Storage and Sorting LEGO

[Bearded Castle Guy]

Harbor Freights a good place but most of the stuff they have is not real good quality.

Harbor Freight has merchandise of varying quality to be sure, you just have to pay attention to what you are buying. It's a GREAT place to get stuff when you need something that just gets the job done, but yes don't expect some of it to last like Craftsman or Snap-On Tools. The flip side of that is you are NOT paying the PRICE you do for Craftsman or Snap-On Tools either (or in this case Stanley for the pretty direct comparison). Pretty much the best level of pricing I've seen for the 25 Compartment Stanley has been $13 for the gray/purple version @ Walmart. Compare that to Harbor Freight's $7.99 sale price well you can almost get 2 for 1 level of a deal. That is IF you are willing to put up with the gap/ potential migration of small pieces between bins, or only put larger parts in these.

I don't scoff @ Harbor Freight, it's a great place to get certain items, especially if you are only needing to use the item a few times or it's not something that can cause injury if it fails/breaks.I don't buy cheap sockets, I've seen those break in use (almost injured an eye when it fractured)I get good ones and know it's not going to do that in normal use. I have decided on a similar path for storage, the Stanley's I use are NOT the cheapest solution by far, but I also know they will hold up and the pieces will stay put when I have to move them.

For me the benefit to the cost is worth it....

[Multiverse]

Just to throw this in: I keep as much of my Lego collection as possible in marshmallow boxes. These particular boxes are made of relatively sturdy, transparent plastic, and they fit perfectly in IKEA's Billy-model shelf system. Their size, roughly 16x26 studs and 8 bricks high (as presented in an international measurement unit which is always at hand), is pretty much perfect for a collection of my size. The only downside is that I'm getting pretty tired of marshmallows.

EDIT:

Edited July 23, 2012 by Multiverse

[AwesomeTaylor]

I just ordered these - Should be here in a week or two and I can sort my boxes after I move in to my new condo!

http://www.organize.com/64drhastca.html

http://www.organize.com/44drhastca.html?green=C10AD61F-F721-51F4-BBDD-825474D5A86C

[BigBricks666]

My collection isn't nearly as big as many of yours. But I only just got back into LEGO a few years ago.

I have most of my built sets in several Sterilite stack drawers. While the rest are in LEGO tubs, other plastic containers

or still sealed in there boxes. So far that is working for me at the moment.

What do you do about LEGO boxes? Are they worth keeping? I'm not planning to sell my LEGO anytime soon. I've read that

some people cut out the fronts of there boxes, and toss the rest. Would that be a way to go?

Right now I have boxes stored inside other boxes. It seems like I have more boxes than LEGO.

[BrickPicker]

Speaking of LEGO storage, here is an interesting ARTICLE about storing new and MISB LEGO sets for collection purposes or resale at a later time.

Edited August 7, 2012 by BrickPicker

[ticktockclock]

Does anyone have their collection stored in some type of cabinet/drawer unit? My girlfriend is supportive of my hobby, but I think her enjoyment of LEGO ends where her tastes in home decor begins. Basically, she's not a big fan of LEGO being left out in the open, which I can understand. She never gripes over the money I've spent so that's all I can ask. ANYWAYS...

I'm looking for some type of presentable furniture that can hold my inventory (which is quite modest as I've only come out of the dark ages ~6 months ago). I don't like having to shove my stuff in the closet so I'd like to have it more accessible while still relatively concealable.

Something along the lines of this perhaps:

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/50167158/

[fred67]

What do you do about LEGO boxes? Are they worth keeping? I'm not planning to sell my LEGO anytime soon. I've read that

some people cut out the fronts of there boxes, and toss the rest. Would that be a way to go?

I don't see what the point of that is (for resale). Far simpler to open both ends of the box so that you can store it flat... little difference between that and destroying the box just for the front.

[mrklaw]

Does anyone have their collection stored in some type of cabinet/drawer unit? My girlfriend is supportive of my hobby, but I think her enjoyment of LEGO ends where her tastes in home decor begins. Basically, she's not a big fan of LEGO being left out in the open, which I can understand. She never gripes over the money I've spent so that's all I can ask. ANYWAYS...

I'm looking for some type of presentable furniture that can hold my inventory (which is quite modest as I've only come out of the dark ages ~6 months ago). I don't like having to shove my stuff in the closet so I'd like to have it more accessible while still relatively concealable.

Something along the lines of this perhaps:

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/50167158/

Something like that could be good, or kitchen units with shallow drawers (with glossy fronts and nice handles they wouldn't look too 'kitcheny'). I was looking at kitchens at the weekend and when I was looking at some of the double width drawers I was thinking how good they'd be for Lego :)

Then you just need good dividers inside the drawers.

[Cara]

I like the look of that unit its nice and clean lines, I would love it in my house, without its wheels. Especially for smaller pieces, if you get/build good dividers or keep your pieces in smaller tubs inside the drawers. I warn you though lego increases exponentially so plan for bigger drawers/cabinets once you have tubs of each colour to store.

