# What's the best way to buy legos? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 7, 2013, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-way-to-buy-legos/675751 "2013-12-07T15:43:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2013, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-way-to-buy-legos/675751/21 "2013-12-09T16:47:34Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Lego bricks. Lego sets. Not Legos. WTF?😕 ---
**Author:** ![LibrarySpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f9ae1b/32.png) [@LibrarySpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LibrarySpy)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2013, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-way-to-buy-legos/675751/22 "2013-12-09T17:30:27Z")
Europeans and presumably other areas of the world just say “Lego” Americans generally say “Legos” Now, legitimately, it probably hurts the ears to hear “Legos,” the way I don’t like people to say “shrimps.” However, it comes across like the whole soccer/football/omg hand egg!11!! issue. Snooty. Just call us peasants and move on. We’ll say Lego when we switch to the metric system. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2013, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-way-to-buy-legos/675751/23 "2013-12-09T19:51:30Z")
Hearing/reading “Legos” is like reading about a flock of “sheeps” or a formation of “aircrafts”. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2013, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-way-to-buy-legos/675751/24 "2013-12-09T19:58:54Z")
Are “tubs” of random Lego bricks _that_ expensive? I thought it was only the kits (e.g. the Lego Millennium Flacon) that cost the big bucks. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2013, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-way-to-buy-legos/675751/25 "2013-12-09T20:15:02Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > Are “tubs” of random Lego bricks _that_ expensive? I thought it was only the kits (e.g. the Lego Millennium Flacon) that cost the big bucks. A kit with 650 pieces will cost you a lot more than $30. The Lego Creator Treehouse was ~300 pcs for $60 and the City Helicopter is $26 for 95 pcs. I picked those because there’s no licensing fees to make up like with the Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, etc sets. ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2013, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-way-to-buy-legos/675751/26 "2013-12-09T20:17:17Z")
The “best” way I’ve ever bought legos was a trip with my mid-western girlfriend to visit her family out in Minnesota. Spent a day at the mall of America. Little lego…gift shop? Amusement park? Thing. Loads of fun, bought way more than I needed. This isn’t necessarily the cheapest way, but I was as giddy browsing around that store as I was eventually playing with my lego. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2013, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-way-to-buy-legos/675751/27 "2013-12-09T21:15:27Z")
> [@Macca26](#): > > The advice in the thread thus far to wait for after Christmas generic sets to go on sale is probably your best bet. Besides, the fancy sets now come with so many specialty parts it’s hard to reuse the bits in other ways - except Lego Creator sets! Those are pretty great. Actually, this is half the fun of buying bulk on eBay. My son (6) is a wizard at incorporating all those funny little parts into his own inventions. He gets lots of sets (grandparents - Og bless 'em), builds them once, and then disassembles it immediately for spare parts. Before I learned this I made the mistake of buying him the Space Shuttle set (we were at NASA). Came home and it was in pieces. He was happy as a clam, I was torqued. Next time I get one like that, it’s getting glued together. ---
**Author:** ![MostlyClueless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@MostlyClueless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MostlyClueless)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2013, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-way-to-buy-legos/675751/28 "2013-12-09T22:01:42Z")
> [@Zakalwe](#): > > Next time I get one like that, it’s getting glued together. I kinda hope you’re joking. Sure, Lego’s set design is superb, which is another reason they’re far ahead of everyone else in the game. But your kid building whatever the hell he likes, and having fun doing that? Nothing beats that. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2013, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-way-to-buy-legos/675751/29 "2013-12-09T22:25:39Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Lego bricks. Lego sets. Not Legos. Agreed, but I think that puts us in a pretty small group on this messageboard. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2013, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-way-to-buy-legos/675751/30 "2013-12-09T22:37:10Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Of course, corporate rules also state that they should be called “LEGO bricks” (note the capitalization) D’oh! ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2013, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-way-to-buy-legos/675751/31 "2013-12-09T23:19:03Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > Hearing/reading “Legos” is like reading about a flock of “sheeps” or a formation of “aircrafts”. I though it was a noun versus adjective thing. Would say you have a box of lego? ---
