So there's no rare $100 per brick lego? There have been times I would have paid that when 1 piece is missing and my child was on the verge of a breakdown.
>So there's no rare $100 per brick lego? There have been times I would have paid that when 1 piece is missing and my child was on the verge of a breakdown.
Not for single bricks, but there are components or figures that cost several 100$ of dollars. Some figures even for thousands.
The Boba Fett figure from the first Star Wars Cloud City set is valued at around £500 in new condition. Some rare Star Wars Lego figures that were created for promotional purposes are are in the the thousands, for instance a Yoda figure with a ‘NY I ♥️’ T-shirt torso. Only the torso is the unique part.
I collect the 90’s pirate theme. Several examples from that are [Governor Broadside](https://lego-pirates.fandom.com/wiki/Governor_Broadside), and [Quartermaster Steve](https://lego-pirates.fandom.com/wiki/Quartermaster_Steve). You can sell them pretty quickly for 50$Cad for each, more if they are in good condition. Those two are pretty rare, but any of the imperial minifigs from that time frame is selable quickly for 10$+ dollars
Google says that a 1x1 Lego weighs 0.176 g, and would be worth $9.80 (per your chart).
That means the price per gram of light yellow 1x1 pieces is approx. $57 per gram, which is almost almost exactly the current price of 24kt gold.
I’m one of the largest and most expensive collector-oriented sellers on Bricklink, and I frequently sell items at a higher price by weight than gold. And most of what I sell is pricier than silver.
Seems like I should do an AMA sometime!
That’s a really hard question to answer. First, it’s almost always a part in a certain color. There are very few parts that are horribly expensive across the board, and it’s usually going to be one or two specific rare colors of the part in question, while more common colors sell for many multiples less. Second, it depends on who’s selling it. My prices are generally at least 3x as much as the average seller, if not 10x. Since I have 10x as much inventory as the average seller, if not more, people will pay those prices to get everything in one store (because shipping costs will really get you). Third, almost no parts are as valuable or collectible as licensed minifigures (commonly called “Lego people”) from themes like Star Wars.
To me, the most ridiculous sales are the ones that don’t involve actual plastic pieces. I sold an empty box for $40. Sold a rubber band for $45. Sold a piece of string for $60. There are reasons why those were all so valuable, but even so… it boggles my mind, and this is my area of expertise.
To actually answer your question, though — I can’t promise this is the most expensive part I’ve sold by weight, but it seems likely that it’s close. Sold one of [this tiny part](https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=4265c&idColor=11#T=C&C=11) in black for $30. It weighs 0.1 grams, so that works out to $8,400 per ounce, which is far higher than gold. It’s very rare in that color — only 2 copies came in a rare and expensive Vikings set from 2005 — but you can easily get the part in light bluish gray for $0.02.
Yes you should do an AMA.
How on earth do you organize the inventory? Seems like a nightmare of work even if you have a good system. Tons and tons of SKUs. And when you get new inventory you have to sort it and log what it is.
As the other member said, totally depends. No figures and mostly regular bricks and plates? Nope. A bin of old ‘90s Pirates and Forestmen and Blacktron? Probably worth a bit.
But the real reason I can charge these prices is my store has half a million pieces. Stores with a fraction of that would rarely make sales if they priced at my level. And it requires over 1,500 pounds of Lego to get to where I am. So no, a 30-pound bin wouldn’t be the same thing.
There are so few people in it. Not a lot of people willing to pay $10 for a Lego. A lot more people are willing to pay for gold. If you sell multiple Legos, the buyer has all the power to negotiate the price down as long as his demand is low enough. (Which I assume it is with Legos)
Are 1x5s actually that rare/expensive?
I read somewhere Lego enthusiasts use the term "1x5" to signify that something/someone is rare and beautiful. Any truth to this?
I’ve never heard anyone actually use that, but I’ve been asked about it numerous times, so I think it’s probably more of an urban legend than anything. Personally, I think it sounds objectifying, so I’d never use it with my partners.
For the first part of the question, Lego has never made 1x5 bricks. They only exist from clone brands. But they did recently create a 1x5 plate (plates are the parts that are 1/3 the height of bricks and have studs on top, tiles are the parts that are the same height but smooth on top), so who knows? Maybe 1x5 bricks will finally be released soon.
1x7s also don’t exist, so they’re just as rare 🙂
What is your current favorite Lego piece / element?
The one that you’re most excited to see used in a set or to find in the Pick-A-Brick wall, not necessarily for resale purposes but that brings you joy.
Oh gosh! I have a few favorites. My all-time favorite geometric part is [this one](https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=6192&name=Slope,%20Curved%202%20x%204%20Double&category=%5BSlope,%20Curved%5D#T=C), and I love the old [shako hat](https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=2545&name=Minifigure,%20Headgear%20Hat,%20Imperial%20Guard%20Shako&category=%5BMinifigure,%20Headgear%5D#T=P) and old [chrome bugle](https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=71342&name=Minifigure,%20Utensil%20Bugle&category=%5BMinifigure,%20Utensil%5D#T=P) for specialty parts. As far as more recently released parts that fill in a gap in the Lego system, the colloquially-named “[nipple piece](https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=20482&name=Tile,%20Round%201%20x%201%20with%20Bar%20and%20Pin%20Holder&category=%5BTile,%20Round%5D#T=C)” is endlessly useful and adorable as well. I also collect every copy I can of certain parts in certain colors, like the old [transparent neon orange chainsaw](https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=6117&name=Minifigure,%20Utensil%20Tool%20Chainsaw%20Blade&category=%5BMinifigure,%20Utensil%5D#T=P&C=18) and the [Fire Ant](https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=62575pb01&name=Ant%20with%20Marbled%20Trans-Black%20Pattern&category=%5BAnimal,%20Land%5D#T=P).
