We've recently started playing a lot more with our LEGO (Thanks LEGO Masters), and want to expand the collection.  I figure some of you on wargear might have some insight.

• Should I consider knock-off brands, or stick to official LEGO? (Megablocks)
• Where can I get the best prices for lots of various bricks?   Should I be shopping on ebay?
• What about more unusual bricks like Erling or technic blocks.  Can you get sets that have these in them?

Any help is appreciated!

I've thought about this before and now that my son is getting re-interested with some of the bigger Star Wars sets, and the manuals can be had for free, we're re-looking into it. 

I'm curious to see what help happens in the thread too.

What I've found so far is there are a few different places:
Bricklink - seems to be the most popular
Brickowl - seems to be the next best
Official Lego site - for newer pieces might be the best place

Ebay killed my account a few years back (that i'd had since mid90s) cus apparently didn't use it for too long. Unfortunately the email went to my spam folder so didn't see it in time to keep it from being deleted. Meaning, no ebay for me. 

I have quite an extensive LEGO collection. My general MO is to buy large collections off of EBAY - I look for people that look like they are selling their kids' set in a large box with some/most of the manuals. My target price for lots like this is $10/pound. They used to be a lot more common on EBAY but now you gotta dig for them. (Which is fun to do while on a zoom call.)

After I get a collection I try to recreate the sets and use my spare parts for missing pieces. Parts I can't find I source through Bricklink or targeted ebay buys.

I've also gotten some good collections through Craigslist.

Here is a great set that I just found and am drooling over (my wife would kill me)

https://www.ebay.com/itm/HUGE-Lego-Lot-sets-100-manuals-225-Mini-Figures-MAINLY-SPACE-PIRATE-SHIP-CASTLE/362980184348?hash=item54834e111c:g:8MsAAOSweh5epcPP

Here is my custom search too if you want to use it

lego (instructions, manuals, manual, booklet, booklets) -nib -custom -only -new -complete

Some good LEGO reference sites I use:

https://brickipedia.fandom.com/wiki/LEGO_Wiki

https://www.toysperiod.com/

http://www.brickshelf.com/

https://brickset.com/

https://guide.lugnet.com/set/

http://www.peeron.com/inv

and also just to tell you guys all my secrets I snipe the auctions using this:

https://justsnipe.com/signin

Ebay considers sniping 100% allowed

Sometimes I forget why I walked in to a room...other times I remember a random forum post from 6 years ago on a Risk site about Lego... http://www.wargear.net/forum/showthread/3670p1/LEGO_On-Line_Store... PRIORITIES! 

Not sure if it's still a thing of his, but may check in with Cona Chris (http://www.wargear.net/players/info/Cona%20Chris)!

Yertle, i don't know how you manage. I did have the distinct feeling that there was someone i knew (here, maybe) that was trying to put together their own version of bricklink. but couldn't remember and didn't want to add it to the post without details.

and here you just ...viola... plop it down.

Thanks Yertle - I actually knew that either Cona Chris or CK66 had a LEGO store, but I couldn't remember which one and had yet worked up the effort to dig through my old emails and find it.

The two of them helped me a lot with the development of Invention back in the day.

Thanks Amidon - that looks pretty useful, and I will definitely be checking out those links during a work meeting when I am required to be there, but am not involved...

btw - What inspired this post was our family watching LEGO Masters (anyone else watching?  Great show), and then my daughter (5th grade), wanting to build a lot more with our bricks.  If anyone is interested, here is the first larger scale piece she made recently (with Livia and my help):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txVRIB-xNGw

All the sites above are good places to look.  Craigslist especially can be great deals for new and used LEGO sets.  eBayers tend to demand top dollar (or more) for the sets, but it is easier to get them there.  Sometimes you can find good deals on collections of bricks on eBay.  When the pandemic is over, if you have a local trader place (we have Trader's World that is open on the weekends) there is often a store or two that sells LEGO pieces.

Unfortunately, my wife decided to get out of the LEGO business a year or so ago, so we packed up all the bricks (our van was filled to capacity, it was insane) for our drive to Tennessee to meet a couple from Georgia who bought our stock. 

