anothergol

Mmmh but what were you placing large orders for so far then? To me, MOCing, especially small or medium-sized models, means having to very frequently place small (<20 bucks) orders. There's always 3 little parts that you need & require 3 orders in 3 different shops, and while you're waiting for them you improve your MOC and already have to place new small orders. (well that's when you do it digitally I guess, otherwise you just "do with what you have") Since covid, Bricklink isn't ideal for small orders anymore, as shipping prices have skyrocketted. Now B&P isn't ideal anymore either (but orders were taking 3 months to arrive anyway). It sucks that the best (& fastest) way today is to get things shipped from 8000km away. Yeah, I get it that it's "much better", but all it means is "it sucks less". It's not good, there's no point in using it, doesn't matter if it sucks a bit less now. When you don't know the ID of the part, if search "half circle tile" in B&P you find nothing related. It appears on page 4. Who reads page 4 on Google? No one. Meanwhile "half circle tile" in Bricklink gives you the part immediately. But generally you do know the ID, when you're a MOCer and you're using the part digitally. Except, as I said, it's most likely be an older ID that won't be found in B&P. I don't see the point of praising the search because it sucks less, it still sucks, and no one even asked for an improvement here. God knows why Lego didn't ditch this thing completely and opened their own official Bricklink store. What was the point of buying Bricklink? [yeah we all know why, they wanted to make sure Bricklink would always be limited to official Lego, which they immediately proved] I'm sure that "multi-element search" is useful to some, personally I'm never gonna use that. But hey, here's an improvement: it seems to bug a lot less. You don't browse for parts in fear of going back in your browser and completely losing your cart anymore. But they had fixed the old P&B anyway, so that's not even "new".

mmh no, you'll get a fee if you fail to buy for 24eur in the very best case. But that's really in the very best case, because most likely you'll have for like 30eur of parts and still a fee because you only ordered 2 "best seller" parts. I used to place an order each month for the new parts, for around 20-30 bucks. Most likely this would now add one (if not two) fee, AND I'll get my order mailed in 2 parts. It's more costly and less green (not even counting the letters they will mail again for the missing parts, because they have no system to postpone unimportant missing parts to future orders), I fail to see what's better here. It's only better for Lego. You still need Bricklink/Brickset or other sources anyway. Please don't pretend you don't. Let's say I need part 24246, that's a pretty common 1x1 "half circle" tile. Searching for that in B&P will display nothing (in the old B&P it would have, but only some colors). Can I search "1x1 tile", or "half circle"? No, B&P won't display anything related. Say that by luck it's its new ID 35399 that I know, I'm still screwed because I need it in trans blue and that's yet another ID. Really, B&P isn't designed to search for parts, and that's fine, because we have better tools for that. oh I do. I already did, for the many recolors that Lego doesn't have. Only since the new B&P debacle I'm now also getting colors that Lego does have, in China. And they're not even cheaper, quite often they're more expensive. But I get what I ask (with mistakes, as much as with Lego, BL or any other source), no stupid fees, and it doesn't take 3 months (how amazing is it that it takes less time to come from China). They also won't change the pricing behind my back, and in the case of missing parts I can still get a refund or the parts sent in my next order. Talking about the half circle tile again, Lego just has produced them in dark bluish grey, in the large castle set. It's safe to say that we won't be able to buy them directly from Lego for the next several months (except some BL sellers apparently found a way to, as they're listing thousands). Well that doesn't matter, I already had them, bought them years ago as "recolors that Lego doesn't have". And now that I need more, if Lego doesn't wanna sell me legit ones, I know where to find ones that will do.

Really? What about the 9 eur handling fees, that are hard to avoid because you can't fully use B&P now, you are forced to use PAB in disguise ("best sellers")? You cannot order all of your parts from one single place anymore, that "best sellers" thing is just stupid. PAB should have merged with B&P, and they did the total opposite of that. They're now more separated than ever, only they're now using the same GUI and Lego pretended they've been merged. As for searching, B&P used to suck, it still does, but it doesn't matter, we've never asked for/expected B&P to be good at that. Bricklink, Brickset, Bricker and New Elementery were and will always be the perfect companions to B&P. B&P is full of unlisted parts & parts only listed under one of the various design IDs. B&P isn't designed to be used alone, that hasn't changed and that has never really been a problem. that's pretty much the only thing that has improved meanwhile when you buy in China, everyone has the same choice

Belgium I now see parts like 6390673, 6387430.. from March

New parts!!! (pretty much the stuff from March [and not even everything]. Nothing above sadly. For me not enough for an order)

Yeah, part count decreasing for Belgium.

Quite a lot is unofficially available in light nougat, if you know where to look. Nearly every (but not all) part in tan can be found in light nougat, to the point that these days it's possible to use light nougat for brickheadz & stuff. Lego will eventually get there, it's a much better skin tone color.

where did they state that? I think that Bricklink would show many sellers with hundreds of this year's new parts, if Lego had made it clear that the newly added parts would disappear for the next 6 months.

Lego surely kept it secret that the new system wouldn't feature any of the parts just released in B&P, making us regret that we didn't place one last order to get them.

I know I haven't waited to get studded friction pins.. in all colors.. (and before Lego introduced them actually, so one could say Lego is the clone here, just like with 1x5 plates) (but still glad Lego did them too, I'm now allowing myself to use them)

But I don't even remember electric parts ever appearing on B&P(?)