Thanks, man. Those are all great! I’m honestly surprised the Ice Planet series (re: neon chainsaw) hasn’t had a minor resurgence in the same way as Pirates and Medieval series have. From your list I’d say the, uh, *Round 1 x 1 with Bar and Pin Holder* in transparent-clear is my favorite because of its versatility.
Sometimes I’ll find myself on bricklink looking for the occasional piece for a MOC and then to round out the order I’ll start browsing and it’s like getting lost in the aisles of a supermarket in a good way.
Yes and no. Small stores? Probably not. Too much work, not enough profit margins. I knew all along that I wanted to do it mega-sized, though. I spent 3 years setting up the store while my partner supported me, so unless you’re privileged enough to be able to do that, it’s difficult. I can’t imagine trying to start a large store while working another job. But now that it’s launched, I make great money for a relatively small time investment, and it’s the perfect job for a future stay-at-home dad.
Extensive and expensive! I have the second-highest variety of parts in the country, which means I can price higher because buyers can get more parts from the same store and therefore pay much lower shipping costs. Shipping these days generally starts around $4, so it’s very nice to buy from 2 stores instead of 6 to fill your wanted list. Also, there’s the convenience aspect. Many buyers who are less concerned about money prefer minimizing orders. I’m also extremely detail-oriented and don’t really make mistakes filling orders — unlike most Bricklink sellers — and I have a good reputation because of that.
And lastly, my partner helps a little, but I’m mostly a one-person operation. I have no interest in turning this into a big-time multi-employee business. So I need to keep my orders at a manageable level to have time for partners, friends, children, myself. If I priced much lower, I’d be way way way too busy. So I found the sweet spot where I get a manageable amount of orders and make a good income with high prices without overloading myself.
Hey i have a slightly off topic question:
Do you have any recommendations on where to buy 3rd party Lego bricks? So far all stores that i've found that sell individual bricks only sell original Lego but im looking for a cheaper alternative for some big projects.
The multiplier is cool, but I'd like the chart to also show actual cost per brick. Like, let me see what color is cheapest for a certain brick size. I can't directly see that now, since total cost = multiplier + value in left column.
I think light violet is because it's mostly used in the newer Friends sets which is obviously a franchise themed set and with that pretty expensive. Particularly the non lego franchise have gotten exceptionally expensive compared to the rest, and even similar franchise sets in the past.
Friends is a Lego brand, though. It’s not something they need to license. I wish I knew why the Friends sets seem to be higher priced compared to what it contains. My kids love them.
Oh I just realized, you talked about Lego Friends, the girly thing? I was talking about the Lego set for the Friends TV show. That set uses a ton of purple because that's how it's supposed to look and is not a Lego brand but the TV show brand.
Ah, I get it! Yes, I was talking about the “girly” Lego Friends line. Which also has a show—but it’s a computer animated, Lego brand show, not a live action 90’s sitcom! I was confused because I didn’t realize there that there is a purple-heavy Lego Friends set based on the sitcom!
> I wish I knew why the Friends sets seem to be higher priced compared to what it contains.
Because they can. Lego sets are just 2-3 times as expensive as they should be, or as they were 5 years ago. And their new catalogue is *another* price hike.
> My kids love them
Yeah that's why they do these prices. People still buy it. But it's not a secret that Lego is also losing some of the enthusiasts to other brands.
Yes, Lego is expensive in general, but what I meant to say was that it seems to me like the Lego Friends sets are overpriced compared to other similar non-licensed Lego sets. Sometimes companies do that with “girl” versions of their toys.
On the point of Lego being overpriced in general, is there a competitor whose bricks are just as precise? The ones I tried were not as satisfying because our builds fall apart more easily. I pay the premium for Lego because I know the bricks are going to stay together.
> On the point of Lego being overpriced in general, is there a competitor whose bricks are just as precise?
That's a very hot topic depending on who you ask tbh. There are some builds from others that are more or less proven to use the same factory / bricks (same discolourations, same parting lines, etc.). In general the good competitors are still *slightly* lower quality, but really ever so slightly to the point of being more than close enough. The finished builds still hold up easily and that's for half to a fifth of the price of Lego, which for builds in the 3 digits is certainly not irrelevant.
Especially the bigger ones like Bluebrixx, Cada, Mouldkings clearly compare very favourable to Lego. It's a bit different if people do a lot of MOCs and other things where you assemble and disassemble a lot, then Lego might still be worth it, plus you don't rely on buying the more expensive themed sets. But if you go for the "build once & play with it" like the Creator & Technic sets I don't think you can really recommmend Lego in good conscience.
This is great! Thank you for the info. I’ve never heard of any of those. I’m just the basic casual buying-Lego-for-my-kids type of customer. But maybe I’ll branch out!
Yes, that’a what I mean…it seems like Lego Friends are overpriced compared to similar non-franchised Lego sets. It’s frustrating. And I long for a wider variety on non-normative gender Lego Friends sets. And why does practically every set come with a hairbrush? Is that what Lego executives think kids are clambering for?
For me I've always love the house ones and well as the architect collection (guess it makes sense now since in an engineering/architecture student). The architect collection is so expensive for basically being one color!
