What to do with broken pieces

[Bennemans]

Hi peeps!

I have a conundrum; I have this bag full of broken, damaged and warped bricks and pieces… and I have absolutely no idea what to do with them!

Throwing anything LEGO in the trash breaks my heart, how badly broken a piece may be.

It's mostly warped bricks, slopes and windows, snapped plates, and some odds and ends, like bamboo pieces with leaves missing.

Does anybody have any ideas what I can do with them? Are there people who have a use for these pieces? Maybe to use them in modding or something? I'd much rather give them to somebody who can make some use of 'm, instead of throwing it away!

Any ideas are welcome!

[legoguy1984]

All my broken pieces either get repaired or modded. If it is too broken and beyond all help it just sits in the boneyard, haven't figured out what to do with those ones just yet. I'd say loom at what you have with an open mind. The bamboo pieces might still be useful in a place that the other leaves would have gotten in the way or a plate cut down and neatened up might still be of use.

[rodiziorobs]

I had a minifig sword that bent nearly double...I used it in a Rivendell vignette.

When I find broken or chewed up pieces I like to see if I can put them in a build as battle damage, or as worn spots. Granted, there aren't always opportunities for that, but it is possible to use those warps and cracks to your advantage.

Put them next to the Hulk bigfig and that will explain everything.

Edited March 24, 2015 by rodiziorobs

[dr_spock]

I used damaged pieces for hidden internal structure of MOCs or to replace a missing fender clip on my car. I keep them in a separate container.

[bonox]

build a themed scrapyard and use the broken bits as working material.

[Artifex]

Everytime a Lego piece breaks, I spread all my broken pieces over hard floor and walk over them with my bare feet for 10 seconds for each broken piece I got (around 17 right now).

[obsidianheart]

I've got a mis-molded black 1x8 plate that looks melted at one end, and I'm just dying to use it in something, but haven't found a fit yet.

[alanyuppie]

Unsightly looking bricks can become fodders and become internal scaffoldings and frames to strengthen /hold up huge MOCs. I used some of my yellowed white parts as a filler often for my MOCs =)

[bonox]

I've got a mis-molded black 1x8 plate that looks melted at one end, and I'm just dying to use it in something, but haven't found a fit yet.

that sounds like it's crying out for a minifigure blacksmith to be pulling it out of a forge :)

[ToaSalvus(lego)]

I recently went through my lego tubs and purged any broken, chewed (eww), snapped, warped and bent parts, and threw them away.

[Bennemans]

Thanks for the feedback guys!

I cannot get myself to use broken or heavily damaged parts in my MOCs. It just really bugs me. I don't even want them in invisible places.

i did reevaluate my 'Bag of Broken Bits', and took out some broken but usable pieces, like windows with broken shutter tabs, and bamboo pieces with missing leafs. I put those in my 'Sack of Screwed up but Sellable Stuff'. Pieces that are damaged (heavily scratched, discolored) but still usable are put in the aforementioned bag (together with worthless bricks) to sell as a single lot for cheap online, so some less fortunate kids can still have some perfectly playable bricks to be creative with.

I'm still left with a butt-load of warped and broken pieces though… If somebody wants them they can have them. I just can't throw anything LEGO away.

All my broken pieces either get repaired or modded.

really? You have the knowhow to repair broken parts? What kind of damage can you actually repair?

I had a minifig sword that bent nearly double...I used it in a Rivendell vignette.

That sounds pretty cool! Got any pics of that?

I used damaged pieces for hidden internal structure of MOCs

Unsightly looking bricks can become internal scaffoldings

I used to do that, but there is no reason for me to do so (anymore) … I have loads of basic bricks I can use for internal structures. Also, the damaged parts aren't the problem here.. it's the broken pieces that I don't know what to do with.

[zmasterbrick]

Put 3 on the board as they hit the trash can........and the crowd goes wild

[Steckley]

I used damaged pieces for hidden internal structure of MOCs or to replace a missing fender clip on my car. I keep them in a separate container.

Some great ideas in this thread, but finding a real world use for the bricks is definitely my favourite.

I'd also recommend donating them to Goodwill if they're still somewhat usable but just don't look nice enough to put into your MOCs. Better to let some kid out there have them then turn them Into landfill.

[ProducePrincess]

Broken pieces is a weird issue for me. I never want to throw them away because they are still Lego bricks even in their current form but for what I build their usefulness is very limited. Minifig elements I will often continue to use like normal. For example the old Ice Planet visors always ended up losing the antenna but they still looked fine and even match with the newer incarnations of that piece.

Like most people here I am very gentle with my Lego so most of the breaks are due to a design flaw in the brick itself. I have a corner of shame in one of my drawers for all of the broken Exo-Force ball joints and clips.

[N-4K0]

Any part of mine that breaks, I modify if it can still be used somehow. If not, I throw it away.

[legoguy1984]

It depends on the part and the break. If it is a nice clean break just superglue lightly together. It's only really worked on seats for me so far but the rest of my broken stuff sits in a tub waiting for a use to still come to me.

[talos]

I probably would toss the hopelessly damaged parts. I haven't had any to date, worst thing I have had to work with has been sticker goo and yellowing, which can be mostly corrected. I have some really scratched up window glass, that I am debating getting polished.