The point when you have enough Lego?

[PaddyBricksplitter]

I have been buying Lego for 14 months. Yesterday I finished an moc that for the first time that I didn't need to order any additional parts to complete.

Now the thought has crept into my mind that now I have "enough" Lego.

I am not saying I have enough to build a massive space ship for Shiptember for example but I have a good selection of parts and plenty of mini figs. Conceivably I could use my existing collection to build lots of mocs.

However out of habit I am still checking prices online. I want (need) more colours, duplicate minifigs, more printed tiles.

So my question is is there a point when you have enough Lego?

Or do I need to check into a Lego detox clinic?

[kermit]

I have had the the same feeling but mainly due to space. I have almost no space to display my sets which made me think about stop buying lego since i wont have space for new sets. The lego bug is still strong in me and no matter what i`ll still get more.

[AncientDayz]

At what point do I have too much LEGO ...now! How do I know? I had to rent a climate-controlled storage unit and store 30+ plastic containers full of LEGO (my guess: 100,000+ pieces) because I have absolutely no room left in our place for anything, let alone more LEGO. Ugh!

...of course, I still keep an eye out for my next new box of LEGO ...lol!

[PaddyBricksplitter]

Maybe the question should be do Lego fans have addictive personalities? XD

[Graham Gidman]

You can never have enough LEGO...

[BrickBuilder7622]

LEGO is one of those things that you NEED as much as you can obtain in a lifetime. The question is not whether one can have enough LEGO or not (the answer being one can never have enough), the question is can there be a point of satisfaction with the size of a LEGO collection (this question having the answer of no). LEGO fans must have as much LEGO as they can possibly get.

[Ashnflash]

You can never have enough LEGO... You need to keep collecting no matter what!

[dr_spock]

When my wife says I have enough.

[LEGO Guy Bri]

You can never have enough LEGO...

You can never have enough LEGO... You need to keep collecting no matter what!

Heh, I could probably sway you otherwise

I have had enough LEGO, even before I started collecting again as an adult. Now by a logical standpoint, I have way too much, yet I still feel compelled to keep buying with hopes of one day building my a dream of mine. Unfortunately I only have the parts, not the location. haven't built one since my last move due to my collection being at another location, same building, but different part. Sad, but true

[Alfadas]

Just look at my signature... That says enough

[CaptainToad]

I dont think there is a point where you have enough lego - enough is a relative term by the way

However, I think there are points where you become more and more picky in regard to whay you buy

generally I tend to do more planning before I buy things - making decisions what may be useful and what not. Because of that I decided that the scooby sets might actually be a waste of money - the rather expensive arjitzu temple would be more fitting (I might even buy it a second time, will see...)

I also like to take it slow - I bought a lot of sloping elements recently - the more sloping elements you have the bigger a mountain or cliffside you can build, so whenever I place a pab or bap order I tend to order at least a couple more of those elements, same goes with foliage, when you own a couple of hundreds of leaves you can build lots of trees, so there is no need to rush it and buy a couple of hundreds more, just a couple every time I place an order.

It also depends on what you are planning, at first I wanted to build a dark/light bluish grey mountain, so that was my focus, after I bought the lone ranger silver mine I thought about a tan mountain - so I try to buy a couple of those elements every now and then.

[rollermonkey]

When my wife says I have enough.

...or starts throwing them away when you're not at home.

[dr_spock]

...or starts throwing them away when you're not at home.

And you don't notice that some has been thrown away.

[legoguy1984]

^That is the type of stuff nightmares are made of. Enough is definately a personal question. Sometimes I look at my sorted pieces and miss the days it all fit into one container that I had to paw through, or I feel a little overwhelmed at the possibilities and I have a small collection compared to most here.

[CaptainToad]

^That is the type of stuff nightmares are made of. Enough is definately a personal question. Sometimes I look at my sorted pieces and miss the days it all fit into one container that I had to paw through, or I feel a little overwhelmed at the possibilities and I have a small collection compared to most here.

exactly, the more you own the more of a probem it can become - storage is just another problem. therefore elements/sets should be chosen wisely - unuseful lego needs storage as well

[fred67]

Agree with most of the responses here, especially the last two. Sorting is supposed to make things easier/faster, but I find I have to go to a particular shelf, get a particular storage case (I have at least two for each color (big and small bin depths), determine which of the two or more cases for the color I need, pull it out of the shelf, open it up, then scan through looking for the compartment it may be in. In about half the cases the little bins have little baggies with different pieces, because if everything got it's own compartment then my bonus room would have nothing but storage cases.

So that's just to get one piece. It's worse when I have a bunch I have to put away, like after taking apart a MOC. Yes, I have a mixture of storage types, but don't want to get too deep into that question since there's a thread dedicated to it.

My last few endeavors were "bricklinking" a Market Street, a Harry Potter Sorting Hat set, and the Jun-Chi adventurers sets. In all cases I had at least half the parts - more for the two smaller ones. So I guess I'm not there yet.

And I agree with Alfada's signature.

[talos]

I know I have too much already, by the fact I have probably lost count of how many unopened sets I have stacked up in my Lego room. I always seem to need just a few more parts to some idea I want to build... Seems always to be in $20 BrickLink increments! :-)

[PaddyBricksplitter]

Well I guess it's a relative question. If I had unlimited funds and space I would probably just keep buying sets. It would get kind of joyless I expect.

I think keeping an eye out for new elements and being more selective in my buying habits might help with the shrinking space issue.

