[Poll] What do you do with new sets?

[mocbuild101]

Title says it all...

As for myself, I normally sort my sets' parts, then build it, then slowly disintegrate it...

[Jurss]

Mostly I build A and B model (if there is any). Then, after some time, disassemble it in to parts for MOCs.

When I had only first set, I built some 4 C models from it. 

Sometimes I also do some modifications.

Only for Porsche I built one of the community modified versions.

[LM71Blackbird]

Every time I get a new set, i build it and then tell myself that I'm going to never take it apart so I don't lose the pieces... after a short while, the whole thing comes apart!

[Bublehead]

I build the model that I think is the coolest first, which is usually the A model but not always. B models get built when I buy a second copy of the set for parts, but usually they don’t hang around long because I bought them for parts, ? Mods tend to hang around for ever in the collection (my 18 year old 8880 for example) along with cool A models. When parts were harder to come by, it was anything goes when a part was needed... now with the inter webs and BL they are but a weeks wait away...usually. German stores, although cheaper, take forever to clear customs when shipping to the states. Multiple copies beyond the second one get left in the box until a certain piece is needed and then they might get totally incorporated into the collective, but I have surgically removed individual parts from sets and left them in the box in bags until I get time to sort them out. I cannibalize parts off of displayed models during heated building sessions when I need to know “will it fit or will it work?” and it’s the only copy of that part I own.  

Sorting... if not in numbered bags, yes. I usually sort the whole set out before starting.  If in numbered bags, sometimes I sort each bag before starting the steps for it, sometimes I just pour them in my sorting tray and go to work.  Depends on the size of the bag. With unnumbered bags, however, it depends on where I am building. If at a table, sort them all out. If reclining on the couch, I leave them in their bags and sit them in rows next to me, opening them just enough to get each part through the opening, widening the opening as each required part needs to fit through.

Leaving them in their boxes... to sell only if really valuable, but I am not a Lego speculator/investor. The only one still in its box due to value is the LE Crawler 41999.

 

 

[MAB]

A bit of everything. Some sets I buy for parts and sell off the excess I won't use. These don't get built as the set just harvested for parts. Some I build as a set and keep as a set. Some I build then dismantle and use as parts.  Sometimes I will buy multiples to sell as selaed sets.

[igor_andreati]

I build, leave them on display for a couple weeks, then i disassemble and sort the parts with the rest, before it gets dusty

Before i start building, i open all the bags and shuffle all the pieces, although this is getting out of hand with bigger sets, because sometimes i can't see a clear difference between black and dark gray on the manuals...

I always keep the manuals and sometimes i keep the box, but i have to dismantle it before storage...

[NathanR]

I build them, display the sets for a week or two, then take them apart and bag the pieces for a future rebuild. I always keep sets as sets, right down to the extra pieces, and never use the parts in MOCs or put them into a parts bin.  It's a holdover from when I was a kid, my parents never liked sets getting muddled up together as they ended up being the ones who would have to try and sort them all out again... 

I never sort the parts, I just open the bags as needed according to the instruction manuals.  I love it when I get a large-ish technic set with no numbered bags, I just sit at a table surrounded by dozens of open bags rummaging through them all for the next part I need.  The numbered bags spoon-feed me the parts a bit too easily, and I sometimes find myself building on autopilot without actually thinking about what I'm making.

[ColletArrow]

First of all, I rarely buy LEGO at all at the moment (student budget, space etc). Normally though, I'd build it, play/display it for a bit, and then it'd get dismantled and thrown in my collection when I needed some parts from it. I don't typically bother with b-models, as they're not what I bought the set for.

When building medium to large sets, I'll typically dump the parts out onto a tray so I can move the whole lot in one go should I need to. I might keep the parts roughly in piles of each bag, but not strictly. A lot of sets I buy second-hand or rebuild from my collection, so there's no sorting there at all.

I keep all my instruction booklets with my bricks for easy reference, whilst the set's boxes have gone un-flattened but stacked (like Russian dolls, smaller ones inside larger ones) in the loft.

An interesting discussion overall. It seems a fair number of people so far agree with "Build then cannibalize" and "No sorting". I wonder if this will change as more people answer.

[mocbuild101]

5 hours ago, LM71Blackbird said:

Every time I get a new set, i build it and then tell myself that I'm going to never take it apart so I don't lose the pieces... after a short while, the whole thing comes apart!

Same here... 

1 hour ago, NathanR said:

I build them, display the sets for a week or two, then take them apart and bag the pieces for a future rebuild. I always keep sets as sets, right down to the extra pieces, and never use the parts in MOCs or put them into a parts bin.

Yeah, I try to do that too (if it doesn't disappear first), though at the moment I've got most of my half-built sets mix up in one big box (), waiting until after I've finished sorting the rest of my Lego so I can find the missing parts... 

[x105Black]

Most sets I put away to build later because I lack space.

Some sets I build and keep around for a while.

Eventually, sets will be put into storage, sometimes built, sometimes in pieces.

And at last, the sets will all be broken down for parts and sorted in the end, with very few exceptions.

[Whovastron]

As a kid I’d end up canabalising them eventually, a lot of rare sets ended up lost in pieces.

Since about 2013 though I simply build and display

[WvG_853]

I typically build the A-Model, keep it around for a couple of days/weeks and then build the B-Model. Same thing. Then I disassemble the model and either build the A-Model again for display or I store the pieces in their original box or in a number of plastic boxes with dividers, but always organised per set. At a certain time I had more than 25 large Technic sets on display, but the rest of the family started complaining. I have now limited the build sets to around 10 I’m particularly fond of. In the living room only the vintage helicopter 852 is prove of my mania. My family still complains because of all the boxes and the space they occupy.