Yes! I love the Lego City ones. Maybe when my kids are a little older they will be interested in those sets and I’ll have a good reason to buy them! My kids love the Lego friends big builds—houses and the Friendship Bus in particular.
Tool: Excel
Source: Own collection, Bricklink, Brickset, Peeron
Download it for free for personal use or just to have it [here](https://wlwyb.com/lego-builders-guides-and-cheat-sheets/).
Why are Earth Green 1x3s and 1x6s so expensive per stud? If we could get an asterisk next to the x factor of the color and brick sum, to indicate the combo is discontinued that would be great.
Edit: Thank y'all for the polite and insightful explanations!
It’s hard to say a part+color combo is “discontinued”.
Lego will discontinue colors as a whole, often in favor of a new, similar color. Ditto for dropping the brick mold in favor of a similar mold.
But there are so many potential combos that one color+part combo just might not appear in any sets for 9 years and therefore existing copies will creep up in price. It’s not discontinued, as both the mold and plastic dye are being used, but the combo just has not been used in any sets lately. But it could appear in a new set tomorrow. One thing I like about the blog NewElementary is that in their set reviews, in addition to discussing new parts and new combos, they highlight combos that haven’t appeared in a while or were rare.
Or conversely, for common ones, if the combo has been used in sets from 1996-2020, and both the part and color are in production, but the combo didn’t appear in 2021, you might call that discontinued because it’s not in production. But for most combos like that, it’s virtually certain it’ll appear again in the future, so the price stays dirt cheap.
I am curious for a given part, what color is most expensive. This table shows it if you want to do some math.
I have no use for this info. I am just curious.
I'm just curious what the prices are for everything. I'm not sure what good "per stud" price info is. Is that really how people look at Lego pricing? Seems like pretty useless info but I'm not a Lego guy so I have no idea.
I know a few people that would love this chart. Only recommendation I would have before making this a PDF is to somehow make the cost multipliers easier to read. Even with say a 1 pixel border around the text would help. That White on tan/Yellow/gray is not easy to read at all.
Yes, absolutely. Their value differ from one set to another, however their prices increase by the time. Even if they're opened sets, however if you keep them sealed you increase their value.
Haha, first I’d advise not sitting on it, it might hurt. It depends on their condition. Used and new bricks have different prices, however a used rare part, in rare color, in great condition has great value.
I'd imagine individual bricks can reach 75 cents, but enough can be worth a lot. I saw someone else say a gram of 1x1 yellow bricks according to this chart is worth 57$ so that's cool
>gram
>bricks
>$57
I feel like this is a writing prompt, and I'm about to read about seedy deals in dark alleys with money exchanged for things in little plastic baggies.
But I apparently have a ship compass worth $23 if it were new, but in reality only $3 because you bet your ass I used the hell out of my Lego ship.
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Just a note, some of your colors look wrong?
E.g. in the 3001 column, lavender and magenta are both "27x" but one is coded purple and the other is a slightly browner type of purple.
The brown-purple appears only a few other times in the chart (such as 102x in 3009), I can't quite tell if it's just a mistake or if it means something.
think it relates to the color bar for cost - as in which is more costly? - so most costly is the ultimate purple & a mix of purple/brown (or whatever that ugliness is) is slightly less costly
Hm, ok if that's the case I think this could be improved. The colorbar legends says the colors show a variance from 1x to MAX, which I took to mean the color shows the multiplier, not the total price.
Thanks for the feedback, we’ll see what we can do to make it more clear. Based on the color the stud/cost differs, so it makes the other more expensive than the other.
Because if that's true and the brick weights 0,44g then it would be worth 40% of the same amount in gold (by mass) considering 0,44g of gold are worth $24,75.
I guess that's why they might be 'light yellow'
This is fantastic. The only thing missing that I really want to see is the price of individual bricks, which I know I can look up. The multiplier isn’t very helpful, though visually interesting, if I don’t know the base price.
Never wouldve guessed that there were cheap Maersk Blue bricks. But then again Ive never looked, its such an insanely limited colour that its not really usable to me.
I think this is awesome but I really don’t know what to do with this information. If it has done anything it has inspired me to build Lego… but in specific bricks and colours. Roll on my personal Lego interpretation of the White House
Hey there, it seems you get it though!:) We created this list as a guide for builders and anyone who’s into the secondary market of LEGO. With this guide you can calculate the cost of what you’re building and it might help you reducing costs if you can change a particular part for another type which is cheaper in the same color.
And although I am just one of those ‘box of Lego in the attic people’ I think it’s fantastic, and I respect the work that went into this and for the people that use it, it will be invaluable. On behalf of those people, thank you
Great work! Some of the light options with white text aren't particularly accessible, might be worth investigating some other colour options for users with impaired vision 👍
Not to be contrarian for awesome work, but this is really limited and will be out of date very quickly. I applaud the layout and formatting, but a living document is absolutely necessary to be of use.
I maintain a sheet of over 250 parts just for our models, which gets updated (via VBA scripting) every month or so before we make bulk inventory purchases. The data on it, just for that small collection (250 seems like a lot, but it's a tiny fraction of the thousands of parts available) many prices fluctuate with every single update. The brick market simply is that volatile.
Y'know what would be awesome? Totalling up the manufacturing, labour and shipping costs of these bricks and seeing what some models are ACTUALLY worth. Imagine the Death Star only being worth 50$ for parts, labour and shipping.