[CaptainToad]

Agree with most of the responses here, especially the last two. Sorting is supposed to make things easier/faster, but I find I have to go to a particular shelf, get a particular storage case (I have at least two for each color (big and small bin depths), determine which of the two or more cases for the color I need, pull it out of the shelf, open it up, then scan through looking for the compartment it may be in. In about half the cases the little bins have little baggies with different pieces, because if everything got it's own compartment then my bonus room would have nothing but storage cases.

So that's just to get one piece. It's worse when I have a bunch I have to put away, like after taking apart a MOC. Yes, I have a mixture of storage types, but don't want to get too deep into that question since there's a thread dedicated to it.

My last few endeavors were "bricklinking" a Market Street, a Harry Potter Sorting Hat set, and the Jun-Chi adventurers sets. In all cases I had at least half the parts - more for the two smaller ones. So I guess I'm not there yet.

And I agree with Alfada's signature.

lol - I know those problems as well.

I actually had a good sorting system until some containers began to fill up - dark and light grey elements - so now I have a container solely for 73degree dark gree sloping element - which is 80% full and one of those compartment boxes for all other grey sloping elements - almost full, and two containers for dark and light grey bricks - one is alomst full, the other half full (or half empty). I havent found a solution yet to this problem but I know the day will come to come up with another strategy.

Funny thing btw, this week my mother offered me her help in restoring a room in our house so that I could put my lego there :)

- of course I agreed but didnt want to start right away - this one will require some careful planning as to best make use of the room and especially chosing the proper furniture will require some time - she even offered to sponsor some furniture - didnt expect such a support -

Well I guess it's a relative question. If I had unlimited funds and space I would probably just keep buying sets. It would get kind of joyless I expect.

I think keeping an eye out for new elements and being more selective in my buying habits might help with the shrinking space issue.

exactly! the stuff that you buy must bring in something new, something useful,

I know I have too much already, by the fact I have probably lost count of how many unopened sets I have stacked up in my Lego room. I always seem to need just a few more parts to some idea I want to build... Seems always to be in $20 BrickLink increments! :-)

Could never understand people who didnt open up their sets - maybe my collection isnt big enough for that (its actually not too big) - there was never a set that didnt open up within a week - even those that I bought purely for the sake of gathering parts

[mmcclelland]

For me it isn't a question of the physical number of pieces (like most here, I am rapidly running out of storage space) but every year there are new parts, new colours, new minifigures and new printed elements that I 'need' to add to my collection, so there will always be a desire to acquire more.

[PaddyBricksplitter]

Ok so in between posts I bought another set off Amazon because it had a cross plate and some cheery pieces in it.

Officially beyond help.

[fred67]

Could never understand people who didnt open up their sets - maybe my collection isnt big enough for that (its actually not too big) - there was never a set that didnt open up within a week - even those that I bought purely for the sake of gathering parts

I have probably close to 100 sets sitting on my shelves unopened, plus maybe 20 more that I've unboxed into smaller plastic bins in order to save space. So, I'll give an example of the problem: I have a 10210 Imperial Flagship, new in the box, sitting on my shelf. So I ask, if I take it out and build it (and I'd love to), then what? I have no where to put it. It's big, bulky... I have no shelf space to display it. Someday I hope to have a whole room for my LEGO (*), and I can have a whole table just for ships. But what am I supposed to do right now? If you look at the thread where people display their modular buildings, you can see what I have built crammed onto the shelves... I have two more modulars sitting on boxes on other shelves. I have the 10231 Space Shuttle, still in the box. Same reasons. Even the 4504 Millennium Falcon. I want to build all of these some day.

But if I hadn't bought them, all of them, I'd NEVER get them, as their prices now range from anywhere to 3x to 10x what I paid for them. So I when I see a set I like, I buy it and store it because if I don't, I will regret missing out on it.

For me it isn't a question of the physical number of pieces (like most here, I am rapidly running out of storage space) but every year there are new parts, new colours, new minifigures and new printed elements that I 'need' to add to my collection, so there will always be a desire to acquire more.

I agree and disagree... I understand wanting new parts in new colors; I have a huge collection of parts, but unless I have something in mind for a particular part, I won't buy a set to get it. I may end up paying more on bricklink later on for that part, but I wouldn't have ended up buying a whole set that I really didn't want.

Edited August 21, 2015 by fred67

[dr_spock]

Ok so in between posts I bought another set off Amazon because it had a cross plate and some cheery pieces in it.

Officially beyond help.

You are building awesome MOCs with your stuff. Therefore, you don't have to stop acquiring unless it is causing problems in other areas of your personal life.

[1980-Something-Space-Guy]

I have enough Lego. If I said I didn't, I would be offending people who can't afford a single Lego set.

However, the answer to the question of whether or not I would like to have more Lego is hell yes!

As a minifigure collector, there are always new minifigures to chase around every year. I try to avoid buying sets because of this (and because of space), but every once in a while I see a set that I simply do not want to miss out of.

Space, storage, and money are, I think, the main obstacles to expanding one's collection. However, if you feel like there is nothing you would like to purchase right now, do not force yourself. Lego is expensive!

[PaddyBricksplitter]

I have probably close to 100 sets sitting on my shelves unopened, plus maybe 20 more that I've unboxed into smaller plastic bins in order to save space.

Woah, and there was me feeling guilty when I had 3 unopened sets :O

It's a good point buying sets so you don't miss out when they climb in price. I've been wondering if those Jurassic World sets will ever get discounted or if I should just crack and buy the one with that new bubble piece.