.png)
Imagine this. You've just bought a bulk lot that has some great sets you've always wanted, but they're all disassembled and some are missing pieces! Unfortunately, you've checked LEGO Pick-A-Brick walls, your local chats, your friends and family, and no one has that one piece from 2007 that came solely in the set you're trying to rebuild! Fear not, for if you need individual parts and want an easy and smooth experience, look no further than BrickLink.
Founded in 2000 and acquired by LEGO in 2013, BrickLink is an online marketplace specialising in specifically LEGO parts of all kinds, sorted by part type, set number, theme, interest and many more categories. It's incredibly useful for those of you juggling multiple builds, MOCs, set rebuilds and other LEGO related projects.
From my talks with other LEGO fans, some were not aware of the platform, and found that finding certain parts was quite difficult. Ultimately, this is the joy of BrickLink as someone within your country, and worst case, someone globally will almost surely have that part, minifigure, set or even book.
Where to Start?
Initially, finding the parts you need is important. There are a few options for this. If you know the set number, you can look up that set, and find the part list and match that against what you have.
Once you have this part list, you can use the BrickLink interface to check the parts and tell it what parts you have and which you don't. External programs such as BrickStore are also incredibly useful for getting more information, including prices, quantities and availability.
For smaller sets, this usually is sufficient to check off your parts, and work out what is missing. In larger sets, such as UCS, modulars, etc it can be helpful to create a "wanted list". This can be done by logging in, and selecting the "Want" tab at the top, creating a new list, and adding those missing parts one-by-one as you go.
Ultimately, you will get a wanted list that you can simply click "Buy All" and be given options to purchase those items, whether that's from a single store or multiple stores and if those stores are domestically or internationally based depending on where you're located.
The site has options for minimising store number, maximising number of unique pieces per list, and many more. Experiment and see what generates an acceptable cost for you!
Finally, actual bricks are not the only items available for sale on BrickLink. Any official LEGO item can be bought and sold on BrickLink, including minifigures, books, GWP items such as towels, instruction booklets, boxes and many more.
BrickLink Studio
BrickLink also has a program that can be downloaded to start your own MOC building journey. In the top bar, you can select the red button, labelled Studio which will take you to the download page. Install this application and you can now start building your MOCs digitally with their tool, and ultimately once you're done your new creation, can generate a list of parts required and buy the parts directly on BrickLink.
This tool is very powerful but be aware that some parts easily available digitally may be rare, or very infrequently used in sets. Therefore, you must be careful not to inflate the price of your MOC by using parts in sand green rather than another type of more common green. Experiment and see what parts work for your creativity and your budget.
Integrations
BrickLink is also very useful for those who are used to browsing LEGO products on other sites such as BrickOwl and Rebrickable. Those interested in building MOCs found on Rebrickables can generate the aforementioned Wanted List directly from Rebrickable, making it very easy to find a MOC you're interested, and then buy the parts from local sellers.
Click the "Add Parts to BrickLink Wanted List" and it will open a popup where you login, and then generate a new wanted list, or add to an existing list. I recommend keeping your builds in their own list rather than default so you can keep track of what you are buying for what sets rather than bulk amounts coming in and sorting them at the end. You can choose to select multiple lists to buy at the end and this is a much more organised way of purchasing parts, and is more useful as you can usually get more of your wanted parts from a single store, with the shipping price remaining quite similar.
Conclusion
Ultimately, BrickLink is an incredibly powerful tool that can be used to find niche parts, books, minifigures and has a robust review system to help customers avoid stores with poor reviews. Communication with sellers is also usually very good vs something like eBay or Marketplace. Send a message if you have questions and you will very often get a response quite quickly.
Get out there and build your MOCs, sets and have fun!
Cool . I just buy cheap bulk bags and sets without boxes and figures