Storage and Sorting LEGO

[salty tbone]

When I first started sorting my collection, I made the mistake of sorting everything by color. I think that was fine for bricks, but for the other pieces it was too hard to find what I wanted or know exactly what I had. (Trying to find a black headlight brick in a bin of black pieces was a chore, for example.)

I re-sorted by type using Bricklink's categories as a guide (plate, slope, wedge, etc.) and find myself addicted to the process. Now it's a matter of how far do I want to go. For example, I have 2-wide plates in a tub and could sort further based on length. I also still keep rarer colors separated in their own container. I only have about 50 sand blue pieces, and prefer keeping them together to know exactly what I have. If I sorted them out into the bins based on type, they'd essentially be needles in haystacks compared with the main colors.

I also keep brown and original grays segregated to avoid confusion, with the exceptions of accessories and animals.

My main storage method is shoe-box sized plastic containers (usually a dollar at Target) and the next bigger size. I use storebrand ziplock bags for when I have a lot of a similar piece.

If nothing else, getting the smallest pieces sorted away from the big ones is worth the effort, because otherwise they'd settle at the bottom of tubs and be a pain to find. I'm sure that's obvious to most here, but I wish I realized that when I first started sorting.

[puddleglum]

I re-sorted by type using Bricklink's categories as a guide (plate, slope, wedge, etc.) and find myself addicted to the process. Now it's a matter of how far do I want to go. For example, I have 2-wide plates in a tub and could sort further based on length. I also still keep rarer colors separated in their own container. I only have about 50 sand blue pieces, and prefer keeping them together to know exactly what I have. If I sorted them out into the bins based on type, they'd essentially be needles in haystacks compared with the main colors.

I also keep brown and original grays segregated to avoid confusion, with the exceptions of accessories and animals.

My main storage method is shoe-box sized plastic containers (usually a dollar at Target) and the next bigger size. I use storebrand ziplock bags for when I have a lot of a similar piece.

If nothing else, getting the smallest pieces sorted away from the big ones is worth the effort, because otherwise they'd settle at the bottom of tubs and be a pain to find. I'm sure that's obvious to most here, but I wish I realized that when I first started sorting.

Do you still have your bricks sorted by color? I'm of two minds about this. I'm still in the process of sorting, but right now I'm doing it by brick. (1x1's in a bag, 2x2's in a bag, etc). It's very easy to find the parts I'm looking for, but I think ultimately, any time I'm looking for bricks in a certain color, I'm going to need various lengths, and it would be nice to just be able to go grab, for example, a box of tan bricks if I want to build a tan building. But I'm too OCD to put all the tan bricks in a box unsorted, so right now I'm leaning towards having a box or large bag for each color, and having each size brick in it's own bag.

I agree with setting very rare colors aside, but I've started using BrickStore to keep an inventory of my parts, so it's easy enough to see all the parts I have in a certain color.

I let my old and new browns mingle freely, since most constructions using brown benefit from the “mixed” look anyways. My old greys I am quarantining to their own box since I don’t use them much.

[posades]

I certainly see your problem salty tbone, especially since I ran into the same problem not long ago. I guess I could sort into different sized bricks/plates/etc., but sorting by color is more to my liking as of right now. As my collection grows I'm sure I'll have to switch over to the specific type sorting, but that is going to require a lot more room than is currently being taken up with the color system.

[Eilif]

Here's an interesting issue. When creating a storage system, how much credence to you give to organizing based on which pieces you will be using most often.

My building desk is lined with drawer organizers for "special" pieces.

As my collection is growing, and my drawers are nearly full, I have begun to see the value of prioritizing "special" pieces based on how much I use them. Since I build mostly structures, there are alot of pieces that currently are in my"special" drawers that I really don't need to have close at hand.

Thus I am going to move them into the food organizers that I use for most pieces,

or the bulk storage of elements that I have more than one food organizer of.

Has anyone else found it necessary to prioritize your sorting based on usefullness?

[Modulex Guy]

ugh, I really need to find a better storage system... little plastic boxes everywhere, few drawer systems, unsorted bins, every table surface crammed with unsorted brick.

*sigh, i really need to start sorting again.

[Davey]

Here's an interesting issue. When creating a storage system, how much credence to you give to organizing based on which pieces you will be using most often.

Has anyone else found it necessary to prioritize your sorting based on usefullness?

Stacy and I keep thinking of doing this and I think it makes a lot of sense. I think the only downside would be that you might get 'into a rut' with the pieces you decide to use. With our current sorting system and the number of elements in the LEGO palette, I very often find myself looking for one part and then finding something else only to exclaim 'WOW...I forgot about THIS part'. So, is sorting by usefulness a good idea. My answer is maybe. I may give it a try soon here as I need to revamp my storage solutions due to the explosive growth of our collection the past year or so.

-Dave

[RepublicForces]

I have it all around my room

100th post

Edited July 3, 2009 by repubilcFORCES

[Dragonator]

Here's an interesting issue. When creating a storage system, how much credence to you give to organizing based on which pieces you will be using most often.

