PAB Cups: What Did You Get?

[tkatt]

Shame!

What store was this at? Are the pink parts part of the Build-a-Model, or were there still bins with other pieces?

Mall of America, MN. They have a large wall (2x the size of other stores I've been to) and I'd say about a quarter of the bins are devoted to Pick-a-model parts. The pink pieces are not P.A.M. parts.

[brickbuilder711]

Wow, I'm going to be broke! Gonna run over to Sawgrass this weekend to snag up the gray 1x2, 1x1 erling, and 2x2 plate, as well as the white curves.

[Junior Shark]

PAB Denver by Junior Shark, on Flickr

The Denver Lego store has the new PAM parts in stock. This is a big cup & small cup worth of them. The real stars are the 2x2 curved white slope, the 1x1 snot brick in LBG, and the 2x2 slope brick in trans-clear.

[wooster]

I visited the Lego Store in Beachwood (aka Cleveland) two days after the new PAM elements were put out. The 1x4 dark-blue-gray bricks are almost gone. Of course, they could have more boxes in the back, but the bin was nearly empty (and a lot emptier after I finished loading my cup ).

The PAM program has not received much love from AFOLs. But I eagerly await the posting of the new PAM models in the Lego Calendar, just so I can guess at which new elements might be on the wall. It looks like a lot of people are doing this now, as the really useful elements in the PAM selection are being cleaned out very quickly. I noticed the same thing happened with the last PAM (green jeep) with the 1x2 dark-blue-grey brick with striations being cleaned out very early.

[Jade Aislin]

I need some advice on PAB cups. I've used the LDD program to figure out what parts I would need to create 2 brick high grid that would keep my Lego Dimension toy models secure, but now I need to buy the parts. As I have two boxes that need the grid, it's a lot of bricks. I need a lot of 1x4 bricks (372 bricks for two grids) and 1x4 flat tiles (176 pieces). I also need 1x6 bricks (12 pieces) and 1x2 flat tiles (24 pieces).

If I pack one or two large PAB cup, would I be able to get the amounts I need? Or should I be looking at a different way to get the parts I need?

[Venunder]

^Jade Aislin, from the requirements you mentioned I would say you will need at least 2 large cups.

Needing some White Bricks for my Winter Village I packed two large cups with an average of

58 2x6 bricks,

15 4x2 bricks,

48 2x2 bricks,

in the gaps around the edges I packed in 286 2x1 cheese wedges

and 56 black light sabre rods in each cup.,

The total count was 925 pieces.

[chump]

But I eagerly await the posting of the new PAM models in the Lego Calendar, just so I can guess at which new elements might be on the wall.

Why wait? Just go to the last page in this thread to find out what the new models are.

http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=27795&st=1775#entry2440568

[wooster]

I need some advice on PAB cups. I've used the LDD program to figure out what parts I would need to create 2 brick high grid that would keep my Lego Dimension toy models secure, but now I need to buy the parts. As I have two boxes that need the grid, it's a lot of bricks. I need a lot of 1x4 bricks (372 bricks for two grids) and 1x4 flat tiles (176 pieces). I also need 1x6 bricks (12 pieces) and 1x2 flat tiles (24 pieces).

If I pack one or two large PAB cup, would I be able to get the amounts I need? Or should I be looking at a different way to get the parts I need?

Here is a link to an excellent article on packing PAB cups, comparing methods for packing small and large cups. Following this method for packing, I was able to get 331 1x4 bricks into a large cup. So assuming this method gives you near the maximum amount of bricks in a cup (I can't imagine any method doing too much better), you will need at least 2 cups. But with 2 large cups, you will easily fill your entire wish list.

LEGO® Pick-a-Brick Cost Comparison Analysis

Why wait? Just go to the last page in this thread to find out what the new models are.

http://www.eurobrick...75#entry2440568

Yes, you are correct, but I was speaking in general terms. I am now 'eagerly awaiting' what the PAM selection will be in April 2016. Sometime around the early part of March, the April calendar will be posted and we will get our first look at the new PAM models. Then you can try to deduce which parts will be included with that model. And I will start planning how I can maximize the number of desirable parts in my PAB cups.

[Jade Aislin]

^Jade Aislin, from the requirements you mentioned I would say you will need at least 2 large cups.

Thanks for the information. Using the average totals you gave, I now believe that I will be able to get all the bricks I need with two large cups, which is acceptable to me.

Here is a link to an excellent article on packing PAB cups, comparing methods for packing small and large cups. Following this method for packing, I was able to get 331 1x4 bricks into a large cup. So assuming this method gives you near the maximum amount of bricks in a cup (I can't imagine any method doing too much better), you will need at least 2 cups. But with 2 large cups, you will easily fill your entire wish list.

