Sorting Lego

[Slobey]

I'm interested to know how well others have thier lego sorted. I have mine semi sorted (ie all 2x1 bricks in one place etc) but now my collection is quite large, I've found I spend alot of my limited build time trying to find peices.

In short I've decided to colour group peices which will take a long time but it should be worth it in the end. Am I being a bit too pedantic? How is your collection sorted?

[Prince Imdol]

Color coding is always the first step, then maybe put peaces for minifigs in one bin, then building pieces in another, then detail pieces , in the third.

[E of Alshire]

In short I've decided to colour group peices which will take a long time but it should be worth it in the end. Am I being a bit too pedantic? How is your collection sorted?

If you've got enough peices, sort by type, not color. I'm sorting mine from color to type right now and there's a huge difference in the time it takes me to find something.

[Hippotam]

In short I've decided to colour group peices which will take a long time but it should be worth it in the end. Am I being a bit too pedantic? How is your collection sorted?

I think you will enjoy reading the hilarious Evolution of Lego Sorting by Remy Evard. I'm currently somewhere between steps 17 and 18. And 23.5.

[supernova]

In short I've decided to colour group peices which will take a long time but it should be worth it in the end. Am I being a bit too pedantic? How is your collection sorted?

If you've got enough peices, sort by type, not color. I'm sorting mine from color to type right now and there's a huge difference in the time it takes me to find something.

i actually partially disagree, from personal experience. I would sort smaller bricks (up to 2x2 plates) by parts, but bigger bricks I think sorting by colour works better

[J1A3L5]

I find sorting basic bricks by colour works well - I do grey differently, since 1x2's and 2x4's get their own tubs.

As for other pieces like tiles, plates, etc., I suggest sorting by type primarily with colour underneath that, like this. It makes things much faster to find! I find it just as hard to find a yellow piece in a bucket of yellow than a bucket of all colours...

It's a balance between the time it takes to put away pieces and the time it takes to find them. Personally I opt for the lengthy sorting time. It gets faster as you get better at it!

-John L.

[Dunechaser]

...like this...

Those containers are perfect for minifig parts as well.

[Spongey]

I colour coded my basic parts, and then put all of the slightly more specialized parts into separate bags, but with the same colour. This is only tentative, and will change as I get more LEGO. As for figs, I sort them by theme.

[Baned]

I have nice chaotically orignaized system.

One of these days I'm gonna break my basic bricks, currently organized by color, bins down by part instead of color. Same with plates, they're in a similar sorting method.

My new grays and new browns are in 5 different containers: basic bricks/plates, technic pieces, "other" pieces (overflowing now), minifig utensils/weapons, and minifig parts. I might bite the bullet and end the segregation and let them intermix with the others. Gonna be a tough descision if I do it.

I've currently got 3 units, each with 21 drawers. The units are about 2.5ft by 1.5ft. Each drawer is the same size. I've got them broken by color, then by part-type. Round pieces, castle pieces, 45° slopes, 66° slopes (only gray & black get seperate slope drawers. because there's so many), wings, wedges, etc.

Ok I've typed too much. I'm too lazy to type up the rest of storage methods. I did love that Lugnet post with the stages of sorting, I had a hearty lol with that.

[g2]

If you've got enough peices, sort by type, not color.

I would whole-heartedly agree with you. Sorting by type is a very efficient way of finding pieces quickly.

I also have mine sorted by condition. I have my new pieces separated from my used pieces. But not everyone does this.

Happy Sorting.

[bannear]

I think you will enjoy reading the hilarious Evolution of Lego Sorting by Remy Evard. I'm currently somewhere between steps 17 and 18. And 23.5.

Thanks for sharing that post and
Congrats on where you are on the list.
I think I am somewhere around stage 16.5.
I have two storage systems - one for my store and one for my build bricks.

For my bricks - I have my castle related stuff sorted into two separate 5 drawer storage units and some plano boxes. My other build bricks are sorted into 4 5 drawers, 1 large 3 drawer, 2 medium 3 drawer, 2 small 4 drawer and several unsorted bins of recently demolished MOCs. I guess I started with colour first and retain that as the way for larger items, but anything from a 2x2 plate down is sorted by shape - unless I am lazy and put it in the "recently" demolished boxes.

My store is sorted into new and used, sorted and unsorted, and takes up 5 5 drawers, 2 3drawers and two shelves plus some bins and under the bed rollers. Colour is one of the last sorting steps for my store stuff - all sorted by part number, then by colour and then grouped by category - trying to follow Bricklink groupings ... if they will all fit in a drawer together.

All in all it appears very chaotic. But at least it is fun!
Play well.
Bert.

[kelderic]

Sorting, what does that mean? Yeah, mine are in a bunch of random buckets.

Kelderic

[wunztwice]

Hehe, I'm actually at about stage 23, but with that I'd add that I skipped a couple of the steps, and am still a few steps behind with some sections of my collection. Thanks for posting that, it was a nice read and a great break from school work.

[DARKspawn]

I think you will enjoy reading the hilarious Evolution of Lego Sorting by Remy Evard. I'm currently somewhere between steps 17 and 18. And 23.5.

That's great! I think I am somewhere between 19 & 23

[The Panther]

my minifigs are sorted, but other than that, I'm on step 3