My Experience with BrickLink Purchases

One year ago, on this day, I made my first purchase on BrickLink. Actually, I made my first four purchases on that day. When I was a kid, I used to collect BIONICLE toys. But after giving them away, I’ve been without a BIONICLE set for years. Originally, I was hoping that LEGO would rerelease the older sets, but after I accepted that LEGO won’t do that, and after deciding on buying used sets, I created a BrickLink account and started making purchases.

In today’s entry, you will see my experiences with BIONICLE collection over the last year. With the exception of total purchases, I’m not going to disclose my purchases, nor will I disclose which stores I bought from. I will say though that I restricted myself to American sellers only since I live in the United States, and that there are some sellers I purchased more often from others. From March of last year to February of this year, this is how my BrickLink journey went.

Planning:

As I order the BIONICLE sets on BrickLink, I defined my limits and made plans on what sets to buy. Not only would it cost me a lot of money to buy older sets and pieces, between the lot prices and the shipping costs, but I also don’t have much space for everything. In particular, I have considered buying every set up to the sets released in 2004, and if I were more lenient enough, I would get the ones from 2005. At the same time, I wouldn’t buy anything released after 2004 until I get every set from 2001 to 2004, and I wouldn’t buy anything released after 2001 until I get every set from 2001. I was also savvier and more thorough on what sets to buy.

For 2001 sets, not only would I buy the Toa, Turaga, and Rahi, but I would also buy the Matoran sets as released in McDonald’s Happy Meals. And if you’re curious on how seriously I take it, I would even buy extra pieces so I can get the Chronicler’s Company completed.

• The Toa Mata (Tahu, Pohatu, Onua, Lewa, Kopaka, and Gali) were the most important sets. Had I chose to stick to my barebones minimum, I would only get just these six Toa. Thay may not be the best sets, but they were the main ones. Even a small collection is a happy one for as long as I get all six. If you were to collect BIONICLE sets, the entire Toa Mata collection is one of the “must-haves” in BIONICLE collection.
• I also planned on getting all six Turaga (Vakama, Onewa, Whenua, Matau, Nuju, and Nokama). While not as exciting, they were important for the collection, for that they were the leaders of their villages.
• The Matoran were also vital to my collection. Since BrickLink had the McDonald’s Happy Meal toys available, I was also able to buy those. In fact, since the pieces were also sold separately by separate sellers, I can even buy the pieces to build the Chronicler’s Company. I could also get Takua, Nuparu, and Hahli this way.
  • As part of working on the Matoran, I also ordered Toa heads and some Technic connector axle pieces, so I can replace their ugly looking heads with better Toa heads. This also gave them more freedom of arm movement and translucent eyes. This made emulation of the Mata Nui Online Game models easier.
• The Rahi were the sets I wanted most. In terms of building instructions and function, they were the best sets. The main challenge was that they were more expensive, but I still need to collect them to be more complete.
• Along with the Rahi, I had to order additional pieces to build the other creatures, like the Kewa, the Fikou, and the Ussal. This also includes the combo Rahi.
• In regards to the Kanohi Collection, I planned on collecting 96 masks from the 12 shapes. They included all 36 Great Masks, all 36 Noble Masks, the six golden masks, the six silver masks, the six McDonald’s Matoran masks, and six other masks (including Takua’s mask, Makuta’s mask, and Nuparu’s mask).

Despite 2001 being BIONICLE at its best, I would feel incomplete without getting sets from later years. This includes the Bohrok, the Rahkshi, and the Toa Nuva. Like I said before, I considered collecting every set up to the ones released in 2004. Collections included are the Bohrok, Bohrok Va, Bohrok-Kal, Rahkshi, Vahki, Toa Nuva, Toa Metru, Matoran of Mata Nui, Matoran of Metru Nui, and the Titan sets from all three years (like Cahdok & Gahdok and Turaga Dume & Nivawk). I’m not as passionate towards these sets as I was to the 2001 sets, but I planned on getting them. I even planned on getting the Kanohi Nuva, Krana, and Kraata as well. Just like my plans for the 2001 sets, I’m not getting any collectibles from later years until I get all 96 masks.

