AmperZand]

I've been an AFOL since 1993 but long before that I was a fan of fantasy, mythology, legend, Tolkien and history, and I still am. I see construction toys - and toys in general - as a means of bringing substance to those themes. I mostly use LEGO to do that. But if there is a better way of portraying a character or creature using non-LEGO parts, I'm happy to go non-purist and liberally use pieces by BrickForge, BrickWarriors, BrickArms, BrickFortress, CrazyBricks, SI-DAN, Arealight and Kre-O among others. 

In short, I'm a baaad AFOL!

 

Edited April 14, 2017 by AmperZand