Well, today I decided to sort my four boxes full of LEGO and I was just wondering if anyone had some tips for me.

Well, having sorted my Lego once, from a huge box, my tip is - DO NOT DUMP ALL OF IT ON THE FLOOR! BAD IDEA!

Stauder.

I have a good one! Check here.

Well, having sorted my Lego once, from a huge box, my tip is - DO NOT DUMP ALL OF IT ON THE FLOOR! BAD IDEA!

Stauder.

I did this, and then I go through each individual part and locate a container for it to go in

Perhaps if you posted some pics we could help?

Batbrick Away!

Hmmm... depends on how big your boxes are. Just empty one box on the floor and do a colour separation first. But it depends on the size of the box. If it's too big, it might not be a good idea.

I went color by color, and then subdivided each color.

Very lage pieces went in one bucket. At first I tried dumping it all on the floor and then sorting by piece but trying to find a 1x1 brick in a huge pile is like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

Everyone says color and I disagree. Everyone is wrong! Well, okay, I just have a different opinion about what works best for me.

Our eyes have developed to very easily distinguish colors (except for color blind folk which I've always wondered how many of them are AFOLs. Do they just to black and grey creations or do they make red christmas trees and not know it? None of my color-blind friends are into Lego...so they are useless!) whereas initial visual scanning makes it more difficult to detect, say, a yellow 2 x 2 brick from a 2 x 2 plate in a bunch of other yellow parts.

So, I sorted by type, 1 x bricks, 2 x bricks, 1 x plates, rounds, etc...

So, if I know I want a yellow 2 x 2 brick, I go to that tub and voila, I can easily see what yellow pieces are in there.

So far its working very well but then I see some of the best builders sort by color and second guess myself.

Disclaimer - The did try to sort by color many many moons ago so at one point I must have thought it was a good idea.

-Tohst oh, and my favorite container is the 32 qt sterlite plastic tub.

Everyone says color and I disagree. Everyone is wrong! Well, okay, I just have a different opinion about what works best for me.

Our eyes have developed to very easily distinguish colors (except for color blind folk which I've always wondered how many of them are AFOLs. Do they just to black and grey creations or do they make red christmas trees and not know it? None of my color-blind friends are into Lego...so they are useless!) whereas initial visual scanning makes it more difficult to detect, say, a yellow 2 x 2 brick from a 2 x 2 plate in a bunch of other yellow parts.

I agree with you Tohst...

Technically my colour perception is poor ( according to my failure with the dotted cards), but I have no difficulty with primary colours. In poor light I might not spot the difference between bley and grey but I suspect a few people suffer that anyway

Still sorting by colour is not efficient if you have a huge number of parts. I tried it once but found it almost impossible to locate anything easily. The bricks were just a sea of yellow, knowing that the 1x2 part is in there somewhere just makes it more frustrating. Still if you like rummaging for hours who am I to stop you?

My only observation is that whatever system you choose it will naturally evolve over time as your collection grows.

In fact I'm pretty sure that the storage method is inversely proportional to the size of your collection.

This depends entirely on how you want to organize your LEGO, and how big the boxes you have are. That said, If you have 4 boxes to sort, here are some techniques that have worked for me as I sorted my collection over the past two years. Alot of this is stuff you probably know, or is told elsewhere, but here goes.

1) Sort each box individually. This will make the project more manageable, and give you a real sense of accomplishment with each box you sort. I prefer to do the first sort into temporary containers: shoeboxes, freezer bags, etc.

2) Sort by color, then separate into bricks, plates, and "other". From there you can decide if it is necessary to subidive further.

3) After step 2, look at what you have and only then decide what kind of container/storage system to use based on your collection.

4) Some people have hard and fast rules to sort by, but the standard for sorting should be what makes it easiest to find the items. For example, you may end up with all your brown pieces together if you don't have many, but you may have so many red pieces that you may end up sorting them right down to the individual piece type.

5) don't be affraid to have radically different storage systems within your collection if it helps.

For example, I have:

-Buckets and tubs filled with freezer bags of bulk basic bricks and plates, sorted down to individual piece with each tub having a different color.

-A bookshelf of dollar store fake rubbermaid microwave containers organiced by color, and piece (or similar pieces together) for pieces that I don't have enough of to keep in bulk tubs.

-6 Akro Mills style organizers to keep "special" and extremely usefull pieces sorted by whatever seems to be most logical.

All the best. Sorting is a pain in the rear, but it is definately worth it!

i found the best way was to get my kids and the missus to do it for me

I had a few huge boxes to sort and found the easiest way was to tip a small amount onto the floor and then just grab as many bricks of the same kind as i could find quickly and drop them into bags / bowls / containers etc till the pile was gone. tip out some more and start all over again. i sorted by type as i think it is easier to find one colour part amongst same parts than it is to find one part in a pile all the same colour. i just did a bit everyday sometimes alone sometimes everyone else in the house helped. if you just do say an hour of srting everyday thenit won't take too long. good luck....

I always just dumped everything on the floor when I had to do this (although the last time was many years ago). You can start sorting out the largest pieces first and work your way down to the smaller ones, as the big stuff is easy to spot and also obscures the small things.

Everyone says color and I disagree. Everyone is wrong! Well, okay, I just have a different opinion about what works best for me.

Yeah, I agree. Sorting by color looks nicer but it's much easier to distinguish between, for example, blue and white colors than 2x2 and 2x3 plates if they're lumped in the same container. There are some exceptions like gray and blay parts, but apart from that I sort by type instead of color for almost everything.

Edited June 6, 200816 yr by CP5670

You may contact the eBay guy who wants to build otherones sets for money. Maybe he also likes to sort out

I always thought sorting bricks by size and color was the best way. Mixing different colors of bricks heightens the possibility of unsightly scratches when they bump against each other, plus a unicolor bin always looks nicer than a multicolored one. Good luck!

I have a cousin who is colour-blind (and also legally blind, I believe) but loved Lego several years ago. His creations tended to be random colours.

I recommend that you sort by type and not colour...then maybe do colour sorting on types you have a lot of. It's a lot easier to find a yellow 1 by 4 slope in a bin of slopes than in a bin of yellow pieces. With black, it's even worse.

I always thought sorting bricks by size and color was the best way. Mixing different colors of bricks heightens the possibility of unsightly scratches when they bump against each other, plus a unicolor bin always looks nicer than a multicolored one. Good luck!

I doubt it would make any difference for that. The ABS plastic doesn't rub off on pieces if they scratch each other, and they're still the same weight and shape otherwise. The only thing really is that it looks nicer.

Same with me. I need some help. I have LOTS of lgo. But my MOCs suck cause I can't get the pieces. Hopwfully it won't interfere with the triatholan...

Personally, I'd start sorting by colour. Then, divide it into plates, brick and so on.

It also helps to make sure smaller components aren't stuck in the underside of large bits; for example a 1x2 brick stuck in the hollow area of a baseplate (my terminology is bad, perhaps someone can better explain this).

Anyway, have fun. Its tiresome, yet rewarding, and by going through large boxes, you get to discover small pieces you thought were lost, as I did when I did a recent sort.

Good luck!

Tom