"Standard parts might appear faster, special items like functional bricks may take up to year." What's a functional brick? I assumed a "special item" meant the opposite of that. Does this mean that anything but recolors is gonna take a year?

By that time I'll have bought half of what I need on BL and the other half as bootlegs. Good job Lego.

Well, old parts are generally less expensive on BL. Now on BL the problem is that you've got to place lots of orders and shipping becomes a very large part of the price, especially since covid. So B&P used to have an advantage here. But now if you don't reach the minimum, you can end up with 2 large handling fees + the shipping fee, so neither is a good deal nowadays. I have placed a few BL orders since then, but none on B&P, because I don't wanna have to deal with the new system if it's not even for new parts.

I think that's typically a part that is indeed probably already as cheap on BL, and will be much cheaper in the future. For Lego the price is more based on size/complexity and offer, for BL it's based on demand and I would assume that MOCers generally go for the freedom of ball joints instead of ratchets that are more a toy thing (other rotation joints litteraly cost pennies on BL). I know I'll get some as a detail part but I don't think it'll be too popular. So is it allowed to start a new thread about all Lego-compatible parts, and if so, in which section?

A bit sad that it has to be about the brand instead of the parts, though (unless it's a sponsoring problem, then I get it). I mean at the end of the day we're MOCing with what we can find & buy. I totally understand that any recolor that Lego has never released, and obviousy any part that Lego has never offered, "isn't Lego". But here there are recent recolors that Lego doesn't wanna sell to us in quantities, but that are available unbranded. Still Lego in my book, if I can't tell the difference. I used to be a purist but even when I was, it wasn't about the brand for me, but about the limitations, the rule of being limited to whatever Lego has produced, whether it's digitally, using Lego parts or copies if a genuine part happens to cost big bucks on BL because Lego only has produced it for one rare set. I will never pay 10 bucks for one technic half bush in black. Yes that's their average cost used on BL. Yet I will totally allow myself to use those, because Lego has produced them. Clones here totally look like a legit option to me. It's not ripping off Lego as Lego hasn't produced them for ages and has clearly locked the color of half bushes since then. Yes it may be ripping off BL sellers but I don't have much sympathy for someone making absurd profits from rarity (even though I do feel bad for sellers because many parts also have zero demand and are worthless). And today we're in a situation where Lego doesn't wanna sell us new parts either and we can either pay the BL ransom because the parts aren't old enough, or find alternatives. It's not about promoting other brands because those are simply unbranded. Anyway, if this thread has to stay strictly on topic, not much is gonna happen anymore since nothing new has happened on B&P since March.

I use 2x6's in mine and nothing has moved (since the last package that is)

Was just about to report the same. Otherwise, loving all the new parts!

I've myself bought quite some small sets in order to reach the threshold, mostly Brickheadz because I love those (and they're themselves a nice source of small useful parts). But I don't even think in matters anymore with the new shitty system where you have to buy 12 eur more if one of the parts you need happens to be in the other category.

The second page rendered me speechless. (not just because it's crazy that Lego has reached this point, but also that it's not even any relevant to the subject of the questionnaire)

While I've bought sets for the sets themselves and not the parts, I rarely buy sets for parts anymore, because I quickly learnt that even at half price, I would still only use so little of a set's parts that it was never worth it for me. But I've also never bought a set for a few specific parts because I more than often need way more than what's in a set. That doesn't mean it's not gonna generate new sales because I'll be buying those parts from somewhere else, and when it's Bricklink it means someone has bought the sets. However it's not Bricklink anymore for me, I buy more & more on Ali, especially new recolors that Lego just doesn't wanna sell separately. And they're not even cheaper - I've bought Gobricks parts for more than what genuine parts run for on B&P. And while I'm there to buy parts that Lego doesn't wanna sell me, I buy stuff that Lego does sell while I'm at it. So Lego, take my money, if you don't then someone else is gonna.

There's a magic wand (printed bar 3L) but it's sadly the opposite: black with white tips

Come on, B&P is a competitor to BL sellers, the advantage of BL is that not everyone has heard of B&P, other than that, when you need parts for a MOC, you'll generally buy from both, generally one B&P order for the most you can get, and then several BL ones with expensive shipping, for 1 or 2 rare parts that only those sellers have. And I also really hope that new parts not being listed on B&P anymore, has nothing to do with possible competition with BL. Anyway, these last few months none of them got my money, Ali sellers did, they sold me recent recolors that Lego doesn't want to, and that are still way too rare on BL.

PAB was pointless anyway, there was no part that was exclusive to it, and most (if not all) were more expensive there. It was only for those who didn't know about B&P, or wanted to wait less. The new system is technically ok, but I would have preferred a proper Bricklink shop. Nothing can beat BL as for features & efficiency.

And for once I was optimistic when they announced they were merging those 2 services that made no sense to be separated. I was sure they'd screw it up - like everything new online in the past - but I thought they would at least truly merge those services, not keep both behind the scene and render the best one useless. If at least they had anounced their crap plan back then in February, I would have placed orders when the March parts were still showing up in the old system. But no, I was stupid enough to have faith in Lego & wait for the launch.