How to...

When I started with Lego® again after a long break, I had a LOT of questions… In this section of my website I will try to gather the answers I found out for myself. Please note: these are the answers that worked for me.

BUYING LEGO®

1. How do I know which Lego® is sold where at what price?

 You can always visit your local toystore! But in this age of internet, you can almost buy anywhere online. How do I make the best choice in all these webstores? I use the website brickwatch.net for that. You can search for a set and find the set-price development for a number of European countries, the lowest price ever and the current lowest price. You can also make a wishlist where you get notifications when an item on your wishlist has a price drop. And no worries… the official Lego® store is there too.

2. Where can I buy loose bricks?

The first and best answer is: the Lego® online “Pick a brick” store. Choose your brick and your color and buy them in new condition at the source!

But sometimes you need a brick that is no longer or temporarily not available at the Lego® store. Or you are looking for (cheaper) second hand bricks. Then you may want to look at BrickLink or BrickOwl. A lot of lego-stores all over the world are connected to these websites.

3. What do I do when I see an offer that sounds to good to be true?

When it sounds to good to be true, it usually is! Unfortunately there are a LOT of scammers out there, that let you believe that you are buying Lego® when in fact you will receive a bad chinese copy, or worse… you get nothing at all. My advise: look up the cheapest price on Brickwatch. When the offer you found is way cheaper, than it probably is a scam!

NON-LEGO® FAN MADE MODELS

4. Where can I find instructions of Lego® models that are fan-made?
You can find pictures of fan made models on a lot of face-book groups, instagram and what not. But if you want to get instructions of fan-made models, my favourite website is Rebrickable. You can find instructions of MOC’s and a lot of C-models/alternates!

MODIFYING YOUR SETS

5. For some of the fan-made designs you may need a brick or a sticker that is a bit different than what Lego® has made. How can I modify a brick?

 Look at the BrickMODs-page for the answers.

 6. And how can I light up my Lego® models?

You can use the lights that Lego® made, but that’s usually not what you see on Facebook. Maybe take a look at these websites:

BUILDING DIGITALLY

7. I want to build a digital model. Which programs are available for that?

There a lot of programs out there. You can divide them into four different categories:

A.LDDLego Digital DesignerA program by Lego that is no longer updated. Very easy to use though.Beginners
B.Stud.ioStud.io 2.0A free program by BrickLink (which is now owned by Lego); it’s an all-in-one program to build digitally and to make instructions with.Competent
C.OnlineMecaBricksAn online lego modeling tool.Competent
D.LdrawBlockCad
LDCad
LeoCAD
MLCad		Ldraw-based programs are all freeware and use the community-made LDraw Library. They are a bit harder to learn, but still can do more than all the other building programs. You have to use another program if you want to make instructions. I personally use LDCad.Expert

KEEPING TRACK OF YOUR COLLECTION

8. After your collection expands (and they usually tend to do that!) you may want to keep track of all the sets and bricks you have. What’s an easy way to do that?

There are a number of ways to do that:

Another resource that can help you is Peeron. It’s a partial listing of the parts in official LEGO© sets. Or you can look at the Lego® set reference database at Toysperiod.com.

DIFFERENCES IN PART COLORS

9. Sometimes you might notice slight variations in shade between bricks of the same color. Why are there differences in part colors?

The following information comes from the Lego® website: This is because Lego® produces their bricks in batches, much like wool or textiles. All their new bricks are made from plastic granulate and to a certain degree old bricks get recycled. Lego® does this to preserve valuable raw material and be as eco-friendly as they can with the material they use.

This is why Lego® sometimes also recycles a small amount of bricks of a different colour when they create new ones. For this reason, it’s possible that there are slight variations in colour between batches. Of course, there are also other factors that can affect the colour of the bricks, such as exposure to direct sunlight, cigarette smoke, or extreme temperature variations.

If your set has a couple of bricks that are discolored in an extreme way, they ask you to get in touch with them.

I found this information at the Lego® website. Go to Support > Common questions > Brick Facts.
https://www.lego.com/en-gb/service/help/bricks-building/brick-facts

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