LEGO® Pick-a-Brick Cost Comparison Analysis

Thanks for the link. I'll be sure to read up on how best to pack the cups. So as a birthday gift to myself, I'll head down to my lego store next week.

[BrickAddict90]

Here is a link to an excellent article on packing PAB cups, comparing methods for packing small and large cups. Following this method for packing, I was able to get 331 1x4 bricks into a large cup. So assuming this method gives you near the maximum amount of bricks in a cup (I can't imagine any method doing too much better), you will need at least 2 cups. But with 2 large cups, you will easily fill your entire wish list.

LEGO® Pick-a-Brick Cost Comparison Analysis

Since that article was written some years ago and the prices on the cups have increased since then, is the small cup still actually a better value? Does anyone know if the actual size of the cups have changed?

[wooster]

Since that article was written some years ago and the prices on the cups have increased since then, is the small cup still actually a better value? Does anyone know if the actual size of the cups have changed?

Good point, the costs of the cups have changed, and thus the price per piece may be slightly different compared to that article.

However, the volume of the cups have not changed. I just measured them. The large cup is still 32 oz. (or 946 mL for our European colleagues), and the small cup is exactly half of that.

[kibosh]

If I remember correctly, they raised the price on each cup an even $1. This would result in a higher percentage increase on the smaller cup, which would make the price per piece higher as well. Not sure if this increase is enough to make it more expensive than the large cup or not.

[rodiziorobs]

Remember, though, that if you take your old cups in and reuse them then you get a discount. It's only like 50 cents/cup, but if you are really trying to maximize your piece for price ratio...

Edited January 21, 2016 by rodiziorobs

[Sid Sidious]

Since that article was written some years ago and the prices on the cups have increased since then, is the small cup still actually a better value? Does anyone know if the actual size of the cups have changed?

They changed? What are the prices now?

[BrickAddict90]

They changed? What are the prices now?

$8.99 and $15.99 respectively.

[Pimbo]

Anyone know the European prices? I find it somewhat weird Lego doesn't mention the cup prices anywhere...

[Lankygit]

Just got back from the store in Watford, UK. Really pleased with the selection. Especially the 1x3 light blue grey bricks, grabbed 2 cups of just those alone.

[antp]

Anyone know the European prices? I find it somewhat weird Lego doesn't mention the cup prices anywhere...

In Germany it is 9.99 € for the small and 17.99 € for the large (I think the prices were the same in France & Belgium).

If you re-use a cup you get a discount of 0.50 € and 0.75 € respectively.

[Speedboat]

In Germany it is 9.99 € for the small and 17.99 € for the large (I think the prices were the same in France & Belgium).

If you re-use a cup you get a discount of 0.50 € and 0.75 € respectively.

The last two times I filled a big cup, the people at the register just let me put the bricks into a plastic bag and refunded me 0.75€ because I forgot to bring an old cup. :) So you don't actually have to bring a cup to get the cheaper price if you explain the situation to the employees. :)

[ProducePrincess]

Calgary Lego store has the new selection in stock. Picked up a cup packed with 1x2 light grey. Probably going to pick up a few more. Everything on the wall is actually useful for once.

[KringlesBricks]

Just went to my local Lego store this morning...and they currently only have the blue plane out for the model. They have to wait for the plane to sell out first...then they can put out the elephant pieces :sad: I was really wanting to grab a bunch of those stud on the side brick. I did get a bunch of the 2x2 white slope piece.

[Iria]

Here's my haul from yesterday's LEGO store visit. I filled up 1 small bucket:

Overall I found the wall selection to be a bit disappointing, with a lot of basic bricks. There was, however one slot that had a bunch of random elements, including all the studs, trans red bricks, rods, and that single azure flat plate. The round flat tiles at the bottom left are silver. Took me a while to get that many from the mixed bin.

Edited January 27, 2016 by Iria

[Speedboat]

I visited the store in Cologne yesterday. Unfortunately, they didn't have the parts on the wall anymore that I was looking forward to the most, but one of the shop assistants brought out a bin of mixed parts from the back which had lots of interesting stuff in low quantities. I filled a small cup with all of this:

Edited January 29, 2016 by Speedboat

[antp]

but one of the shop assistants brought out a bin of mixed parts from the back which had lots of interesting stuff in low quantities.

I should have asked then, if that bin is still available there. I remember that when I went to Cologne long time ago that mixed parts bin was directly in the PaB wall.

[wooster]

I should have asked then, if that bin is still available there. I remember that when I went to Cologne long time ago that mixed parts bin was directly in the PaB wall.

They also had a mixed bin at the Vienna store. It was great. It looked as though the store took several sets, perhaps that were on display, and broke them apart and put the pieces in this bin. There were some very unique and interesting pieces that you would never find on the brick wall.

Anyhow, I have never seen this done in any of the US stores. I wish they would.