Hi all,
I just wanted to know how I can build up and army of men with weapons, helms, and shields without spending ALOT of money (should I make custom helms, weapons, and shields and put stickers on cheap easy to get legs and torsos?) . My collection is mostly space, but I am beginning to like midieval times more. I don't have too many castle sets or pieces (I guess I have some sort of advantage since I don't have tons of the old grey ). Should I bother making a large order of the new greys, or do you think LEGO will ever change back to the old?
Thank you for any answers.
The best way to enlarge your collection in terms of castle would be sites like ebay, troy's surplus lego, etc... or you could wait until the new jellybean style knights are on sale and buy them in bulk... the disadvantage being that you would have a lot of funny looking knights and not much else. If I were you, I'd try to buy old sets online, because the new ones don't look all that great.
Don't make me angry... I'm running out of places to hide the bodies.
There are a number of strategies, not all available at the moment. I built up my armies by getting a whole bunch of high proportion of minifigs to parts sets on deep discount. Minifig packs, alas, seem to be a thing of the past. And you can't get stuff on deep discount if it wasn't just in production - you'll have to wait until the new sets appear, go through their production cycle and then get discounted.
So you are really limited at this point to buying used figures off of eBay, Bricklink, and garage sales. Garage sales are hit or mostly miss, but if you are on a tight budget and you have the time on Saturday mornings and you aren't in any kind of hurry it can be the cheapest way.
Bricklink gets you exactly what you want, but it is going to be more expensive - sellers aren't under an artificial time constraint and can wait until they get their price. Further, most figs are sold without much in the way of accessories like shields and weapons, so that kicks up their cost.
Buying mixed lots of Castle figs (some Fright Knight, some Forestmen, some Black Falcons, etc.) is a cheaper way. The more homogeneous the lot, the higher the price generally (unless it is of a paricularly unpopular/plentiful specific figure - the classic printed breastplate fig is plentiful and not particularly in demand). When bidding, keep in mind what accessories are in the lot and adjust your bid accordingly. Most of all, be a patient bidder - if the bid goes too high, don't worry, there are plenty of Castle minifigs lots and sooner or later you'll find one that isn't bid up too high.
Redwine the Ribald: Stare long enough into the abyss...
Two-Tonic Tippler: ...and you spit into it.
1. Find a Bricklink site with hundreds of castle minifigs (Like Troy's).
2. Get the address.
3. Drive by and check out the neighborhood. Is it well lit? How often do cars drive by?
4. Purchase a completely black outfit, with a hood and gloves......
There really isn't a good method right now because of the new set selection. Your best bet is to check eBay regularly and hope you stumble upon some deals. Look for items that are spelled wrong, or for poor descriptions. Good luck!
If you don't mind using Jedi torsos, several sets have very cheap Lukes from the Final Duel sets and very cheap Qui Gon figs. Check those out. Several European stores have very cheap helmets, usually less than .30 cents each. Spears and halberds are realatively cheap usually you can find them for .10 cents or less. Again bows are running just over the .10 cent mark and quivers will run you about .20 cents each. Shields are the toughest items to get for less than .50 cents. I would recomend using 2 x 2 radar dishes for shields if you are short of money. If you have a lot of minifigs already and just need castle torsos, check the bricklink Catalog and look for castle themed torsos, some can be had for less than $1.00. Other methods like ebay and garage sales have already been mentioned, so be patient and ebay might net you a deal. If there are still final duel sets and the Qui Gon set with the battle droids in your area, if they are selling for cheap, buy a bunch of those and sell to battle droids, Imperial officers and stormtroopers on Bricklink or ebay. I usually price my stormies at just under the lowest available price and they sell off right away. You will usually end up selling them for enough that your jedi figs are free. I've given away some secrets here, but I don't mind.
Will
After a long absence, I have returned. I can't wait to start building again.
). Should I bother making a large order of the new greys, or do you think LEGO will ever change back to the old?
