How to buy the bricks for a custom LEGO build

Official LEGO sets come in a box. A custom build, like the ones on this site, doesn’t, so you order the exact bricks yourself. There are three realistic ways to do it. None is perfect, and here is what each is actually like.

1. LEGO Pick-a-Brick (official, new bricks)

LEGO’s own parts shop lets you buy individual bricks in specific colours. It’s the simplest route if you want brand-new bricks from the source. The catch: you choose pieces by hand, and some colours and sizes are out of stock at any given time. LEGO has been testing a bulk-upload feature, but at the time of writing it’s limited to the US and Canada, so UK builders still add bricks one line at a time.

2. BrickLink (the marketplace)

BrickLink is a marketplace of independent sellers, owned by the LEGO Group, with new and used bricks. Its big advantage for custom builds is the wanted list: you upload a file listing every part and colour, and BrickLink shows you the sellers who have them. Each build page here has a ready-made wanted list to download. Go to Want → Upload on bricklink.com and upload the XML file.

Watch out for shipping: if no single seller has everything, you’ll buy from several, and each charges its own postage. Fewer, bigger orders are cheaper.

3. Rebrickable (the planner)

Rebrickable is a free site for managing parts lists. You can import a parts list (each build page offers a CSV) and use it to keep track of what you have and what you still need. It’s a handy way to keep a build organised even if you buy elsewhere.

The grey-naming trap

In 2003–2004 LEGO changed its greys. Today’s Light Bluish Gray and Dark Bluish Gray are what you want; the older “Light Gray” and “Dark Gray” are different, slightly greener colours that still show up on the used market. Order the bluish ones.

What will it cost?

As a rough guide, a 180-brick build lands around £19 in parts and a ~1,000-brick build around £115 at Pick-a-Brick-style prices, plus postage. That’s similar to buying an official set of the same size, not dramatically cheaper. The difference is that there is no official set of these builds, so this is how you get them in real bricks.

Tips

• Order about 5–10% extra of the smallest bricks (1×1 and 1×2). They’re cheap and easy to lose.
• Mixed batches (especially used bricks) can vary slightly in shade. For big flat areas, buy one colour from one seller.
• Build bottom-up and stagger the joints like a brick wall. It’s the single biggest factor in a sturdy model.

See the builds and parts lists

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