Have you told your girlfriend you're trying to find good looking storage solutions? If she browses furniture shops/magazines she may already have an idea of something she likes that might be useful to you.

[morcianknight]

I have been sorting out my sets recently after I kind of abandoned the room I keep my LEGO in. I found that four instruction booklets for some of my Knights' Kingdom sets had been left on the floor, after a particularly crazy incident involving arachnophobia and the throwing of water over the corner of the room to flush them out!

This has lead to some mold on the covers and on a few of the pages. I'm assuming it's mildew but I'm not sure. I have tried "dusting away the mildew with paper tissues" but this is not the sort of mold that will dust off. I'd really like to clean these up, as I have a box with all of my instructions and other LEGO papers in and want to put these with them. Any tips for removing it or should I just bin them? :/

Here is what it looks like, and one of the tissues I wiped it with:

On the paper, the mold doesn't look that thick but the amount of "blueness" on the tissue was quite substantial!

Edited August 9, 2012 by morcianknight

[BrickPicker]

My collection isn't nearly as big as many of yours. But I only just got back into LEGO a few years ago.

I have most of my built sets in several Sterilite stack drawers. While the rest are in LEGO tubs, other plastic containers

or still sealed in there boxes. So far that is working for me at the moment.

What do you do about LEGO boxes? Are they worth keeping? I'm not planning to sell my LEGO anytime soon. I've read that

some people cut out the fronts of there boxes, and toss the rest. Would that be a way to go?

Right now I have boxes stored inside other boxes. It seems like I have more boxes than LEGO.

Whether or not your intention is to resell the LEGO sets later on, keep the boxes and instructions in excellent condition anyway. They will increase the value of any used set dramatically in the secondary LEGO market and you never know when your interest in LEGO bricks will change and you will want to sell them.

Edited August 9, 2012 by BrickPicker

[splatman]

This has lead to some mold on the covers and on a few of the pages. I'm assuming it's mildew but I'm not sure. I have tried "dusting away the mildew with paper tissues" but this is not the sort of mold that will dust off. I'd really like to clean these up, as I have a box with all of my instructions and other LEGO papers in and want to put these with them. Any tips for removing it or should I just bin them? :/

These may help:

http://www.ehow.com/how_4500086_kill-mold-vinegar.html

http://www.instructables.com/id/Cheap-and-effective-sanitizer/

Then let dry.

HTH

[morcianknight]

These may help:

http://www.ehow.com/how_4500086_kill-mold-vinegar.html

http://www.instructables.com/id/Cheap-and-effective-sanitizer/

Then let dry.

HTH

Cheers, I will give it a go. I have a feeling though that the mold may be so old that I'll have no luck at all.

[wolfwing]

I have a decent selection and growing, bought some random pound lots from Ebay, but really at a lost how best to sort. Especially the random larger pieces that don't really fit into any catagory.

Right now my main method is.

Main lego, which is slopes, flat, 1BYX, 2 by X are in one bin.

Tires/vehicle parts are in another.

Wings or wing like are in a different.

4byX cilindars and parts are in another.

the 1X tubes and caps are in another.

And a big bulk of just completly random.

But finding it hard to really work with, wanting to organize into colours, but not sure. Any suggestions?

[Ricecracker]

Merged with the Storage and Sorting LEGO topic.

[wolfwing]

Is it best to sort by type and colour, or just colour? Right now the closest I have to by colour is I have brown/beiege/dark beiege and simular off colours sorted into a single bin for when I start making some desert scenes.

For regular bricks was thinking of just sorting by colour, maybe at best if collection gets too big, sort plates and bricks by colour.

[meyerc13]

What I do is sort the bricks I'd use to make a wall by color. For example, 1x1, 1x2, 1x4, 1x6, 1x8, 2x2, 2x4, 2x6... all of those are sorted by color into large, clear plastic bins. I'll usually group some colors, contrasting to make it easy to spot the color I want (white & black, blue & red, yellow & green, grays & browns, etc.).

For smaller parts, I believe the most common method is to sort by part. It's easy to find the color you want if they are grouped by the type of piece. The problem with this method is that it can take up a lot of space, depending on how granular you want to get. I started sorting each type of piece into its own spot, but quickly realized that I had to start grouping some or I'd have more storage than LEGO.

Ultimately the best method is whatever works for you. I've changed the way I sort the small parts a few times now, but the one thing I haven't changed is grouping the 1x and 2x bricks by color.

[happymark]

I agree the best method is whatever works for you.

for colors. normally I divide them into several categories (apply for most bricks/plates)

1) black & white

2) other prime colors (RED, YELLOW, BLUE)

3) Gray

4) other colors (GREEN, BROWN, ORANGE, LIGHT BLUE, TAN. etc)

sometime, I divide Old (dark) gray from new bley & dark bley, sometime I don't

sometime I split BLACK & WHITE also if they are overflowed. same for R/Y/B

I also put some 'rare' colors into one. such as Dark Red, Dark Brown ,Sand Green etc.

