Building the new LinkedIn Logo in LEGO bricks for the Mountain View lobby required me to buy a huge number of specific bricks in the same color. This is useful because you can order any brick in production. Limitations are that you cannot order bricks that are out of production, and fulfillment times are often 10-15 business days for large orders.2) Fax an order to LEGO. The LinkedIn logo required over 5,000 blue 2x8 bricks as the primary component of the construction. For large, detailed orders you can call the LEGO store at 1-800-835-4386, and they will give you a fax number for the order. Unfortunately, fulfillment times here depend on brick type - I ended up waiting 6-7 weeks for some components of the order. Also, LEGO seems to have no concept of shipping notifications or tracking for orders placed this way.3) Local LEGO stores "Pick a Brick". I used both the Valley Fair and Hillsborough stores to acquire bricks at times. You can buy bricks three ways: a small cup for $7.99, a large cup for $14.99, and an entire box for $70.
As you can imagine, you are somewhat limited by your ability (or patience) in terms of cramming different brick types into containers. Most clerks will tell you that you can't buy bricks by the box - they are mistaken. Ask to talk to a manager, and they will sell you a box, but only if they have more than one in the back. They are not allowed to sell "the last box."The biggest limitation of this approach is that not only do stores not stock all brick types or colors, they also have no ability to "special order" Pick-a-Brick bricks. They get fulfillment once a week, and have no control over which bricks they receive. The trick is to call ahead, and be flexible with your design to adapt to the bricks they do have.4) Bricklink. For example, getting 20-30 small 1x2 tiles to finish off the base edges of the lettering. Bricklink is relatively slow on fulfillment, and it's common to get bricks that are discolored by age or cleaning. This means they may not match other orders of a similar brick.
It's also very hard to get large orders of many brick types & colors.Overall, for the LinkedIn in LEGO project I purchased approximately 12,000+ bricks. 8,000 I was able to get over 7-8 weeks from a Fax order to LEGO. /) and click on "Buy Lego." BrickLink is a kind of Craigslist for Lego bricks -- you can get pretty much any kind ever made, in any color it was made in./PAB/ Prices aren't great but they are actually roughly about the same as what you would pay in a boxed set.The Lego Group is changing how it handles bulk orders, following a backlash against the group on social media last year. In October 2015, Lego was accused of "censorship" by contemporary artist and activist, Ai Weiwei, after the toymaker refused to supply him with bricks, needed for his upcoming exhibition on political dissidents. Following the news, Lego received criticism online, and Lego-owning fans started up an online global initiative to donate bricks to Ai for his exhibition in Melbourne, Australia.
At the time, Lego denied that it censored or prohibited the creative use of its bricks. It would refuse bulk order requests however, if the bricks were to be used "in projects or contexts of a political agenda." The row echoes an incident that took place in the 1990s, when a Polish artist created a faux concentration camp toy set made of Lego, prompting the toymaker to ask for it to be removed from public view. When customers now make bulk order purchases however, Lego will not ask customers on what they are using the bricks for, the Danish toymaker announced late Tuesday. Lego did not refer directly to Ai's order in its announcement. As of the start of 2016, the group will no longer inquire about the "thematic purpose", but rather ask customers to make it clear that Lego doesn't endorse or support particular projects, if their toy products are used publicly, including exhibitions. While Ai mostly retweeted fans' joy following the announcement, he did appear to comment on one Twitter post, saying "nice move #freedomofexpression".
Ai also posted pictures on Instagram, including one with a boy attaching bricks onto the artist's face and hair, captioned with a smiling emoji symbol. —By CNBC's Alexandra Gibbs, follow her @AlexGibbsy and @CNBCi Lego had refused Ai Weiwei's bulk order because it said it had a policy of not endorsing political statements NGV sets up first Lego drop-off point for Ai Weiwei outside of Beijing Weiwei fans pledge bricks after Lego blocks bulk order Lego refuses to supply bricks for Weiwei installation because of 'political context' NGV defends lack of Chinese signs at Ai Weiwei show Toy company Lego has done an about-turn on bulk orders, after facing a storm of criticism for stopping the practise because its "bricks" were to be used in an exhibition by a dissident Chinese artist. Key points:Lego to allow bulk orders again after denying controversial artistThe company faced international backlashLego says bricks are about 'freedom of expression', but won't endorse future artworks
The controversy was sparked last year when artist Ai Weiwei revealed he had been denied an order for use in an artwork to be exhibited at the National Gallery of Victoria.The piece, currently on show, features portraits of a number of prominent Australians including Australian of the Year and anti-domestic violence campaigner Rose Batty, formerly imprisoned journalist Peter Greste, Aboriginal rights activist Gary Foley and Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. Lego changes policy after Ai Weiwei controversy Lego had refused to fulfil a bulk order for the artist, saying it had a long-held policy of not endorsing political statements.Mr Ai described the stance as censorship and discrimination, a slew of negative headlines ensued in the run-up to the Christmas sales period, and a social media campaign with the hashtag #legosforweiwei was born.It led to Australians and others around the world offering to donate their bricks to Mr Ai, who only had his passport returned last year after having it confiscated by Chinese authorities in 2011.
A Lego spokesman said they will now fulfil bulk orders regardless of their purpose, if the buyer agrees to state that the company does not endorse the resulting work."In future we are not going to ask for what we call the thematic purpose of the build," Lego spokesman Roar Rude Trangbaek told the ABC at company headquarters in Billund, Denmark."Instead we are going to ask the purchaser to make it clear that we are not endorsing or supporting the activity as a company."On Wednesday the artist welcomed the decision on Twitter, describing it as a "nice move".Lego said it wanted to clear up what it described as confusion over its position on human rights and freedom of expression."We make Lego bricks and Lego bricks are all about freedom of expression because anybody can take Lego bricks and build whatever they can imagine," Mr Trangbaek said. "This is really at the core of who we are as a company, so we don't want that confusion."That is not to say that Lego is now endorsing the current work by Mr Ai."
We have adjusted a guideline for bulk purchase, but we are still refraining as a company from engaging in political activities," Mr Trangbaek said."Before you could also buy Lego bricks and build whatever you could imagine or want to without us having any say in that."So this only goes for those few cases where we get these requests for massive amounts of Lego bricks, hundreds of thousands of Lego bricks for public display. "And in these cases we are then asking them to say [that] the Lego group is not supporting or endorsing the project that [they] are using the bricks for, but we will gladly supply them."With members of the public now donating their Lego to Mr Ai, the artist may no longer need the help of the Danish company for future projects, but Lego said if he places an order it will be met."Anyone contacting us to buy bulk purchase will be treated according to our adjusted guidelines," Mr Trangbaek said.Lego denies the controversy has harmed the brand, saying sales results due out in early March will prove that point.