Do you mix your old/used/new LEGO?

[Mazin]

Question as above...

I guess that most of our members have these 3 kinds of Legos

- sets they got in their childhood,

- used sets - whenever these were bought for building parts or because there was no classic sets on the market anymore

- and completely new sets

I'm pretty sure a lot of people treasure their classic childhood parts so much that keep them separately.

I even remember that I used to keep my Black Seas Barracuda parts separately from the rest of my Pirate sets, as it was a gift from my beloved uncle and it was so special for me!

And right now I'm starting to buy used and new sets - used will work only for parts for my MOCs etc, I can't really consider used stuff as something that I could enjoy and treasure as much as new sets.

Of course these will interact with each other sometimes but I don't wanna mix those parts...

But I might mix my classic sets with MISB classic sets if bought - as this might work as expanding my childhood-dream collection

Edited January 14, 2013 by Fugazi
changed Legos to LEGO in title

[JopieK]

Most of the time I do mix. We do not separate on new or old LEGO but only on kind of items.

[dr_spock]

I keep my classic sets together and displayed with my new sets. I don't part my old sets like I do with the new ones. I haven't bought any used Lego yet. Although, I got all my son's Lego when he entered his Dark Ages. I try to keep that separate too in case he ever comes back from the Dark Ages and comes looking for his Lego.

[ShaydDeGrai]

I don't make an active effort to keep my older stuff separate (once the model has been taken apart for whatever reason) but with just normal sorting there are certainly old parts that I don't make much use of anymore like the old style wheels with the metal half-axle posts that plugged into the side of a special 2x4 brick, or the old style windows and doors (back when a door was two studs wide and three bricks tall), or my old slabbie pre-mini-figures (my apologies for the less than great photo links, they were the best I could find on short notice - I'm sure Lego Historian could provide much better custom shots).

The bulk of my oldest bricks are in red and white and are mixed in with my general collection, but when MOC'ing I'll often notice color drift or excessive scratches and set something aside. Most of the stuff that gets sequestered comes from the old Samsonite era, particularly in (what was once) white, as those bricks tend to yellow and show more wear and tear than the others from the era. I don't get rid of them entirely as there's always a need for an extra piece of structure here and there that doesn't show and they are fine for that, they just don't have the same spiffy look as the modern stuff.

That said, I don't think any of my "childhood" sets have survived intact. I'm sure I still have all the part and the instruction so I could reproduce them if I felt like it. But LEGO was a rare and precious commodity when I was growing up so kits were frequently scraped for parts to allow for original creations.

I don't tend to buy "used sets." I'll bricklink bulk parts, but between price gouging, sellers who don't know LEGO from Megabloks, and unknowable pedigree and condition of listings by the pound, I just don't bother with ebay, craig's list, or yard sale specials.

As for new sets, I tend to build them and keep them together until I either get bored with them or external forces (e.g. cats, curious but careless children, etc) intervene. If a model gets knocked from a shelf or suffers some other traumatic "unbuilding" I'll often bulk it for parts unless it has some specific sentimental value that makes it worth rebuilding.

[PsyKater]

Interestimg question. At the moment my classic sets are stored in the basement, while most of my new sets are displayed. I want to keep the parts seperated if I will ever make a part storage. My line will be "before 2000" and "after 2000". It won't make any difference whether I had this set in my childhood or if I'd bought it new or used. Just old parts (even if they come from MISB) and new parts.

[TheLegoDr]

I do not mix them at all actually. I have all of my childhood collection (from the early 90s) sorted by color and then I have the new sets from late 2010-present sorted by color in different boxes. I only have purchased a small amount of used bricks, but that is because they came with something else that we purchased. I don't remember what I did with them actually. But I do agree that most people assume megablocks is LEGO so you don't get all LEGO in any bulk purchase.

The main problem is, most colors I have from the 90s are on the old color palette, so I have so many new colors to sort anyway it just made sense to keep the whitest whites and blackest blacks separate too.

