Missing or Damaged Pieces in a Brick Set: What to Check First and What to Do Next (2026)

OWNER'S GUIDE · WRITTEN FROM OUR SUPPORT INBOX

Somewhere around the tenth bag of a 3,000-piece build, a step calls for a part that is not on the table. It is one of the most common reasons builders write to us, and the most over-reported: about one in four missing-part reports we receive end with the builder finding the piece. Below is the checklist our support team walks through with you, in the order that actually finds parts, then what to do when a piece really is missing or broken, or the parcel arrived damaged. It is written around our own sets, but most of it applies to any large brick kit.

Why a big kit occasionally has a gap

Numbered bags are packed by machine, and across 3,658 pieces there are 3,658 chances for one small element to misbehave. The usual failure is not a short count: it is a pin pushed inside a beam hole, a bush nested inside a larger element, a tiny piece that slid into the neighbouring bag, or a part that worked out of a bag seam into a corner of the box. Genuine short counts happen, but in our inbox they are the minority.

Leftover pieces are the mirror image and not a defect. Spare small elements are intentional across the hobby; LEGO's own help pages tell Technic builders that pieces left over at the end of a build are normal. Our sets also include a separate, sealed spare-parts bag, because carpets eat connectors.

Inside the Zenith 720S box: the printed manual over sealed bags, each printed with its stage number and the set number.

The seven checks, in the order that finds parts

1. Finish the stage before you decide. Large kits split the build into numbered stages, and a stage can span more than one bag. The part you need may be in the second bag of the same stage, so empty every bag carrying the current number first. On our sets the stage number is printed on the bag itself.

2. Open the unnumbered connector bag. Pins, axles and bushes used throughout the build travel in their own unnumbered bag. If you set it aside because it had no number, that is where your "missing" part is. Open it before bag one and keep it in its own tray.

3. Check the spare-parts bag. The smallest elements, the ones most often lost or miscounted, have duplicates in the sealed spare bag. Open it only when a step calls for something you cannot find, so you always know what it still holds.

4. Rule out a look-alike. Axles come in lengths that differ by a single stud: lay yours along a beam and count the holes. Pins of one length exist in friction and frictionless versions, usually in different colours. A 2x4 and a 2x6 plate look identical until you count studs. Black, dark grey and dark blue blur together under a warm lamp; if a colour seems wrong, check it in daylight first.

5. Look where parts hide. Inside other parts, between the pages of the manual, in the box corners and under its cardboard tray, in the seam of a bag you tore open, and inside the smaller bags packed within the large ones. Sorting a stage by colour before you start exposes most of these.

6. Count against the step, not the set. Most manuals list the parts each step uses; count those against your tray rather than inventorying 3,000 pieces. If the count is right and the build still will not close, the cause is usually a part seated one hole off in an earlier step.

7. Check the floor, the chair and your lap. Obvious, and still where a surprising share of parts turn up. A tray for the current stage prevents most of it.

Damaged pieces: what counts, and what does not

What counts. A beam or brick with a visible crack. A pin split along its slot. An axle that wobbles when rolled on a flat table. A gear with a damaged tooth. A panel with a deformed clip or a deep gouge on its visible face. A tyre with a cut. A torn, creased or missing sticker sheet. Electronics that do not respond on a first run after a correct pairing with the cable fully seated: a motor, a handset, a receiver unit or the LED cable. We treat all of these like a missing part, electronics included.

What usually does not. Faint white stress marks where a clip or pin has been flexed are cosmetic and common on ABS plastic; replace the part only if it has cracked through. A tiny whisker of plastic on an edge is mould flash and trims off with a fingernail. A new friction pin that feels stiff is doing its job.

Photograph damaged parts next to the manual page that uses them, and if a part broke under load rather than arriving broken, say where in the build it happened; that tells us whether to look at the batch.

Test-spin axles and gears at the end of each drivetrain stage. A gear seated one hole off reads as a "broken" part much later in the build.

If the parcel itself arrived damaged

Handle shipping damage before you unpack. Photograph the outer carton on all sides, the label and the damage, then check whether the inner box is intact and the bags still sealed. A dented carton with sealed bags inside is cosmetic. A crushed inner box with split bags is not: stop unpacking and write to us the same day with the photos. Our refund policy asks for pictures of both the item and the packaging, so keep everything until we have replied. Depending on the damage we replace the affected bags, the box or the whole kit, and if anything has to come back to us we arrange and cover it.

