What's an efficient way to hoard MOC components?

Ibis-2k12 · 2015-08-04T03:05:18.000Z

As a kid I had a ton of Lego, but I've spent the last few years moving between many countries. I've finally settled down and I asked my parents to send my Lego bricks from the other side of the world to here, but I've missed out on many interesting releases. My favorite themes are Castle and Pirates, and I've always enjoyed doing Castle-themed MOCs as a kid. I was wondering, what could be an effective way to collect bricks that would be useful for Castle-themed MOCs? With the 2013 sets out of production their price is not very wallet friendly around here, and the older 2010 Kingdoms are even worse from that point of view. I could always hit Bricklink or some local store to buy bricks individually, but that sounds a bit difficult, especially now that I don't have many pieces available. I have 1x or 2x of the 2013 sets, and those that I have 1x I don't plan to take them apart, they'll sit nicely on my shelves. Is there some set that you would suggest in order to collect many components that would be useful to have a starting point for Castle-themed MOCs? My local TRU has those "1000 pieces" kits at a very good price, but it would be hard for me to use most of those colors. So far the best bet seem to be used/second hand/open sets at a low price from Bricklink or local auction sites. Any advice will be appreciated!