Storing & Sorting Your Lego Pieces

[Mithrandir]

For the past few months I've been trying to figure out a good way to store all my lego pieces.

At first, I bought 2 large Akro Mills small parts cases (05905). That was pretty good at first, when my collection was:

1) mainly technic

2) small

3) still mostly built

Now, fast forward a few months, and my collection has ballooned to 23,986 parts (that's what peeron says, though I may be forgetting a set or two). I had been buying new containers occasionally (once a month?) and rearranging my parts, but recently, it just won't do anymore.

So I went ahead and bought one of these: 10124.

Unfortunately, the dividers aren't really good, so I couldn't use it to store small parts well, and I ended up using this container to store all of my technic studless beams; one or two bins per type.

(2m, 3m, 5m, 7m, 9m, 11m, 13m, 15m, 4x4m angle, 4x6m angle, 3x7m angle, 3x4x7 J angle, 4x2 L, 5x3 L)

And that took up an entire container. Daaaamn.

I recently grew fond of all of the Designer sets which use primarily studded non-technic pieces, and this has posed quite a problem for me, because I have a ton of pieces and I don't know how to organize them now.

Initially I wanted to keep all the "technic" pieces together, and all the "studded technic" pieces together, and all the "studded system" pieces together, but it's getting increasingly difficult to categorize the pieces that way anymore. It seems that most studded sets nowadays come with a fair amount of pieces that I used to consider technic, but aren't actually in any technic sets.

For example: I have a ton of these new click hinge type things that are pretty technic-ish (48170), but aren't actually technic.

So I've been trying to figure out how to organize my pieces, and it seems that separating technic from non-technic is a losing battle. (ie: is this a technic piece? I have no idea!!).

So some other ways of sorting them I've thought about:

* Keep all related pieces together. Plates will go in one container, bricks in another, bricks with holes in another, and so on. This method has the problem of the fact that there are a ton of pieces that don't really fit neatly into any one category, because a lot of pieces transcend categories.

* Sort pieces by size. 1x1x1 pieces first, 1x2x1, 1x3x1, 1x4x1, ... 2x2x1, and so on. The problem with this method is that related pieces may be stored far away from each other. ie: a technic 1x2x1 liftarm is technically the same size as a 1x2x1 plate, but they are VERY different pieces and shouldn't be stored near each other.

* Sort pieces by color. I dislike this idea the most. I *hate* the idea of mixing different kinds of parts together.

So what say you? What are your storage solutions? Which works best for you guys?

[SuvieD]

Sort by type and size in that order. Have one container for misc. small parts that don't fit in any category. Sort parts by the type and color if you have enough room but if not stick to type. You can check my Bshelf page by clicking my signature. You can see how I have my parts sorted there.

I have 200,000+ parts and I have found it to be the best system for sorting. Easy to find pieces and though time consuming easy to put away. The problem lies in when you have no more room to store parts rather than how to do it.

[Aredhel]

There has been a poll about this in January. (see Link)

[Kikuichimonji]

There has been a poll about this in January. (see Link)

That one is about storing sets, not pieces ;-)

Anyway, I always used to sort by color. A couple of weeks ago I started sorting by piece. I still have the 3 colors I have most of (red, white, black) to sort by piece. Plus, I don't have enough storage cabinets. I bought 3 (20 euro each :-/), but I need at least 3 or 4 more...

However, I can now find pieces very easily, which is a big plus. The downside is that, when I still had things sorted by color, I would constantly see peices I wanted to use. That's gone now...

Then again, I don't have 200.00 pieces. According to peeron, I currently have 27.295. Give or take a few hundred from bulk order I didn't add and pieces that got lost/broken over the years. And quite some of those pieces are in SW sets, which are on display...

[Aredhel]

Ok, sorry then. I just thought the Poll included the sorting of different pieces and colours. :-$ :-$

[snefroe]

storing parts has always been a huge challenge. i've been changing sorting methods thru out the years, hoping i'll be able to get it right one day. in my experience, the best sorting solution is having lots and lots of space so you can leave any part where ever you want to, without having to look for boxes.

i tried small box systems in the past, i still have them but they're not very usefull to me because the average size of the boxes becomes too small when your collection grows...

also tried plastic bags you can close/open. i still use those because they're more flexible than boxes, but only for the parts you don't use very often and minifigs

then i have a crappy parts bag: a bag completely filled with parts you're just not going to use for any model, like those terrible UFO parts, bionicle things, motor parts,... unfortunately, i'm always looking for a larger bag...

i also keep a box with my technic parts. i have a huge diversity of technic parts, but not in large numbers, so 1 box really ought to do the trick...

Still, sorting bricks and keeping the system alive is not my favourite part of the lego hobby. it's time consuming, you always seem to have a shortage of boxes and in the end you'll always end up with a pile of bricks you can't sort because it's just not worth the box....

[Mithrandir]

I agree, sorting is a HUGE pain in the butt.

However, I find that it is soooo worth it in the end, because when the parts are sorted, it's incredibly easy to build your own creations with a minimum of effort. Rather than having pieces hiding away in the depths of a huge box, you can see exactly what you have.

Plus, you can tell what parts you are low on. For example, I noticed, after sorting my parts, that I have very few 13m studless beams for some odd reason. Before I sorted my parts, I kept looking for these, *knowing* that I must have a lot, when I actually didn't.