Anything released after 2004, or at the very most, 2006, I don’t plan on getting them, ever. I don’t have all of the money or space to complete the entire franchise, so I have set my limits. Since they went downhill in later years, I don’t want to spend my money on stuff I’m not going to use.

March Purchases:

On March 9^th, 2025, I made my first four purchases. Since I was new to BrickLink’s purchases, I had to start smaller. While my goal was to collect all 2001 sets before 2025 ended (which I didn’t get done), my first focus was on Takua and Hahli, which took eight orders and nearly $200 to work on. I went a more practical route on Day 1, where I ordered two McDonald’s Matoran sets (Jala and Maku), along with extra masks (including a medium blue Pakari and a blue Kaukau, which were Takua’s and Hahli’s masks). Along with these orders, I also got a sand blue Akaku, a brown Kakama, and a black Pakari. The extra masks have kickstarted my mask collection, which became one of my goals along the year.

After these four orders were purchased, I was looking at more ideas and some BIONICLE animations. This was where I decided to order Toa heads to make the sets more live and dark blue Matoran feet to make Hahli look more like Hahli. My first order came in on March 14^th, and on March 15^th, my second order (and first order of an actual set) came in. But I made three more orders on March 13^th and one more order on March 16^th to complete the sets. Along with the pieces, I also got more Pakari masks to get working on my mask collection. Eventually, by March 21^st, all eight of my orders I made beforehand came in. Takua and Hahli were finished, and I already got nine masks as part of my mask collection.

On March 22^nd, I made one more order, and this one was my very first order of a Toa set. It was also my first order for a Turaga set since I ordered both a Toa and Turaga. The first Toa I ordered was Gali. From the shop I planned on buying it from, there was only one in stock, so I had to act quick before it was too late. I also ordered Nokama along with Gali since she was from the same element. However, they didn’t come in until next month, but I ended the month with nine orders made.

By the end of the month, I spent a total of $238.33, with $175.54 of it (73.65%) going into the sets and pieces, and $62.79 of it (26.35%) going into the taxes and shipping. For just the first day alone, I spent a total of $69.63, with $43.56 of it (62.56%) going into the sets and pieces, and $26.07 of it (37.44%) going into the taxes and shipping. Within just the first eight orders, all of them came from eight different sellers, and none of them were from the same state. My ninth order, the first order to include a Toa set, was the first “repeat order” I made from one of the sellers. I may have not made much progress that month, and I may have not gotten Gali or Nokama until April, but I already made one success – completing two of the Matoran (including Takua).

April Purchases:

As 2025 progressed to the next month, I focused on making more purchases. Not only did my first order containing a Toa and a Turaga came in, but I also made some more achievements as the month went on.

• With Gali and Nokama in, the next focus was on Tahu and Vakama. Since they were the most expensive of the Toa and Turaga from the same seller I got Gali and Nokama, I wanted to get them out of the way so I don’t have to worry about spending more.
• I also ordered five more Toa heads for the future Matoran sets I order. Since the next couple Matoran weren’t from the same village, I intended on ordering heads of different eye colors (for instance, since Jala is from Ta-Koro, I had to order the Toa head with the same eye color as Tahu’s). While I was at it, I focused on the Kanohi collection by ordering two more Pakari masks, one Kaukau mask, and one Matatu mask. This order made me gain more interest into the mask collection, but since I don’t have all of the Toa or Turaga at this point, I felt conflicted.
• With the Pakari collection nearing completion, I decided to order one more Pakari mask from another seller. After that order came in, my Pakari collection from the Toa mask collection was complete. I got all six colors, plus the gold and silver ones, along with Onepu’s and Takua’s masks. Compared to the previous orders I made, this was a big success, because not only did I complete one of the twelve shapes, but it was also the first time I completed one of the shapes.
• After I got Tahu, Gali, Vakama, and Nokama, the next focus was on the earth village, with Onua and Whenua being the subject. But first, I also had to order Onepu since he was the lead Matoran from the same village Onua and Whenua represents. I made Onepu from one order, and Onua and Whenua from another.
• Of the five orders I made in April, only one of them was from a seller I did not order from in March.