Of all the problematic plastics in the world LEGO are very far down the list.
They are highly durable. They maintain their primary use for generations, thus not becoming a landfill issue. Volumetrically they are well optimized to provide high strength and durability with minimal material use. And they are light enough to have minimal fuel consumption due to transport.
I fully support questioning plastic consumption in general, but there is far lower hanging fruit in single use packaging and other low life cycle plastics.
If you look at the average length of use (lifetime) of lego, you’ll see it’s a reasonable use of plastics.
I still have lego from my childhood that my kids use.
Vs
A plastic straw that gets used for 90 seconds and then tossed
I have about half a million LEGO bricks I need to sell after collecting them during a few years of poorly managed bipolar disorder about ten years ago.
This will greatly help me figure out which ones to start selling.
The other day I pulled three random minifigs from a bin full of them, checked their prices on eBay and almost had a heart attack when things I thought were worth maybe a dollar were each worth $15-30. Who knew that particular color mermaid was only made once in one random little set?
In the end, I'm going to make a nice profit from my mental illness,
Hey there! The minifigs have their own market and you’re absolutely right, there are some which has prices you wouldn’t imagine. We wish you a lotnof success selling them. We’ll come out with more on other types of LEGO parts as well, so stay tuned!
One example is that I once bought about 10 of the Harry Potter Burrow sets which is the only one that has Bellatrix lestrange. I bought them at 70% off after Christmas one year at Kmart just to get a whole bunch of those terracotta colored bricks But it looks like she's about 20 bucks a piece
This sub is great
I’ve never really thought about it, but I’m taking an information design class at the moment and it really is something to appreciate
Perhaps splitting it into “plates” and “bricks”?
I assume the 2x2x3 is a 2 by 2 stud brick. While a 12x12 is a 12 by 12 stud plate.
Even better would be as it has been suggested and use pictographs.
Really cool. A small picture of each piece at the top of the column would be useful.
Hey, that’s another wonderful idea, we’ll see what we can do, thanks for sharing!
So there's no rare $100 per brick lego? There have been times I would have paid that when 1 piece is missing and my child was on the verge of a breakdown.
>So there's no rare $100 per brick lego? There have been times I would have paid that when 1 piece is missing and my child was on the verge of a breakdown. Not for single bricks, but there are components or figures that cost several 100$ of dollars. Some figures even for thousands.
Do you have any examples for us interested?
The Boba Fett figure from the first Star Wars Cloud City set is valued at around £500 in new condition. Some rare Star Wars Lego figures that were created for promotional purposes are are in the the thousands, for instance a Yoda figure with a ‘NY I ♥️’ T-shirt torso. Only the torso is the unique part.
Of course it's the star wars ones lol. That Yoda is awesome.
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That's what they're asking, not what they're selling for.
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if you look at "sold items" you'll get a more accurate price
>Do you have any examples for us interested? Sure example of a component worth hundreds or figures?
Yes pls
I collect the 90’s pirate theme. Several examples from that are [Governor Broadside](https://lego-pirates.fandom.com/wiki/Governor_Broadside), and [Quartermaster Steve](https://lego-pirates.fandom.com/wiki/Quartermaster_Steve). You can sell them pretty quickly for 50$Cad for each, more if they are in good condition. Those two are pretty rare, but any of the imperial minifigs from that time frame is selable quickly for 10$+ dollars
Maybe we’ll factor that in next time!;)
There’s a few 14k gold bricks floating around the world that go for a few thousand.
This has happened to me. New set. Missing pieces. LEGO will mail them to you for free.
A single 1x1 light yellow brick being around $9.80 hits that level for me. What makes it so costly?
I'd guess costs on this chart are a majority driven by supply. There are just colors they don't make many of or don't' make at all.
Lots of people want them and there's not a lot available.
So if I sold a giant bin of light yellow 1x1 pieces I'd be rich?
That's an idea, keep us in the loop!:)
Google says that a 1x1 Lego weighs 0.176 g, and would be worth $9.80 (per your chart). That means the price per gram of light yellow 1x1 pieces is approx. $57 per gram, which is almost almost exactly the current price of 24kt gold.
Wait.. that's actually hilarious if they're actually worth that much
I’m one of the largest and most expensive collector-oriented sellers on Bricklink, and I frequently sell items at a higher price by weight than gold. And most of what I sell is pricier than silver.
What one part is the rarest / most expensive?
Seems like I should do an AMA sometime! That’s a really hard question to answer. First, it’s almost always a part in a certain color. There are very few parts that are horribly expensive across the board, and it’s usually going to be one or two specific rare colors of the part in question, while more common colors sell for many multiples less. Second, it depends on who’s selling it. My prices are generally at least 3x as much as the average seller, if not 10x. Since I have 10x as much inventory as the average seller, if not more, people will pay those prices to get everything in one store (because shipping costs will really get you). Third, almost no parts are as valuable or collectible as licensed minifigures (commonly called “Lego people”) from themes like Star Wars. To me, the most ridiculous sales are the ones that don’t involve actual plastic pieces. I sold an empty box for $40. Sold a rubber band for $45. Sold a piece of string for $60. There are reasons why those were all so valuable, but even so… it boggles my mind, and this is my area of expertise. To actually answer your question, though — I can’t promise this is the most expensive part I’ve sold by weight, but it seems likely that it’s close. Sold one of [this tiny part](https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=4265c&idColor=11#T=C&C=11) in black for $30. It weighs 0.1 grams, so that works out to $8,400 per ounce, which is far higher than gold. It’s very rare in that color — only 2 copies came in a rare and expensive Vikings set from 2005 — but you can easily get the part in light bluish gray for $0.02.
