A Dilemma...

[iamded]

I need to decide what to do with my Lego. I could either build up all my sets, for display purposes/add to my Lego town etc, or I could abandon that idea and use it all for MOCs. I have half my Lego in a big box, all mixed together, and half of it sorted into colours, accessories, and mini-fig parts.

Here's what I need to decide. I can;

A) Continue to sort the pieces, to make it easier to build all the sets.

B) Throw it all back into the box, and just use my Lego to MOC.

I can't keep it the way it is, I try to MOC, but all my decent bits have been sorted, and I don't want to mix them, in case I want to keep sorting them to build the sets. I'm at a loss. Sets? Mocs? I need help Eurobrick!

Peace, and thanks in advance.

~iamded

[andy_0306uk]

I'm often having the same dilemma but I've mainly stuck with sorting/building/displaying sets

Although I do have a grown box of 'mixed' Lego that has come from EBay that I plan to use for only MOCing

Decisions ON *y*

[LuxorV]

I had the same dilemma a while ago, when I got back to LEGO and didn't want to mix the new SW and Exo-Force with my old bricks.

Then I simply decided to 'mix' them by sorting all of my bricks (old and new alike) by shape, color and/or dimention. Now I can always decide to re-build the original sets, or to use the pieces for MOCs, founding the right piece with just a bit of searching in the boxes.

"Throw it all back into the box, and just use my Lego to MOC" is not a solution to me *sad* : when you want to build a MOC, you have always to check all the pieces to find the ones you need.

If you sort them all, you can go straight to the case/bag/bucket/box which contains the right color/shape/dimention you need ;-)

LuxorV

[Batbrick]

I had this dilemma not long ago too!

I say do it in an order:

1. Sort what you have- Put minifigs in a container first, and accessories with them. Now if you are like me and don't have a heap of handy containers, and not a huge amount of peices anyway, then put your black, grey and bley, and maybe trans peices in one container, and brighter, primary colours in another.

2. Get a MOCing bin, a sortof place to put set peices when you have pulled them apart. Just a container to house peices that will be put back together.

3. Now i don't know what Lego you have, but I'll be willing to bet that you have some sets that you wouldn't mind breaking down. Over a period of time, as new sets come, old ones that you would rather have as peices should be pulled apart ;-)

Bottom line. Sort your peices out so it is easier to put sets back together, and decide what kind of balance betwwen MOCing and sets you want ;-)

Hope I helped, and goodluck! :-)

I Am FEAR Incarnate! *skull*

[Siegfried]

What I do is I keep all sets for about six months, and then I break and sort most of them. You can always make the set again another day. Some sets I buy to keep, but even those I almost always change a bit. When I have more room and/or pieces I might feel different. At the moment I am considering sorting 90% of Sinnerton and making Sinnerton 3001... :-D

[TheFrisian]

In my opinion you should sort your LEGO anyway, it always comes in handy when you're looking for specific pieces. As for the question wether you should make sets or MOCs out of them, I think you first need to decide which sets you value enough to put on display.

[maiq the liar]

i have a similar dilema.

what i think i'll do:

sort out the minifigs

then sell the rest for new additions

keep the ones not in the bin (60% of my collection i think)

Edited October 30, 2007 by maiq the liar

[xwingyoda]

iamded,

Thats a pretty tough dilemma here |-/

My first advice would be:

A) Continue to sort the pieces, to make it easier to build all the sets.

Sorted oparts are coll to build those sets or MOCs !! While you're thinking, keep sorting ;-)

Then I guess it all depends on how much bricks we are talking about. If you want to MOC but don't have many parts, I would advise you to MOC only !!

I am more of a collector than MOCer. I love to slightly mod my sets, and I want to incorporate them in future dioramas & city !! And I use my spare parts to MOC contest entries ;-)

So I would keep my favorite sets built for display and then use te rest of the parts to MOC.

Hop that makes sense for you ;-) Hope that helped !!

*yoda*

[natelite]

i have your problem as well. i tend to keep all my sets separate, even creator sets. :-| there's a reason for my title! ;-) i'm a MF horder...and MF is not short for minifig. :-P

i think i need to start sorting my bricks by parts instead of sets, especially for those i don't intend to keep whole.

[ExoBuilder]

I have the same problem as well....HELP!

[gylman]

Large favourite sets should be kept as sets, especially if you have instructions and box. They can be displayed, as they are a fun decoration.

Everything else in the bin, but should be sorted. You can't find what you need for a MOC if it's hidden under 10,000 other parts. I had dealt with this for my kids.

You need at least:

1 bin for bricks

1 bin for plates

1 bin for all car related parts

1 bin for slopes, all types

1 bin for teeny bits (2 x 2 corner plate or smaller)

1 bin for very large structural parts like pillars, big wall pieces.

1 bin for minifigs. Don't mix them in with the other pieces, they will get scratched up as you root around the box looking for parts.

baseplates separated.

[iamded]

Thanks for all the help guys!

I'll continue sorting them (into a bunch of empty ice-cream containers :-P), then look through my instruction booklets and pick out the sets that I want to build. Then build them. :-D Then I can have my sorted pieces for MOCing. Thanks again! *y*

~Peace

[SirNadroj]

Well, I build sets and display them, and eventually I break them and sometimes sort them and use them in MOCs. Have the best of BOTH worlds! Because if you, like me, want to work for TLC someday, you may not get anywhere just buidlnig sets. (I dunno if you do, but I do!) MOCing is the way to express creativity!