Boulderer

Can you ever have too much Lego?

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Ok, so before you all fire off the stock answers, let me expand a little.  

I've been questioning changes in the way I build recently and I'm starting to think that my creative processes are being stifled, especially in light of the current TC12 contest.  

I think that my approach to building is primarily driven by the way I sort and store my collection.  This, in turn, is driven by the quantity of pieces that I now own. 

There is no doubt that my collection would be considered large, by most peoples standards, and it has spread across a number of rooms and into the garage.  Getting pieces can involve walking, unlocking doors, and not inconsiderable effort to find the relevant boxes.  Guaranteed that 95% of the time I will have the piece I want but, 60% of the time I find myself wondering if I can be bothered to make the effort. 

In the early days I could house my collection in a couple of small (ish) boxes which allowed me to access all my available pieces with a simple arm movement.  I was much more inclined to tinker with builds and as a result I believe that I was much more creative.  I was certainly much more prolific with the number of things I did build, even though I probably spent less time with Lego.  

So, back to the question ... can you have too much Lego?  I have to say that form some perspectives, you most certainly can!  For all those who wish for massive collections of bricks, beware!  You might find there are unforeseen consequences of your wish being granted. 

Thoughts? 

 

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I think the answer is certainly going to depend on who's answering. My wife and kids (adult kids) will probably say yes. My grandkids would say no.  I also say no. But that's not really the question.

i have this mental image (and no idea of its truth) of the set designers in Billund having two things I don't have: access to any piece they want, and (more importantly) easy access to getting those pieces. And the easy access is either because they're all in front of them (not likely) or they know how to easily get them.  And that's just a matter of organization.  Pieces are organized and there is a cohesive search method.

i don't think the problem is having too much Lego, but the problem is having too much Lego that can be stored and accessed easily.  If you're having to go out to the garage and root through boxes to get those pieces you just know you have somewhere then that's the problem. 

I build mostly official sets because for me it's relaxing to follow instructions, search out pieces that are right in front of me, and watch a creation happen in front of me.  I create and design all day for work, I need the lower stress building to relax.  When I do want to play and create I find it hassle to have to go downstairs and search through the drawers in the playroom that the grandkids also play in to find that pieces I think are there.

 So, no, you don't have too much Lego.  You don't have enough room!

 

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@Chmashdehjare Is very right, it is not too much LEGO (usually) but not enough space. I have passed the not enough space long ago. It is not too much LEGO, just not enough of the "right" parts. I frequently find I am missing a critical "special" part. When I MOC, I use what I have, but when I try to build creations by others I frequently find I am missing a critical "special" part. 

I have cut way, way back on what I buy, I haven't bought any LEGO in several months, all I plan to buy the rest of this year is one more set, the 42069, Extreme Adventure. We'll see...

i don't feel I have too much LEGO, just not enough time.

Andy D

Edited by Andy D

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Having bought 42069 when it came out and looking at my current surroundings ( I am surrounded by lego in my room ) I was asking myself the a similar question. Do I need any more lego?

Then a few old parts I have not used for ages all broke, I was not using them just putting them aside. A total of four parts (cant remember the part names). Pretty minor, but still the question remains. It depends what sets come out next year, if I like them I may well buy one (or two). My main issue though is finding sufficient time to build something as I dont feel I have reached my lego technic potential as yet.

You raise an interesting question though and only time will tell.

H

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I can relate to the case that the issue is space rather than too much Lego.  I guess that with unlimited resource we could have a storage system that allowed us to call any piece we required and it be delivered to our work space.  The pieces stored in some kind of automated warehouse.  

However, I doubt there are many of us that can come close to the level of resource that would be required.

Thinking on the issue further, maybe a better way to view this would be to compare it to digital building.  There you do have unlimited pieces.

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To a certain extent I would say yes. When I was a kid I basically had a mental catalog of all my parts. So if I was building and needed a piece I knew how many I had and if it was already in use on another creation. Now I have WAY more parts but I don't entirely remember all I have and that also means that at times I am building something and find that I only have 3 available when I needed 4. Admittedly that would be solved by having even more pieces, but at a certain point I feel like I have too many of some. There are PAB cups full of 1 particular part that I maybe use 10 of at any one time and I have 100+ sitting there in a cup. Those are basically just taking up space.