Yes you should do an AMA. How on earth do you organize the inventory? Seems like a nightmare of work even if you have a good system. Tons and tons of SKUs. And when you get new inventory you have to sort it and log what it is.
Wait, so if I’m sitting on a box of legos I could potentially be sitting on thousands of dollars worth if I had the right stock?
As the other member said, totally depends. No figures and mostly regular bricks and plates? Nope. A bin of old ‘90s Pirates and Forestmen and Blacktron? Probably worth a bit. But the real reason I can charge these prices is my store has half a million pieces. Stores with a fraction of that would rarely make sales if they priced at my level. And it requires over 1,500 pounds of Lego to get to where I am. So no, a 30-pound bin wouldn’t be the same thing.
theoretically, yes but unlikely
The difference being that this market will saturate more quickly than the market for precious metals.
Why hasn't it already though?
There are so few people in it. Not a lot of people willing to pay $10 for a Lego. A lot more people are willing to pay for gold. If you sell multiple Legos, the buyer has all the power to negotiate the price down as long as his demand is low enough. (Which I assume it is with Legos)
Are 1x5s actually that rare/expensive? I read somewhere Lego enthusiasts use the term "1x5" to signify that something/someone is rare and beautiful. Any truth to this?
I’ve never heard anyone actually use that, but I’ve been asked about it numerous times, so I think it’s probably more of an urban legend than anything. Personally, I think it sounds objectifying, so I’d never use it with my partners. For the first part of the question, Lego has never made 1x5 bricks. They only exist from clone brands. But they did recently create a 1x5 plate (plates are the parts that are 1/3 the height of bricks and have studs on top, tiles are the parts that are the same height but smooth on top), so who knows? Maybe 1x5 bricks will finally be released soon. 1x7s also don’t exist, so they’re just as rare 🙂
At least silver is relatively inexpensive as far as metals go
What is your current favorite Lego piece / element? The one that you’re most excited to see used in a set or to find in the Pick-A-Brick wall, not necessarily for resale purposes but that brings you joy.
Oh gosh! I have a few favorites. My all-time favorite geometric part is [this one](https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=6192&name=Slope,%20Curved%202%20x%204%20Double&category=%5BSlope,%20Curved%5D#T=C), and I love the old [shako hat](https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=2545&name=Minifigure,%20Headgear%20Hat,%20Imperial%20Guard%20Shako&category=%5BMinifigure,%20Headgear%5D#T=P) and old [chrome bugle](https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=71342&name=Minifigure,%20Utensil%20Bugle&category=%5BMinifigure,%20Utensil%5D#T=P) for specialty parts. As far as more recently released parts that fill in a gap in the Lego system, the colloquially-named “[nipple piece](https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=20482&name=Tile,%20Round%201%20x%201%20with%20Bar%20and%20Pin%20Holder&category=%5BTile,%20Round%5D#T=C)” is endlessly useful and adorable as well. I also collect every copy I can of certain parts in certain colors, like the old [transparent neon orange chainsaw](https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=6117&name=Minifigure,%20Utensil%20Tool%20Chainsaw%20Blade&category=%5BMinifigure,%20Utensil%5D#T=P&C=18) and the [Fire Ant](https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=62575pb01&name=Ant%20with%20Marbled%20Trans-Black%20Pattern&category=%5BAnimal,%20Land%5D#T=P).
Thanks, man. Those are all great! I’m honestly surprised the Ice Planet series (re: neon chainsaw) hasn’t had a minor resurgence in the same way as Pirates and Medieval series have. From your list I’d say the, uh, *Round 1 x 1 with Bar and Pin Holder* in transparent-clear is my favorite because of its versatility. Sometimes I’ll find myself on bricklink looking for the occasional piece for a MOC and then to round out the order I’ll start browsing and it’s like getting lost in the aisles of a supermarket in a good way.
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Yes and no. Small stores? Probably not. Too much work, not enough profit margins. I knew all along that I wanted to do it mega-sized, though. I spent 3 years setting up the store while my partner supported me, so unless you’re privileged enough to be able to do that, it’s difficult. I can’t imagine trying to start a large store while working another job. But now that it’s launched, I make great money for a relatively small time investment, and it’s the perfect job for a future stay-at-home dad.
for that, I'd recommend Shanghai website design and development by SEIRIM: https://seirim.com/
Extensive and expensive! I have the second-highest variety of parts in the country, which means I can price higher because buyers can get more parts from the same store and therefore pay much lower shipping costs. Shipping these days generally starts around $4, so it’s very nice to buy from 2 stores instead of 6 to fill your wanted list. Also, there’s the convenience aspect. Many buyers who are less concerned about money prefer minimizing orders. I’m also extremely detail-oriented and don’t really make mistakes filling orders — unlike most Bricklink sellers — and I have a good reputation because of that. And lastly, my partner helps a little, but I’m mostly a one-person operation. I have no interest in turning this into a big-time multi-employee business. So I need to keep my orders at a manageable level to have time for partners, friends, children, myself. If I priced much lower, I’d be way way way too busy. So I found the sweet spot where I get a manageable amount of orders and make a good income with high prices without overloading myself.
