Why LEGO MOCs Cost So Much (And Why They're Totally Worth It)
Callum LonsdaleThe True Cost of a LEGO MOC (And Why It’s Totally Worth It)
Have you ever looked at a custom LEGO MOC and thought, woah, I refuse to put a second mortgage on the house just to buy this set? It’s double the price of an official LEGO set, so why would I even bother?
Because these thoughts have gone through my head several times in the past two years, but since working with designers and LEGO MOCs I have come to understand the cost a lot more.
So let me break it down for you.
What is a LEGO MOC?
For those new to LEGO MOCs, a MOC, short for My Own Creation, is a custom LEGO build made by any fan, whether that’s me, you, or even Big Bob next door.
Some people make money from these custom sets, and if they market themselves right, they can make a living from them — selling instructions, creating an online presence on social media or YouTube, or most recently, selling their MOCs on MOCBoxing. (Be aware it's not easy, and takes a whole lotta work to pull it off.)
Some MOCs are themed around subjects that LEGO don’t dare touch. Guns and military are a huge one, as it’s not in LEGO’s branding to sell replica weaponry to younger audiences (completely understandable). But Let’s be honest with ourselves though, we would’ve begged for a LEGO AK-47 when we were younger.
*There are companies out there that sell this sort of stuff, just not us*
Design Time and Creative Skill
Every MOC starts with a designer, a LEGO fan who puts hours, sometimes weeks, into planning, testing, and perfecting the model. That includes:
-
Making sure the build is sturdy. This generally refers to someone who’s building their designs physically, not creating 3D renders, because you don’t know if something’s going to break until you finish the MOC, press on one side, and it suddenly collapses.
-
Finding the right parts and colours. This is a good and bad thing, which I explain further in the next section.
-
Creating detailed step-by-step instructions
-
Revising the design to make it buildable by others
You’re not just paying for bricks, you’re supporting the creative brainpower that made the idea possible in the first place. So every time you buy a MOC, just remember someone put a lot of time into this idea.
Rare and Retired Parts
Unlike official LEGO sets, MOCs often use specific, rare, or discontinued pieces that are no longer being made. That means:
Some parts were only ever in one or two sets, so they can be exceptionally rare. A good example is this cute little guy, Goat with Black Eyes and Dark Tan Horns Pattern. Loookkk attt himm he's so cutteee *cough*
This adorable little animal comes from one official LEGO set, Goatherd, Series 25.
One. One official set. And the fact it’s only this set that it comes from gives it an average price on BrickLink of $4.30.
You could have a herd of ten LEGO goats for the price of a good time at Chick-fil-A.
So sometimes the price of a MOC is hiked up high because every brick is expensive. Occasionally, it’s just two or three pieces ruining it for the rest of the bricks.
Colour variants can also cause price inflation. Look at the Window 1 x 6 x 6 Flat Front.
In medium azure, you can find these fairly easily at around $0.20 a brick,
but if you want that exact same brick in sand green,
you’ll be looking at a price increase of at least 4x.
Of course, this problem only arises if you are looking for MOCs that use official LEGO bricks. You can find many knock-off brands of LEGO on TEMU or Amazon that are ten times cheaper. But what you save in money will most likely cost you in quality.
So why don’t designers just use cheaper bricks?
Well, a lot of designers use software like LEGO Stud.io, which allows them to freely make any idea come to life through CAD. Unfortunately, specific colouring prices aren’t shown to them as they build the MOC. So it’s only when someone looks into the XML and makes a BrickLink wish list that they know the true pricing of a MOC.
Sourcing, Sorting and Packing
Here’s where the hidden time cost kicks in. To build a single MOC, you might need bricks from ten or more different BrickLink sellers around the world. That means:
-
Manually sourcing each part. Thankfully, BrickLink has wish lists and XML uploading, which can make this process a lot easier.
-
Making sure colours and versions match, because a designer will have chosen a colour as an aesthetic choice to closely match their ideal design.
-
Receiving everything, sorting it, and checking it’s all correct. When you have twelve different sellers sending you lots of pieces all for one MOC, the probability of missing pieces goes up exponentially.
-
Repackaging it neatly into a single set, so you can get straight to building without sorting out all the pieces beforehand.
Services like MOCBoxing exist because that process is a massive pain, a pain we all know too well as LEGO fans.
Many builders just don’t have the time or patience to do it themselves, me included.