[Hrw-Amen]

I have a lot of classic space sets that are kept apart simply on the grounds that they are made up and are likely to remain so. They are stored in boxes. I have a lot of older bricks, that were bought just as boxes of bricks back when you could go and get a box of black, blue or whatever colour. These are not kept apart and get used in building whatever I am building at that moment. I do have new sets, but to be honest unless they are multiples that I bought to get some special part, most of my new stuff is intended to stay made up as well once it is made. I get lots of bricks from Bricklink and if I go anywhere near a LEGO store, (Which I will be in the new year.) I load up on PAB cups. These all get mixed with my older just bricks until such time as they are used up in a MOC of some sort or another.

[LEGO Guy Bri]

I too mix old and new bricks, with the exception of the greys, bleys, and if there is a striking difference in other colors. Unfortunately all of my bulk bricks from childhood are either made into MOCs, additions to sets, or have since been sorted with Bricklink orders. All of my open new and used sets are still built, so there will be no mixing of bricks that way. The rest are still MISB.

I am OCD about my LEGO, but for some reason this never really bothered me. Since all of my sets, that I'm original owner to, are from the early/mid 90's, they differ from new bricks very little. Had I owned larger stockpiles of bricks from previous decades, I probably would have sorted by time, as well as, color/type.

[Hive]

My old LEGO from my childhood is, sadly, in such a sad condition that I find little use for most of it nowadays. I have gathered some pieces that are still in good condition from the Castle and Pirates themes which I have cleaned and mean to include into my new collection, though. I never buy used sets, only new - and generally have a hard time mixing used and new pieces. I'm a bit OCD-ish on that aspect, I actually go out of my way to find MISB copies of older sets. Hence why I have yet to actually include the old Castle and Pirates pieces I prepared into my main collection.

[moschino]

I'm pretty sure a lot of people treasure their classic childhood parts so much that keep them separately.

Yes, sure... I actually keep my first two minifigs completely separated in their own plastic bag even if they are in junk condition.

I don't mind to use them anywhere, but even if they're in poor condition, they mean to me alot because they were the first.

- sets they got in their childhood,

Most of my sets I've got in my childhood can not be reproduced because some pieces were lost, some pieces were broken, some pieces became in bad condition, and some pieces were gave in exchange for others.

When I was child, we used to exchange pieces between each other, for example I gave a cannon in change for a ghost.

This was because I had two cannons in stock but I had no ghosts and the ghost was what I wanted at that time.

Even if some remaining pieces are still in good condition, the set can not be built more than 30%, so...

- used sets - whenever these were bought for building parts or because there was no classic sets on the market anymore

I bought a lot of used sets as for many times I found extremely good deals on eBay and for many times the sets were in extremely good condition. I do mix those with any pieces that were released in the same period of time or if they come from the same mold.

- and completely new sets

The same answer as above.

_______________________________________________________

During the time, Lego changed their molds and they kept the same overall size of the particular piece, but there are small diferences in their texture and sometimes even color.

If I decide to start building a model or if I simply want to reproduce a released model, if I start to use pieces from 80's, I won't mix them with pieces from 2010.

In 80's, the slope 2x1 was like this:

Later, the mold for the same slope was modified and the inside of the piece was changed.

(I didn't find a picture for the new slope but you have that slope in your inventory and you can check)

Also the texture on it was changed and the mini-craters became smaller.

When you touch the old slope you'll feel it sharp, comparing the new slope which is more softer.

I do not mix those two particular bricks and I do not mix bricks who suffered changes within the time.

I find some changes necessarily, but many changes I find them useless and I blame Lego for what is doing.

Today has been posted a preview for the new series "Lone Ranger" and I just noticed there is a new mold for pistols.

This way I can't mix Lone Ranger with Western 1996 at all, so I'll have three options.

1-I keep them completely separated in completely different scenes.