Because of other expenses, like in-app purchases, gym membership, and fast food, I couldn’t get as much done this month like in March. By the end of April, my total spent for the month alone was $194.54, with $148.65 of it (76.41%) going into the sets and pieces, and $45.89 of it (23.59%) going into the taxes and shipping. As for my entire journey at this point, I spent a total of $432.87, with $324.19 of it (74.89%) going into the sets and pieces, and $108.68 of it (25.11%) going into the taxes and shipping. By then, I got half of all of the Toa, half of all of the Turaga, three Matoran, and one mask shape completed.

May Purchases:

The very first thing I focused on getting done was finishing the McDonald’s Matoran collection. While getting them all didn’t complete my planned Matoran collection, I did manage to get all six captains by then (except that I replaced Maku with Hahli since Maku was part of the Chronicler’s Company), as well as Takua. I got Huki, Matoro, Kongu, and Jala. If I weren’t focused on getting the Chronicler’s Company, I would’ve been finished wtih the Matoran collection by then.

May was the month that I went the extra mile. This was the first month that I ordered the Rahi sets. Since my two favorite ones were Muaka & Kane-Ra and the Nui-Jaga, I started with them. While waiting on them, I ordered four other masks, two of them for the additional Matoran (Kapura and Nuparu), and two of them for the mask collection (one of them being the orange Kaukau, one of the more expensive masks). Later that month, I ordered four more masks, mostly Matoran masks for the mask collection.

Based on how much progress I made at this point, I was half-way finished with the sets. I got half of all the Toa, half of all the Turaga, half of all the Matoran (that I planned on collecting), and half of all the Rahi (well, almost half). But the mask collection had a long way to go. With 96 masks planned, I only got 20 masks.

Out of all the months during my journey, May was the most expensive month, at $590.63. $507.33 of it (85.90%) went into the sets and pieces, and $83.30 of it (14.10%) went into the taxes and shipping. The totals also exceeded $1,000 for the first time, with my then-total being $1,023.50. Of the $1,023.50 I spent, $831.52 of it (81.24%) went into the sets and pieces, and $191.68 of it (18.76%) went into the taxes and shipping. A total of 20 orders have been made at this point.

June Purchases:

I started the month of June with not just more masks, but also with another Toa and Turaga. This time, I decided on Pohatu and Onewa, but I also threw in an orange Mahiki (as part of the Turaga mask collection) and a blue Huna (as part of the Matoran mask collection). Within the first week, I also ordered more masks (including the LEGOLAND-exclusive copper Huna and transparent Miru), and more Matoran parts.

Since I knew that most of the masks were going to be more expensive, I decided to focus on the primary masks (the main masks worn by each of the characters in BIONICLE). To avoid spending extra, I also decided to break old trends when ordering a Toa and Turaga together. My last set order in June was on two Turaga (Nuju and Matau). By then, my Turaga collection was complete.

In sharp contrast to May, June was my cheapest month. I still exceeded $100 in purchases, but the totals for June were $166.67, with $119.06 of it (71.43%) going into the sets and pieces, and $47.61 of it (28.57%) going into the taxes and shipping. The total spent on the sets and pieces by this point was $949.58, which was nearly surpassing $1,000 in just the materials alone, and the total spent on the taxes and shipping was $239.29, barely surpassing the total spent on the month of March. The total spent was $1,188.87.

July Purchases:

July 2025 was the month that I have made several achievements in the collection. Not only did I collect all of the primary masks and another Rahi set, but I also finished the Toa collection. Had I decided to just get the Toa sets alone a long time ago, I would’ve been finished by March. But since I didn’t want to just get the Toa (and since I focused on the masks), it took me longer. Either way, I finished the Toa collection, and I was nearly finished with the 2001 sets.

