February 2017: My Pick-a-Brick Wall Experience

Back in October of 2015, I visited my first ever LEGO brand store.  As I am sure most of my readers already know, the LEGO brand stores are known (in part) for their Pick-a-Brick wall.  Basically, a wall full of various LEGO pieces (all sorted) that you can choose from as you fill up a single-price cup.

This past February, I was able to visit my second ever LEGO brand store (this time in Rochester, NY).  Once again, I made a beeline to the Pick-a-Brick wall and I filled up a cup.  As with the last time, I didn't do any "stacking" or other things that would have allowed me to maximize my cup space.  Instead, I simply kept adding pieces until no more would easily fit.

Before I show off what I was able to nab this time around, I should note that last time I ended up with a total of 298 pieces for $16 (or about 5 cents per piece).  That haul had a lot of plant pieces (which I loved...and which were sadly not present at this year's Pick-a-Brick wall).  All that said, let's see how I did this time around!

You'll probably notice somewhat of a theme with the pieces I was able to get this year.  While there were no plant pieces or square 2x2 flat tiles (both of which I wanted), I was able to nab a fair number of useful pieces...and in useful colors as well!  For example, I did quite well getting a lot of new sand green pieces for my collection.

In that batch alone, I managed to grab 95 sand green 1x2 bricks with two studs on the side and 70 sand green 1x1 bricks.  I would have liked to have the option of adding some slightly larger sand green bricks (1x2 and 1x4 would have been especially nice) but I'll take what I can get!

Next, I hit the white brick section pretty hard.

In this case, I grabbed 6 large white panels (this took up a lot of space in the cup but I didn't have many left so I needed them).  I also was able to grab 6 white seats, 17 clear 1x2 bricks, and 30 white grill pieces.  I have no idea how the 2 black cheese slopes also ended up in my cup but I'll take 'em.

Last time, I grabbed quite a few 2x4 bricks - and since it's been two years and I still haven't found a use for a lot of those, I mostly avoided the classic LEGO brick this time around (I couldn't help myself though and did grab 9 of the 2x4 bricks in tan).

There wasn't a big plate selection available either, but I was happy to add 7 of the 4x4 green plates.  I always seem to need those.  I also threw in a handful (14 in total) of the 2x4 tan plates and I grabbed enough pieces to complete 4 turntables.  Finally, I threw in 34 of the white 1x2 bricks (a piece that I am always running out of) and 24 of the white angle pieces with four studs on the side.

As you can see, I managed to pack in a lot of pieces without even trying all that hard - and I'm still not done with the cup!

Finishing off, I grabbed 53 gray bricks with 1 stud on the side, 56 of the green bricks that also have one stud on the side, and 68 sand green 1x2 plates (can you tell I love the sand green color yet)?!  Finally, I snuck in 44 of the white rounded pieces, 26 of the white tooth pieces, and 31 of the white angle/seat pieces.

All told, not a bad haul for $15.99 (plus tax).  In the end, I had a cup with 596 pieces (or about 2.6 cents per piece).  Based strictly on price-per-piece, I did much better this time around (but it should be noted that I didn't get a lot in the way of unique pieces, nor did I get any greenery or fence pieces).
Overall, I was happy with my cup of pieces.  Getting a large number of sand green pieces was the real highlight for me - and hopefully I'll come up with a neat use for that color at some point soon.  I was also happy landing a whole lot of pieces with studs on the side - my collection was woefully lacking in that department prior to the store visit.

I enjoyed my visit to the Rochester store, even if I was only there for about 15 minutes (I had a plane to catch that day)!  I do hope to make it back there sometime soon seeing as how it's the closest official LEGO store to where I live (and thanks to this purchase plus a few other sets I bought, I was even given a LEGO Batman movie poster and a LEGO Batman polybag as "free" gifts).  

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