anyway: How I buy mechs

2006-05-20 : How I buy mechs

My Lego-buying process for mechs goes like this:
1. I make a tentative list of parts I want.
2. I find several possible stores.
3. I fill parallel shopping carts.
4. I buy the ones I want!

1. A tentative list of parts I want

These days I buy parts for a whole but naked mech, then parts for a variety of attachments.

For a whole but naked mech, in gray, I buy this list:

1x Brick, Modified 1 x 1 with Headlight (Dark Bluish Gray)
2x Hinge, Brick 1 x 2 Locking with 1 Finger on End (Dark Bluish Gray)
2x Hinge, Brick 1 x 2 Locking with 2 Fingers on End (Dark Bluish Gray)
1x Plate 1 x 2 (Dark Bluish Gray)
2x Plate, Modified 1 x 2 with Handle - Type 1 (Dark Bluish Gray)
2x Plate, Round 1 x 1 (Dark Bluish Gray)
2x Plate, Modified 1 x 1 with Clip Light - Type 2 (thick ring) (Dark Bluish Gray)
1x Plate 1 x 1 (Trans-Dark Blue)
1x Slope 45 2 x 1 (Trans-Dark Blue)
4x Tile, Modified 1 x 1 with Clip (Light Bluish Gray)
2x Brick 1 x 1 (Light Bluish Gray)
2x Plate 2 x 3 (Light Bluish Gray)
1x Slope, Inverted 45 2 x 1 (Light Bluish Gray)
2x Slope 45 2 x 1 (Light Bluish Gray)

Here's what these parts look like:

And here's what they look like built into a mech:

2.Several possible stores

Let's start here on BrickLink, browsing parts to buy. Open that page in another window if you want and follow along!

Of the parts I'm looking for, the hardest one to find is this one:
1x Slope 45 2 x 1 (Trans-Dark Blue)

Let's find several BrickLink stores we can buy it from.

See where it says "Trans-Dark Blue" toward the bottom of the page? Click that. Now we're at a page that says "All Items For Sale: Parts: in Trans-Dark Blue color." We're looking at some whip antennas, not the parts we need.

In the search box, type the description of the part you're looking for; in this case, "Slope 45 2 x 1." Before I hit Go I always pull down to show only new parts, 100 per page.

So now we get a list of stores. Each entry you see is a different store you might buy that part from. Here's what you're looking at:

- I'm in the USA, so I choose stores only in the USA. Sometimes rare pieces are much more inexpensive in Europe - but not for me, who has to pay shipping to get them here.

- I have a budget in mind, so I choose stores whose minimum order I'm comfy spending.

- Say I'm putting together 4 mechs. A store that has only 2 of the part I need won't help me. Also, you'll notice that some stores list quantities like this: "600 (x10)." That means that you can buy the piece only in multiples of 10; you can't buy 4 or 11 of them.

- And for our purposes here and now, any of the prices we see listed in the first, oh, 50 stores are reasonable prices. When you're buying in bulk, like I've been recently, your concerns are a little different, but for a half dozen of this particular piece, I figure 8Â¢ each is basically as good a price as 5Â¢ each.

So: look down the list and choose the first four or five stores that meet your criteria, open them each in its own window. I always leave my base BrickLink window open too - I might be back to it.

3. Parallel shopping carts

Each of those BrickLink stores looks just the same. In the narrow left-hand column you've got navigation, in the big panel you've got what you're currently doing. Click around, check it out. You can browse by piece or by color.

Your goal is to go through the list of parts you want and find all of them, in the right quantity, in this store. Add them to your cart as you find them.

Your secondary goal is to learn the names of parts you may want in the future. If you're already a Lego person, you no doubt have your own names for the parts - like at my house we call part "Plate, Modified 1 x 2 with 1 Stud" a one-bumper. I maintain a reference list, an Excel spreadsheet, matching my names for parts with their BrickLink names.

Anyway but fill your cart with the pieces you need. Fill your cart at each of the several stores you're browsing, until you're satisfied with what you've found. Some stores will turn out to be useless to you - they have lots of cheap windshields, but no arms legs or bodies - and if that's happening a lot you'll want to go back to your main BrickLink page and add new stores to the mix.

I don't usually wind up buying my list exactly - that's why I call it tentative. Usually alternatives catch my eye instead.

Oh and every store you order from, you're going to play a couple bucks shipping and handling. If you can buy all the parts you need from one store instead of two, you'll save, even if all the parts there are a little more expensive. It's pretty rare I find all the parts I need at one store, but sometimes.

4. Buy!

Compare your full carts and buy the one or the ones you want.

I just went through this process to build 4 tan mechs. Tan's a relatively expensive color to buy parts in; if you're buying blue or gray or white you'll pay less than I just did. I got the parts for 4 tan mechs, fully kitted out, for a total of $12.02, not including S&H.

Here's what they'll look like:

This mech, by the way, gets 2 white dice, 1 blue die for the armor, 2 red dice at artillery range for the rocket tubes, 2 red dice at direct fire range for the big gun on its left arm, and 1 yellow die for the radio on its back. You can just see the antenna.

1. On 2006-05-20, Vincent said:

I bought these parts today from Brick Artist Depot. I imagine they'd welcome your custom too. The one thing you won't find enough of there is part "Hinge, Brick 1 x 2 Locking with 1 Finger on End."

I went a slightly different route with the mech's hip, because they didn't have that piece, and to accomodate the rocket thingy on its shoulder.

anyway.

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