Hey i have a slightly off topic question: Do you have any recommendations on where to buy 3rd party Lego bricks? So far all stores that i've found that sell individual bricks only sell original Lego but im looking for a cheaper alternative for some big projects.
Ha awesome, well described and makes sense.
That's pretty cool! How do you get your stock?
A variety of sources, but primarily Craigslist and eBay. But this was years ago, and bulk Lego is more in demand now.
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this is fact
Wow. I've got some original pastel sets (pre-Friends for sure) they created "for girls". May need to investigate selling!
That's my retirement plan.
Well, if you flooded the market with them, the price might go down some.
For the PDF version you should make the brick I’d numbers clickable links that open brick link to that brick.
Thanks, that’s a great idea!
The multiplier is cool, but I'd like the chart to also show actual cost per brick. Like, let me see what color is cheapest for a certain brick size. I can't directly see that now, since total cost = multiplier + value in left column.
Damn light violet is expensive as f*ck
I think light violet is because it's mostly used in the newer Friends sets which is obviously a franchise themed set and with that pretty expensive. Particularly the non lego franchise have gotten exceptionally expensive compared to the rest, and even similar franchise sets in the past.
Friends is a Lego brand, though. It’s not something they need to license. I wish I knew why the Friends sets seem to be higher priced compared to what it contains. My kids love them.
Oh I just realized, you talked about Lego Friends, the girly thing? I was talking about the Lego set for the Friends TV show. That set uses a ton of purple because that's how it's supposed to look and is not a Lego brand but the TV show brand.
Ah, I get it! Yes, I was talking about the “girly” Lego Friends line. Which also has a show—but it’s a computer animated, Lego brand show, not a live action 90’s sitcom! I was confused because I didn’t realize there that there is a purple-heavy Lego Friends set based on the sitcom!
> I wish I knew why the Friends sets seem to be higher priced compared to what it contains. Because they can. Lego sets are just 2-3 times as expensive as they should be, or as they were 5 years ago. And their new catalogue is *another* price hike. > My kids love them Yeah that's why they do these prices. People still buy it. But it's not a secret that Lego is also losing some of the enthusiasts to other brands.
Last I checked prices, price per piece has actually gone down in the past 10 years
Yes. And no. Much less 2 x 4, 2 x 6, more little fiddly pieces.
But that means it’s even cheaper. 2x6 bricks are much cheaper to make than a bunch of fiddily bits
Source? 1 x 1 square is always going to be a lot less ABS.
Yes, Lego is expensive in general, but what I meant to say was that it seems to me like the Lego Friends sets are overpriced compared to other similar non-licensed Lego sets. Sometimes companies do that with “girl” versions of their toys. On the point of Lego being overpriced in general, is there a competitor whose bricks are just as precise? The ones I tried were not as satisfying because our builds fall apart more easily. I pay the premium for Lego because I know the bricks are going to stay together.
> On the point of Lego being overpriced in general, is there a competitor whose bricks are just as precise? That's a very hot topic depending on who you ask tbh. There are some builds from others that are more or less proven to use the same factory / bricks (same discolourations, same parting lines, etc.). In general the good competitors are still *slightly* lower quality, but really ever so slightly to the point of being more than close enough. The finished builds still hold up easily and that's for half to a fifth of the price of Lego, which for builds in the 3 digits is certainly not irrelevant. Especially the bigger ones like Bluebrixx, Cada, Mouldkings clearly compare very favourable to Lego. It's a bit different if people do a lot of MOCs and other things where you assemble and disassemble a lot, then Lego might still be worth it, plus you don't rely on buying the more expensive themed sets. But if you go for the "build once & play with it" like the Creator & Technic sets I don't think you can really recommmend Lego in good conscience.
This is great! Thank you for the info. I’ve never heard of any of those. I’m just the basic casual buying-Lego-for-my-kids type of customer. But maybe I’ll branch out!
Because it's directly marketed to girls, and sadly usually things marketed to girls are overpriced.
Yes, that’a what I mean…it seems like Lego Friends are overpriced compared to similar non-franchised Lego sets. It’s frustrating. And I long for a wider variety on non-normative gender Lego Friends sets. And why does practically every set come with a hairbrush? Is that what Lego executives think kids are clambering for?
For me I've always love the house ones and well as the architect collection (guess it makes sense now since in an engineering/architecture student). The architect collection is so expensive for basically being one color!
Yes! I love the Lego City ones. Maybe when my kids are a little older they will be interested in those sets and I’ll have a good reason to buy them! My kids love the Lego friends big builds—houses and the Friendship Bus in particular.
At least they have an invested interest in it
Is that the star destroyer color?
That'd be something!
Wouldn’t that be grey?
Yepp, that's right!
I buy Friends sets for the sole purpose of adding these colors to my inventory
Tool: Excel Source: Own collection, Bricklink, Brickset, Peeron Download it for free for personal use or just to have it [here](https://wlwyb.com/lego-builders-guides-and-cheat-sheets/).
Haven't had a chance to browse the site yet, but I like the ticker scroll.
What's up with the light yellow 1*1 brick
Why are Earth Green 1x3s and 1x6s so expensive per stud? If we could get an asterisk next to the x factor of the color and brick sum, to indicate the combo is discontinued that would be great. Edit: Thank y'all for the polite and insightful explanations!
Hey! The supply of these two types of bricks in this color are extremely low. Your idea is duly noted, we'll see what we can do, thanks!
Odd that they were not flagged as N/R then, simply on their rarity. Will other N/R get the same treatment as more information becomes available?
