PAB Wall feature

booooze · August 2018

Hello,

I joined the forum just to ask this question!

Has Brickset ever considered getting a PAB wall page where we could track the bricks that get put on the PAB Wall at the Lego stores? I know that BrickBuildr has this feature, but I find it is lackluster and is rarely updated (I always try to update it on the rare occasions that I get to go to a Lego Store). I feel like if Brickset offered this feature, it would be more widely known and could be really helpful. Thoughts?

Cheers,

Bruce

Huw · August 2018

Great idea, but there's a reason BrickBuildr is not much use: nobody can be bothered to update it and I suspect that would be the case if there was one here.

omnium · August 2018

I remember trying to update wallofbricks.com (now dead, it appears). It was horribly painful, but not fully the fault of the developer: I think it's quite hard to design a decent UI for what appears to be a simple concept.

If it was simple, I think people would use it.

IIRC, there's a facebook group where people post videos of the wall in their local store. It's also not updated very often, so I didn't keep track of it.

booooze · August 2018

On the contrary, I think if the feature was somewhere accessible like a link on the front page, it has the potential to get used. Brickset already has a massive user base, and they already have functions to acquire pieces.

Brickbuildr's site doesn't look appealing. I actually have no idea what they offer other than the PAB wall because their site doesn't parse correctly on my tablet browser. I've never bothered ro search it because it looks like it is not up to date. It looks like it needs an overhaul. I'm suggesting that Brickset has the care and attention to incorpporate this feature, and a userbase that would probably keep it up to date.

It's just a suggestion, but something I would love to see. If you were to ever consider it, throw up a poll on the front page and ask the brickset community if it is something that they would use or like.

Paperballpark · August 2018

Having used two different sites in the past which did that in two different ways, neither of them was easy to update, even the one where the owner tried to make it easy.

On the other hand, people post videos on FB these days, which are easy to do and easy to watch. Personally I think that's the best way to stay up to date with the PAB walls.

madforLEGO · August 2018

There is also a thread in the forum where some people do post what is there or what is found. here is one of them talking about the one site that was out there:

https://forum.brickset.com/discussion/11262/the-lego-wall-new-site-for-tracking-pick-a-brick-pab

Given the part changeover at the wall and different colors and how fast some parts change in and out it is difficult for people to keep it up.

caterham7 · August 2018

If there was such a feature on brickset, maybe it could be promoted to Lego stores for employees to update regularly in the quieter moments of the month? Could be a tool to draw us to the shops more often if there are a selection of parts we must have!

Perhaps it could be along the lines of an online PAB wall where a photo of each bin could be uploaded to its space. Then either uploader or another could complete the associated text field with brick id / name at leisure? I’m sure there’d be people happy to snap photos and upload, but not want (or have the time) to find the correct brick or description, and others that could identify and link to bricks in database quickly but don’t regularly get a chance to get to store and take photos?

And big thumbs up to Bluewater - they asked AFOLs one Saturday event late last year or early this for bricks they’d like to see on the PAB wall. My request of pink 2x4s happened! Picked up around 1,500 so far, need another 2,000 or so...

Shib · August 2018

I can't help but think that part of the reason that the sites dedicated to PaB wall tracking generally haven't done well (as well as the reasons already posted) is that the amount of people who will plan a visit to a store solely on what PaB is available is a tiny amount of people.

I think that's why the posting videos to LUG groups (Facebook or forums) has become popular, it's more likely to reach the relevant people with less work needed by the poster.

I'm not saying the idea is without merit, after all tbose who live within range of several LEGO shops might be persuaded on which one to visit by PaB wall selection, but it's still more about local markets than anything else.

omnium · August 2018

That's a good point, @Shib. I generally don't visit a store purely for the PAB wall, although I've done exactly that twice this week so far :)

What I really want to know, and what would make me take a trip to a store, is if certain parts I would like bulk of are available. Eg. I missed out on it, but Westfield SB had LBG 1x2 masonry bricks a few months ago.

Maybe I should have taken a video of the PAB walls and posted it to facebook?!?

eMJeeNL · August 2018

caterham7 said:

And big thumbs up to Bluewater - they asked AFOLs one Saturday event late last year or early this for bricks they’d like to see on the PAB wall. My request of pink 2x4s happened! Picked up around 1,500 so far, need another 2,000 or so...

Can't you simply ask them to sell you a (or two) entire box(es)?

And... what are you creating? A giant pig?