How Do You Store Your Instruction Manuels?

[tman684]

Sorry if there is already a topic or if this is in the wrong place, I'm not very familiar with all of the forums on here.

Anyways, I have come across a dilema. I need a new way to store all of my instruction booklets, club magazines, and posters. I used to have a filing cabinet, but the drawers became so full that they were too heavy to pull out, and pulling them out made the whole cabinet vulnerable to tipping over. So then I moved all of the file folders full of booklets into a long plastic container, but now it is too full, some of the folders aren't big enough for all of the theme's instruction booklets, and it's almost impossible to move since it is so heavy.

That's why I want to know how do you store your instructions? I desperately need a new way to sort mine.

[Zerobricks]

Maybe vacuume bags? Or office folders?

[klinton]

I just put them in ziploc freezer bags, sorted by theme. They're all in a filing box (only one, so far).

They're easy to find this way, as you just pull out the appropriate bag(s) to find the booklet you're after, rather than having to look through everything.

I suppose if you have a tonne of City or something you'd need to develope more specific categories for each bag to narrow down a search.

[deraven]

I put the instruction booklets in heavy-duty plastic sheet protectors (like these: http://www.staples.com/Staples-Heavy-Duty-Sheet-Protectors/product_489131 ) and then put them in large 5-inch D-ring binders. The heavy-weight sheet protectors can even fit most of the bound instruction booklets that Lego produces, and anything larger (like the book for the Death Star) wouldn't fit in most other storage solutions anyway so those just get stacked/boxed separately.

I haven't quite settled on how to sort them all yet, but at least it's easy to reorganize them in the binders. Right now it's roughly by theme and then by set number. That doesn't work quite as well for long-running themes like Star Wars where the set numbers have drifted through so many ranges over time (so I feel like sorting them by year), but I try not to sweat it.

It's working pretty well so far for a couple hundred instruction sheets, but we'll see how it holds up over time!

[fred67]

I put them in a banker's box:

Actually I have two of them. I don't put the instructions in freezer bags or anything like that, and they are just stacked from the bottom up. If you asked for instructions for something I built, it would take me some time to find it, but since I need them so rarely (never, it's easier to look up something online now if I have some minor repair to make) it doesn't seem worthwhile to sort through them all and neaten them up.

[Tariq j]

There are a lot of good suggestions above all of which I agree with. I generally put mine in storage boxes. And in some cases, put them back in the original Lego boxes.

[tman684]

The binders sound like an ideal way to sort them, but that would be a very expensive method for me. I tried the gallon bags, but I noticed I have a bunch that don't fit entirely in the bags. I think I may continue with them anyways, becuase the sealed bags protect them from water damage, which is always a potential threat.

[Mutant Orc]

You could just box them up and put them in your garage/attic, which would be cheap and out of the way, and also meaning you wouldn't have to get rid of them.

If you have a brickset account then all your sets have been listed and so you could just use instructions online.

[klinton]

The binders sound like an ideal way to sort them, but that would be a very expensive method for me. I tried the gallon bags, but I noticed I have a bunch that don't fit entirely in the bags. I think I may continue with them anyways, becuase the sealed bags protect them from water damage, which is always a potential threat.

There are larger bags (designed for poultry) that fit the magazine sized instruction manuals. My grocer sells them in ten count boxes.

[deraven]

The binders sound like an ideal way to sort them, but that would be a very expensive method for me. I tried the gallon bags, but I noticed I have a bunch that don't fit entirely in the bags. I think I may continue with them anyways, becuase the sealed bags protect them from water damage, which is always a potential threat.

A 5-inch binder holds a surprisingly large number of instruction sheets, but the binders can be ridiculously over-priced. Thankfully, we went paperless at work a couple years ago, so now as the Accounting department is able to shred things past a certain date, I can get loads of large binders for free.

The ziploc bags are definitely a good idea for protection from the elements; I used to keep my instructions piled in watertight plastic bins before I decided to organize them better and protection was a concern, but I live in Arizona so water at least isn't really much of a worry! If you have a sizable Lego collection, you should considers getting a rider on your homeowners/renters insurance to cover it. My biggest fear for my bricks is a fire that leaves me with a huge lump of melted ABS!

Anyway, I imagine that the gallon of poultry-sized bags offering some protection and then kept in cardboard bankers boxes for ease of handling would work pretty well. You could even put sets of the bags in hanging folders in the banker boxes to make it easier to go through them if you find yourself accessing old instructions relatively frequently.

[talos]

I am just using accordion folders, with a flap. I had them on hand and the instruction booklets fit. I am up to 3 almost full already though. I don't want to buy anything special to keep them, they are protected and organized.

[tman684]

A 5-inch binder holds a surprisingly large number of instruction sheets, but the binders can be ridiculously over-priced. Thankfully, we went paperless at work a couple years ago, so now as the Accounting department is able to shred things past a certain date, I can get loads of large binders for free.

The ziploc bags are definitely a good idea for protection from the elements; I used to keep my instructions piled in watertight plastic bins before I decided to organize them better and protection was a concern, but I live in Arizona so water at least isn't really much of a worry! If you have a sizable Lego collection, you should considers getting a rider on your homeowners/renters insurance to cover it. My biggest fear for my bricks is a fire that leaves me with a huge lump of melted ABS!

Anyway, I imagine that the gallon of poultry-sized bags offering some protection and then kept in cardboard bankers boxes for ease of handling would work pretty well. You could even put sets of the bags in hanging folders in the banker boxes to make it easier to go through them if you find yourself accessing old instructions relatively frequently.

Yeah, fire is my biggest fear too! I've been considering insurance for a while, I hope to get around to it this year. Although we just had our basement water-sealed, I still find comfort with the ziploc bags. They should keep mice and dust out too.

[dr_spock]

I tossed the old ones into a banker's box and new ones are currently stacked on a bookshelf.

[Borex]

I just keep them in a box. I think an empty lego box.