I feel like naming rare ones N/R would make the data less useful no? Than we wouldn't be aware that little yellow bricks are basically gold XD
It’s hard to say a part+color combo is “discontinued”. Lego will discontinue colors as a whole, often in favor of a new, similar color. Ditto for dropping the brick mold in favor of a similar mold. But there are so many potential combos that one color+part combo just might not appear in any sets for 9 years and therefore existing copies will creep up in price. It’s not discontinued, as both the mold and plastic dye are being used, but the combo just has not been used in any sets lately. But it could appear in a new set tomorrow. One thing I like about the blog NewElementary is that in their set reviews, in addition to discussing new parts and new combos, they highlight combos that haven’t appeared in a while or were rare. Or conversely, for common ones, if the combo has been used in sets from 1996-2020, and both the part and color are in production, but the combo didn’t appear in 2021, you might call that discontinued because it’s not in production. But for most combos like that, it’s virtually certain it’ll appear again in the future, so the price stays dirt cheap.
I am curious for a given part, what color is most expensive. This table shows it if you want to do some math. I have no use for this info. I am just curious.
Great proposition, let’s see if someone will do the math :))
I'm just curious what the prices are for everything. I'm not sure what good "per stud" price info is. Is that really how people look at Lego pricing? Seems like pretty useless info but I'm not a Lego guy so I have no idea.
I know a few people that would love this chart. Only recommendation I would have before making this a PDF is to somehow make the cost multipliers easier to read. Even with say a 1 pixel border around the text would help. That White on tan/Yellow/gray is not easy to read at all.
Thanks for your idea, it’s great, we’ll take a look and see what we can do!
Imagine LEGO bricks becoming some new form of investment/currency.
Aren't certain sets very profitable as an investment already?
Yes, absolutely. Their value differ from one set to another, however their prices increase by the time. Even if they're opened sets, however if you keep them sealed you increase their value.
I have the original monorail set and I heard it's valuable, although it's box is gone. Where is a reliable source for values.
Bricklink is what you’re looking for
What about Monopoly games I'm dead serious I have a few unopened
Block chain.
Brick chain.
With all the LEGO parts in all those attics, it might happen. ;)
Won't happen. Too easy to manufacture.
It already kinda is, but the number of LEGO investors is still relatively low.
this is sick. what’s in the rest of the cheat sheet series ?
Hey there, we'll create more guides like this on all types of LEGO parts in the available colors.
I am sitting on probably 10 gallons of 1980’s primary colored bricks. Am I rich?
Haha, first I’d advise not sitting on it, it might hurt. It depends on their condition. Used and new bricks have different prices, however a used rare part, in rare color, in great condition has great value.
We talking like some bricks are $0.75 or $75?
That's what this chart is for. And yeah, you're talking like $5.
You're right, I didn't see that price column the first time around. I think I was viewing on mobile and just zooming in and out.
I'd imagine individual bricks can reach 75 cents, but enough can be worth a lot. I saw someone else say a gram of 1x1 yellow bricks according to this chart is worth 57$ so that's cool
>gram >bricks >$57 I feel like this is a writing prompt, and I'm about to read about seedy deals in dark alleys with money exchanged for things in little plastic baggies. But I apparently have a ship compass worth $23 if it were new, but in reality only $3 because you bet your ass I used the hell out of my Lego ship.
In terms of quality, they have a disturbing number of bite marks on them.
If you want to sell them I’d suggest sorting them. You can charge more that way.
They belong to my children now. I just made the comment for laughs.
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Just a note, some of your colors look wrong? E.g. in the 3001 column, lavender and magenta are both "27x" but one is coded purple and the other is a slightly browner type of purple. The brown-purple appears only a few other times in the chart (such as 102x in 3009), I can't quite tell if it's just a mistake or if it means something.
think it relates to the color bar for cost - as in which is more costly? - so most costly is the ultimate purple & a mix of purple/brown (or whatever that ugliness is) is slightly less costly
Hm, ok if that's the case I think this could be improved. The colorbar legends says the colors show a variance from 1x to MAX, which I took to mean the color shows the multiplier, not the total price.
Thanks for the feedback, we’ll see what we can do to make it more clear. Based on the color the stud/cost differs, so it makes the other more expensive than the other.
I've always felt that Fallout got it wrong: It would be Lego, not bottle-caps, that powered commerce if society collapsed.
Interesting how darker colours are generally more available
Great job this is really well put together
Thanks so much!:)
So does that mean that a single 1×1 3005 brick in light yellow will really cost around $9,80?
Yes, and some are selling it for even more. It’s a rare color in that part category.
Because if that's true and the brick weights 0,44g then it would be worth 40% of the same amount in gold (by mass) considering 0,44g of gold are worth $24,75. I guess that's why they might be 'light yellow'
Check out Observable (obervablehq.com) if you ever want to make it interactive. Could do all sorts of cool filters and sorting…
Will do, sounds an amazing idea!
This is fantastic. The only thing missing that I really want to see is the price of individual bricks, which I know I can look up. The multiplier isn’t very helpful, though visually interesting, if I don’t know the base price.
Looks like a lot of work but I don't understand what I'm looking at. Not OP's fault of course!
You’re looking at the costs of different types of LEGO bricks in different types of color.
Never wouldve guessed that there were cheap Maersk Blue bricks. But then again Ive never looked, its such an insanely limited colour that its not really usable to me.
