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meliander

Are Lego Classic sets worth buying for parts?

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I'm looking at 11005 and 11004 from 2019 as a potential source of getting parts for cheap. However, they seem to have too much variety/colors, while the quantity of each colored part is really low - like 2 or 4 max. I know they could be good for kids who start to get into Lego... But what do you guys think? Are you buying these for parts?

11005-1.jpg?201901050928

11004-1.jpg?201905140825

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Long and short answer: Unless you get the biggest of those boxes it's usually not worth it. I wrote some thoughts on this in a review last year:

https://myleniumsbrickcorner.wordpress.com/2018/08/05/bricks-by-the-thousand-10717-extra-large-brick-box/

The only reason to get the smaller variants would be if a) you have ogled a set of specific parts that you need for a project and would be difficult to procure otherwise and b) it's dirt cheap so you can buy them in bulk if need be. Oddly enough these boxes sometimes include parts in colors that aren't used in the more expensive other sets, or in reverse, only exist in super-costly sets that you wouldn't buy just to scalp them for parts, meaning they would be expensive to source from Bricklink either way due to being relatively rare. Still, it very much depends on what you have in mind and whether you can live with the fact of also getting tons of "useless" bricks that you may never even remotely use. Occasionally I tend to pick them up during sales just for the fun of it, though, but only if it's more than a 40% discount or so. Then the math adds up for me.

Mylenium

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I think a lot depends on what you build, how you build and how much of a discount you're getting.  By design, these bins give you a variety of parts in a variety of colors, which is great for a kid first trying to build up a collection, but not enough of any one color to build something big and (mostly) monochrome and in their efforts to include something for everyone, invariably there will a cache of parts or colors that just don't work for _you_.  If you're really into building WWII tank MOC's, for example, you're first thought is probably not "I need more pink and lavender in my collection..."  If you're into submarines, chances are a set loaded with screen doors and wheels holds little appeal.

That said, sometimes there are "Don't Care" situations where you just need some bulk brick for internal structure and the color doesn't matter because it will never bee seen.  I built a 1.5 meter MOC of Barad Dur from the Lord of the Rings - the outside was all skinned with black and grays but the inside was just an explosion of color.  Bulk brick in any color was just what I needed in that case, I even used door frames and windows  simply as structural elements because without the internal structure it would have collapsed under its own weight.

Of course, even with these sorts of builds a typical Classic set will include at least one generous handful of parts that simply aren't useful _to you_ for _your current project_,  in my case this is often printed "eye" tiles, wheels window sashes, brightly colored roof slopes, etc. its not that these aren't useful part or that I _never_ use them, but if start buying these sorts of kits in bulk, I start amassing a certain class of parts far faster than I employ them (not unlike my extensive collection of orange brick separators - might be useful to have 2, I stopped counting at 300).

My usual rule of thumb is to look at the set inventory, deduct from the total part count pieces that I simply can't envision myself ever needing (even considering internal structural fodder) then calculate an adjusted pennies per (useful) piece ratio.  If, after adjusting for "no value added" parts, I'm still paying less that 4-5 cents a part, I find picking up the Classic set is worth it.  While I agree with Mylenium that the bigger sets tend to be the better/more worthwhile buy, I still rely on my PPP rule more than absolute size (especially if a plastic tub is involved, usually a big cardboard box is adds less overhead to the asking price than a bin).

 

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Thank you both very much for the thorough answers. I'm going to look into the big sets of they are on sale. @ShaydDeGrai I like you strategy! Too advanced to me yet. I'm just starting my parts collection seriously with a plan of building a small city. We are getting close to sale period, Walmart is doing the 900 piece set for $20...

@Mylenium Thanks, I will read your review!

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9 hours ago, meliander said:

I'm just starting my parts collection seriously with a plan of building a small city. We are getting close to sale period, Walmart is doing the 900 piece set for $20...

Like what already is said, it's depending on what you want to do with the parts. Further I don't know much about it. My self, I'm building a truck and I need a lot of 'weird' parts for it (most are 'new' and never exist in my time so ...) so I ordered a lot on Bricklink. And also I've bought some backs with white parts. Also with pieces I don't need, and some pieces I don't need but looks cool so I'll find a place for it.

In your case, you have to see what's in those bags and if you can use them for your city. I don't know if it's priceworthy but for a city, I think it's a bit too many colors / too less parts of it.

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Also if you are just starting off, sometimes it is worth forgetting about colour and just learn how to use the basic pieces. You are unlikely to want to keep any MOCs at this stage anyway, so use these to learn about form rather than building a finished display piece.

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