Some questions about LEGO's online Pick a Brick store

[Ferro-Friki]

Hey everyone! I have some questions about Lego’s online pick a brick store.

I’ve been designing MOCs on Stud.io for some time and I’m familiar with Bricklink, so I assumed that the color names they use were pretty much universal for Lego bricks. Until I decided to check out Lego’s own pick a brick store on their website and I found out they used completely different names for colors. Right now, I need a lot of magenta bricks and the Lego store doesn’t recognize that name for any of their colors. The closest match I’ve found is called “Bright Purple” but I have no idea if it’s the same as magenta or maybe a similar color like dark pink. I also need pieces in bright light blue, but I have no idea what Lego calls that color, it may be what they call “Light Royal Blue” but I’m not 100% sure. Does anyone know which Bricklink color names match Lego’s?

Besides, Lego’s pick a brick online store seems to sell bricks that according to Bricklink don’t exist in those colors. Is this true? Maybe I’m just checking the wrong colors since I can’t tell which is which.

Also, from what I’ve seen, Lego’s prices for individual bricks are, mostly, more expensive than the average new Bricklink brick. Is this also true?

I don’t have much experience sourcing bricks for MOCs and I’m trying to be smart and find the best prices, when is buying individual bricks from Lego more economical? Is it once you order enough to get free shipping?

[Ferro-Friki]

Hang on, this should be in General Lego Discussion, right? Sorry! I can't seem to delete this topic or move it somewhere else though :/

[Peppermint_M]

Oh. Sorry to catch this so late! I will move it over.

[MAB]

http://www.peeron.com/inv/colors

[Alexandrina]

So there's several factors when it comes to bricks.

First off, your colours question. MAB's link is good but Peeron doesn't seem to have been updated in about 12 years, so some of the newer colours aren't on that list. This one from Rebrickable looks up-to-date to me; it has the Lego, Bricklink and Ldraw names for every colour. Bright Light Blue is indeed the same as Light Royal Blue, but Bright Purple appears to correlate to Dark Pink. Magenta is what Lego call Bright Reddish Violet.

PAB doesn't normally sell colours which don't exist according to Bricklink, as those colours will often be resold. It does sometimes have colours which don't exist in sets (you can still find price information on Bricklink by selecting the Price Guide tab so long as it's been listed at least once for sale in the last six months, but it won't show up if you click on 'Appears in'). Occasionally new parts might take time to appear on Bricklink, but it's much more common for Bricklink to have parts available in colours that aren't for sale on PAB - since rather than being a curated selection of parts, Bricklink is essentially every part in every colour that's ever been available, supplies willing.

In terms of getting lots of parts, obviously it's good to know exactly what you already have first. If you haven't already, I recommend inventorying your collection so you know what's available to you. I don't know if Bricklink or Lego is particularly cheaper for the same part, but if you want brand new bricks then PAB is a good bet - but yeah, free shipping is a bonus if you want lots of bricks. It's also worth scouting out a Pick a Brick wall if there's a Lego store near you. The selection won't be nearly as wide, but if the store has parts you need for MOCs, that's going to be by far the most economical solution. Depending on the parts you can fit up to around 1000 pieces in a large Pick a Brick cup (maybe more if all you want is studs). Alternatively if you don't want specific bricks but just lots of parts, Facebook and eBay are good sources for large job lots (and even better, you can resell individual parts that you don't need and recoup a chunk of the money you spent!) As you say you're using Stud.io, though, it sounds like you do want specific parts - I recommend seeing what you can find on Lego's PAB, then searching for the rest on Bricklink. Lego might be more expensive per piece, but if you need lots of pieces the chances are slim of finding a single Bricklink seller that has everything you're after, and when you start splitting your purchase across multiple sellers the postage begins to add up.

[Berthil]

If Bricklink (or Stud.io) is used as the part (color) source, use the LEGO SKU (Stock Keeping Unit) code available through 'color images' on Bricklink to search for the part in the LEGO PAB to avoid color confusion. When searching by SKU on Bricklink and PAB they will show the color name for the same part, also with different color names. If the PAB cannot find the SKU it is not for sale on the PAB (and PAB color name does not matter) so other sources must be used to acquire the part, mostly Bricklink.

Example:
1 x 1 Magenta brick code and color name on Bricklink: 6022035
Same brick in the PAB when search on code: color is called Bright Reddish Violet

When buying on the LEGO PAB the new parts are cheaper than Bricklink although available later (or never available when only in sets with IP (like Starwars)). On the LEGO PAB you get free shipping, VIP points and GWP (Gift With Purchase). On Bricklink you get high shipping costs, handling fees, Paypal fees, missing inventory items and seller attitude. Lately I prefer LEGO PAB and just start another project when waiting for parts :)

Edited May 1, 2023 by Berthil
typos

[Ferro-Friki]

Thanks for the tips everyone!

On 4/30/2023 at 11:03 PM, Alexandrina said:

 This one from Rebrickable

That spreadsheet has stuff I didn’t even know I needed! Those RGB numbers will be very useful for making custom decals that match the color of the bricks.

On 4/30/2023 at 11:03 PM, Alexandrina said:

Bright Purple appears to correlate to Dark Pink. Magenta is what Lego call Bright Reddish Violet.

Just as I suspected... The render color on the website is no help either.

My current inventory is made up of scrapped sets, so there is plenty of variety but no quantity. My bricks will only be useful to build the internal unseen structure (rainbow style). Unfortunately, I need very specific bricks in great quantity and rare colors so I’ll have to get most of my pieces from Lego’s PAB and Bricklink.

Those other sources for bricks might be useful in the future, I’ll keep them in mind.