New feature: Upload wanted parts to Pick a Brick
Posted by Huw,
A new feature has been added to Pick a Brick at LEGO.com which has prompted me to add a complementary one here.
If you're in North America you can now upload a list of parts that you want to the PaB page, rather than having to search for them individually there. It's being piloted in NA at the moment and will be available everywhere in due course.
This therefore makes it possible to compile your wanted parts list elsewhere, including here at Brickset.
This article explains how to do so.
Set up parts collection functionality
You may not be aware that you can track the parts you own, based on the sets you own, and also record those you own 'loose' and those that you want, because it's a feature that's not enabled by default due to the amount of data that's generated.
So, to use Brickset to compile a list of parts that you want you first need to enable this feature. To do so, go to your general preferences page and check the 'Enable parts collection functionalty' box.
When you've done this you'll find checkboxes for 'I own' and 'I want' in parts listings. The tutorial How to view and record the parts you own explains how to use the feature in more detail.
Mark the parts you want
Every parts listing as well as the parts details pages will now show own/want checkboxes. Simply check the 'Want' box as appropriate
View the parts you want
There are multiple ways to get to the list of parts you've marked as wanted, but the easiest, if you're using a desktop PC, is to click on the Parts you want link on the My Sets menu.
Here are the parts that I currently want, for test purposes.
Export the list
Again, there are multiple ways to accomplish this, but the easiest is to click on the link to Export your collection on the My Sets menu, and then on the link on the Export page.
You can also use the direct link in the Parts box of the My Sets page. This will be the method to use if you're on a mobile device.
Upload to Pick a Brick
Your exported file will be in CSV (comma separated value) format and look like this when opened in a text editor:
elementId,quantity
243126,1
244526,1
300126,1
6490240,1
Now go to Pick a Brick at LEGO.com and click on the Upload list button. At the moment you'll only see this on the USA and Canadian sites.
Find the file downloaded from Brickset (probably in your Downloads folder) then drag and drop it to the PaB page.
When you've done so, the pieces in your list that are available to buy will be shown and ready for you to pick:
What next?
At the moment, it's an 'all or nothing' approach in that your entire wanted parts list is downloaded, so there's definitely room for improvement. For example, I will make it possible to just download the parts you want from a particular set in due course.
Will you use this new feature? How could it be improved? Let me know in the comments.
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33 comments on this article
Sounds nice! I'm sure I'll give it a shot when the PaB upload feature is rolled out globally.
A very good feature. Congrats
I will definitely use this!- thanks so much @Huw !
I also love how you have 1003 1x4 black tiles
Just another reason why BS is the best!!
Even though @Huw hates Jack-o-lanterns. :(
Sounds interesting!
Although I don't buy off PAB.
Excellent, thank you!
This will be very useful to me as I sometimes just want to buy and build part of a set. For example, I only bought the parts to make the apple from the Disney Villains set. I also just got the parts for the donut shop from the Police Station modular and the pizza place from the Jazz Club modular (plus some extra parts to build a fourth wall). This feature is going to make ordering parts for that type of purpose a lot easier. Thank you, Huw!
Its a good feature, but I'm not very happy with pick a brick right now. For the second time they have an order I made on 13th which they have not shipped yet.
Last time I complained they pretended I had no grounds because it was conveniently shipped by the time they replied to me which they didn't tell me.
I use pick a brick a lot because the price is better even if it takes awhile. But it shouldn't be stuck in the warehouse for five days.
Now THAT is a really useful feature, once it gets rolled out globally.
Thank you very much for the effort, @Huw!
Nice feature indeed, but what about parts in your list that are not available at PaB ? You still have to bricklink them. Guess I'll continue to use BrickHunter when needed.
Not saying it's not helpfull, could have helped me order black parts instead of dark blue one on my last PaB order. (Color visualisation on PaB could definitely benefit from quality of life improvements)
Thanks for the tutorial! I had no idea you could track your parts on Brickset!
I really hope they bring this feature to the UK pick a brick, then I'll be all over this new feature - thanks Huw!
@SpiderFan44 said:
"Nice feature indeed, but what about parts in your list that are not available at PaB ? You still have to bricklink them. Guess I'll continue to use BrickHunter when needed.
Not saying it's not helpfull, could have helped me order black parts instead of dark blue one on my last PaB order. (Color visualisation on PaB could definitely benefit from quality of life improvements)"
You can also export your list as an XML file for upload to BrickLink.
Thanks for the information. Now i have to add the Part/Color Codes to my programm to generate Excel part lists from Rebrickable inventories...
Is this cross compatible with bricklink lists by any chance?
Waiting to have it also available in the PaB in Switzerland
@aap said:
"Thanks for the information. Now i have to add the Part/Color Codes to my programm to generate Excel part lists from Rebrickable inventories..."
Rebrickable have added an 'Export as PAB CSV' function, if that helps.
I think it could be improved by being able to add more flags (like is used with sets/minifigs) so that you can mark pieces or groups of pieces by a specific flag.
Perhaps another category on this page:
https://brickset.com/profile/flagpreferences
When I first saw the title I was all excited; I was thinking that you could potentially order the parts you wanted in the colour you wanted. Say I wanted part 3224; currently this part is only available in white, black and brown. I thought, the new service would allow me to say to Lego: "I would like this part in red and I need 50 of them". I understand that this could be a logistic nightmare for Lego but I assumed that if sufficiently enough people asked for the same, it would make sense for Lego to produce a batch. I order with PaB all the time and had no problems whatsoever with the current setup - not sure if this new feature will help at all but I'll certainly give it a look.
