Looking to get into BrikWars, but don't own any Legos...

[Porphyrogenitus]

The bulk of my collection is from ebay (trolling for low-priced sets with the right parts/minifigs in them) and Saturnalia sales (toy price wars are great for this, as are the after-Christmas price cuts). One year I managed to get three of the big fantasy castles for about 50 USD each from Walmart. In retrospect I should have bought out the inventory and resold what I didn't want to keep to make a hefty profit (the set was going for double that on ebay).

[Rody]

alternately field massive paper armies, cut and folded to perfection.

[Jbgarrison]

If you don't own so many minifigs at first, make BLOKBOTS

Bragallot has a good suggestion here.

Starwars minifig battle packs of various types retail about $12 at Wallmart and places like that. Depending on money you want to spend on minifigs, if you have about $20-30 you can mix two battle packs to create a unique blended force or have two rival factions with four figures each.

Then, you can use regular bricks to build robots and/or blockbots to create an additional squad of units. There's enough for a good small battle till you can add to the forces.

Ebay can get good deals, but I always check Lego shop Pick-A-Brick to see how much over retail the eBay stuff is. I don't use bricklink only because of convenience, but if i was really serious about cost, i would. I also get stuff from BrickForge occasionally.

[RunsWithLegos]

DOn't forget you can all ways fight other toys as well!

i have my action figures fight my bionicals regularly.

[morganm]

Right now all of the Prince of Persia stuff is going on sale... not sure what you have access to locally but check local retailers. The magnet set (3 figs) is going for $8 .. about $2.60 a fig there. 7569 Desert Attack going for $9... 3 figs, a horse, weapons, and a few interesting bits plus some bricks. Female minifig magnet set (3 figs) going for $8.

There are some reasonable small sets out there as well...
6918 Blacksmith Attack - $10 - 2 figures and lots of weapons
7950 Knights Showdown - $7 - 2 figures, catapult, and weapons
7977 Seabed Strider - $10 - 2 figures, weapons, and a badass mech
7976 Ocean Speeder - $5 - 1 figure, weapon, cool bits, neat speeder thingy

... you get the idea... there's more out there.

[piltogg]

um... buying directly from the lego company is almost never worth it. Check out garage sales and pawn shops as frequently as possible. That way you don't break your bank on it. Use bricklink for your actual army so they all match though.

[Hoboman]

One other thought: Be open to theme switching. Sometimes the best SciFi torso could be the knights you already have.

I have seen great armies using lots of torsos I would not have thought about. Use what you have as effective as you can. Do not have a lot of Black, then maybe your tanks are red or blue. etc.

[morganm]

I think you'll find in the rest of the thread.... we all agree; retail prices are high. That being said; finding deals requires vigilance, patience, and great deals are rare.

You also have to factor in the total cost on these deals...

Is your time worth anything? Time spent parsing Craigslist, Bricklink, garage / yard sales, pawn shops, etc....

How much gas are you using driving around to garage sales, pawn shops,
Good Will, or duder's house from Craigslist?

How much are you paying in shipping?

Also consider buying now at retail price to hedge against marked up prices after a set goes out of production. Jabba's Sail Barge is a good example.... I picked it up at the store on sale... sure it wasn't cheap.... now check it out on BrickLink. Set goes for $140 with out any minifigs or $220 used but 'complete'... Jabba himself goes for $38, the Gamorrean Guard goes for $14, and Lando goes for $15.

I'd never pay those prices now for those figures or that set.... I'm glad I picked it up at 10% off retail.

Just saying that buying retail or even 10% off retail shouldn't be completely ignored.

[Porphyrogenitus]

I think you'll find in the rest of the thread.... we all agree; retail prices are high. That being said; finding deals requires vigilance, patience, and great deals are rare.

You also have to factor in the total cost on these deals...

Is your time worth anything? Time spent parsing Craigslist, Bricklink, garage / yard sales, pawn shops, etc....

How much gas are you using driving around to garage sales, pawn shops,
Good Will, or duder's house from Craigslist?

How much are you paying in shipping?

Also consider buying now at retail price to hedge against marked up prices after a set goes out of production. Jabba's Sail Barge is a good example.... I picked it up at the store on sale... sure it wasn't cheap.... now check it out on BrickLink. Set goes for $140 with out any minifigs or $220 used but 'complete'... Jabba himself goes for $38, the Gamorrean Guard goes for $14, and Lando goes for $15.

I'd never pay those prices now for those figures or that set.... I'm glad I picked it up at 10% off retail.

Just saying that buying retail or even 10% off retail shouldn't be completely ignored.

Watching for sales (especially combined with free shipping deals and other promos) at the Lego web store can really pay off some times. If you join the VIP program it's pretty much a continuous 5% rebate deal (though admittedly only good for future purchases direct from Lego).

Note: Be wary about buying from Toys R Us. They mark up all their Lego prices, and most of their "sales" bring their prices in line with everyone else. Only the really big sales (buy one get one half off, buy one get one free, etc.) are really worth bothering with.