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I am running a middle school robotics club, and this year we are focusing on building a Great Ball Contraption (GBC). One problem I'm having is acquiring the balls. On BrickLink, the discontinued soccer balls are going for nearly $1 each, and I figure we'll need about 200.

Any ideas?

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    A quick search on Eurobricks says a lot of people just get bulk cheap 14mm plastic balls.
    – Raystafarian
    Feb 7, 2019 at 3:51
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    Do they have to be lego balls? Why wouldn't marbles or something else work? Those would be way cheaper and easy to acquire.
    – Noah Cristino
    Feb 8, 2019 at 21:13

4 Answers 4

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You should research if there is an RLUG (Recognized Lego users group) active near where you live. These are groups of LEGO fans for which the LEGO company provides various levels of support.

Often they have the means to buy LEGO directly from the LEGO company through the LUGBULK program. The program allows the members of the LUG to buy LEGO in bulk directly from the LEGO company itself at a discount rate.

I have in the past succeeded in purchasing a reasonable amount of soccer balls this way (among various other elements).

However, there is only a narrow time frame in which you are able to register for the program and it takes nearly a year until the lugbulk is delivered, sorted and sent to the various members. I'm not sure if the registration is still open or already closed. At least the final selection of items hasn't happened yet AFAIK, so perhaps your RLUG can still select the elements as a favor...

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    Registration for the current one closed just a few days ago.
    – Alexander O'Mara
    Feb 6, 2019 at 19:06
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    While LUGBULK seems a good option it takes quite some time before ordered items are delivered. It takes almost a year. So it is a good option for those planning way ahead.
    – Alex
    Feb 7, 2019 at 12:32
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On LEGO's customer service under "Bricks & Pieces" (not sure what it's called in english the page is in danish here, and I couldn't quickly see a way to change that) you can buy parts. If I search for part id 6261264 (an orange "BALL Ø14,2"), it "only" costs DKK 4.94 which is ~$0.76, quite a bit less than $1, and shipping is usually quite cheap from there, but I think there's a limit on 100 of each piece, so you might need to make more orders.

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I got them from here; https://pv-productions.com/product/lego-gbc-balls/ work perfect in my gbc modules. Also they have very cool glow in the dark gbc balls

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Here is a link to LEGO compatible soccer balls. These GBC balls work flawlessly and were tested at the Brickworld Show on several dozen GBC machine. The balls are still working and are GREAT! 100 pcs = $22.77 or a sample pack of 25 = $9.48.

https://www.brickloot.com/products/white-soccer-balls-for-gbc-great-ball-contraption-fits-lego-balls

Note: I work for Brick Loot on our Original Light Kits and Light Linx, Brick Loot's DIY Lighting items for MOCs. Basically my title is "The Light Guy" lol. If you were at Brick World Chicago you may have met me as I am always there :)

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  • Thanks for sharing this. Are you affiliated with Brick Loot? It's not a problem if you are, but we do ask that you disclose this in your answer.
    – jncraton ♦
    Dec 30, 2019 at 14:03
  • No problem and happy to. I work for Brick Loot on our Original Light Kits and Light Linx, Brick Loot's DIY Lighting items for MOCs. Basically my title is "The Light Guy" lol. If you were at Brick World Chicago you may have met me as I am always there :) I would like to send you free a pack and up to 2 more mods or highly trusted members you suggest to check them out for free. Please LMK @jncraton♦
    – Steve K
    Dec 31, 2019 at 16:42
  • Oh cool! I've updated your answer to include this disclosure. I haven't done GBC, so there's no need to send any of these to me. We don't really have a platform for reviews. We try to stay pretty focused on being a Q&A site, but if anyone else here wants to put together some sort of Q&A content testing these out or comparing them to official parts, I'd personally be open to that.
    – jncraton ♦
    Dec 31, 2019 at 18:54

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