Has anyone else found it necessary to prioritize your sorting based on usefullness?

At the moment I must admit that I am sorting in this way. As I'm doing a lot of castle building right now, I've sorted all my greys and other structural building pieces quite efficiently, making it very easy to find what I need. Everything else is still a bit of a mess. I think Dave raises a good point though that you can become set in your ways. I'm noticing the lack of interesting parts in my current build right now, so perhaps a bit of branching out is in order.

As for myself, I use these wonderful boxes with removable compartments for my sorting, similar to the picture below, although not exactly the same:

I know Will uses these to sort his BrickArms Merchandise. These are the cheapest and best solution I can find in New Zealand; the large drawer organisers aren't available here.

Here's a question: How do you sort your minifigs? I know many people sort them by torsos and then heads, and then legs etc, but I rather like to keep my minifigs together rather than breaking them up.

[Perterz]

It has taken me lots of my time but I did sort out my Lego and managed to store it and find it easily. Thing is, it's a never-ending-job.. Luckely i find it rather plesant to sort out Lego.

Anyway, my collection is put into boxes, like in boxes often used in the kitchen

-Note to myself: find another way to mark the boxes because these stickers ain't working pal..

Well I'd rather choose for these non-transparant boxes to protect the brickes even more to UV-rays.

When you open the boxes, you'll find something like this..

I put all colors from the same part together, when I got a lot af the same color I start deviding that into subgroups.

Plates are stacked and could get devided into small and large when I got to many of them.

Another example are the tile boxes, colors are kept seperate. In case I get a larger amount of the same piece/color, it gets devided.

Minifigs:

That's basically how I sort and store my collection 24/7 and in case you're wondering, there also is a box like this one:

...It still is Lego..

Edited July 14, 2009 by Perterz

[Glacarcheo]

How dare you put silver Bionicle spines in a bin labeled crap?!

Lolz. I sort based on color and sometimes piece (I'm a Bionicle collector). I put them in bins that are clearish and stack them ontop of eachother. I usually break down sets, (except the really cool ones) but keep the instructions and inventory sheets incase I want to rebuild them.

[Perterz]

How dare you put silver Bionicle spines in a bin labeled crap?!

Lolz.

The piece is actually not that bad but considering I would brick build spikes if I need them, makes the piece rather useless to me except for maybe reference

Funny how one person calls something crap while for the other it is usefull, makes the world go round I guess

Edited July 14, 2009 by Perterz

[Eilif]

Here's a question: How do you sort your minifigs? I know many people sort them by torsos and then heads, and then legs etc, but I rather like to keep my minifigs together rather than breaking them up.

I would find it maddening to have to search through all the minifig parts I have to build a fig. Thus, I have two racks like this:

It really is a great system. Two of these racks can hold around 1000 minifigs on 8 32x32 stud shelves. It makes it extremely easy to find any minifig part, and when I need a minifig for a MOC, chances are it's already assembled and waiting for me. At least half the figs on these racks are not "official".

As soon as I have the parts to make a halfway decent minifig I usually make one and add it to the rack, but I do have some minifig parts that are not assembled, usually due to lack of heads. In my drawer organizers, I have a drawer of torsos, and one one of legs. In the smaller size drawers I have my extra minifig heads, headgear, armor, and weapons. About half the drawers in this organizer are minifig accessories and bits.

[Perterz]

I would find it maddening to have to search through all the minifig parts I have to build a fig. Thus, I have two racks like this:

It really is a great system. Two of these racks can hold around 1000 minifigs on 8 32x32 stud shelves. It makes it extremely easy to find any minifig part, and when I need a minifig for a MOC, chances are it's already assembled and waiting for me. At least half the figs on these racks are not "official".

Well I do reckon it's a great system, I stored my minifigs like this aswell at first but they collected to much dust way to fast hence why I disassembled them all in their parts.

[Eilif]

Well I do reckon it's a great system, I stored my minifigs like this aswell at first but they collected to much dust way to fast hence why I disassembled them all in their parts.

Yeah, dust can be a problem in some houses. In my house, most of the dust seems to end up on the lower floor, but I'd still rather throw a cloth over the shelves as a dustcover than disassemble them. Still, everyone has their preferences.

[gvd314]

I sort my pieces similar to many of the previous posters, according to the Bricklink description and not separated by color (with the exception of bricks of 2 stud width). Its easy to find a white 1x2 brick with grooves in a tray of 1x2 bricks with grooves; not so easy to find a white 1x2 brick with grooves in a tub of white pieces.

The problem is that I don't always remember exactly what box contains what piece, especially the ones I don't use very much (hmmm... where did I put those 1 x 2 Modified Plates with Long Stud Receptacle?)

So I numbered my boxes and made an index, listing each type of piece alphabetically along with the number of the box the piece is in:

I can easily find the piece once I know the number of the tray it is in. For example, in this picture you can see that tray number 305 in the upper left-hand corner contains all spare 1x6 bricks.