**Author:** ![Monkey\_Chews](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@Monkey\_Chews](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monkey_Chews)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-way-to-buy-legos/675751/32 "2013-12-10T00:11:22Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > I though it was a noun versus adjective thing. Would say you have a box of lego? Absolutely it’s a box of lego. Filled with some lego. Possibly a whole lot of lego. It always looks so wrong to see them called a box of “legos”. Eee! It’s only here on the SDMB that I’ve ever seen this, by the way. Here (in Australia) I don’t think I’ve ever come across the word “legos”. So it just sounds very weird to my ears. ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-way-to-buy-legos/675751/33 "2013-12-10T02:23:27Z")
This might be worth looking into [http://www.pleygo.com/](http://www.pleygo.com/) it’s a netflix type service for legos. ---
**Author:** ![scootergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e99b99/32.png) [@scootergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scootergirl)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-way-to-buy-legos/675751/34 "2013-12-10T02:34:26Z")
My boy has containers full of Legos. He and his sister got a lot of use from them. So far we haven’t discussed getting rid of them even though they barely build anything anymore, but I could bet that many **are** ready to part with theirs. I hate craigslist with a passion, but you could go that route. Place an ad - you’ll get some response, I’m sure. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-way-to-buy-legos/675751/35 "2013-12-10T22:26:04Z")
Don’t sell your kid’s lego! Think of the grandchildren! Seriously, I have buckets of lego from when I was a kid in the 70s, plus when I was a teenager in the 80s, plus when I was a young adult in the 90s, plus when I was an adult in the 00s. My kids play with them all the time. Lego can last for generations. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-way-to-buy-legos/675751/36 "2013-12-11T16:48:48Z")
> [@MostlyClueless](#): > > There are plenty of knockoffs, but their quality is nearly universally shit. Apart from everything already mentioned, it helps to wait til the end of the holidays. Once sets are out of season, large chains like walmart dump sets at ridiculously low prices. We had a cheap set (maybe Mega-Blocks?) and one thing they were good for is our car crashing game. We’d each build a car out of the blocks, along with an agreed-upon number of wheels. Then we’d smash them head-on together. Many blocks would fall off, but luckily the cheap blocks were flexible plastic not rigid like Legos. If your car wouldn’t sit on it’s wheels without any parts touching the ground after the crash then you were out. Good times. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-way-to-buy-legos/675751/37 "2013-12-11T16:54:54Z")
[http://www.bricklink.com/](http://www.bricklink.com/) has been a good source for my son. ---
**Author:** ![Sateryn76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Sateryn76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sateryn76)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-way-to-buy-legos/675751/38 "2013-12-11T17:01:56Z")
Reading lego over and over again really starts to look weird after a while. ---
**Author:** ![ebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c57346/32.png) [@ebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ebb)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-way-to-buy-legos/675751/39 "2013-12-11T18:25:01Z")
The reason I don’t mind paying money for Legos is that those things last forever. I took my 5 year old kids home to grandma and grandpa’s for Thanksgiving, and while we were there we dug out one of my old childhood sets ([This one](http://lego.wikia.com/wiki/733_Universal_Building_Set)). Came out in 1980, and still works just as well as it did back then. No color fading, and all of the parts snapped together and apart crisply. And all 100% compatible with the blocks you can go out and buy today. I have every expectation that my kids’ kids could play with that set. I don’t know how much my parents paid for that set, but I know there isn’t a single other toy from my childhood that’s in playable condition today. Call me a purist, but I strongly suspect that the Lego-compatible sets don’t have anywhere near the same durability. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-way-to-buy-legos/675751/40 "2013-12-11T21:58:23Z")
> [@Sateryn76](#): > > Reading lego over and over again really starts to look weird after a while. Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Lego Say, you’re right. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-way-to-buy-legos/675751.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-way-to-buy-legos/675751.md?page=3)