Yard sales and thrift stores can be very hit-and-miss. When you find them you can get great bargains, but most of the time it’s not fruitful unless you have other reasons to shop there. When I built my Pokemon sculptures, I was able to do that using a bulk brick tub that lego was selling at the time (set #3033). I bought about 20 of those at $20 each and still ran out of certain parts – that’s why Squirtle’s tail was so small. Sadly, that tub was discontinued a few years ago and the bulk tubs that are available more recently haven’t had nearly as good of an assortment or as good of a price per brick. Probably the easiest way to get cheap parts is to shop on BrickLink. It’s an online shopping mall just for LEGO. Sellers buy sets in bulk (generally when they have clearance sales at retail stores) and sort the parts, putting the individual pieces on their stores. Then you can go in and order any part in quantity. It’s an awkward site to use, but I think the best way is to start at the Catalog tab, find the part you want in the color you want, and then find a store that has them in sufficient quantity.
(Disclaimer: I have my own BrickLink store.) There’s also bulk brick available from LEGO; usually they’re a lot more expensive that way but once in a while you can find some real bargains. Look for the “Pick-A-Brick” in the LEGO Shop-At-Home Store and if you have a LEGO store in your nearby mall, they have an in-person pick-a-brick wall where you can fill up a plastic cup with LEGO parts for a set price. And of course don’t forget about buying sets on sale. Check for sales at LEGO Shop-At-Home (and try their phone number too, as they have weekly phone-only sales as well). If you know any other good ways to find bulk LEGO at economical prices, please post it here as a comment…. Shop for LEGO on AmazonThis year, I have been slowly building my first Lego collection. My kids and GeekMom Jenny each have tubs of Lego bricks that belong to them individually. I felt left out after visiting Legoland with Jenny, so I started my own collection. When I started buying, I did a lot of research, so that I could get the most out of my investment in a fairly expensive hobby.
The first thing I needed, no argument, was bricks. There are many ways to get a bunch of bricks at once. I started with the Lego Build and Play Box. It’s a great starter set, highlighted by its large storage box, but I’ve found some cheaper options. Here is a breakdown of the average prices I could find: 884 piece Lego Education Brick Set 779384 = 6.1 cents per brick 650 piece Lego Bricks & More Builders of Tomorrow Set 6177 = 6.3 cents per brick (discontinued and no longer available, as of 11/2016) 1,000 piece Lego Build and Play Box 4630 = 11.6cents per brick 650 piece Lego Creative Building Kit 5749 = 7.1 cents per brick 1,600 piece Lego XXL Brick Box 5512 = 13.4 cents per brick (this one has been discontinued, hence its elevated price) As you can see, the Lego Education Brick Set has some serious bang for its buck. It’s a medium size kit, with 11 sizes and 9 colors. The bricks are pretty basic, but that’s the best place to start. I get the most use out of basic shapes, because they are so versatile.
Specialized pieces often have just one purpose, and don’t get used as much. The next thing I needed was a plate. Plates are the foundation that you build your creations on. It’s possible to build on a table, but plates make the whole experience simpler and more fun. Lego makes two 10″ plates, one in green for general use, and one in blue for water scenes. Generally you can find one for about five bucks. There is also an XL gray plate, which measures 15″, but it runs around $15 right now. I own just one green plate, and it is worth its weight in gold. Honorable mention goes to the Brick Separator. Another thing that is invaluable. Saves me so much trouble when disassembling. Though these are often included in specialty kits for free. The last thing I needed was minifigs. There are hundreds of options. As a matter of fact, according to xkcd, there will be more minifigs in the world than people by the year 2019! Where to start then? This is definitely not a case for the basics.
I wanted my minifigs to be special, ones I’d like looking at forever. Since Rory is my favorite character in (I mean, how could I not like a total dork with the same name as me?), I got the Series 10 Roman Commander (read: Centurion). The kids then surprised me with a pile of parts from old minifigs that they didn’t want any more. This was great because I was able to make a few that I liked, and have the ability to change things up. After that, the sky (read: wallet) was the limit. There are so many themed kits it would take an enormous amount of money to get them all. I suggest ignoring sets like the ones, for example, because the scenes are not versatile at all. This makes me sad, because I love everything. I just don’t have room in my house for a permanent installment of Krang’s Lab, and it’s not fun (for me) to keep building the same thing over and over again. There are a couple of exceptions. If you love one of the kits so much that it’s worth its own place in your home, buy away.
GeekMom Jenny has three Lego Architecture sets that have their own shelf in her office. Also, Lego Creator sets are somewhere between free form and regular kits. Each of them makes three things officially. I love the LEGO Creator Fierce Flyer 31004, which has three official builds: an eagle, a beaver, and a scorpion. The only rule of buying Lego products is to never buy something you won’t use. If that means you never buy basic kits because you’d prefer to build a Lego Delorean, that’s okay! Buy things you love, so you will get the most out of them. One last thought: If you are buying for your kids, let them help pick out the pieces they want. Our kids keep a running list of which sets they might like to have. This is mostly so they know what they want to buy with monetary gifts, and so we know which sets to buy them as a surprise or as a gift. (Kit prices are current as of 11/21/2016)LEGO Dimensions is the latest game in the growing toys-to-life genre. Like Disney Infinity, Skylanders and Amiibo, LEGO Dimensions is a rather complicated beast with different release dates and prices.