But just in case you couldn't find a tray, you could consult the following "map" of my storage area showing where the various numbers are located. The location of common classes of pieces is indicated on this chart by shading in regions of the map:

Notice how the map corresponds to the actual layout of the storage cabinets:

The other thing I do that I haven't seen much of in this thread is to use tackle boxes (which are commonly used in America to hold fishing lures) to store Technic pieces and minifig utensils. Here is my Technic tackle box:

[Peppermint_M]

I have started sorting smaller parts into bead boxes, studs/clips etc. I have also sorted some minifig stuff by "theme-ish" sets, so I have a box of 'historic' torsos, accessories and headgear. I have one with SF parts and a box of Town gear. Heads get sorted in 'Alien', Flesh and Yellow stacked by type. I would like to sort more parts and sort stuff with more subdivisions, but I haven't the space. I am going to sort by colour for most, I have also realised I need bigger containers for certain elements as I have more than I realised after I started sorting...

I also have two boxes of random parts that are for two large MOC projects.

[Burf2000]

I have too much lego, I need to find better ways of hiding it in the house until I paid for the wedding and able to buy a bigger house. I thought I would never say it but jesus its everywhere.

I am thinking of building a lego bookcase (have a small one at the mo already) to use up the lego and to then put the models in. I also thinking of taking some of the models apart and storing them unbuilt (harsh I know)

Has anyone ran in to similar issues and come up with some super plan to sort it

And no I am not going to sell any of it (yet) lol,

[Rick]

I have too much lego, I need to find better ways of hiding it in the house until I paid for the wedding and able to buy a bigger house. I thought I would never say it but jesus its everywhere.

What!? A marriage is more important than enough room for your Lego?

I am thinking of building a lego bookcase (have a small one at the mo already) to use up the lego and to then put the models in. I also thinking of taking some of the models apart and storing them unbuilt (harsh I know)

Has anyone ran in to similar issues and come up with some super plan to sort it

And no I am not going to sell any of it (yet) lol,

I bet everyone is constantly running into these issues. Storing models unbuilt seems to be the most straight-forward solution. Let me know when you plan to sell some Lego

Edited August 19, 2009 by Rick

[Burf2000]

If I can get enough bricks I plan to build a full size lego shed to put the lego in lol

Worried someone would nick it lol

[Fumoffu]

I'm keen to hear other's solutions to this problem because its mine too.

I pretty much keep most of my sets unbuilt and just keep 2 to 3 built on display. I tend cycle them around so once a month I might built a set that I haven't built for a while and put it on display and retire an existing set back into its box (yes I keep the boxes too and that causes another set of problem).

[Burf2000]

I keep the boxes in the loft, I have a crate or 2 full of binonicles as i have no where to display them, i use the top shelfs of my kitchen cabinets to store lego (lol) and basically a ton of bookcases etc. I am now filling up a sets of draws as the shed is full

I like the idea of changing models every month or so but that would take alot of work

[Ralph_S]

The issue is a familiar one. I just moved to a new (smaller) place temporarily, while I look for a new job and some place larger. (I just moved from the UK to The Netherlands.) My collection was outgrowing my previous place and I already found myself storing MOCs in boxes in my spare bedroom. I don't leave sets built up. In fact, I hardly ever build sets any more. It's little fun and I just don't have the space. If I have to chose between displaying a MOC and set, I'll always choose the former. Now almost all of my MOCs are partially dismantled and stored in boxes, forming a ridiculously large stack. Some book-shelves can do wonders and I hope that wherever I move next, I'll have space for a LEGO room with book shelves covering at least one wall.

Cheers,

Ralph

[DB24]

I also have this problem. I built all of my sets, and refuse to dismantle them. Its getting really hard to find places for 250+ sets, especially as i still live with my parents!

I guess i'll just have to pack some into boxes

[Joey Lock]

If I can get enough bricks I plan to build a full size lego shed to put the lego in lol

Worried someone would nick it lol

Well I would do what my friend did.

He was moving from Cheam to Wiltshire, a long long way away, So he put all his bricks and such into a few Black Bags (Bin Bags) and gave them to me to look after. Of course I had a peak and looked at his bricks. And once he had moved in fine, he let me keep the Sacks of Lego but took the Models, such has the Adventurers Pyramid, and some Classic Space sets and a Mint Condition Black Seas Barracuda which I was sad about. But thats the origin to most of my Lego collection. So mabye you could give bags of lego to your Parents or siblings to look after. Or just sell some for Money for the wedding.

[Burf2000]

All of the childhood lego was sold by me sadly and so all of the current lego (500 kg +) i have brought over the last say 5 years. Saying that I think I got even more than that, I going to start bagging and tagging models and storing them in large containers but its where to put them lol. lego is soo much fun EXCEPT I hate having sooo much lego but then still find bits i dont have.

Last night it too me ages to find a special colour 1 by 4 plate lol

I hope to eventually give my lego or my kids if they want it (and I have some lol)