2-I go for the new pistol, and I sell all old pistols. (maybe keep one in the memory of the first Lego pistol)

3-I go for the old pistol, and I sell all new pistols. (maybe keep one in the memory of the 2013 Lego Pistol)

At the begining Lego was supposed to be a toy where you get a little, but using your imagination you can build alot.

Seems that Lego is turning into something where we get alot, but using our imagination we can build a little.

If pieces becomes so dedicated to a particular purpose, our imagination becomes pretty useless in some cases.

Edited December 9, 2012 by moschino

[SheepEater]

In 80's, the slope 2x1 was like this:

VERY early 80s.

Edited December 9, 2012 by SheepEater

[LEGO Historian]

Depending on how far back your childhood goes....

Also some folks find old LEGO at garage sales, etc... sometimes (especially in the USA0 old is very old indeed...

TLG switched over from Cellulose Acetate to ABS plastic circa 1963. However this switch over took much longer in the USA than elsewhere. Red and yellow Cellulose Acetate parts continued to be used into the 1970s (as did old waffle bottom plates and hollow bottom 1x6 and 1x8 bricks.

TLG switched over from Cellulose Acetate to ABS plastic for a good reason. Cellulose Acetate (Bayer Corp., which produced it for TLG called it "Cellidor")...was an unstable plastic... so if you have some really old LEGO and it appears warped (give it the wobble test by lying it onto a flat surface and see if it wobles)... then you likely have Cellulose Acetate LEGO...red and yellow are most common in the USA... their color is an almost orange-red or chiffon yellow color.

Also many newer old red and yellow parts appear darker... not due to age.. but due to the fact that they contain Cadmium, a heavy metal. It was determined that this was not good for landfills, so TLG switched over the darker red and yellow cadmium laced parts to cadmium-free ABS plastic. The other LEGO colors did not have this element, which was included in those 2 colors to help in the colorization process.

I have an entire chapter in my 2,800 page DVD download (in the Eurobricks Bazaar)... that deals with the problems with Cellulose Acetate and Cadmium laced LEGO.

[TheRedGuy]

Yes I do. If you take a look at my system MOCs some pieces have bite marks, ink, scratches and stuff, but apart from changes in color I personally think they kind of add "detail" into the model.( Bite marks as war damage, for example)

[Blondie-Wan]

At the moment I don't have much older LEGO. Alas, I believe I parted with my childhood bricks and sets a few years after entering my Dark Ages. The oldest material I have now are some small sets offered in the early '90s through a mail-in Kellogg's promo, plus a single early/mid-'80s knight and horse given to me by a friend. However, I do have some sets from the late '90s, and lots from throughout the 2000s up to the present day. Everything I have can get mixed together.

I do wonder how much I'd be willing to mix in older sets, if and when I ever get some. I don't have any qualms about the parts getting mixed together and using older with newer bricks; the only thing that gives me pause is the fact that much of the older packaging was so lavish and beautiful compared to what we get now - all those clear plastic trays with compartments and so on - that it really invites using the box to store the parts that come in the set. But I think I'd want to do so, anyway.

Today has been posted a preview for the new series "Lone Ranger" and I just noticed there is a new mold for pistols.

This way I can't mix Lone Ranger with Western 1996 at all, so I'll have three options.

1-I keep them completely separated in completely different scenes.

2-I go for the new pistol, and I sell all old pistols. (maybe keep one in the memory of the first Lego pistol)

3-I go for the old pistol, and I sell all new pistols. (maybe keep one in the memory of the 2013 Lego Pistol)

I don't understand why you "can't" use them together. Personally, I'd be very happy to use different pistol designs together - it's not as though everyone in the real Old West would have had exactly the same guns anyway.

[moschino]

I don't understand why you "can't" use them together. Personally, I'd be very happy to use different pistol designs together - it's not as though everyone in the real Old West would have had exactly the same guns anyway.

As I said, Lego was supposed to be a toy where you get not many elements, but by using your imagination, you create various scenes of whatever you'd want.