Thankyou! This will be extremely useful: it resolves the main pain point I have, soon had, with Bricks and Pieces which is the long time it takes to create a complex order.
Right now it's export all or nothing, so I would appreciate a way to create some subsets so that I can group together parts for different orders.
@Gataka said:
"Thankyou! This will be extremely useful: it resolves the main pain point I have, soon had, with Bricks and Pieces which is the long time it takes to create a complex order.
Right now it's export all or nothing, so I would appreciate a way to create some subsets so that I can group together parts for different orders."
That's the ultimate aim: I'll work out how best to achieve it.
I wonder if I made a list of all my shattered reddish brown pieces customer service would replace them...
Like the idea, it will be a good starting point for orders. I still feel like there will remain a bit of manual searching when dealing with older sets because of differences in part IDs and missing colours.
@Norikins said:
"I wonder if I made a list of all my shattered reddish brown pieces customer service would replace them..."
Ha, are you me? I just finished taking apart my 10214 that was on display for a decade. Half the reddish brown plates cracked, and all the dark red tiles crumbled. My container of broken reddish brown pieces is full enough now that it is time to contact CS.
Tremendous W! looking forward to the feature's rollout in the EU!
On paper it sounds good.
But realisticly speaking people can abuse it just to quickly orders 10000 of same pieces that were newly released, blocking others for ordering.
@mfg3000 said:
"This will be very useful to me as I sometimes just want to buy and build part of a set. For example, I only bought the parts to make the apple from the Disney Villains set. I also just got the parts for the donut shop from the Police Station modular and the pizza place from the Jazz Club modular (plus some extra parts to build a fourth wall). This feature is going to make ordering parts for that type of purpose a lot easier. Thank you, Huw!"
I also sometimes want to get part of a set. If North American PaB is anything like the European one, that may not be possible even with this new feature. The problem is that the parts selection is so patchy that it’s unlikely they’ll have all the parts required. You’ll probably still have to resort to the secondary market.
@daniellesa said:
"Its a good feature, but I'm not very happy with pick a brick right now. For the second time they have an order I made on 13th which they have not shipped yet.
Last time I complained they pretended I had no grounds because it was conveniently shipped by the time they replied to me which they didn't tell me.
I use pick a brick a lot because the price is better even if it takes awhile. But it shouldn't be stuck in the warehouse for five days."
I received part of a PaB order today from LEGO’s (new?) facility in Poland. I didn’t order that many parts but one is missing. It’s among the largest parts in my order so if they weighed the parts to check it was complete, I don’t know how they didn’t realise. Hope it’s not a sign of things to come from the Polish PaB centre. I wonder if I should complain.
@Zander said:
" @mfg3000 said:
"This will be very useful to me as I sometimes just want to buy and build part of a set. For example, I only bought the parts to make the apple from the Disney Villains set. I also just got the parts for the donut shop from the Police Station modular and the pizza place from the Jazz Club modular (plus some extra parts to build a fourth wall). This feature is going to make ordering parts for that type of purpose a lot easier. Thank you, Huw!"
I also sometimes want to get part of a set. If North American PaB is anything like the European one, that may not be possible even with this new feature. The problem is that the parts selection is so patchy that it’s unlikely they’ll have all the parts required. You’ll probably still have to resort to the secondary market.
@daniellesa said:
"Its a good feature, but I'm not very happy with pick a brick right now. For the second time they have an order I made on 13th which they have not shipped yet.
Last time I complained they pretended I had no grounds because it was conveniently shipped by the time they replied to me which they didn't tell me.
I use pick a brick a lot because the price is better even if it takes awhile. But it shouldn't be stuck in the warehouse for five days."
I received part of a PaB order today from LEGO’s (new?) facility in Poland. I didn’t order that many parts but one is missing. It’s among the largest parts in my order so if they weighed the parts to check it was complete, I don’t know how they didn’t realise. Hope it’s not a sign of things to come from the Polish PaB centre. I wonder if I should complain.
"
I once ordered a few hundreds of the small Technic track links. I am sure they did it by weight because I had to contact Lego twice about it. First time 52 were missing - so they sent back a bunch of them and I had to call again because from the second batch, 11 were missing. In the end I got the right number but they had to spend money for 3 shippings.
@lordofdragonss said:
"On paper it sounds good.
But realisticly speaking people can abuse it just to quickly orders 10000 of same pieces that were newly released, blocking others for ordering."
Don't they have a limit of 400 part types, or 999 of most parts (popular picks have definitely been more restricted, in my experience)?
I want to be able to upload a list of parts needed for a MOC from Studio or LDD to PAB. Will this be possible?
@mmmmccccc said:
" @lordofdragonss said:
"On paper it sounds good.
But realisticly speaking people can abuse it just to quickly orders 10000 of same pieces that were newly released, blocking others for ordering."
Don't they have a limit of 400 part types, or 999 of most parts (popular picks have definitely been more restricted, in my experience)?"
Multiple orders nulify this problem.
Nice Goat flex, Huw!
Great new feature. :-)
@Huw I noticed that the eBay listings have moved on top of the main set image. I find this very unfortunate when using a mobile device (with small screen). Before, the set’s main image was instantly visible, but now it is too far down (not on screen anymore). When browsing through many sets, this is not comfortable compared to before, because a lot of scrolling is needed. Any specific reason for this change?
Logical thing for TLG is to just connect PAB it to Brick Link, as many use that site to buy bulk.