Yes, as people have mentioned, the lab is totally worth it. Many people lab for various reasons. Some want cool colors, others want a rare species, and some lab for good BD stats. Myself, I adopt pets from the pound and then lab them until they get good colors and then put them back up for adoption.
Being a former lab map dealer, I can tell you right now that it is in your best interests to buy
right now even if you can't buy all the pieces at once. Why? Well, about this time last year, full lab sets were selling for 350k. They go up on average about 10k every couple of weeks. (The actual fluctuation varies, and occasionally the lab prices drop slightly) The lab, to my knowledge, has never dropped more than 20k in total price at any given time. Therefore, if you can purchase even some of the pieces now, you will save yourself a bundle of money later on. No matter what, don't buy from the TP. (Strange coming from me, I know, but I used to give customers the same advice if they asked) Most of those maps are 10-20k over actual shop wiz prices. And if you see a lot that says "whatever k or buy from my shop", don't buy from that shop. The prices there can be as high as 30k over what they're 'asking' for their full map. (And even higher over Wiz price) And like Morning said, don't buy from all one shop. If a shop has all 9 pieces, that shop usually overcharges for at least 5 of the pieces.
Hope that helps.

If you're really dedicated, try auctions. Map pieces can go for insanely low prices there.