For me it is hard as there are plenty of common parts I probably have enough of but a new set comes out with new minifigs (looking at you SW) and I decided to get it. Most of the set I don't care about and will break down into pieces but I really want the minifigs. I can, and do, use Bricklink to just get the figs but often that ends up being a poor value. Some $40 set with 4 figs I can get just the figures for $5 each. I then look at it and say why not get the set and then I have all those parts too for just a bit more. :laugh:

Right now I have at least 15 sets ranging from $10 to $100+ sitting at home in boxes because I'm busy building or MOD'ing, so I'm fairly satiated right now -- but the new Yoda's Hut isn't too far off. :tongue:

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44 minutes ago, Kodan Black said:

When I was a kid I basically had a mental catalog of all my parts. So if I was building and needed a piece I knew how many I had and if it was already in use on another creation

This is still the case with my collection, and I love that. It's annoying, yes, but I like my collection being relatively small. It's still large enough that visitors are surprised, but most importantly to me it's manageable. If I need to, I can pick it up and move it all to clear the room easily. I haven't bothered with specific organisation beyond colour separation; I know what is where anyway, so the 8 boxes (plus MOCs) is plenty. I don't know if I'd have the time or will to effectively manage a larger collection.

I find building digitally somewhat different to building IRL, as the infinite collection affects my processes; I mainly use it for larger constructions I'm never going to build, such as Modulars etc. I think some of them would look really bland in real life, as I'm not forced by my collection to be inventive, nor am I likely to accidentally see other parts I could use for detailing. In this way, having an infinite collection is probably detrimental to my creativity.

Overall, although it's a train of thought I've never been on before, yes one probably can have too much; it makes logistics harder and impacts building styles. How much is too much is still extremely subjective, and mainly dependent on circumstances. But probably mainly storage. :wink:

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1 hour ago, Kodan Black said:

When I was a kid I basically had a mental catalog of all my parts. So if I was building and needed a piece I knew how many I had and if it was already in use on another creation.

This was me too, and has been until about a year ago. My collection has grown, which is great except that now I'm not always sure what parts I have. I have a pretty good idea still, but it's no longer perfect like it was.

Also, as my collection has grown I have needed to adjust my sorting, which means sometimes when I am looking for a part type I know I have, I can't always remember where it is. My storage solution works pretty well, but I need to tidy up.

To answer the OP's original question, I guess I'm torn-- I see more sets and I want more sets, but I see signs that it my existing collection is about as large as it can be without being totally unmanageable.

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I've also found that as my collection has grown I've had to redo my storage solution multiple times. That has led to me being unable to find parts at times because I don't know what container they are in. I have probably 20ish containers of different sizes, the hardest to find stuff in are likely the large bins of 1 color. But even the ones that have like 8 compartments can be hard to find a specific part. Storage/sorting is probably the most realistic limiting factor beyond funding for most AFOLs.

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I don't have much to add to what has already been said but I just want to share my two cents.

Since I tend to keep the sets/MOCs that I like assembled, I used to have a pretty small collection until very recently. And looking back, that pushed me to be more creative with the solutions I came up with given the small number of parts available. Nowadays I tend to build similar things (steering, for example) in a similar manner just because I have the parts to do so.

There is also the matter of storage. To me storage is essencial and l my system is pretty efficient to me. Sure I had to rearrange it a few times as my collection grew but it payed off. But this is because I can keep all my parts relatively close to where I build. If I had to walk downstairs every time I needed an especial part it would seriously deter me.

And then there is time. When my collection was smaller, I always had time to build what I wanted. But then parts started to pile up and so did ideas and LDD creations for future MOCs.

So, to sum it up, I guess it depends. If you have the time and space to build and store your collection, more equals better. But I guess for most AFOLs (at least for me) there is a point at which you already have almost everything you need.

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One way to limit the amount of space needed is to build in two passes. In the first pass, you ignore colors altogether. This simplifies searching since the search space is smaller. Once you are fully content with structure and functionality, you will know exactly how many bricks you need in which color. Now you can gather all the parts from your collection, which is much more efficient than searching during the build. Of course, if you are really lazy, you can also order the parts from BrickLink and outsource the searching ;).

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If you have say more than 3 of the same set, with 2 or more remaining unopened, I think yes YOU have too much Lego. I'm all for "investing"  in Lego, but if you are hoarding more than 2 of something just for a pay day, you are not using Lego properly imo. 

Now if you plan on using those pieces for MOCS someday, that's different. If you have plans or ideas for using the bricks for actual building, I don't think you can ever have too much, just perhaps not enough space. 

