Lego sets come in all different sizes with different numbers of Lego pieces. Of course bigger sets cost more, but is there a linear relationship between set size and cost? Let’s take a look. Oh, and yes – I did look at this before, but that was a long time ago. It’s time to revisit the data. It’s not too difficult to find data for Lego prices and number of pieces. If you just look on the Lego online store. There you can find both the price and the number of pieces for each set. You can even sort them by “themes” – like “Star Wars” or “friends” Even though it’s easy to get, I only collected price data for a subset of the themes (mostly because I am lazy). If I put all of this data together, I can get a plot of the set price vs. number of pieces in set. Here is what that looks like. Let’s look at the linear function that fits this data. The slope of this line is 0.104 US Dollars per Lego piece. There is your answer. On average, one Lego piece costs 10.4 cents.
Also, I think it’s nice to notice that this data is fairly linear.What about the y-intercept for this fitting function? The value from the fit is 7.34 USD. That means that for this function, if you had a Lego set with zero pieces in it, it would still cost $7.34 – you know, for the box and instructions and stuff. Yes, I know that there are Lego sets cheaper than $7.34 – this is just the y-intercept for the fitting function. Now let me point out the three outliers in this plot. Notice that all of these (one from Duplo and two from the City theme) are train sets. Of course train sets are going to be more expensive than a set with the same number of pieces (but not a train) because of the electric motors and stuff. If you are looking for a “good deal”, might I suggest the Trevi Fountain (21020). This set has 731 pieces for just $49.99. According to the fitting function, a set with this many pieces should cost about 83 dollars. Suppose I break all the data into the different themes.
If I fit a linear function to each of the different themes, I can get both the price per piece of Lego and the price of a zero piece set. Here are the brick prices for some of the Lego themes. The error bars are the uncertainties in the fit parameters. If you know what a Duplo block is, you probably aren’t surprised that they are the most expensive (63 cents per brick). These are bricks created for smaller kids. They are all large so that you can’t swallow them. It just makes since that they would cost more. The other expensive bricks are the City sets. But this is deceiving due to the high set prices of the train kits. I suspect if you removed these train sets from the plot, it would be a more normal price. What about the base cost? This is the y-intercept of the linear fit. Here you will notice that the City theme has a negative base cost. This means that if there were no pieces (on average) in a City set, Lego would pay YOU money. But why is this negative? It’s because of the high price of the train sets.
They increase the slope of the linear fit but also push the y-intercept into negative values. The real bargains are the Architecture themed sets. These have a base cost of only 70.7 cents where as the Marvel themed sets have a base cost of 3.61 USD. I’ve probably already answered some of these questions in the past, but it would still be fun as a homework assignment. Some of these aren’t too difficult. You could think of them as Duplo Homework. Notice that not even once did I use a plural version of the term “Lego”.LEGO used to make a 50 x 50 stud baseplate in the 1960s and 1970s, which was the largest baseplate that they've made available. Technically, you can still buy them on the aftermarket at BrickLink, but LEGO doesn't offer them anymore. How big is 50 studs? That's 40cm or about 15.75"Starting in 1980, LEGO instead offered the 48 x 48 baseplate, which is still available from LEGO today. How big is 48 studs? About 38.4cm or about 15.12"Internally, LEGO probably has made much larger baseplates, as I believe baseplates are made in large sheets, and cut to size.
Gradually over time, LEGO has made all their baseplates multiples of 8 studs (probably to save on wasted material from cutting), but at one time offered many different strange sizes of baseplates (See: What are the sizes of Lego base plates?)You can find compatible baseplates from other companies that are 32 x 96, or 10 x 30 inches. Usually, these are double-sided with Duplo studs on the back.: Brick Building Play Mat by SCS- Rollable, Two Sided Silicone Mat - Works with Lego and Duplo- 32" Long for Activity Tables: Toys & Games48 studs x 48 studs, which comes to about 15" x 15".Gray BaseplateWe recently bought a base,it isnt LEGO branded but works with their bricks / DUPLO blocks Large Green Baseplate - The Wacky Warehouse and measures 32" long (81cm) & 12" wide (30cm) ...which is 100 x 38 studsAs mentioned, the largest branded LEGO base is 48 x 48...any bigger I guess would start to be a pain in the ass to ship? I'm thinking of making a LEGO table but my two children both use different LEGO sizes.
My oldest uses normal LEGO and my youngest uses DUPLO. I'm wondering if there is a base plate that both types of LEGO bricks will work on? A regular LEGO base plate will work with DUPLO bricks. As demonstated in this question, the two systems are compatible in a number of ways. Here's an example of System base plates with DUPLO bricks attached: It should be noted that not all DUPLO bricks will be able to connect to a System baseplate. Some examples of incompatibility are round bricks and some of the minifigs and animals. In order for these to connect you'll need a DUPLO brick or baseplate on top of the System baseplate. Regular LEGO baseplates can accommodate both LEGO and DUPLO. DUPLO obviously won't stick to regular baseplates as securely as on a DUPLO plate because the studs are much smaller, but they are compatible. There are some pre-made LEGO tables that already have baseplates (or third-party LEGO compatible baseplates) incorporated in the top surface, or you can make your own table and cover the top with baseplates.