If you go back to late 80's or early 90's, you'll notice that a particular brick was used for lots of purposes.

From 2000 they start to create more and more new moulds for almost each thing, so now it's not needed to use your imagination to create something, because that thing already has its own piece.

Let's say I'm fine with most or with some of the new moulds, but having different moulds for the same purpose, this is a deviation from what Lego was meant to be.

If I would accept to mix old pistols with new pistols in the same scene, then I should also accept to mix Lego System Minifugre with Lego Friends Minifigure, Lego Belvile Minifigure, Lego Scala Minifigure and Lego Technic Minifigure, then play with all of them together and use all of them in the same scenes.

Have you tried to put in the same scene the old fire (trans-orange), new fire (trans-yellow), old minifigs (yellow), new minifigs (fleshy), old horse & new horse all together?

The result is a cheap mix of colors and it's getting close to a kitsch.

I pointed this out in a different thread... In 80's a set had about 8-12 colors, and in 2009 a set had about 25-30 colors.

If you study the art of visual of all kind you'll notice that too much variety of colors affects the impact of the image.

That's why a House, a Sculpture, a Car, etc... are not painted in tons of colors and they are kept simple in few-several colors.

I personally don't even mix bluish grey with light grey or reddish brown with old brown.

The same method is applied to moulds too.

[Balrog]

I have basically 2 kinds of Lego. Those, that I played with as a kid and those that I bought since coming out of my dark age.

The first kind is stored in big boxes. Most stuff, just being a big pile. My old Lego Technic is sorted in one of those old Lego sorting containers. And my pirates stuff is in a box, since it was last displayed on a shelf (my pirates sets never got mixed with the rest of my Lego). Most of my old Space stuff is still built and in a display cabinet in my old room.

The newer stuff I have on display. Or stored in sorting containers and some bigger boxes after disassembly. This is the stuff I currently build MOCs sometimes. Though, even here I tend to seperate. I plan to keep my Technic and System sets in the same sorting, but separate the Technic elements as I did as a kid. And my mindstorms set is in a completely different storage and sorting box.

[gazumpty]

I have just recently come out from my Dark Ages...and follow a similar system to Balrog. I have all my 'Pre-Dark Ages' lego sorted into brick type, use etc and Im currently rebuilding the sets, replacing any badly damaged parts with the odd Bricklink order.

However I have also purchased New and Used sets, from eBay and other stores, where the Used kits are sorted into my existing stock and the New stuff goes on display. Im not too fussed about cross contamination of old and new, as my intention is to grow a collection of bricks for MOC and MOD purposes, and ultimately when I have kids, introduce them to the worlds greatest pastime!

[Galaxy Explorer]

My LEGO collection is 33 years old and counting. As I have never experienced any type of dark age I just keep adding and adding. Generally any set I purchase new either stays in it's box or gets placed in a Hefty One-zip bag. All of my spare parts (most of which I buy on ebay) get placed in Rubbermaid bins and little storage drawers. I have a whole area devoted to vintage parts so they won't get mixed in. This helps me a lot when I'm doing a Classic Town layout, or a current CITY layout. However, someday there will be a term called "Classic CITY" and I'll probably have a new vintage area for that as well.

[Chichar]

As I am recently new to the scene, I have only new sets, which I build, display, play with it and keep them back into airtight bags. And I would take them out to fiddle around when I am bored!

[Blondie-Wan]

As I said, Lego was supposed to be a toy where you get not many elements, but by using your imagination, you create various scenes of whatever you'd want.

If you go back to late 80's or early 90's, you'll notice that a particular brick was used for lots of purposes.

From 2000 they start to create more and more new moulds for almost each thing, so now it's not needed to use your imagination to create something, because that thing already has its own piece.

Let's say I'm fine with most or with some of the new moulds, but having different moulds for the same purpose, this is a deviation from what Lego was meant to be.

