egadzook

Another "me too!" for the Ikea Expedit series; I've got my sets atop two 4x2 units. I only have room for one more modular, so once full, I'll probably make due by retiring older modulars to the cubbies down below.

Here's what I did: - Used the Brickstore program to get the parts list. Eliminated extra/alternate pieces, as well as what I had in my inventory. - Updated parts with current bricklink average prices - In Brickstore, exported wanted xml list. Saved to notepad as .xml. Then imported to excel using developer tab. All this was so I didn't have to manually type average BL prices for each part. - Fill in rest of parts info into excel - Update with PAB prices and BnP prices. Compare to BL prices to determine where pieces should be bought. I used conditional formatting to make it apparent at a glance, then sorted by colour, like so: - To minimize BL shipping, I also ordered some parts that were cheaper on BL from PAB and BnP, as long as the price difference wasn't too bad. Number of parts to order from BL is now significantly smaller. - Put remaining parts in new Brickstore file and export to wanted list on Bricklink. - To avoid placing lots of small orders for the rarer parts, I used the BrickWizard program for the more expensive parts. Compare prices to estimated cost to make sure shipping savings are worth it. - While buying rarer parts from the store BrickWizard determined, also buy whatever else is available from your wanted list. - For whatever is left, go to wanted/by shop and purchase from stores with more lots available. **I'd order from PAB and BnP last, in case a few remaining parts aren't worth paying the shipping to order from BL. Doing all this, I was able to piece together Green Grocer with 5 BL orders, 1 PAB order, and 2 BnP orders (could have done with just 1 BnP order with better foresight). Wow, what a novel! Hope it wasn't too tedious to read...

I pieced together Cafe Corner back in March 2012, just four months after I bought my first modular, Fire Brigade. Using bricklink was a new experience, and a little overwhelming. Cafe Corner took 3 BL orders, 1 Lego Bricks & Pieces order, and a couple in-store purchases from the Lego PAB wall. Not too many purchases considering I had zero Lego inventory to pull from. Substituted windows for the wall panels, and used red versions of the doors. Cafe Corner + minifigs: $275 USD, $295 with shipping. Saw this thread and decided to BL Green Grocer in January. Made same substitutions as others for windows, 1x8 sand green bricks, hinges. Additional changes: - Purchased only 48 of the sand green groove bricks, as that's the number visible on the facade. Replaced the other 8 with regular 1x2s. - Replaced white groove 1x2s with regular 1x2s, as groove is barely visible. - Changed curtains from dark red to reddish brown. Also switched the 1x1 round plates to pearl gold so the curtain assembly would match the viking tiles. - Awning in dark green - Replaced pricey 1x6 tan arches with 1x6 raised arches (92950). Looks very similar. For Green Grocer, I was able to pull 570 of the tiny/common pieces from my small inventory ($64 savings based on BL avg prices). Placed 5 BL orders, 2 Lego Bricks & Pieces orders, and 1 online PAB order. I'm glad I was able to snag the sand green groove bricks for $1.64 usd each, since they are even more crazy expensive right now. Green Grocer + minifigs: $350 USD, $410 with shipping/tax. (shipping to Canada is expensive, sigh)

That's how I arrange my books too; hard to find a specific book, but it sure looks pretty, lol. I guess I'll have to put together another frame when the next series comes out, but I'll have to find some more wall space first! Thanks! It looks too full for my liking, I prefer the spacing when it holds only 6 series.

I based my minifig display on one I saw floating around the web that used an Ikea shadow frame. Instead of hot gluing 2x2 bricks to the back like the original, I used white plates as the background so I could easily rearrange the spacing of the minifigs as I got more. I removed the glass front so the accessories could fit, so unfortunately, it's not a dust free solution. Here's my wall display with series 1-7. I've got them arranged by colour for a rainbow-ish effect.

Mine's super simple and a little bit small, but it works for me:

Same thing happened to me, received the roof pieces in a dark brown colour. Contacted them yesterday and received an email today that they've already shipped replacement parts in the correct colour.

For Vancouver and Seattle area folk, I updated Brickbuildr with the PAB wall inventory for the Bellevue store.

Ooh, where from?

Wow, great deal!

Yesterday I did my first ever Lego store visit (yay! but 2.5 hours away not including border wait times, boo) and first PAB purchase. DH and I went to the Bellevue store and here's what I got: Full set on Flickr 150 white brackets 150 white 1x2 bricks 157 trans clear 1x2 bricks 385 trans green 1x1 plates 2 white 6x8 plates 23 white 1x8 tiles 10 decorative misc $15 for 867 pieces worth $72 from Bricklink and $163 from Lego.com.