Getting in the mood... for sorting!

[dr_spock]

I hated sorting at first. I didn't and still don't have a t.v. or radio nearby and no iPod set up... I started with two plastic, small drawer, stackers and a 25lb bin of Lego. It was a nightmare figuring what pieces I wanted mixed and what I wanted individually per drawer. Then came to location of the drawers. Based on similar or unique parts and colors. Then space ran out, so more stackers and more rearranging. Now that its mostly sorted the way thats easy for me to find parts, sorting is a very short process. Unless I receive an order where all the parts are in one bag...

On a side note, those that order from BL: Do you check each piece for proper count or assume they have the right count for you? And what do you consider a "large" BL order?

I do count and sort the BL order when it arrives. Due diligence...

[travisco_nabisco]

For previous sorting, when my collection was small, I would usually throw on a TV show of some kind and watch as many in a row as it took to sort everything.

Currently I have a massive lot that I got over a year ago and have been dreading it. I think I might go with James Bond movies this time. The difficulty with this next sort is that there are a lot of partial sets in bags 200+ from Classic Space to Mars Mission and everything else. So I need to decide which set I want to keep and complete, which sets are worth completing and selling, and finally which sets get sorted into the general collection.

[MetroiD]

I used to abhor sorting and the idea that I'd have to sift through tons of bricks in order to make them usable for MOCcing. Seeing as it's been over a year and a half since I last touched any LEGO though, I must admit I'm actually really looking forward to the sorting process now. I think of it as a prelude of sorts, before I get started with the great part. Of course, I'll only get around to actually doing any sorting once I've finally got a proper place for all the LEGO - but something tells me this time around it's actually going to be fun. I can't wait to go to the store and buy a bunch of new sorting boxes, and even the fact that I'll probably have to clean a big chunk of my collection doesn't seem like a big deterrent.

Btw, sorting after a few beers is definitely more enjoyable - I must agree with Rook there. Haven't tried extra-caffeinated-sorting, but I'm not sure I'll enjoy that too much. Besides, I'd expect that keeping the dog out of the room while sorting generally does also tend to energize quite a bit.

[SpokaneSteve]

I like to get up early in the morning and sort while the house is quiet and I listen to podcasts on the ipod.

[Duck]

When I used to live with my parents I'd usually work my way through various box-sets and television series. Blackadder, Hornblower & Sharpe are amongst many that I've had on in the background.

Nowadays I live with my girlfriend and so she is in-charge of the TV schedule... So I just sit there and sort while we're watching something (usually of her preference) which I feel does not require 100% of my attention .

Not quite sure why I bother sorting mind, as I can never find the bits I'm after and so end up tipping half of it out over the carpet anyway

[nicoga3000]

Sorting is actually somewhat therapeutic for me, haha. I turn on Netflix/pop in a DVD, grab a beer, and go.

[ACWWgal2011]

When I used to live with my parents I'd usually work my way through various box-sets and television series. Blackadder, Hornblower & Sharpe are amongst many that I've had on in the background.

Nowadays I live with my girlfriend and so she is in-charge of the TV schedule... So I just sit there and sort while we're watching something (usually of her preference) which I feel does not require 100% of my attention .

Not quite sure why I bother sorting mind, as I can never find the bits I'm after and so end up tipping half of it out over the carpet anyway

Have you tried experimenting with a few different sorting methods? You're scenario sounds a lot like was was happening to me when i first tried organizing my bricks. I tried a few different methods and the one i have is perfect for my needs.

[MetroiD]

Nowadays I live with my girlfriend and so she is in-charge of the TV schedule... So I just sit there and sort while we're watching something (usually of her preference) which I feel does not require 100% of my attention .

That actually sounds pretty damn nice You do your sorting while still being together with your girl, AND not letting yourself be distracted from the awesomeness that is Blackadder... I should know; I used to build / sort while watching Blackadder and I only realized that I hadn't been paying any attention to Rowan Atkinson's greatness once I'd gone through all the episodes... Lesson learned - never watch anything of significance and build/sort at the same time!