I'm not trying to get on investors or hoarders. I personally enjoy seeing a little bit of "Lego money" to help fund my addiction. But those with 10 MF or Eiffel Towers stashed away are not really helping the community imo. They actually helped create the "need" for Lepin imo. 

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I think you allude to it in the OP. You have too much if you cannot access what you need efficiently. Whether this is down to too much or not good enough storage is debatable. But if you feel I would have used a part I know I have but I cannot find it / be bothered to find it, then you have too much.

 

8 minutes ago, Captain Pirate Man said:

I'm not trying to get on investors or hoarders. I personally enjoy seeing a little bit of "Lego money" to help fund my addiction. But those with 10 MF or Eiffel Towers stashed away are not really helping the community imo. They actually helped create the "need" for Lepin imo. 

2

If the investors didn't have them for sale, where would people get the originals from? They wouldn't have been able to go back in time and purchase them from LEGO.

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Uh, no. It sounds like your problem isn't how much you have, its how you store it. Time to get sorting!

 

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My significant other says I have too much LEGO.  I am not really convinced of that yet.  :classic: 

 

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14 hours ago, dr_spock said:

My significant other says I have too much LEGO.  I am not really convinced of that yet.  :classic: 

 

It is a known "fact" that if your wife-husband-significant other says you have too much LEGO, you difinately (well maybe not) have too much LEGO!

My wife says I will have too much LEGO when it encroaches on her space. That has not happened (yet). ;) ;)

Andy D

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1 hour ago, Andy D said:

It is a known "fact" that if your wife-husband-significant other says you have too much LEGO, you difinately (well maybe not) have too much LEGO!

(snip)

My solution to this has always been to say "I'm more than happy to share, let's build something together"  She's never taken me up on that offer with LEGO, but since our daughter started getting into DUPLO, my wife has been more open to playing "big bricks" as a family.

While not an AFOL herself, my wife appreciates my hobby (more so now that I've dragged her to a few festivals and galley showings).  She's come to see it as more of an art medium when I'm working on a MOC (though it still counts as a "toy" if I'm buying a kit) and speaks openly to her friends and colleagues about my "extensive" collection and multiple awards (as opposed to cringing in embarrassment on my behalf as some former others of significance had done).

If I get a new catalog or we happen to be near a LEGO Store, she'll be the first to suggest that I get myself something and "LEGO" is a line item household budget; she just draws the line at leaving my creations all over the house.  I have designated work, display and storage areas and so long as I stay inside the lines we're both happy (give or take our recent exchange of: "$800 for another Millenium Falcon?!? Don't you already have three of those?" "Actually I have five, not counting duplicates, but this is an Ultimate Collector's Edition"  "I thought that big one in the basement was the UCS version"  "It _was_, now it's penultimate, the new one has alternate radar dish designs..."  "Fine, whatever, don't forget to order more DUPLO train track for our little builder as well.")

Back to the question at hand though, I don't think you can have too large a collection so long as you are using and enjoying it.  If it's just taking up space with no monetary or emotional reward, it's expensive clutter; if it makes you happy, reassures you, helps you to relax after a bad day, etc., then more is better.

I agree with others that the true limiting factors are really space, time and organization.  I could certainly use a massive infusion of the first two; never enough space to store everything, not enough time to realize all the things I want to be building.  As for organization, that's where, at least for my collection and creative process I need to find a balance.

While it's nice to be reasonably organized (to the point where sometimes when I'm working on an out-of-the-box kit I'll get frustrated looking for a particular part and just grab one from my parts library because its faster than rummaging through half a dozen poly-bags) too much organization can get in the way of creativity.  I want things organized when I know exactly what I'm building, but when I'm designing something new (or just randomly tinkering with vague ideas) having a random bin of parts just sitting out can be very inspiring.  Too little organization is chaos, like that big "To Be Sorted" plastic tub in the corner with 10,000+ random parts from models that have lost battles to cats and gravity. Too rigid an organization scheme wastes time and squanders effort.  Unlike part count, color variety, space and time, where more is always better, level of organization has a sweet spot; too little is bad, too much is equally bad and what works for one person may be completely the opposite of what someone else needs/desires.