July was also the month that I learned more about combiner sets (like the Mata Nui Cow). Because I wanted to get these creatures as well, a new spending journey has started. While I am at it, I also gained interest into ordering the instructions to the Toa sets. While I don’t need the instructions to build the Toa, Turaga, or Matoran, I wanted to get them for collection purposes. I also ordered more Toa heads, more connector pieces to connect the Toa heads to the Matoran, and more Matoran parts to work on the Chronicler’s company. The next character I finished was Nuparu, but not with the Boxor that I eventually ordered later.

My total spent for the month of July was $280.93, with $185.51 of it (66.03%) going into the sets and pieces, and $95.42 of it (33.97%) going into the taxes and shipping. My total spent for the sets and pieces since the start of March was a whopping $1,135.09, which was not only over $1,000, but also greater than the total I spent on BIONICLE purchases within the first three months. My total spent for the taxes and shipping since the start of March was $334.71, not only breaking the $300 barrier, but also more than how much I spent in total on my most expensive order. Together, the total cost was $1,469.80. Had I spent this much money back in 2002, I would’ve collected every set three times over.

August Purchases:

Since I got my Toa collection and Turaga collection completed, and since I felt that the 2001 rule was too restrictive, I decided to explore new horizons by ordering BIONICLE sets from other years. In addition to getting more instructions and more pieces for future creatures (as well as a few more masks), I decided to take a tour of the other three years I considered collecting sets from. In particular, I ordered:

• Pohatu Nuva (a Toa Nuva)
• Pahrak (a Bohrok)
• Pahrak-Kal (a Bohrok-Kal)
• Panrahk (a Rahkshi)
• Toa Onewa (a Toa Metru)
• Zadakh (a Vahki)

Here, I forgot how good the Vahki actually were. This was also the first time I even owned a Toa Metru set within my entire life.

Later that month, I ordered more Matoran parts, finishing both Maku and Hafu, two members of the Chronicler’s Company from the Mata Nui Online Game.

For the month of August alone, the total spent was $282.04, with $205.09 of it (72.72%) going to the sets and pieces, and $76.95 of it (27.28%) going into the taxes and shipping. For the first six months, the total spent was $1,751.84, with $1,340.18 of it (76.50%) going into the sets and pieces, and $411.66 of it (23.50%) going into the taxes and shipping. The total number of orders made by this point was 47 orders.

September Purchases:

Other than ordering the most expensive mask planned for my mask collection and completing another shape collection (Ruru), September wasn’t as exciting when it comes to my purchases. Granted, I made more progress with the masks, like when I got all of the Ruru masks collected. I also got more parts to finish Taipu and Kopeke of the Chronicler’s Company, and more instruction booklets (finishing the instructions collections for the Toa Mata, Toa Nuva, Toa Metru, Bohrok, and Rahi).

While ordering sets in the month of September, I continued to tour the later years of BIONICLE. This time, I got two smaller sets (a Bohrok Va and a Matoran from Metru Nui). I also got one of the post-2001 titan sets (the Boxor).

As for totals, September was the month that I broke the $2,000 barrier on spending on BIONICLE sets and pieces. For just the month alone, I spent $334.18, with $244.75 of it (73.24%) going into the sets and pieces, and $89.25 of it (26.76%) going into the taxes and shipping. But for the totals, I spent a total of $2,086.02, with $1,584.93 of it (75.98%) going into the sets and pieces, and $500.91 of it (24.02%) going into the taxes and shipping.

October Purchases:

Within just the first week, I made three more orders as a closing chapter to my purchases in 2025. Since Christmas was coming up in a few months, I had to stop with the BrickLink orders until Christmas Day has passed. But I did want to finish a few goals before the month came to an end.

While I knew that my 2001 collection and my mask collection wouldn’t be completed before the year ended, I did set some light goals. One of them was to get Tamaru of the Chronicler’s Company finished to each of the villages will have two Matoran in my collection. I also wanted to get the other two Kaukau masks to finish the Kaukau collection and more black masks. Regarding the latter, up until the end of September, black was the only color I had only one mask of. I got at least two of each masks of the same color for all of the Turaga masks, and at least two or three of each for the other Toa masks. But the only black mask I had was the Pakari. So I not only decided on getting at least one more black mask, but also finishing that collection, making black the first color that I got all six masks of. The last has come first in this case.

