wooster

Yes, this exactly. I would love something like EN. But it's going to be colorful and bright for the holidays. It will be neither realistic nor scale.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

Regarding the Thanksgiving set...does that window look out into a white brick wall?

Hi! My name is Wooster. I've been a member of many other forums and blogs, and continually see reference to Eurobricks. So I decided to go straight to the seemingly most widely used forum. I'm glad to be here.