How do you keep track of which pieces you have?

[1Ruben]

Hi all, 

I'm having to go through 2.5 bins of lego and search for a few specific bricks and as the title says I'm wondering if any of you have a system or something to keep track of everything.

I don't necessarily need a new container system (although it couldn't hurt either ;D ), I would be happy if I could just have an overview of which bricks I've got.

So, does anyone else have a way to do this?

 

 

[Roses]

Are these bins of sets you've previously owned / do you know what disassembled sets are in the bin? If so, I always use Bricklink to search for the specific piece I need and see if it is in any set that I have built on display or disassembled in a bin somewhere. I think the website Rebrickable has an option to keep track of all the sets you own, which in turn keeps track of the pieces you own (I think? I don't have much experience with Rebrickable. It might just keep track of the sets / mocs you can build with the pieces from the sets you own).

Otherwise to get a comprehensive idea of all the pieces one owns, plain ol' sorting is the best option. Bricks, plates, slopes, jumpers, bars, clips, beams, etc, etc, etc.

[1Ruben]

56 minutes ago, Roses said:

Are these bins of sets you've previously owned / do you know what disassembled sets are in the bin? If so, I always use Bricklink to search for the specific piece I need and see if it is in any set that I have built on display or disassembled in a bin somewhere. I think the website Rebrickable has an option to keep track of all the sets you own, which in turn keeps track of the pieces you own (I think? I don't have much experience with Rebrickable. It might just keep track of the sets / mocs you can build with the pieces from the sets you own).

Well, the bins have always been mine, but it contains parts of sets from when I was little so I don't really know which all the sets anymore. But it indeed could get me started.

As for Rebrickable, I also mainly looked at it to see which mocs I potentially could build but haven't looked further than that, might indeed also be a viable option.

Quote

Otherwise to get a comprehensive idea of all the pieces one owns, plain ol' sorting is the best option. Bricks, plates, slopes, jumpers, bars, clips, beams, etc, etc, etc.

Would indeed give the most accurate data, but I'd have to find a few new bins then or any other sorting option to start that I'm afraid. 
Are there any standard bins used by the communities for this or just plain old ikea bins :D

Thanks for your feedback! 

[CallMeCarbiz]

I find that when I sort through my bricks it gives me an idea of what I have available. As for how to then find those pieces, that depends on how you sort your bricks. This should probably go under the Unpopular Opinions thread, but I'm a fan of sorting by color and type. I break it down to bins for colors and then the colors into 1x* bricks, 2x* bricks, 1x* plates, other plates, tiles, etc. For more specialized parts I sort them by type: slopes, arches, jumpers, doors, etc.

Mark from LEGO Masters shows a similar system off in this video

 

As for containers, you can choose anything that works for you and your space. There is a thread in this topic dedicated to sorting options:

[1Ruben]

20 minutes ago, CallMeCarbiz said:

As for containers, you can choose anything that works for you and your space. There is a thread in this topic dedicated to sorting options

Thanks for the feedback, i'm new to this platform so didn't know there was an already existing thread about this.

[koalayummies]

6 hours ago, 1Ruben said:

I would be happy if I could just have an overview of which bricks I've got.

The easiest way to do this is to keep track of what sets you own and use that to determine what pieces you have. You can do this on Brickset.com for example. Then you can look up any specific piece and see if you have it and how many via all the sets you've purchased.

Say you need thirteen 1x3 bricks in yellow for what you're building and you've already found 12. You want to know whether to keep searching your big bins for one more. Look up that piece and see if through all the sets you own you actually have 13. Saves a lot of time especially in searching for a piece you might not have or motivating you to find that last one.

[TeriXeri]

I find rebrickable database more reliable compared to brickset in terms of piece inventory per set, and piece variants.

Brickset inventory isn't as accurate/complete, and Rebrickable handles part variants and spare / extra / missing / assembled pieces better.

But both sites can import in both directions.

 

Edited August 3, 2022 by TeriXeri

[Plumber]

I use Basebrick  - www.basebrick.com  - setup by sets or parts will import your bricklink orders too if not a set buyer.