If I would accept to mix old pistols with new pistols in the same scene, then I should also accept to mix Lego System Minifugre with Lego Friends Minifigure, Lego Belvile Minifigure, Lego Scala Minifigure and Lego Technic Minifigure, then play with all of them together and use all of them in the same scenes.

Have you tried to put in the same scene the old fire (trans-orange), new fire (trans-yellow), old minifigs (yellow), new minifigs (fleshy), old horse & new horse all together?

The result is a cheap mix of colors and it's getting close to a kitsch.

If you say so. I actually do in fact use some of those things together. I also feel obligated to note the yellow / fleshie minifigure distinction isn't simply a matter of old vs. new, but rather one of original vs. licensed. They still make yellow minifigures in abundance, and can be expected to do so for as long as they stay in business.

I do understand your point about having more specialized molds, but I still don't think that having newer molds necessarily obviates using any older ones. It may in some cases (in which one wants a uniform look, for example), but one can always find a reason to use a part if one so wishes.

I pointed this out in a different thread... In 80's a set had about 8-12 colors, and in 2009 a set had about 25-30 colors.

If you study the art of visual of all kind you'll notice that too much variety of colors affects the impact of the image.

That's why a House, a Sculpture, a Car, etc... are not painted in tons of colors and they are kept simple in few-several colors.

I personally don't even mix bluish grey with light grey or reddish brown with old brown.

The same method is applied to moulds too.

Suit yourself! I think TLG does a more than decent job of keeping sets (and even whole themes) to specific color schemes, and of course the availability of a wide range of colors doesn't mean a given MOC has to use all of them; it just means a builder has a wider range of possible palettes from which to choose.

I do treasure my own memories of '80s (and '70s) LEGO, but I'm certainly glad there are more colors available now. When I first started playing with LEGO as a kid, I couldn't even get parts in such basic colors as orange or green (unless they were baseplates or trees or the like), never mind different shades of those colors.

__________________________

Getting back to the main discussion... of course, pooling all one's parts from different eras together also just gives one the largest possible piece inventory from which to build, which is a reason I do it with mine. But of course, that's not everyone's concern. There's no one "right" answer to this question; everyone is free to mix or not mix his/her own parts and sets as he/she sees fit.

[Captain Green Hair]

I mix everything, in fact I love using old parts they don't make any more in MOCs.

I part all my sets, as I rather build MOCs, so all parts are neatly sorted here.

[Darth Wayne]

So basically, i just got back into the hobby after a 25 year hiatus or so ;)

Like many others, i have been buying sets left and right, but the problem i am facing now is that i seem to be as much of a collector of sets that likes to display them as someone that is trying to get into MOCing and enjoys creating things! To top it all off i have a big box full of OLD Lego (think 30 years old) that i washed recently but that is still pretty scratched for some pieces.

- How in the world am i gonna SORT all of this?

The dilemma i am facing is this: - Do i use pieces from my newly bought sets for MOCing and MIX them with my old Lego pieces or do i keep those separate and if yes what i am gonna do with the OLD lego?

- If i DO use the new Lego from the new sets for MOC, how am i gonna find the pieces later to reassemble my sets? I mean sure it works but what a pain!

As you can see, i am pretty confused, how would you guys that are in a similar situation sort this out?

Grateful for ANY advice regarding sorting :)

[Fugazi]

Do have a look in this thread, dealing with all sorting matters. Also, there is a quite recent thread about mixing old and new LEGO.

[Darth Wayne]

Thanks, that last one might be similar to what i am looking for hmmm...

[goody82]

I recently came back to Lego and in addition to buying a huge amount of current Lego inventory, some recently retired MISB sets, and a few 1990s era sets (the ones that got away as a child) I had to make this decision.,

To be honest, it was easy, I mixed everything up and sorted by part type and did not concern myself with era. With bricklink, pick a brick, and other sources of bricks, I felt that if I find Legos that are in unacceptable condition, I can ultimately replace them while maintaining the integrity of the sets. And to be honest, many of those sets may not ever be reproduced in their original form again.