Are you bothered with used Lego?

mafon

I mean: when you buy secondhand Lego, don't you feel like you bought someone else's drawers?

I bought used sets three times. One of them was in superb condition and I had no complains after I washed each piece with a soap. But the other two.... yuck! The 1st one had, what I think are, bite marks and scratches and dents (so I sorted it in two piles: ok pieces and pieces I don't wanna touch)! And the other one had but a few damaged pieces, but still I felt like I put my hands in the bucket of poo. And I'm reluctant to mix pieces from these sets with my own, though I bought the last two only to be disassembled and be used in future MOCs.

So... do you tollerate someone else's pieces?

Lastly I want to show you the piece of my nightmarers.



P.S. I'm not mysophobic. I can willingly and happily get dirty... Though at home I have my own flatware and god forbid you touch it. Oh, crap, I got problems :-P.

CCC

I happily re-use my own LEGO. I occassionally buy second sets or parts from adult builders. But I normally avoid second hand kids stuff, unless I can see it first. Some kids build a set and leave it. Others play with it in the sandpit or mud.

Mr_Cross

I can handle dust, a bit of dirt or even the odd pet hair where used pieces are concerned. As long as it comes up shiny when washed I'm happy to have used/secondhand pieces in my parts collection. I can't tolerate bite marks as an adult, although I know I used to bite apart pieces as a child... there's no hiding the evidence on some of my original childhood LEGO.

daewoo

I buy used Lego all the time from reputable sellers on BL and at stores in my area.  I might even start looking at garage sales.

Oldfan

If I'm buying used parts on BL or BO, the sellers generally give good descriptions that let me pass on anything of that kind of questionable quality.  The one time I bought a bunch of parts in bulk, I sorted out the non-Lego and stickered or severely damaged pieces, and washed the remainder in the top rack of the dishwasher on low heat, then allowed to dry.  No issues for me!

Paperballpark

As a rule, I only ever buy new Lego. Even for internal structuring - I may want to reuse it someday!

There's only a very few pieces I've intentionally bought used - but only when new isn't available or is prohibitively expensive.

FowlerBricks

Personally, I like getting used Lego. The bigger the lot, the better.

datsunrobbie

I'd estimate at least 90% of my LEGO was purchased used. Most is in good shape when purchased, more problems with off-brand parts than with dirt. Severely mangled parts get tossed out with the off-brand stuff.

Bulk lots from the local thrift stores are always an adventure, never know what may be lurking in the bag. 

Switchfoot55

I enjoy the hunt of used lots to find what treasures there are buried within. I've happened onto quite a few solid sets this way at a fraction of the price. I've also built a catalog of parts I can pull from when piecing together sets from new bulk purchases. 

Like @datsunrobbie above, any mangled parts are tossed out with the off-brand stuff.

truck730

As a bin truck driver i gather a few pieces every so often but it's never in a good way, I give it to my nephew who destroys it anyway but lately I'm gathering a pile to mis mash a renegade lego mech

oldtodd33

I once bought a bulk lot for $50 that had a very nice, complete #10001 and #10002 in it. So, no, I don't mind used Lego at all. You just need to pay attention to what you are viewing when you buy.

gelkster

You're severely limiting your LEGO intake if you only buy new.

Diggydoes

I‘ve bought used a couple of times,but even when adult/AFOL owned,the bricks always have some sort of sticky feel on them! 
I‘ve bought a lot once which i washed and tbh it was a nightmare to dry,so no more used Lego for me except maybe a Minifigure from time to time!

Paperballpark

gelkster said:

You're severely limiting your LEGO intake if you only buy new.

You haven't seen my house! 😂

omnium

I bought a load of used batches from eBay in 2012, at the start of my obsession, and I regret most of it.

I'm still picking out clone brands from one seller who sold me 99% LEGO, which turned out to be about 40% clone brands, batteries, and assorted junk. I still bitterly remember the argument with him and wish I'd raised a case with eBay when he refused to refund because I'd got a "good deal".

mafon

CCC said:

I happily re-use my own LEGO. I occassionally buy second sets or parts from adult builders. But I normally avoid second hand kids stuff.

It's a sound rule, but in either way you're buying from adults and have no way of knowing, who used to have it.

CCC

mafon said:

CCC said:

I happily re-use my own LEGO. I occassionally buy second sets or parts from adult builders. But I normally avoid second hand kids stuff.

It's a sound rule, but in either way you're buying from adults and have no way of knowing, who used to have it.

You do if (i) you know them or (ii) you ask them.

M1J0E

That pic looks pristine compared to my early childhood pieces.  Those were mixed in a bin with later childhood sets which were displayed and pristine.  That I went through & painstakingly restored what sets I could, taking a winter to do so here & there (I hate holding bricks up to the light to compare the sheen, but blacktron looks a lot better with the shiny black of better kept pieces), is enough that I avoid any bulk bins.  I have no problem with used, as kids it seems (not to mention AFOL’s) keep their sets much better than I ever did, but I just buy complete sets that I can see pics of on BL or Kijiji.  But then as an AFOL I am mostly a set collector.  Affording every set new would be difficult, and some vintage sets would be impossible to find if you were against used completely.  Now having said all that, I’m kinda jealous of those who find 10 pristine sets hidden in a bulk bin that cost me what one used set would, but I know the labor and risk involved.  It was worth it for my childhood sets (who knew blacktron was rare, and I still use the old town sets to this day), but I’m not sure I could do what some do with buying bulk bins.