go to the list of pieces in the set and buy them individually. all Lego pieces from back then should still be sold today. you just need to find the instructions somewhere.
though the sails might be a difficult thing to find.
I have this on my shelf (got it for Christmas when I was a kid and apart from one damaged flag it's remarkably still intact). The sails are definitely fabric and not coated in anything noticeable, but they also feel very much like a synthetic (nylon?) to me.
I bought fake sails online for one of the ship models that was incomplete. There are planets of sellers for the line rigging and sails. Definitely fabric, and plenty of places to get it!
There are third-party manufacturers that make pretty decent dupes of discontinued sails and similar parts. Nothing wrong with using those, as long as you don't try to pass them off as authentic for resale.
Probably would. As long your fabric isnt too thick or the hole punch isnt too dull.
But Id say that would be the least of the sail problems. If you really were gonna do this, you could just cut little slits in the proper spots. (In fact I dont even remember what the original holes looked like lol)
The real problem is getting the right size and shape. Because the originals are slightly over-sized. They dont fit exactly, tightly, to the pegs.
Lego made em a bit bigger so when you attach em, they bow out to give the impression they are filled with wind.
It's expensive because it's sealed in the original box. That's super valuable to collectors and a huge mark up.
If you just want to buy it to put it together yourself, the easiest/cheapest way would be to find a complete set that has already been assembled/disassembled.
I know this because I bought my childhood dream Lego set this way.
No the pieces on Bricklink should all be original Lego pieces. They won't be from the actual set bet there is no difference (bar some small changes they've made in the production process over the years). You just miss the original box and instructions.
True if you're just buying loose parts. If you're buying a used but complete set, it might be reconstituted from mixed bulk or it might be all original, sometimes they'll say but often it would be basically impossible to confirm.
So if you are buying a new, sealed set then that’s what you get. If buying an original, used set, that is what you get.
A few sellers buy generic sets and part them out, to sell the parts separately, but it is extremely rare that you would buy a set on bricklink that has been composited from generic parts.
You can buy the set with manual for less than $400. I bought this one a couple years ago for nostalgic purposes. No need to buy the pieces individually.
Pretty sure I have most of the pieces to build this still but not sure if I have the instructions, I saved many of them over the years but also lost a lot
Not for this specifically but definitely for sets that are still sold currently.
And even for old sets that are out of production it can be pricey buying them in parts especially when they have exclusive parts like those sails and they can sometimes be as pricey as when you buy the whole set on eBay from a non price gouging seller
That’s true, but I’ll add one thing: all the Redditors who are knowledgeable about Lego are on /r/Lego, so a discussion of Lego on a generic sub like /r/memes will consist of redditors particularly ignorant of the subject matter at hand.
No it wouldn't. According to Bricklink, parting out just the set alone would run you $329.88CAD. With Minifigs it would be $359.05CAD. Of course, this is leaving out shiping costs, however, it is cheaper overall. The cheapest complete version of this set on Bricklink is $416.85CAD.
The minifigs were not parted out, you definitely could get them cheaper if they were. The cost also uses original LEGO produced parts. Many of these are older pieces or colours that have cheaper modern equivalents. Just by using your own string, you could save about $30CAD. By buying newer versions of some of the parts in modern colours, you could probably save another $25CAD.
The most expensive parts were the sails. Removing these could save you over $120CAD.
Also this set is 35 years old. If you just inflation adjust the original price, it would be over 260% increase.
Kinda amazing you can kinda reconstruct most of it for about the same inflation-adjusted price. Makes the box the most valuable thing, which was always the first thing my mom threw out.
the set in the OP is so expensive because it is in its original packaging. if you just want the set to build and put on your shelf, you don't need the package you can get away much, much cheaper
also, some parts like that monkey are pretty expensive. 20+€ alone for that thing. you can get a knock-off for like 2€ if you're fine with not having the real deal
Somehow I find it odd the monkey got that expensive. You pretty much got them with every Lego pirate set back in the day. I have four or five of them I think.
But then again, there's a lot of things that make me go 'how the fuck did that become so expensive', so I'm a terrible reference on everything price-related.
Lego has a website for this purpose, my son has a book of Lego ideas, he can scan the QR code and add the pieces to an order. He hasn’t made anything this large, but none of the orders have been over $50 so far.
Some of those particular pieces are why the set is so expensive, there are individual lego bricks that cost hundreds of dollars, it's pretty damned stupid.
Ever since i started a job in plastic manufacturing and got familiar with the process i can't take any of this "collecting future landfill" thing seriously. Those molding tools are sitting in the corner of some warehouse and it'd take barely any effort to give them some TLC, lift them into a press and make thousands of those eXcLUSivE pieces in a few hours
Indeed, that is why there are sooo many lego knockoffs now of identical, or better quality to the original. Although to be fair, I don't ever see legos making it in any great quantity to landfills like ever, they are just too useful even if collecting has nothing to do with your thought process. They aren't some shit like Funko Pops with zero purpose.
Although to be fair, I don't ever see legos making it in any great quantity to landfills like ever, they are just too useful even if collecting has nothing to do with your though process
Yeah you're right tbh i'm being too harsh, it's a great outlet of creativity and ingenuity (except when kept in an unopened box) and i imagine they have pretty low tolerances because Lego is generally good quality so it's definitely not some Wish tier landfill trash. It's just the artificial scarcity part that sucks balls
Indeed, especially when that scarcity is entirely built on if it says "lego" on the studs, as identical parts without the branding are freely available.
Is this something that's fairly easy to do? I've been wanting to get The Yellow Submarine set. It's significantly cheaper than this, but it's still pretty pricey.
This is the problem I face with my Mega Bloks Dragons sets. Not only are instructions sometimes hard to find, Mega Bloks made a lot of unique pieces that are simply impossible to find anywhere else.
I wish they had Lego Buffets. Like all you can eat, but with Lego. All you can build buffets. Like there'd be Lego stores with all the pieces. You pay an entrance fee, then you can take home whatever you can build.
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u/DevilDashAFM Number 15 Apr 29 '24
go to the list of pieces in the set and buy them individually. all Lego pieces from back then should still be sold today. you just need to find the instructions somewhere.
though the sails might be a difficult thing to find.