Sets better destined as 'Spare Parts'

[JM1971]

Rock Crawler 9398 is handy for PF and general parts, wheels not used in many mocs though.

F1 42000, good wheels and general parts in colours used on many mocs.

[zux]

9398, 8070, 9394, 42000, 42006

[D3K]

42009 will give you a heap of gears, some LAs, nicely sized wheels and a lot of versatile parts. If I were to buy just one set to make MOCs from, I think it would be that one

[DrJB]

I started a similar thread few months back. Check it out

http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=87935

[dougstar]

hello DrJB

what i wanted to find out is what the common denominator was. i understand that over the years there have been the good the bad and the ugly as far as set are concerned. to buy some of the older sets 8880 8466 8258 just to mention a few are a little over priced on my side of the planet. its better to buy some good set strip them and build as many others from the parts as i can. also some newer parts have been designed or redesigned and work better. nice to know i guess. your topic is great thanx ill go over it from end to end.

http://www.eurobrick...showtopic=87935

cheers doug

[PhyBuilder]

Examples:

9394 - many, many red panels (except for the straigt ones)

42006 - bought two of them. Why? Together they make for most of the parts of an 8043, because of the caterpillars, 4 long LA's in total (and 2 small ones), etc.

As for the red panels: wait for the new red pickup truck and buy a Bionicle T9 (8943) for little money like I did. Why? You get no less than 12 red curved 2x3x11 panels: link to Brickset. I bought one for € 6,- for a few days in EBay...

[gerger]

It depends on the parts I own and the parts I want... In most cases, go for the flagship every half year , eg 9398, 42000, 42009, 42025, 42030 etc will give me the best shot for quantitative values; but once I have built up my part library up to 8-10set or 10,000 parts, things get repeated and I would rather start looking for more specific, rare or new parts even it's from smaller set, eg 42021.

Some rule of thumb I will keep in mind when adding new sets for parts:

- I use software (brickutils, rebrickable, brickset) to record my set/part inventory, and found that I can always build 75-80% those set that I don't have. in other words, I will go for a set if I can only build less than that. (ie more parts I don't have)

- space is limited. do not repeat a set as it doesn't help expanding my library in a healthy way (unless I am opening a brick shop..)

- at least deduce the number of 2L and 3L pins from the total number of piece as they are everywhere, too many of them! (eg. there are 700 pins out of 2600 pieces in #42009, so I roughly know I can have 1900 OK pieces only..)

- no rush, it's always cheaper in the 2nd or 3rd batch of stock for new items. (but don't wait for the last minute when set usually phase out in 2.5-3yrs)

Edited April 8, 2014 by gerger

[Chas]

My son gets the sets ( easier to justify to the wife :-) ) and dad "borrows" the parts! Everything I build gets disassembled and re stored. My son plays with his builds and they eventually get "destroyed" by some invading alien " read bionicle"! Then I have more parts to borrow!!!!

[dougstar]

My son gets the sets ( easier to justify to the wife :-) )

hahah dose`nt wash in my house my sons only 5

[PhyBuilder]

"But Darling, you shouldn't underestimate the capabilities of our 5 year old boy! In fact, that 31313 Mindstorms Set will be just perfect for him! Really!"

.....

[Anathaema]

All of my sets are in trays and bins as spare parts xD

I build the nicer model of the set and then off to the "brainstorming tray" with it !

[Moz]

Everything goes into "spare" parts eventually. A while ago I bought multiple copies of 8043 and 8258 purely for parts. At the time I could get 8043 cheaper than the PF and LA parts I wanted out of it, so it was "profitable" to buy them just for those. The MOC I wanted them for was red, so I had a lot of spare yellow liftarms. The 8258's I bought for the wheels and red liftarms. What made it work was at the time the $AUS was up against the euro, Tomte had those two sets on special, and he offers the German post "30kg for 50 euro to anywhere in the world" deal. I think I got three orders from him like that, plus one with 4x9398 when that came out, but that was a group buy so it doesn't really count. The others were literally straight out of the box and into the parts bins and then onto the model.

Right now I have the container lifter from the 42009 B model assembled (and mostly motorised), plus a few City sets, and that is all. The rest is "spare parts".

[Chas]

[

"But Darling, you shouldn't underestimate the capabilities of our 5 year old boy! In fact, that 31313 Mindstorms Set will be just perfect for him!"

This has me rolling!! Actually, my son got the first mindstorms set on a visit to lego land @ 7. I have been building his sets since he was about 4. He's 11 now and building his own. He does his own MOCs too! Oh and I now posses the mindstorms!!!

[PhyBuilder]

Haha cool, he's gonna be like you and/or the average forumvisitor. Probably coming into his dark ages within 5 years, and after a decade and a half, buying his first Lego For Men set. Hehe.

[DrJB]

hello DrJB

what i wanted to find out is what the common denominator was. i understand that over the years there have been the good the bad and the ugly as far as set are concerned. to buy some of the older sets 8880 8466 8258 just to mention a few are a little over priced on my side of the planet. its better to buy some good set strip them and build as many others from the parts as i can. also some newer parts have been designed or redesigned and work better. nice to know i guess. your topic is great thanx ill go over it from end to end.

http://www.eurobrick...showtopic=87935

cheers doug

I agree that some of those sets are no longer available at decent price. But, nonetheless, I thought I'd point you to some information which 'might' be useful.

Would be worthwhile to define a bit better what kind of MOCs you're into. If, for example, you're into cars, then the 42000 is a must as it has unique tire/spindle parts. If you're after PF parts, then the rock crawler (still available) is your best bet ... if you want MANY yellow panels and plenty of gears, then the 42009 will do the trick.

[dougstar]

thanx once again for that useful tips. i have a copy of 42000 hmmm nice tires! i have a copy of the 8146 muscle car which has a pair of the same treds. just wanted to ask which set where more common pre 2010 or post 2010

[DrJB]

I guess there is no right or wrong about this hobby ... When I came back from my dark ages, lego started introducing more and more stud-less sets. At first, I thought the parts were totally useless, but then we started seeing commendable/respectable mocs and I got to appreciate the stud-less parts even more. It's liek anything else, once you learn how to use the new parts, no need to go back to the old way of doing things (unless nostalgia is involved). Some will tell you (I'm one of them) that some sets are 'classic' and if you have the funds, go and get them. However, such classic sets (e.g 8880/8448/8480) at once commended very high prices (over $300 second hand, few years ago). Now, if you follow eBay, you can get each for sometimes less then $150. The 8421 was a must-have set last year, with the 42009, I'm guessing the demand would drop, unless of course the special pneumatic brackets keep it up there.

Of the old sets I consider must-have: Monorail 6991, and my personal Technic favorites: 8880/8448/8480/8275/8258/8455.

Edited May 7, 2014 by DrJB

[Paul B Technic]

The only set I have built is 8110, everything else is being used as parts for MOC'ing.

[dirty bob 456]

I dissembled my 42021 after 1h of playtime, just for new parts.