I'd like to know how the Lego builders keep parts stored when they're making sets. I mean, they must have some sort of system; I can't possibly imagine keeping over 12,000 unique part types sorted using any methods available to me (plus probably a lot of prototype parts that we've never seen either)

[Kikuichimonji]

I'd like to know how the Lego builders keep parts stored when they're making sets. I mean, they must have some sort of system; I can't possibly imagine keeping over 12,000 unique part types sorted using any methods available to me (plus probably a lot of prototype parts that we've never seen either)

Like this.

[blueandwhite]

I always love these sorting topics.

Truthfully, I don't have a specific sorting method. I sort some bricks by colour, others by type, and certain bricks are sorted by both. Its simply a question of quantity. For example; I only have a small quantity of tan bricks, so I keep them in a single bin, whereas my collection of grey (not bley) is absolutely huge, and needs to be sub-divided. Even then, I keep certain elements mixed. Its really a question of convenience. For me, sorting every single brick into its own tiny sub-category is a huge waste of time (and a headache). It just doesn't make sense to sub-divide elements that I frequently use in tandem, or ones that may be easy to find, even when mixed with different parts.

And yes, my collection isn't that big (probably in the whereabouts of 100,000 bricks), so sub-dividing by colour/size isn't absolutely necessary.

Later.

[jonfett]

I have been meaning to take some pics of how I sort my Lego for some time now.

I know I don't have a relatively large collection of pieces compared to some people, but I do have quite a lot. I did use to dump them all in some plastic boxes, then I moved onto a 3 drawer unit, then some time last year I bought 3 sets of drawer units used for screws/nails.

Here is the gallery with all the pic.

(This won't make sense until you have seen all the pics! )

Basically, I put all my 2xn bricks in one of the large drawers and the 1xn in the other, with all the misc. large pieces in the bottom drawer. I like my minifig storage the best! I sort hands/arms/legs/torsos.. you name it! Each in a different compartment, with accessories taking up a whole box. I dump all the horses/animals and animal accessories in an old candy-floss tub, its quite useful though.

Moving on to the bulk of the parts, I have 3 drawer units. The first one has mostly plates and modified plate parts. The second is slopes and round bricks. The third is random parts. I dont have enough of some parts to fill some drawers but in some cases too many parts, so I have to join them together to fit them all.

This explanation was kinda vague, but once you see all the pictures it should make sense.

Jon.

[JoeMI6]

All my lego is in one big container, i tryed sorting it into colours, but it was just took too long, i think it will just stay in that container. I'll never get around to sorting it.

[Kikuichimonji]

All my lego is in one big container, i tryed sorting it into colours, but it was just took too long, i think it will just stay in that container. I'll never get around to sorting it.

You will once you get more and more ;-)

[Sel]

All my lego is in one big container, i tryed sorting it into colours, but it was just took too long, i think it will just stay in that container. I'll never get around to sorting it.

Yeah, that's sounds like an idea... as long as you don't have "several tens of thousands of pieces".

And sorting by color is not a good idea at all, believe me. I can't imagine putting all sorts of black parts into the same bin and searching for a rare piece in it, this will certainly be "taking too long"..:-)

regards,

Sel

[Beagle]

Yeah, I would agree with this. I think it's better to sort by piece type and/or size, not color. It's easy to find a red 1x1 headlight in a bin of many differently-colored headlights..... but tougher to find it in a mass of red pieces.

Of course, this also requires more small containers versus fewer large ones, 'cause there are a lot more types of pieces than there are colors.

[quote name='Sel

[Echo]

We don't like spammy people.

I have my parts in color sorted boxes.

[Kikuichimonji]

We don't like spammy people.

What was that all about?

[Chuck]

I'd like to know how the Lego builders keep parts stored when they're making sets. I mean, they must have some sort of system; I can't possibly imagine keeping over 12,000 unique part types sorted using any methods available to me (plus probably a lot of prototype parts that we've never seen either)

Like this.

Or like this!

-l2k-

[Sir Dillon]

We don't like spammy people.

What was that all about?

I think Mashmellow Fluff posted, but his post was deleted.

As for how I store my pieces, I store them in big plastic bins, by color. It can get really annoying having them in colors, but IMO, it's better then just all the pices jumbled together. The colors that I use the most (grey, black, and other castle type parts) are sorted by part though.

[Hobbes]

Not new, but funny (and true):

Evolution of LEGO Sorting, by Remy Evard :-)

[captaintau]

Not new, but funny (and true):

Evolution of LEGO Sorting, by Remy Evard :-)

That's cool. Thanks, Hobbes. Some of the comments made by other users are also quite funny.

[KimT]

Scary :'-( I've just started sorting by type because I couldn't find the right modified 1x2 yellow brick. So now I've begun the month of sorting into types... A true tale :-/

KimT

[SuvieD]

That is so true Hobbes.

I skipped some of those phases but yes I am there and I can totally relate. :-$

[natelite]

well my collection isn't that large and i skip a few steps. first time i started sorting, i sorted by parts and not colors. usually if i need to mod/moc i am looking for specific parts and not so much the color since i stick to easy colors such as black, grey and white, which are excellent choices! i find old lego parts have weird squeeky noises so now i also sort by new/used. haven't use any rubbermaid or sterilite yet. just some disposable food containers like ziplock. you get like 20 or so boxes for $5 or less. :-P

[reideen1313]

You guys are much better at this than I am. I have a couple of large tote bins holding all my parts. (Except for my vintage stuff still in the boxes.) It makes sorting and finding specific pieces hard as hell, but lots of times I'll come across a piece that'll work, which I didn't even consider when I started building.

[SuvieD]

... lots of times I'll come across a piece that'll work, which I didn't even consider when I started building.

That is one of the few advantages to storing everything in a big box. Immediate inspiration. Harder to have when you tuck everything away in some little container or tray.