High-Quality Instructions and Presentation
Most MOCs come with polished, easy-to-follow digital instructions. These are usually:
-
Professionally rendered in Studio or other software
-
Tested by other builders to make sure they’re clear
-
Custom-designed to match the tone or theme of the MOC
That level of polish doesn’t happen overnight. You’re paying for a smooth experience that feels like a premium product, because it is.
If you ever want just the instructions or maybe even just to see what the MOC scene is looking like at the moment, Rebrickable is your go to site.
Rare/Expensive Parts
So you'll notice I've mentioned rare parts already and their crazy prices, since LEGO loves to make pieces that are only in one or two sets, but that's not the only big factor in determining price of MOCs.
That would have been the biggest problem if you were sourcing the parts, but with these companies they do that for you, and when a part is in the instructions but not in any available inventories you have to find replacements. This can impact price from both the parts purchasing side, and the time spent finding replacements side.
Real People, Real Work
It’s easy to forget, but MOC kits don’t come together by magic. Behind each packed box is a team, or sometimes just one overworked fan, handling:
-
Part verification and quality checks. You don’t want to be building your LEGO Game Boy Teal, and by the end of it, you’re left with the back panel being bright pink.
-
Manual sorting and packaging. We need to make sure you get all the pieces in your MOC so you can just get straight to building.
-
Customer service, website maintenance, and shipping logistics.
That kind of behind-the-scenes work adds to the price, but also ensures you get something polished, professional, and ready to build right out of the box.
(This is a picture of early days MOCBoxing, they always say companies like Microsoft & apple started in a garage)
You’re Paying to Skip the Hassle
Let’s be honest — you could find all the parts yourself, study the inventory, compare prices across dozens of stores, and hope nothing goes out of stock mid-order.
Or, you could just click Buy Now and have the whole thing show up sorted and ready to build.
Sometimes the value of a MOC isn't just in what it is, it’s in what you don’t have to do to get it.
Why Buy MOCs at All?
The world isn’t getting any cheaper! So why would I spend so much?!
Well, I like to think of it this way. You pay indie game developers to make amazing games like Balatro, Content Warning, Dark and Darker, and LEGO MOCs are no different. Someone has put the time and effort into making a LEGO set for a specific community who shares the same interests. Being able to make some monetary gain allows them to make more sets and gives us more time to build things we like.
You’re paying for passion, not plastic.
Let’s Look at Some Examples
DIFC Gate Building – Leiboblocks
MOC-209496-1
💸 Cost: $2,099.99
🧩 Number of Pieces: 935
(That’s design, concepts, instruction making, rendering, etc.)
🔎 Notable Parts: Custom screen sticker, transparent purple slope
You’ll see straight away that the price is mega high. $2,100. That’s easily getting you a second-hand Ford, or a trip to Japan for two weeks. Definitely one of the lesser optimised MOCs for sure, but an amazing build nonetheless.
MOC-143692-1
💸 Cost: $119.99
🧩 Number of Pieces: 127
🔎 Notable Parts: LEGO panel, stickered LEGO set blocks
To those who know MOCs, Gabizon is a huge name, very much a MOC celebrity from the sheer number of quality MOCs produced by him. But with that large number comes an increased probability that rare parts will be used. At nearly $1 a piece, it’s not very cost efficient, but that’s only due to two or three parts with extremely high pricing.
Final Thoughts
So yeah, a custom LEGO MOC might not always be the cheapest thing on the shelf, but when you break it down, it makes total sense. You're not just paying for plastic bricks. You're supporting hours of design work, rare part sourcing, instruction creation, packing, and a whole lot of behind-the-scenes effort from real people.
Personally, I’ve come to appreciate the value way more now that I’ve seen what goes into it. There’s something special about building a set that LEGO would never make, knowing it was crafted by a passionate designer somewhere across the world who also has an obsessive love for video game culture.
If you’re on the fence about picking up a MOC, give it a shot. Whether it’s based on your favourite game, movie, or some weirdly niche interest that only you and three other people share, there’s probably a designer out there who’s made something just for you. And if there isn’t, well… looks like there might be a job only you can accomplish.
And hey, if you’ve already built one, I’d love to hear what your favourite MOC has been so far. Drop a comment or send me a message. Always up for a LEGO chat.
Thanks for reading!
– Callum Lonsdale