For just the three orders I made, the total spent was $241.28, with $199.75 of it (82.79%) going into the sets and pieces (or just pieces since I didn’t order any sets), and $41.53 of it (17.21%) going into the taxes and shipping. For the year of 2025, the total I spent was $2,328.60, with $1,785.68 of it (76.68%) going into the sets and pieces, and $542.92 of it (23.32%) going into the taxes and shipping. I made a total of 60 orders at this point. The successes I made were:

• Toa Mata Collection completed
• Turaga Collection completed
• At least two Matoran per village in every village
• Pakari, Ruru, and Kaukau collections completed
• Black mask collection completed
• All 18 primary masks
• At least one additional creature completed
• All instruction booklets for the Toa Mata, Toa Nuva, Toa Metru, Bohrok, and Rahi collected.

What I had yet to finish were the Chronicler’s Company (and thus the Matoran Collection as a whole), the Kanohi Collection, the 2001 Rahi Collection, and the smaller creature collection. And I still have much more to go.

November was the only month since March where I have not made a single purchase on BrickLink. Although I did make three more orders in December before the year came to an end, I didn’t make these orders until after Christmas, and I didn’t count their records as part of 2025. But I did count them towards January 2026.

January Purchases:

After over two months of not making any purchases on BrickLink, I went back to ordering off of BrickLink again. Since my Toa mask collection was nearly complete, I decided to put all focus on the Toa mask collection. I also focused on ordering additional pieces to build Kapura (finishing the Chronicler’s Company), the Ussal, and the Kewa. Both creatures were finished after leaving them on hiatus for a while.

Regarding my persistence in collecting masks, I managed to not only finish the Toa mask collection (which involves getting all six masks each of every shape), but also finished the gold and silver masks collections). While I already got the Pakari and Kaukau collections finished before, I went onto the Hau collection next. Before Christmas, only 13 masks of the 36 Toa masks were missing. After 2025 ended, only 10 of the 36 Toa masks were missing, all of them being Kakama masks, Miru masks, and Akaku masks. After the New Year’s Day purchases arrived, only six of the 36 Toa masks were missing, while none of the gold or silver masks were missing. The shapes finished were the Pakari, Kaukau, and Hau, while the colors finished were black, green, and white. By the end of January, none of the 36 Toa masks were missing. This was another major victory in my collection.

Of course, there was still work to be done. I still have much of the Turaga masks to go, and I’m still missing two Rahi sets. This is not to mention the other doors I opened up.

For the month of January (as well as December), the total spent was $318.92, with $242.55 of it (76.05%) going into the sets and pieces, $76.37 of it (23.95%) going into the taxes and shipping, $100.36 of it (31.47%) spent in December, and $218.56 of it (68.53%) spent in January. Even though it was within two months, all nine orders were made within a span of 15 days.

February Purchases:

As the last month of the first 12 months of orders, my focus was to close the doors of 2001. The very first order I made for the month is a Tarakava, one of the two Rahi sets I’m still missing. Since I previously have the instructions, I had to look for one without the instructions. The best one I could find was missing a few pieces, but I ended up taking it because I don’t think anyone would want an incomplete set. At the same time, I decided to forsake the Manas, the one Rahi I was missing. While I have the instructions, my decision to not get it is not only because of how rare and expensive they are, but also because it’s an electronic toy, which if you aren’t going to play it as much, it’s not very practical. With the Tarakava purchased and the Manas forsaken, my 2001 Titan collection is complete, and ultimately, the 2001 sets.

The bigger focus of the month was to finish my mask collection. With the Toa masks done, the Turaga masks were the next thing to take care of. At the start of the month, I was only missing 24 of the 96 masks, with 23 of them being the Turaga masks. Before I got started, I haven’t even finished one of the colors, but I did finish the Ruru collection. But when I started, I focused on the Huna and Rau masks since I liked those two shapes more. I also focused on getting the remaining orange masks since I had three orange masks and two of each of the other masks.