This article intends to clear up some of the confusion so you can decide if this is the right toy-to-life game for you. LEGO Dimensions, as stated above, is a toy-to-life game. As such, you can expect some similarities with other games in the genre. The main difference here is that LEGO Dimensions makes use of the popular LEGO brand for all its characters and levels. When you first pick up LEGO Dimensions you’ll get a copy of the game, three character figures (Wyldstyle, Batman, and Gandalf), a vehicle (Batmobile) and the Lego Gateway, the portal that brings your toys to life. LEGO Dimensions is also unique in that it has its own story, which doesn’t require the purchase of other characters. On the planet of Vorton, the evil Lord Vortech plots to acquire the Foundational Elements, which would grant him power over the LEGO multiverse. To do this, Vortech opens numerous portals across the multiverse, recruiting different villains to help in his scheme. After the portals accidentally suck up their friends, Batman, Wyldstyle and Gandalf team up to travel the multiverse and put a stop to Vortech’s plans.
Yes, LEGO Dimensions is in fact a LEGO game. You still press Square to attack, Triangle to swap between characters and each character has their own unique ability. Studs are still the main source of currency and can easily be found by smashing LEGO objects. If you love the LEGO games than most likely you’re going to love LEGO Dimensions. Of course, there are some differences. While previous LEGO games have had a menagerie of different characters to choose from, you will be limited in LEGO Dimensions to what you’re willing to buy. You’ll start out with Wyldstyle, Gandalf and Batman and will only be able to play with other characters if you shell out extra cash. Now you won’t need these other characters to play through the story, but there is extra content available if you happen to purchase Level Packs. The big difference between Dimensions and past LEGO games is the LEGO Gateway. This portal allows for up to seven characters and vehicles to be placed on it and thus playable.
The Gateway is also instrumental in solving many of the puzzles. For example, one type of puzzle involves painting the world in red, blue and yellow. Characters on the left side of portal are blue, right side characters are red and the character place in the center is yellow. Another changes the size of the characters depending on where they’re placed on the portal. They’re fun and kooky, but maybe a little too complex for younger children. There are a lot of characters and worlds in LEGO Dimensions, though not nearly as many as Disney Infinity. Here’s a breakdown of every franchise represented in-game: The Lord of the Rings (Warner Bros.) The LEGO Movie (Warner Bros.) The Wizard of Oz (Warner Bros.) The Simpsons (20th Century Fox) LEGO Ninjago (Warner Bros.) Back to the Future (Universal Studios) Midway Arcade (Warner Bros.) Scooby Doo (Warner Bros.) LEGO Chima (Warner Bros.) Jurassic World (Universal Studios) These are the just the beginning franchises and more are likely to arrive over time.
Speaking with Warner Bros. at E3, the publisher confirmed that they are actively speaking with other film and game companies about getting more characters and levels in the future. If you have a favorite franchise, Warner Bros. is committed to bringing it to LEGO Dimensions. Now, there are a few properties that are off-limits. Though Warner Bros. has released LEGO games for Star Wars and Marvel, it is unlikely that either of those properties will make it into LEGO Dimensions. Disney Infinity and LEGO Dimensions are direct competitors making it unlikely that we’ll see any crossover. We also won’t see any film properties with an R rating, or any games with an M rating. What we might see are platform exclusive characters. Warner Bros. aren’t opposed to working with Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo on bringing exclusive characters to each platform. It would be cool to see Sackboy on PlayStation, Banjo Kazooie on Xbox and Mario on Nintendo, for instancce. The different packs will launch in a series of five waves between now and spring 2016.
The Starter Pack, which is the most important piece of LEGO Dimensions, launches September 29 on PS4, Xbox One, Wii U, PS3 and Xbox 360. A series of Level, Team and Character packs will launch the same day. Wave 5, which launches May 10, 2016, will be the end of current LEGO Dimensions support, at least until the inevitable sequel arrives next fall. Click here for a breakdown of the five different waves. As you can expect, LEGO Dimensions is not going to be cheap. Just getting your hands on the Starter Pack is going to make a serious dent in your wallet. Here’s a breakdown of the different costs for each packs: So yeah, it’s going to be quite a bit of money. For comparison’s sake, here’s a breakdown of Disney Infinity’s cost: Neither are cheap and the mileage you get out of LEGO Dimensions might hinge entirely on how much money you’re willing to put in. These games are fun, but they’re not cheap. Now that is the million dollar question and it’s going to be difficult to answer.
This game is going to appeal to little kids because it’s LEGO and the fact that it is essentially a LEGO game on steroids means it’s going to be easy to pick up and play for anyone who has enjoyed a LEGO game released in the past few years. Traveller’s Tales has crafted a cohesive storyline that can be played without having to pay for extra characters, which means that this could potentially be the cheapest toy-to-life game available, as long as you don’t buy more characters. Cost is still going to be a huge problem, especially since the extra characters will add to the overall experience. Finally, we don’t know what LEGO Dimension’s endgame content is going to look like. Disney Infinity has the robust Toy Box to play with once the Play Set campaigns are complete. As far as we know, LEGO Dimensions doesn’t have any mode like this. For now, LEGO Dimensions looks promising and small children are going to love it. Everyone else may want to wait and see how it compares to Disney Infinity and Skylanders.