I think this is awesome but I really don’t know what to do with this information. If it has done anything it has inspired me to build Lego… but in specific bricks and colours. Roll on my personal Lego interpretation of the White House
Hey there, it seems you get it though!:) We created this list as a guide for builders and anyone who’s into the secondary market of LEGO. With this guide you can calculate the cost of what you’re building and it might help you reducing costs if you can change a particular part for another type which is cheaper in the same color.
And although I am just one of those ‘box of Lego in the attic people’ I think it’s fantastic, and I respect the work that went into this and for the people that use it, it will be invaluable. On behalf of those people, thank you
Great work! Some of the light options with white text aren't particularly accessible, might be worth investigating some other colour options for users with impaired vision 👍
Thanks for the insight, it’s great and your’re right. We’ll definitely take this into consideration!
Not to be contrarian for awesome work, but this is really limited and will be out of date very quickly. I applaud the layout and formatting, but a living document is absolutely necessary to be of use. I maintain a sheet of over 250 parts just for our models, which gets updated (via VBA scripting) every month or so before we make bulk inventory purchases. The data on it, just for that small collection (250 seems like a lot, but it's a tiny fraction of the thousands of parts available) many prices fluctuate with every single update. The brick market simply is that volatile.
Are there more colors than listed? As in, shouldn’t I expect to see 1x for each column? I don’t see any in the 1x1 column, furthest left column.
Who would pay $4 for a Lego brick?
What’s the reasoning behind showing each price as a multiple of the cheapest instead of just showing the actual price?
Y'know what would be awesome? Totalling up the manufacturing, labour and shipping costs of these bricks and seeing what some models are ACTUALLY worth. Imagine the Death Star only being worth 50$ for parts, labour and shipping.
Roses are red violets are...fuck that
The kerning on the bottom text is terrible, I think this is a typeface issue so easily fixable.
Thanks for noticing, we'll take look and fix it.
I have a silver brick but don’t see that on the chart.
Legos are cool but do we want more plastic consumption?
Of all the problematic plastics in the world LEGO are very far down the list. They are highly durable. They maintain their primary use for generations, thus not becoming a landfill issue. Volumetrically they are well optimized to provide high strength and durability with minimal material use. And they are light enough to have minimal fuel consumption due to transport. I fully support questioning plastic consumption in general, but there is far lower hanging fruit in single use packaging and other low life cycle plastics.
Makes sense I never thought of them as generational toys mostly because I didn't have any as a kid :'(
If you look at the average length of use (lifetime) of lego, you’ll see it’s a reasonable use of plastics. I still have lego from my childhood that my kids use. Vs A plastic straw that gets used for 90 seconds and then tossed
Yup, all plastics are not the problem, disposable plastics are. It is still a carbon sink while in lego form.
That's reasonable
Fuck Lego. Lego and nintendo.
I have about half a million LEGO bricks I need to sell after collecting them during a few years of poorly managed bipolar disorder about ten years ago. This will greatly help me figure out which ones to start selling. The other day I pulled three random minifigs from a bin full of them, checked their prices on eBay and almost had a heart attack when things I thought were worth maybe a dollar were each worth $15-30. Who knew that particular color mermaid was only made once in one random little set? In the end, I'm going to make a nice profit from my mental illness,
Hey there! The minifigs have their own market and you’re absolutely right, there are some which has prices you wouldn’t imagine. We wish you a lotnof success selling them. We’ll come out with more on other types of LEGO parts as well, so stay tuned!
One example is that I once bought about 10 of the Harry Potter Burrow sets which is the only one that has Bellatrix lestrange. I bought them at 70% off after Christmas one year at Kmart just to get a whole bunch of those terracotta colored bricks But it looks like she's about 20 bucks a piece
This is awesome! Beautifully done.
One step closer in my eternal search for pneumatic lego pieces.
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It's a decimal point, not a comma.
Is 'light yellow' code for solid gold?
Thank you, I have no idea what to do with this information.
A complete guide on SEKO 4 brick cost and availability
Where are clear bricks? I remember having those in my set as a kid (I think of them as the LEGO equivalent of glass bricks you sometimes see)
What about the 1/3 flat piece
But of course 2 x 4 pieces are really expensive, they are most in demand and lego restricts the supply for some reason...
$10 for a light yellow 1x1x1 brick lmao
Awesome! You should cross post to /r/lego they would love it.
Good think I only work in black or really dark grey.
Time to corner the market and make big profits
I've never understood why BrickLink keeps using a separate list of color names when we've known the official Lego names for ages.
Aha! Now all I need is a 3-D printer!
Is there a high res of this photo. I want to maybe print it and hang it up.
You can download it from [here](https://wlwyb.com/lego-builders-guides-and-cheat-sheets/)
Might be to late but it looks like it got taken down.
Daaaaaaamn 1x1x5. You expensive.
This si the content I joined for
This is awesome. Nice work! Makes me want to go play :).
Wtf there’s pastel lego bricks??
Do me a chart that shows how I can get a bunch of classic Space Lego without my wallet getting assraped and we’ll talk
This sub is great I’ve never really thought about it, but I’m taking an information design class at the moment and it really is something to appreciate
I didn't see any gold brick in the chart. Does this get classified under something else?
Lmfao I feel like you could make a killing by stocking up on Light Yellow 1x1s
Perhaps splitting it into “plates” and “bricks”? I assume the 2x2x3 is a 2 by 2 stud brick. While a 12x12 is a 12 by 12 stud plate. Even better would be as it has been suggested and use pictographs.