When my birthday came, I used my birthday money to finish the mask collection. By the time the month ended, my Turaga mask collection was complete, and ultimately, my mask collection. For the first time in my entire life, I completed the 2001 Kanohi collection.

By the end of the month, the total spent on the 12 orders was $554.25, with $437.15 of it (78.87%) going into the sets and pieces, and $117.10 of it (21.13%) going into the taxes and shipping. Overall, I spent a total of $3,201.77, with $2,465.38 of it (77.00%) going into the sets and pieces, and $736.39 of it (23.00%) going into the taxes and shipping.

Sales Breakdown:

From March 2025 to February 2026, here are the facts among the 81 orders:

• The cheapest order was my 1^st order, at $6.84. It was even one of the few orders where the shipping costs exceeded the material costs.
• The most expensive order was my 18^th order, with the total cost being $253.10. It was even more than I spent in total for March, April, June, and October.
• My 23rd order, my 48th order, and my 62nd order all had the shortest order completion time (from the day I make the order to the day of its arrival), at three days each.
• My 38th order and my 76th order both had the longest completion time, at 14 days each.
• The most expensive month of purchases was May 2025, at $590.63.
• The cheapest month of purchases was June 2025, at $166.67.
• The month I made the most number of orders was February, at 12 orders.
• The month I made the least number of orders was October 2025, at just 3 orders.
• The average for each order was $39.99, with a standard deviation of $39.76. 27 orders exceeded the average.
• The average for each month was $320.18, with a standard deviation of $135.43. The months of May, September, and February were the three months that exceeded the monthly average.
• Although none of the orders were international, they came from all over the United States.
  • 19 of them came from the South, 12 of them came from the West, 24 of them came from the Midwest, and 26 of them came from the Northeast.
  • Only two of these orders came from the same state I live in.

In regards to how much I spent on each collection, here are the facts:

• Of the $2,465.38 I spent on the materials alone, $1,058.22 of it (42.92%) were on the masks. There, I spent $533.90 on the Toa masks, $366.72 on the Turaga masks, $90.66 on the gold and silver masks, and $66.94 on additional masks (including the copper Huna, the lime-green translucent Miru, the infected Hau, and all of the McDonald’s Matoran masks).
  • For the Toa masks, the most expensive shape to finish was the Kaukau, while the cheapest was the Pakari. The most expensive color to finish was white (Kopaka’s masks), while the cheapest was blue (Gali’s masks).
  • For the Turaga masks, the most expensive shape to finish was the Rau, while the cheapest was the Ruru. The most expensive color to finish was lime green (Matau’s masks), while the cheapest was tan (Onewa’s masks).
• Without modifications, the total cost I spent on the McDonald’s Matoran was $108.50. But if you count the modifications and the additional pieces to make 14 Matoran, the actual total cost was $406.01, which makes up 16.47% of the total material costs.
• The total for the Toa sets was $130.40, the total for the Turaga sets was $93.60, and the total for the Rahi sets was $512.00. The total for the standard retail sets released in 2001 was $736.00, which makes up 29.85% of the total material costs.
• For the instructions manuals, I spent a total of $65.75. Only the Muaka & Kane-Ra, Nui-Jaga, and Nui-Rama orders came with the instructions. For the ones I spent, I finished the Toa Mata, Toa Nuva, Toa Metru, Rahi, and Bohrok collections, as well as the Master Builder Set.
• Accumulating the totals for the 2001 retail sets, the Matoran, the instructions manuals for Toa Mata and Rahi sets, and the masks, the total is $2,224.19, which makes up 90.22% of the total material costs.

And that’s all! My journey in ordering BIONICLE sets and pieces still continue. Like I say, I have considered everything released in the first four years and looked at everything released in the first five years. I may not get them all. And even after I’m done with BIONICLE, I may continue ordering LEGO sets and pieces on BrickLink.