Obviously the internet is great for any hobby, and this applies equally to LEGO. Here’s a few of the websites I use as part of my LEGO life.
Utility
These are sites that I use daily when I’m legoing. They serve some purpose and my LEGO enjoyment would be curtailed severely if they didn’t exist.
Rebrickable allows you to record all your sets and loose parts. From that information, it can tell you what official sets or MOCs you can construct (or almost construct) with your existing parts.
I buy bulk lots when I get a chance. Once they are washed and sorted I catalog them into Rebrickable. When I ask Rebrickable what official sets I can build with the parts it makes a list of these in order of the percentage of parts I have. Anything over 80% are probably whole sets that were in the bulk lot. If they are particularly valuable (and therefore re-saleable) but I don’t fancy them, I extract those parts to sell as sets.
If you own a lot of LEGO, your sets can be imported from Brickset or just entered as sets without the hassle of cataloguing every single part in your collection. Rebrickable can still suggest other official sets or MOCs you can make with the parts you already own.
Once you know the other sets you can build from Rebrickable, you need the instructions. For modern sets, these are probably available in one of the LEGO apps such as “LEGO Life”. For older ones, you need to download the PDF’s from this site.
Bricklink is an online marketplace for LEGO elements. It’s both cheaper than eBay and has a much larger range. If there’s a set that Rebrickable says I can almost build, it will provide a list of parts I need to complete it (along with an indication of the price). I export that from Rebrickable and import it into Bricklink. From there, I can search for a shop that has those parts. In practice, I usually have about 10 wanted lists active and just make an order every now and then from the shop that has most of those parts.
Like eBay, sellers have ratings and you can see their feedback. Many sellers are AFOLs who are doing it on the side to support their addiction. I’ll probably disperse my collection this way when I retire from LEGO. Some sellers are professionals – they buy up multiple copies of sets on special, sort them put and list the parts on BrickLink.
There are other places to buy LEGO. A marketplace similar to Bricklink is BrickOwl. You can also buy a limited selection of elements directly from LEGO’s “Pick a Brick” service.
Others
Some honorary mentions go to Bricksafe – host your LEGO related media (photos, instructions etc). Brickset is probably a more popular way of cataloguing your set collection than Rebrickable, especially if you just collect and build the official sets you own. Gumtree is my go to for finding bulk LEGO. I especially hit it up if I’m travelling in the country anywhere, there’s so much competition in cities that you rarely find bargains, and you never do on eBay. Flickr can be a source of inspiration if you’re in a building mood but out of ideas.
Blogs
I’m not a huge blog reader, but if I’m interested in a set or a TLG announcement I’ll hit one of these great blogs.
Bricking Around – General Aussie LEGO blog, but they keep a great list of which outlets have sales at the moment. You should never really pay RRP for current LEGO sets.
Rambling Brick – Another general blog. Richard does quality interesting reviews. I try not to read them before I blog a set I’ve built because I probably just post a link to him instead.
Jay’s Brick Blog – A very slick looking blog. As well as general stuff, Jay does an amazing job on the collectable minifigure series reviews.
The Brothers Brick – One of the big US blogs. Getting your MOC featured by them is a big deal.
New Elementary – In my reviews (as is common with other bloggers) I often point out new or interesting parts or parts usage. That’s all New Elementary does, and they do a great job of it.
Other
As you’d expect, there’s plenty of good LEGO content on Youtube, I especially like JangBricks‘ reviews. I’m a member of the OZLUG Facebook group; it’s a friendly place for showing off your creations, asking for help, or discussing LEGO news. I got the inspiration for this post from a member asking about what websites AFOLs were using.
Beam 'n' Pin 