My son (6th grade) got back into LEGOs during the pandemic and has been building scenes from Star Wars and Marvel movies, and a BatCave, plus rebuilding sets that I put away a couple years ago since he hadn't touched them in ages.  Love seeing him playing with them again!  We often have battles now and he makes rules up that change each time we play which is great.  Last game, I hid all the infinity stones in LEGO sets in the basement and he (as Thanos) then had to find them, put them on Thanos' glove and then the real battle began!  However, he has no interest in the LEGO Masters show, for whatever reason.

Love the classroom, BTW, Ozyman!  Your daughter did a great job!

Finally after years of encouragement my son has finally gotten the itch for Legos. It really kicked off about last April with the early pandemic stay-at-home orders. We've got about half my collection (read: jumble/pile/stuff) sorted out. I'm guessing I have about 40-50# - mostly old space sets, castle sets, that I picked up from my nephew when he got out of them (mine from a kid was distributed after i left for college way back when - grrr), and other random lots from places here and there. BUT he's mainly interested in just the big, Star Wars ones - and as the SW geek in my known circles, I'm ok with that!

I've been having him put them together and then tear them apart, throwing all the pieces in a bucket. I'll then sort thru and rebuild it without the convenience of easily grouped pieces. We're focusing on the UCS sets or other ones that are 1000+ pieces. We've currently got UCS A-Wing (75275), Falcon (75257), UCS Star Destroyer (75252), Slave I (75243), Tantive IV (75244), old UCS Yoda (7194, i think the new one is ugly). Really want the new UCS Falcon ($800) and he's seriously jonesing for the new UCS Republic Gunship due out this spring. He's a big clone wars fan.

What I'm kinda interested in doing is some mods (or mocs, i think they're called in this world) to improve on the detailing, general realism of them. Is there a program out there to do the 3D designing? Does the LDD (Lego Digital Designer) do simple structural analysis? I've found it, but not downloaded played with it yet. 

>Is there a program out there to do the 3D designing? Does the LDD (Lego Digital Designer) do simple structural analysis? I've found it, but not downloaded played with it yet.

Wow!  You're clearly several levels toward LEGO master beyond me!

My daughter likes putting them together, but rarely plays with the sets once together. I'm trying to decide what to do now.  We've basically run out of display space...  Is it better to just pull them apart and combine them all?  Is it worth trying to keep them separate for some eventual resale value?  Not sure if she's growing out of them (almost 12 now), or if she'll go back to them again.

Ozyman wrote:

>Is there a program out there to do the 3D designing? Does the LDD (Lego Digital Designer) do simple structural analysis? I've found it, but not downloaded played with it yet.

Wow!  You're clearly several levels toward LEGO master beyond me!

My daughter likes putting them together, but rarely plays with the sets once together. I'm trying to decide what to do now.  We've basically run out of display space...  Is it better to just pull them apart and combine them all?  Is it worth trying to keep them separate for some eventual resale value?  Not sure if she's growing out of them (almost 12 now), or if she'll go back to them again.

Resale is unlikely, but no hurt trying, I guess. You're in a different market after all.

My old lego proved entirely worthless later on, even as amusement for the younger generation of my family. My eldest niece's half-lasted just about long enough for my youngest niece to enjoy them. Their combined collection has now filled all available space and is no longer being played with....

I think I enjoyed my lego more than my niece's did theirs. I assembled, took apart, assembled something else, took apart and so on. All I had was generic pieces. The specialised ones that came later are nice to look at but not that flexible.

yeah 'Totes, i'm in a similar boat. i couldn't get enough of them as a kid (and maybe only a gallon or two in total amount). I don't remember sets being a 'thing' back then. Just generic lot and you used your imagination to constantly rebuild whatever. Maybe (likely) they were influential in my becoming an engineer?

With my son's short spurt when he was 8-10-ish, it was more the buildings and city/police stuff that he liked; a few of the minecraft things when he was into that. but those all just got thrown into the big pile. 

@Ozy; unless there was something niche or rare, doubtful that keeping the sets together would net you more than selling them as a lot. but keep the manuals and include them in the lot; that couldn't hurt. But there's a chance that she gets back into them in the next year or two, after that HS activities take over. 

If anyone feels like selling their (or their kids) LEGO's I'll give you a good price for them.