When a set is new, I build it following the instructions without sorting. When I build a set a second time I always sort the pieces before starting the build. That’s why I voted sometimes ... ;-)

[ExeSandbox]

I would normally build the model, leave it on the desk for admiration, then place in on a shelf for it to collect some dust. Only when absolutely necessary, I would take them apart to build a new MOC for whatever reason, and most likely take it apart a month or two later to restore the original models back. 

But back when I was a kid, no set could remain untouched for a month. It would be disassembled, so that I could build new stuff and whatever parts that remains would be stuffed into whatever packaging I had. It was fun back then, but it led to many of the parts breaking. 

I would sometimes sort the parts by color, especially when there are a whole ton of mixed up parts from different sets. But for a fresh new set, the numbered bags solved the sorting issue.

[Andy D]

For many sets I sort, then build the main and alternate models. Some I keep assembled longer than others but after awhile I will either disassemble and put into my inventory or if I really enjoyed the building experience I will bag the parts, put back to the original box to assemble again later. 

Edited May 26, 2018 by Andy D

[koalayummies]

Other because its a pretty even split:

Some get built and left assembled for a while.

Some get built and then are promptly disassembled.

Some never get assembled as they were purchased for parts.

[Capparezza]

Most often 1C and 2B. However, answer to 1 depends on the set and what purpose I've bought it for. If it's something that is worth to show off, I will display it.

[ShaydDeGrai]

My wife claims that I never take anything apart, but that's just not true.  I scrap my old kits for parts in much the same way that wind and rain tear down mountains; if you look every day expecting to see the differences, you're going to think nothing's happening, but over time, if you pay attention, you'll notice some things that once were, aren't anymore.  Usually my cat and gravity select the next model to land in the "to be sorted" pile.

As for alternate models, I'll build them if I have hardcopy instructions (like the 3-in-1 kits) and may actually buy multiple copies of the kit so that both the primary and alternate models can persist for a time.  If I have to go online for the alternate instructions (as is usually the case in Technic kits) I don't bother.  I play with Lego to get away from screens and computers, so making me read instructions off a screen rather than a piece of paper is a total non-starter for me.

If I put together a kit and decide it has some really cool/useful parts, I've also been known to by extra copies of the set just to part out while leaving the original build intact for years

[dr_spock]

I do all of the above except resell sets.

[rodiziorobs]

Step 1: build the set. If small, from the box art only.

Step 2: take apart and build my own B-model. This step sometimes gets omitted due to total lack of inspiration or time, but I try and make this step happen. I think it's good for me: I get to know my total inventory better and try and find creative or unconventional uses for new parts before they are lost forever to Step 3.

Step 3: dismantle and sort immediately *or* dismantle and put into the eternal to-be-sorted box. I think you can guess which usually happens.

Displaying sets happens sometimes, but only if its something my wife would appreciate having on display (which usually means the first copy of Elves sets).

[zoth33]

For the most part I buy sets for parts for my moc's.  There are some sets that I really like and just build the model.  But mainly just buy the sets I like for minifigs and parts I need for my fantasy/castle world.  

[Ravelino]

I build it up to see it in real life and if there were new applications/building techniques to parts in the set and in my collection, and when I'm tired of looking at it/need parts for a MOC from it I start to cannibalize it for parts until there isn't much to look at and I decide to tear it apart..

Only 2 sets I haven't touched/will restore are the MMV houses(I also have the stand somewhere and a couple more I build using/altering its design), which I just like as a set and a Jack Sparrow BrickHeadz I got from my cousin will remain built as a tribute for he never tears down any set unless he buys it for parts, it's currently missing its headband because I needed the dark red 2x2 curved slopes for a speeder but I will replace them.

A third will be added to that; Once I have the time I will restore my Tower of Orthanc as I actually only tore it down for easy transport. 

So my answers were based on the first (MISB) copy of a set as the second usually gets parted out immediately or in a rare case will be put away MISB in a plastic bag, in the rare case I buy a 3rd set it's for the parts/figures so it will be dismantled from the jump.

I don't sort out because Lego does it for you, so unless it's a second hand set I don't need to sort out and even then I find it amusing to just throw the elements on a heap and plough through it as I build the set.

[Littleworlds]

I buy and build a set as soon as I get it. Nothing unusual here. Then I desperately try to make free space for it to display it somewhere. 

Eventually after a while I might modify them, rarely taking them apart. As a rule of thumb here: the larger the set, the less likely it is to be taken apart. Modifications, especially improvements may well happen. I'm not looking into resell value, or have the need to keep them all in their original configuration. If I can make a set more suiting to my ideas and needs, then I do it.

[CarrollFilms]

Man, at first I thought I was the only one who built sets and just let them sit.

By the way, not sorting the pieces makes the build last a lot longer, therefore increasing your amount of time spent having fun building

[Littleworlds]

1 minute ago, CarrollFilms said:

By the way, not sorting the pieces makes the build last a lot longer, therefore increasing your amount of time spent having fun building

I agree completely. Lego should be one of those things that gets spared from min-maxing. I noticed that really when building my first modulars. It is utterly focussing to forage for the right pieces - almost hypnotic.

[rodiziorobs]

27 minutes ago, CarrollFilms said:

By the way, not sorting the pieces makes the build last a lot longer, therefore increasing your amount of time spent having fun building

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that when I open a set I dump all the bags out at once--effectively desorting them. Sometimes you have to enjoy the hunt.