January Cups

General

January_cups

This last week I made two trips to my local Lego store. I hadn’t planned it that way, but curiosity about the contents of the pick-a-brick wall took me there once on my own and then we took a family trip to the mall on the weekend. Two trips and two large cups of elements.

I like going to the Lego store on my own sometimes. It’s about an 8 mile bike ride, but there are bike lanes that span nearly the whole route, so it makes for a very pleasant jaunt.

cup_one_contents

My first cup was fairly eclectic. I have a micropolis project that I am working on, so most of the contents will be going to support that. I managed to pack 820 elements into the cup, bringing the price per piece down to just under 1¢. I calculated how much I would have to pay to buy everything on Bricklink and it came out to $57.71 (using average prices and not including shipping). Not a bad value for my $15.99.

The second cup was a bit more specialized. I’ve been collecting supplies for a rather large microscale project and realized that I was going to need a lot more translucent orange cheeses.

cup_two_contents

In between my visits, the store had swapped out the tires that were in the wall for a small treaded tire that would be perfect for a MOC that I’m working on now, so I tossed a handful into the cup. A few more 1×2 plates in translucent clear and medium blue filled out the large cup.

I will admit that it took me forever to count all of those cheeses, but I tend to get obsessive about knowing how many elements I fit into the cup. By the time I was done, my kitchen table was covered in tiny piles (of 20 cheeses each) and the grand total came to 2154.

counting_cheeses

So, all said and done, the second cup came out to 2372 elements for a price per piece of less than 1¢, with the Bricklink value coming in at $56.44. Again, the pick-a-brick can be a great value for small elements.

both_cups_contents

So here is my combined haul in all of its glory. I’ve already started using some of the elements (the tires worked perfectly) and I’ll be using more of them soon on a micropolis project. Over 3000 elements for $31.98 (with a street value well over a $100), not a bad at all.