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41 minutes ago, ShaydDeGrai said:

Unlike part count, color variety, space and time, where more is always better, level of organization has a sweet spot; too little is bad, too much is equally bad

I completely agree with this. You have to find a happy medium or else you either spend too much time gathering parts from their disparate locations, or too much time sorting them out from the giant box o' pieces. Too much separation and you'll never find that random part which inspires some NPU of genius; too little separation and all you can find is random parts. And then by the end of the year all your new acquisitions throw your sorting system off-balance and it's time to do it all again.

Edited by rodiziorobs
for emphasis

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I have too much in the sense that I have unopened/unbuild sets that I actually want to build (it's a work in progress), and many many many sets on shelves that were purchased for parts but have never been sorted - most never opened, but some have been scavanged for certain things. I also have too much to keep at home so many unopened sets and bulk sit in storage until needed.

I also have hundreds of pounds of unsorted random stuff and built/partially torn down sets that need to be sorted.

However, I never have enough because every project still seems to require many Lego and Bricklink orders. Sometimes though, it's because I don't want to spend days searching for parts when I could simply order them. Time vs. Money issue.

So yeah, "too much" is very subjective and definitely different for each person. I'm in the too much yet not enough camp.

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I'll chime in and say that I don't think you have too big a collection, I think you have too frustrating a collection.  I was starting to feel a bit like you were describing: less joy in building when so much of the time is spent collecting the bits you need rather than actually creating or finding inspiration.

I transitioned to more digital building for a while so once I was mostly done with a digital MOC I could pull the parts list and collect everything in bulk, then finish the last little flourishes/improvements in real brick.  That was OK, but as was mentioned above by others, I also find a lot of creativity in just digging through a big pile of parts and running across inspiration from random pieces that wouldn't have popped to mind otherwise.  Plus... I spend enough time staring at a computer screen the rest of my life to love doing it during Lego time as well.  :wink:

I'm at a pretty happy medium now.  I still build digitally when I've got an idea for how to do something complex with a given set of pieces but don't want to go dig them out or if I know I don't have enough of a specific element for what I'm wanting to try, but I don't often do a whole MOC in the computer anymore.  Basically just some prototyping, then I move to real brick.  I have a smaller area of sorted brick (around 30 large sets of Akro Mils drawers) that I do only by part type (not color) where everything is within a few steps and only takes a few seconds to get to any given part.  I just fill up the drawers with as many of that element as I have or will fit, and the overflow goes into ziplock bags that are kept in large bins/drawers that roughly match the groupings of the sorting drawer units.  If I need "back stock" of an element for a larger MOC or run out of a specific color in the sorted drawers, I can still easily find that element in the bulk bags but 90% of the time my building isn't stalled by needing to go do that and my actual working area is less cluttered and far easier to build in.

But what about the spontaneity?  I keep a few largish tubs (4-5 x ~50 liter) full of random parts for both me and my kids to dig around in freely when we feel like it.  Some of that is from mixed bulk orders from eBay that I scooped in there before sorting the rest, or where I just toss a handful of spare parts from a Bricklink order before putting the rest away, and recently disassembled smaller sets that the kids take apart - a nice mix to stumble on inspiration or just fiddle around.

Maybe the bifurcated storage would work for you, too, Boulderer, so you could have most things at arm's reach with less frequent runs to the larger storage area only when you need larger quantities of something?

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On 10/6/2017 at 1:41 PM, Darkdragon said:

I have too much in the sense that I have unopened/unbuild sets that I actually want to build (it's a work in progress), and many many many sets on shelves that were purchased for parts but have never been sorted - most never opened, but some have been scavanged for certain things. I also have too much to keep at home so many unopened sets and bulk sit in storage until needed.

I also have hundreds of pounds of unsorted random stuff and built/partially torn down sets that need to be sorted.

However, I never have enough because every project still seems to require many Lego and Bricklink orders. Sometimes though, it's because I don't want to spend days searching for parts when I could simply order them. Time vs. Money issue.

So yeah, "too much" is very subjective and definitely different for each person. I'm in the too much yet not enough camp.

Wow! You could be my brother by a different mother. ;);)

Andy D

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On 10/6/2017 at 5:34 PM, Andy D said:

It is a known "fact" that if your wife-husband-significant other says you have too much LEGO, you difinately (well maybe not) have too much LEGO!

My wife says I will have too much LEGO when it encroaches on her space. That has not happened (yet). ;) ;)

Andy D

 

My wife certainly thinks I have too much LEGO, and yet when I have a Bricklink sale come in, she is first in line for the money :P

 

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