One thing that looks like damage but is not: a box that has not arrived. Some sets and most multi-item orders ship as more than one parcel, each with its own tracking number emailed to you. Check for a second tracking number before reporting a missing box.

What to send us, and what happens next

Use the missing-parts form at nexusbrick.com/pages/missing-parts, which opens a ticket and emails you a reference, or write to support@nexusbrick.com. Five things let us act on the first reply:

• ✓Your order number, from the confirmation email, and the name of the set.
• ✓The stage or bag number and the step where the part is used.
• ✓A photo of the manual page with the missing or damaged part circled.
• ✓How many of that part you need.
• ✓A photo of your build so far, showing the step you are on. A 1:8 car has dozens of near-identical black beams and pins; the photo settles which one in seconds.

We confirm the part from your photos and send the replacement to your delivery address on its own. Nothing goes back to us, so keep building. If you find the original part after reporting it, reply to the confirmation email and we close the ticket; that happens roughly one report in five.

A photo like this, showing the step you are on and the empty spot, is the fastest way for us to identify a part.

Keep building while you wait

Whether to skip a step depends on the part. A body panel, trim piece, mirror or seat can be clipped in when the replacement arrives, so build past it and mark the page. A gear, axle or beam inside the chassis cannot, because everything later bolts onto it; park that sub-assembly and work on another stage. Do not substitute a longer axle or a different pin in the drivetrain to keep moving: an axle one stud too long can press a gear against its neighbour and bind the whole car. Our realistic build plan shows how the stages fit together.

One request: write to us before you write to your bank

If a replacement seems slow or you are not hearing back, email again with "second request" in the subject line and it goes to a person, not a queue. Please do that before opening a card dispute. A dispute freezes the payment on both sides while the bank reviews it, which Shopify's own guidance says can take up to 75 days, and like most stores we have to pause shipments on a disputed order until the bank decides.

Zenith 720S owners: the electronics count

The electronics are the easiest items to miscount in the Zenith box, so check your count against the full list before reporting one missing: two white handsets, two grey receiver and battery units, six motors (two medium, two extra-large, one large and one steering servo), one LED light cable and two extension cables. There is no shifting gearbox in the Zenith, so if the car drives but does not change gear, nothing is absent. And a motor that does not respond is often a cable not pushed fully into the receiver port or an unpaired handset; most first-run problems end with a full charge and a fresh pairing. If a motor, handset or receiver is genuinely faulty after that, report it like any other part. Our Zenith build review covers the stages where builders most often get stuck.

The finished Zenith 720S: 3,658 pieces, and a sealed spare-parts bag you will hopefully never open.

Questions we answer every week

Do I have to send the kit back to get a replacement part?
No. The replacement is sent on its own and nothing is returned. A missing-parts report does not start a return and does not affect your rights under our refund policy.

Do I pay for the replacement?
No. A genuine missing or damaged part is our fault, not yours. We only ask for the order number and the photos, so the right part goes out first time.

Can I buy the part from a brick marketplace instead of waiting?
For standard pins, axles and beams in common colours, yes; they are widely sold and will fit, since our elements follow standard brick dimensions. Set-specific elements are different: our pearlescent black panels are a custom colour and the gold rims are specific to the set. Ask us first; we send the part regardless.

There are pieces left over at the end. Is something wrong?
No. Spare small elements are intentional across the hobby, and our sets add a sealed spare bag on top. Keep them in a jar; they are the pieces most likely to be needed years from now.

The printed manual is missing, damaged or too small to read comfortably.
Email us with your order number and we send the PDF manual, which you can zoom in on.

Read next: how our sets are made and tested, the Zenith 720S build review, or our 1:8 brick car buyer's guide.

LEGO® and Technic are trademarks of the LEGO Group, which does not sponsor, authorize or endorse this site; its help pages are cited only as a published source. NexusBrick is an independent brand; our elements are designed for compatibility with standard building-brick systems, and our models are original brick interpretations of automotive forms.