Guides

How to buy individual pieces for a MOC

Once a design is finished, digitally or on the table, the next job is getting the parts. Builders buy individual pieces in a few places, and a little planning keeps shipping and prices down.

Make the parts list first

Every shop works from part numbers and colours. BrickLink Studio, Rebrickable and MOCsmith all export a parts list. Check that each part exists in the colour you picked before you shop; the BrickLink catalogue shows the colours every part was made in.

Where to buy

• Pick a Brick on LEGO.com: the LEGO Group’s own shop for single new parts, including what used to be the separate Bricks & Pieces service. Bestseller parts and the wider standard range ship separately, with their own order thresholds. It only stocks parts that are currently made.
• BrickLink: a marketplace of independent shops, new and used, including parts and colours that are no longer made. It has been owned by the LEGO Group since 2019. Upload your list as a wanted list (Studio can do this for you), and its Easy Buy tool suggests a set of shops that covers the whole list.
• BrickOwl: another marketplace of independent shops, worth checking when BrickLink prices or stock are thin.
• Rebrickable: not a shop, but if you enter your collection it shows which parts of a MOC you are missing and links them to shops.
• LEGO® Stores: many have a Pick a Brick wall, where you fill a cup with whatever fits. Good for common parts in bulk.

Spend less

• Order from as few shops as you can. Each one charges its own shipping, and it often costs more than the parts.
• Hidden structure can be any colour. Use whatever is cheap or already in your collection inside the model.
• Used parts are fine for structure. Save new parts for visible surfaces.
• Order a few spares of tiny parts, such as 1 × 1 tiles and round plates. They are cheap, and they get lost.
• If a part is rare or expensive in your colour, look for a substitute: a tile instead of a plate, or two smaller parts instead of one large one.

If you design in MOCsmith, the parts list download gives part numbers and colours ready for a wanted list. Next step: make instructions for your MOC.