Happy 2016!

It's been a bit since I've posted.  You saw a lot of posts around the holiday period because I took some time off from my day job and got to spend more time with my fun job.  I've finished off most of my building backlog minus one set.  I'm working on the Simpson's Kwik-e-Mart set.  It's taken me longer to build since it's a larger set and I've been busy.  I'm taking notes and pictures and will post a review once I'm done.  There are 17 bags and I'm only through around 4 at this point.  A good build so far though.

For those of you that follow the LEGO company and their sales, one big event for them is the day after Christmas.  They put a lot of sets on sale.  You can find some good deals although you have to act fast.  Often times I'll check in the morning on 26 December and most of the sets they had listed are sold out already.  I was able to pick up some Simpson's Series 2 minifigures and a LEGO Movie set at half off.  I also picked up another Rey's Speeder set which means some additional inventory for the store.  

LEGO also released some new sets on 1 January.  There are some new Star Wars - The Force Awakens sets, the new LEGO Nexo Knights, and a few others ones so check them out.  I haven't bought any yet, but will let you know if I do.

I also managed to catch the LEGO Ideas - The Big Bang Theory set on sale at Amazon to add some minifigures to the store inventory.

Were you able to catch any of the sales after Christmas or in the New Year?  Have you purchased any of the new 2016 sets?  Let me know in the comments!

How Much is a Waffle?

First off, thanks to all those who came out and supported Stapleton Elementary School in Rio Rancho.  We sold a lot of minifigures and our new addition of minifigure Christmas ornaments.  Support from Bricks for Bricks and other vendors there will help the school with many of their programs.

At the shows I go to, I get to talk to many fans of Lego.  Some are kids, some are parents with kids who are fans, some teens and adults who are fans, and many others.  I had some interesting conversations at the Stapleton Elementary School event.  One of them involved a missing waffle.  Not a real waffle, but a LEGO waffle.  It's a 2x2 round tile plate and I'm pretty sure that it comes from set 70818 The LEGO Movie: Double Decker Couch.  It looks something like this:

This screen shot comes from www.brickset.com on the parts lists for set 70818.

Long story short, a boy at a friend's house lost the waffle part and they wanted to replace it.  So they went onto E-Bay and found the part for $4.  Needless to say they weren't happy to pay that much for the new part.

So what should you do if that happens to you?  Well first off, be warned that there are a lot of folks out there on E-Bay, Amazon, and other sites looking to make a quick buck.  Did someone profit on this one?  My guess is yes.  

Set 70818 was sold on LEGO.com from 1 January 2015 to 23 November 2015.  I didn't catch when the part was lost, but if it was before 23 November, it would have been good to just buy the set for the $14.99 that it retailed for versus paying the $4.00 for the one part.  

Another option is to check with the LEGO Company themselves.  If you lost a piece, they will sell you replacements.  I have never used the service, but it is available.  You can go to their website HERE.

If you need to find the part info, you can go to www.brickset.com and type in the set number.  They will give you an inventory list with all of the info on every part in the set.

Another option is to go to Bricklink.  Bricklink is not as easy to use, but the competition is much greater so sometimes you can find some good deals.  I looked up the part and the info I found is HERE.  233 sellers are selling 1,797 waffle parts on Bricklink.  You have to weed through a few if you don't want to deal with foreign sellers.  The first US seller I found is from Texas and has the part for $0.30, but the shipping is $2.45 and the minimum order is $2.00 so you'd have to find a few more things to buy from that seller.  Either way, $0.30 is much better than $4.00 for the part.  Granted you'll probably end up paying a little more than $4 due to the minimum order, but you'll get a few more things.

I hope my suggestions helped.  Worse case, find a LEGO fan (or nerd if you want to call me that) and I'll be glad to help you find the missing piece and give you a bunch of options.