[Duck]

Have you tried experimenting with a few different sorting methods? You're scenario sounds a lot like was was happening to me when i first tried organizing my bricks. I tried a few different methods and the one i have is perfect for my needs.

I must admit that I've not really tried many methods. Perhaps you could enlighten me of your one if you've been through the same process?

hat actually sounds pretty damn nice You do your sorting while still being together with your girl, AND not letting yourself be distracted from the awesomeness that is Blackadder... I should know; I used to build / sort while watching Blackadder and I only realized that I hadn't been paying any attention to Rowan Atkinson's greatness once I'd gone through all the episodes... Lesson learned - never watch anything of significance and build/sort at the same time!

Well being in a one-bedroom flat I have a choice of the living room, bedroom or toilet to do my sorting so theres a 1 in 3 chance I'll be in the same room as her (1 in 2 if we discount the toilet as thats pretty unlikely!). But yeah its nice, and she's pretty tolerent of my hobby! I even got her to do some voices for my next brickflick so I think I'm converting her!

With Blackadder, I've seen them a zillion times before so even if I get distracted I know whats happening! It was my first time of watching hornblower mind and I found not so much sorting took place! Stand-up comedy on iPlayer or similar is a good option also as it just requires listening and not watching most of the time!

[ACWWgal2011]

"I must admit that I've not really tried many methods. Perhaps you could enlighten me of your one if you've been through the same process?"

I've tried a bunch of methods. Full collection in one container, general categories(minifigures, small parts, bricks/plates, etc), most of the collection with favorites on the side, full collection stored in one fashion(never got far with that one), etc. I went on Google hunt after Google hunt trying to find a method that'd work for me. I gave up after it was the same scenarios over and over again: By color, full collection stored in one way, all parts in a container, by color ONLY, etc. Here's the current method I'm using:

I have a cart that i have parts in when i want to bring parts to a different room to build with. One drawer has misc items, one drawer is mostly assembled vehicles, one has a small amount of minifigures and a button box, one drawer contains mixed pieces, one of mixed bricks and plates, another one has vehicle parts, followed by a drawer w/ a container of minifigures, then the second to last drawer has a plastic lego containers(Lego racer and creator) that's housing small lego instructions along with a container with a few misc items with lego advent 2010 items near it, last drawer has a few small sets with instructions.a Container with more mixed bricks, plates, and a few stray pieces is on top along with a 2 tray tackle box sit on top.

A couple hardware organizers tame a lot of smaller things.

I also have a storage cabinet that holds lego collectable minifigures, a log cabin, small HP set, 2 or 3 bags of mixed lego pieces and a shoebox w/ mixed landscaping type pieces(due for reorganizing), and a couple of other built lego items.plus i have a green container that i'm using to hold 4 junior figures. And 1 sterelite container is holding onto 2XN plates larger then 2 long and another is for all the plates that are 4X4 or larger. Plus a larger tub holds bricks of any size that aren't in other containers.

And i also have one large lego cup that i'm using for the 1X2 and 1X4 log pieces, another that's for 1XN pieces larger then 1X2, another that's for the slopes, and the last big one is for the inverted slopes

The 2 tray tackle box i use for lego minifigures, some lego minifigure items, a few small animals, and a few non-lego items that i want to keep close at hand.

I also got a couple boxes on sale at a craft store. One box is currently holding a bag of 1XN wall pieces. The second is currently holding magazines and a few instructions.

I have a 1.2 quart container that is holding Ninjago items plus a few misc parts, a small lego PAB cup is holding the parts for a DJ table for the DJ mermaid i'm making(in route from BL), a small ziptop back holds some parts from the Brickmaster mini clone trooper(proper rubber tires are in route), and a Plano 3510 compartment box is holding the parts i'm planning on bringing on vacation. In it is enough small vehicle parts to make 3 cars, some misc parts, small amount of bricks and plates, a section is small MISC parts, and 2 sections are empty for a few minifigures.

And i also have a small tub of Duplo that i sometimes build with.