How much would you pay (or what is the most you've payed) for one Lego part?

chuxtoybox

I was viewing a site where an AFOL shows how to build a medieval village. He shows how to make a stream using 8x8 trans. medium blue plates. So I say to myself, "Where did he get those? What set did they come from?", and so I do some detective work. The only thing though is that I'm thinking he used LIGHT BLUE plates and so I find that the 8x8 trans. light blue tile (4163920) is only found in ONE SET, and it's a Belville set of all things! So I search on Bricklink and the cheapest price for this piece is $7.50 used!(Yes I live in America) This seems kind of expensive to me but I haven't done a lot of MOCs. So does the average AFOL spend this kind of money on special pieces? Obviously the piece is rare but would you gladly pay that much for an 8x8 tile?

Basta

"Would you gladly pay that much" not sure if you ever gladly pay that much, but whatever is needed I suppose, some times you just have to do it.

If you want expensive try this part:
47996: Light Bluish Gray
http://www.bricklink.com/search.asp?itemID=56261&colorID=86

chuxtoybox

Basta said:

"Would you gladly pay that much" not sure if you ever gladly pay that much, but whatever is needed I suppose, some times you just have to do it.

If you want expensive try this part:
47996: Light Bluish Gray
http://www.bricklink.com/search.asp?itemID=56261&colorID=86

If just that one piece is worth that much, how much is the original set going for? How did you come across that piece? They say something is only worth what the last guy paid for it so who the heck could afford to pay that!

oldtodd33

@ chuxtoybox That is a part that only came in 1 set. A set that is now oop and very expensive. Here is a link to a SOLD item from Ebay. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lego-Star-Wars-Ultimate-Collectors-Millennium-Falcon-10179-New-/171015045114?pt=Building_Toys_US&hash=item27d14a7ffa&nma=true&si=2EfeXSKrx%2BUB%2BhB9BQH0Ue8KTSI%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

LegoFanTexas

The others beat me too it, but yes, $7.50 for a single rare part isn't that bad...

The light bley boat rigging from the UCS Falcon is about $100 each, the printed dish from that set is $80 or so, and the light bley levers (the set needs 60 of them) are $3 each from sellers who have enough to bother with ordering from.

So you would spend $200 on the pair of boat riggings, $80 on the printed dish, and $200 on a bunch of levers, or $480, just to get those 63 parts out of 5,197 parts to build that set. :)

Nuts, huh?

leemcg

I bought 4 2x2 trans clear tiles for a pound each for a MOC.

coachie

@chuxtoybox Have you been looking at Derfel Cadarn on flickr? His work is superb and he also takes time to share his methods - inspirational.

Regarding that 8x8 plate, I think it was also available loose a few years ago at the pick a brick at Legoland in Germany. At least I found one recently in a bag I had bought from there a couple of years ago. I also found a black Cafe Corner door!

Maybe you could try a trade with some kind German on 1000steine.de

Paperballpark

^ regarding that plate, I'm not sure which one is used, but wasn't there similar plates for the ice-rink in the Winter Village Bakery sets?

CCC

The other thing to do is modify the design based on cost of parts. If a stream is going to cost you $100 to build using one method, then improvise and do it for $5 using another.

AFFOL_Shellz_Bellz

You asked what we'd pay for a part. The most expensive part we've ever bought is one of these; http://www.bricklink.com/search.asp?itemID=446&colorID=48 But when we bought it we only paid $22.50. At that time there were 5 sellers world wide that had any for sale. It also was only in one set #3450 and because we bought the set at a garage sale for $20. And it was only missing a few pieces it was still a bargain.

sidersdd

AFFOL_Shellz_Bellz said:

You asked what we'd pay for a part. The most expensive part we've ever bought is one of these; http://www.bricklink.com/search.asp?itemID=446&colorID=48 But when we bought it we only paid $22.50. At that time there were 5 sellers world wide that had any for sale. It also was only in one set #3450 and because we bought the set at a garage sale for $20. And it was only missing a few pieces it was still a bargain.

The sand green 3x2 inverted slope from that set is expensive as well. Only came in that set, and only had one.
http://www.bricklink.com/catalogPG.asp?P=3747a&colorID=48

sidersdd

Paperballpark said:

^ regarding that plate, I'm not sure which one is used, but wasn't there similar plates for the ice-rink in the Winter Village Bakery sets?

Yes, but in "medium dark blue" (Bricklink name).

AFFOL_Shellz_Bellz

@sidersdd The remaining parts we had to purchase were very reasonable, that is very pricey, not as bad as some parts mentioned, obviously, but still pricey.

chuxtoybox

Paperballpark said:

^ regarding that plate, I'm not sure which one is used, but wasn't there similar plates for the ice-rink in the Winter Village Bakery sets?

Yes, that is where the trans. MEDIUM blue plates are which I found for about $2.00. I looked at pickabrick on Lego and it would be cheaper to buy 1x2 plates but I don't know if it would give you the same look. I'm new to MOC, especially on that scale. I also have a very small budget right now. LOL Just out of curiosity, how much is a pound worth in U.S. currency?

jasor

US $ is about worth about .80 cents with GBP. At least that's what they said in Grand Cayman when i was there a week ago.

So...I just looked up conversion. 1USD equals about .68 GBP. Sweet, huh?

chuxtoybox

coachie said:

@chuxtoybox Have you been looking at Derfel Cadarn on flickr? His work is superb and he also takes time to share his methods - inspirational.

Yes, that is the man. He is awesome and the fact that he shares his techniques makes him awesomer! I actually found out about him through this forum on a thread discussing how to build stone walls. I haven't looked at all his flickr photos but I read his whole tutorial about how to build a medieval village. I would give the link but I don't know how! I am computer stupid. He was supposed to add more but it doesn't look like he added anything after the initial build.

Pepper

chuxtoybox said:

I haven't looked at all [Derfel Cadarn's] flickr photos but I read his whole tutorial about how to build a medieval village. I would give the link but I don't know how!

Is this the link? : http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=60907

FenrisAkashi

Ya thats the link.
I think the rediscovery of that post is going to be a boon to sellers of round plates everywhere...

ACWWGal2011

chuxtoybox said:

Basta said:

"Would you gladly pay that much" not sure if you ever gladly pay that much, but whatever is needed I suppose, some times you just have to do it.

If you want expensive try this part:
47996: Light Bluish Gray
http://www.bricklink.com/search.asp?itemID=56261&colorID=86

If just that one piece is worth that much, how much is the original set going for? How did you come across that piece? They say something is only worth what the last guy paid for it so who the heck could afford to pay that!

Not sure about ebay but here's the current price guide on BL:

http://www.bricklink.com/catalogPG.asp?S=10179-1

beegeedee

Regarding the levers for UCS MF, I just got a few for <10C euro each and I have a few already, not that I'm planning to build it any time soon as I'm short of around 2,500 pieces but I'll just keep ordering until I have them all. I probably still need perhaps 50 of them anyway...

luckyruss

For me it's the realisation when you go from "wow that's an expensive part" to "yes, but how much will it be in a year's time". You can then justify much more because even if you're using it for an MOC if you want to sell it again later, it's pretty likely you will get at least your money back (I suppose there is the odd part they unexpectedly rerelease)

I paid £20 for a spare http://www.bricklink.com/search.asp?itemID=86604&colorID=85 for my carousel, which with hindsight was clearly worthwhile (I also bought 16 of the canopies at a pretty decent price - sadly don't have them anymore)