What I do is sort the bricks I'd use to make a wall by color. For example, 1x1, 1x2, 1x4, 1x6, 1x8, 2x2, 2x4, 2x6... all of those are sorted by color into large, clear plastic bins. I'll usually group some colors, contrasting to make it easy to spot the color I want (white & black, blue & red, yellow & green, grays & browns, etc.).

For smaller parts, I believe the most common method is to sort by part. It's easy to find the color you want if they are grouped by the type of piece. The problem with this method is that it can take up a lot of space, depending on how granular you want to get. I started sorting each type of piece into its own spot, but quickly realized that I had to start grouping some or I'd have more storage than LEGO.

Ultimately the best method is whatever works for you. I've changed the way I sort the small parts a few times now, but the one thing I haven't changed is grouping the 1x and 2x bricks by color.

most of pieces, I sort by type.

only exception is Green/Brown/Tan/light blue. i put all bricks (1X2, 2X2, 1X3, 2X3, 2X4, 2X6) into same bin. that's best for me to fewer bins

Is it best to sort by type and colour, or just colour? Right now the closest I have to by colour is I have brown/beiege/dark beiege and simular off colours sorted into a single bin for when I start making some desert scenes.

For regular bricks was thinking of just sorting by colour, maybe at best if collection gets too big, sort plates and bricks by colour.

[fred67]

Sorting by color vs. sorting by type = you can't win.

If you sort by color, for example, all red 2x2, 2x3. 2x4 in the same bin, then it can become a real chore trying to find a particular piece, especially when you're largely using that piece and don't have a lot left. For example, you use almost all your 2x4 bricks... finding another one in a bin full of the same color 2x2 and 2x3 bricks sucks.

However, find the last few red 2x4s in a bin full of 2x4s of other colors is usually not that difficult.

On the other hand, if you're building something large (let's say a house, for example), you'll want mostly the same color - so if you sort by type, then you need all your bins to get all the various types of pieces in that color.

This is assuming you have copious amounts of all the pieces.

What I've finally started doing is both... except for the large number of bigger pieces, I've been moving towards using the Akro-mills storage drawers and sorting by both color and type. It's still not easy, because I may have just a few 1x1, 2x2, 1x3, 1x4.... and what would be several drawers (or more) of 1x2, because that's the most common piece I use for making buildings.

Still... even if I have to have excess stored separately, having most of the different types of pieces in one color in one unit makes building things like that a lot easier.

Of course, it took me years (and well over 100k pieces) to finally make my move to that kind of system, and I'm not even remotely done - just a few colors so far (the ones I have the least of).

The other problem is there are some types of pieces - greebles and technic, where it often simply doesn't matter what color you have - you just need the right piece. If you've got them all separated by color, then you may need to search each color's storage unit to find what you need.

So... whatever works for you, but my warning is that I started off trying to be really "neat" in my storage and found that it wasn't conducive to building. There's no way you can sort that completely eliminates all problems, but what you decide should make it easy to pull a bin or storage unit out and largely make what you want to make without having to get bits and pieces from a dozen different units.

Edited August 14, 2012 by fred67

[Myko]

I'm currently thinking of transitioning into a system where I sort my regular pieces by type (bricks, plates, wedges, windows, wheels etc.) and sort more speciality parts by color. My reasoning is that sorting by type gets in the way of creativity somewhat. It's excellent if you want to find a particular piece, but if you decide "I want to put a bunch of dark bley greebles in this area", it's hard to do that.

[wolfwing]

What about oddities? Like specialty space parts and such castles are easy, but some of the ship/space and such that don't fit into wings, windows and such parts get a bit complicated.

[happymark]

I have drawers for

tail wings

engines (or engines like)

propellers

and of course. a lot of windshields.

castle wall pieces and big rock pieces go to their own drawers too

and trees and bushes , separated from flowers and grass

I put treasure chests and barrels are in same though.

it ends up 40+ sterilite 3 drawers organizers for me.

What about oddities? Like specialty space parts and such castles are easy, but some of the ship/space and such that don't fit into wings, windows and such parts get a bit complicated.

[mrklaw]

What about oddities? Like specialty space parts and such castles are easy, but some of the ship/space and such that don't fit into wings, windows and such parts get a bit complicated.

If I have enough of them, or I find them an often used part, then they get their own little container. If not then they go into one of two sections for big and little misc pieces

[wolfwing]

I bought 4 2$ Snaptite containers at the dollar store going to test them out, 5.75L, long and narrow, and my main bookcase just fits, my secondary which will probably be my case for always and curently using lego just a bit of overhang, going to try to fit some colours in and see how they work out, will buy more on cheque day next week.

[happymark]

my current LEGO room 'layout'