What is my LEGO hobby?

[Andy D]

Lately I seem to be spending more time on other LEGO related activities.

I don't seem to build as much as I...

Sort! It seems that every time I start a new project, be it a set or a moc I first begin by sorting.

For a MOC I go to the wall, find a bunch of new parts I need for my project, then I go to Bricklink and look for bricks I need, I purchase parts, then when I get them home I sort.

In order to try to organize my collection of parts so it is usable.... I sort!

I really think that LEGO is a hobby of sorting bricks rather than building. I need to reorganize my priorities so I spend more time building and less time sorting.

Anybody else have the LEGO sorting disorder?

Has your LEGO hobby became less about building and more about something else?

Andy D

[JGW3000]

Andy, we should start a club or have our own Forum here on EB . I have 4-5 MOCS ready to go, all sorted and organized, I think I enjoy the planning and organizing more than the actually building.

[TR3K]

I finally got round to building my first MOC yesterday, and wow I did not realise how on organized I was and I need to massively improve my sorting method. I will be purchasing some small storage boxes/trays before my next LEGO purchase

[Mikuri]

Hahahahah, lately all I'm doing is sorting. I'm destroying sets on my shelves (I replace them with new sets I like better) but I have like 20-30 sets to sort... Gonna take me a while hahaha xD

Sorting club! Oh yeah.

[LEGO Family]

I finally got round to building my first MOC yesterday, and wow I did not realise how on organized I was and I need to massively improve my sorting method. I will be purchasing some small storage boxes/trays before my next LEGO purchase

Be carefull ... As Mikuri also mentioned, sorting will become a bane extreme .... I myself made a sorting system that made sense at the time but took away all creativity .... I still have my LEGO sorted to an extreme but im working on it .... Im goingt to rehab soon :P

The serious part of it: I found that sorting my pieces to the extreme took away the part where you grab a piece just to see what you can do with it. Though i thought i had made an amasing sorted up system.

Fun of it is, that im now in the process of "backengineering" my sorting system to return it to previous state.

At some point i will make new MOCS !!

[Paul B Technic]

Yep, all I seem to do is sorting....

[Criga88]

Since setting up my new workspace I've been sorting and re-organizing my parts collection every couple of days. I still throw together a few MOCs in between, and since I know where every single part of mine is they take no time at all, but I see what you're getting at. Now if you'll excuse me I'm off to sort my collection again

[rodiziorobs]

I leave my collection in a perpetual state of about 75% sorted. It makes MOCing manageable, but still leaves me some of the fun of finding a surprise part here and there that I didn't know I needed.

[HawkLord]

Sorting seems to be more than half of my MOCing time. I feel like I've got a reasonable system down, it's just when I get new sets to part out, I get lazy and don't get to them right away. Then I've got all these parts to sort before I begin my project. Obviously the worst are the small pieces and trying to figure out what brick families should go together.

[sithewok]

I love sorting Lego - find that it calms me on particularly stressful days. I probably spend a good 75% of my Lego time sorting...

[lightningtiger]

I find it that once I sort out a whole stack of parts they end up messed again anyway once I start MOCing again !

MOCing is my stress release, and sorting parts cause me stress !

[dr_spock]

Research, sort, plan, sort, acquire parts, sort, build, sort. Rinse and repeat.

[Mikuri]

I love sorting Lego - find that it calms me on particularly stressful days. I probably spend a good 75% of my Lego time sorting...

I agree on this, sorting is calm and strangely, I enjoy it :)

[VintageLegoEra]

I enjoy building but recently started to buy more and more and spend more on ebay or bricklink than building sets..

[TheLegoDr]

I think sorting is essentially a waste of time. Yes, it needs to be done, but ultimately it will get cluttered again once you start to MOC (at least in my experience). So I have a broad sort, and don't get too upset when it isn't sorted since I don't have time to sort or build.

But as a hobby, I'd expect me to plan and organize pieces more so than actually building. That and collecting minifigures takes up a lot of the money.

It's funny looking at the OP Andy D's signature line and seeing how it evolved every year.

[Vorkosigan]

I personally think sorting is very important. I even snap the bricks together to save space and organize the colors, that way I can grab a "stick" of a part in a color. Recently I've begun snapping small plates together too, 1x's are attached at a diagonally and 2x's are stepped. I sort after every MOC and that is satisfying in itself. Before and during a MOC I go to my own "wall of bricks" where all the drawers are and grab sticks or piles of parts I think I'll need and put them in a tray.

My only complaint is trying to keep my old gray separate from light bluish gray!

[TheLegoDr]

^ good luck with your sorting. I've kept a lot of like colored and you're of bricks clicked together for easy storage only to find them later with cracks in all of them ( from being connected for too long is my assumption)

[Legotom]

I haven't sorted me lego collection since I was about six so it's nearly all either built or in three large crates just loose and jumbled up. So I spend most of my building time hunting for parts I need. I tend to work with a tray full of parts I've bought off Bricklink specially for my MOC, plus any I've found in my crates that look useful.

[OriginalJK555]

I don't spend a lot of time organizing parts or creating MOCs, but I find myself constantly re organizing my collection to make room for new stuff. I guess I just need to make a collection room and call it a day.

[kinggregus]

Hi Andy, this is interesting as right now I am facing a similar situation. However, I know that this momentary and I actually take it very positively.

In fact, at this time of the year I work longer hours and as such come back home later. This means that I do not have as much time to dedicate to building. However, I can dedicate some time to make my inventory, purchase bricks on bricklink or ebay, dismantle sets/MOCs and sort all the pieces.

I find this aspect about the hobby quite relaxing and interesting as it helps me think about my next MOC. I hope, nonetheless, that I will be able to continue working on my “Grand Casino” soon. .

More Generally speaking, if you do not like the sorting aspect, perhaps you could use it as an opportunity to think about the use of each part you sort for a next set?

[Boulderer]

Sorting is the future I too find it strangely calming and relaxing, especially at the end of a long day when fatigue is taking over. Downside is that well organized Lego does seem to take away some of the creativity and play that I love about building.

[ocifant]

My missus only said to me last night: "When are you going to actually *build* something, rather than just sort?" :laugh:

I guess she has a point. Still early in my Lego Rennaisance, but I have a few Modulars up on the shelf that need disassembling and sorting to make room for more/different models (Trevi Fountain is on the go at the moment). Storage/sorting boxes (old Chinese/indian takeaway cartons are useful) are taking over the living room!

[kibosh]

I too am stuck in sorting limbo. I just made the decision to throw all my unsorted LEGO into a bin, and put it out of sight and out of mind for a bit, and just build with what's sorted. As I find myself needing things, I'll then look through this bin before heading over to Bricklink.

[dr_spock]

Depending on the size of your collection, sorting may help speed up MOC building when looking for parts. It was easier when my collection was small. I had a couple clear storage containers and separated by bricks and plates and others. Thanks to the opening of the local LEGO stores and PAB walls, now I have parts everywhere--drawers, PAB cups, baggies, boxes, floor, cat food dishes, etc. I need to rethink my storage and sorting system...

[PaddyBricksplitter]

I sort when I'm tired of building. It's kind of relaxing. Bringing order to chaos.