Storage and Sorting LEGO

[JediMasterBuilder]

Just read the updates on the Kickstarter project. Seems a lot of LEGO collectors have been messaging them on Kickstarter so Treasure Pals launched the CLEAR Treasure Brick earlier than planned. It's great that they are listening to us and what we need. They probably have trays or dividers or something planned in the works, too. Their project says they are designing new moulds for more sizes and shapes of brick, and launched the Kickstarter project in order to get their moulding process up and running.

[tedbeard]

Re: Treasure Pals

Is anyone else concerned about the $20 per "brick" cost? I generally assume that these early Kickstarter prices are special deals and that the final retail cost will be higher. If that is true this product is ridiculously over-priced for LEGO storage. Heck @ $20 it is way more than I would be willing to spend to store my brick. At $20 per brick I would have to spend at least $3-4k to store my relatively small-medium collection!

Cute if you are buying a couple for kids but as a long-term, bulk storage solution?

[fred67]

My problem with this kickstarter product is that it's almost just like Sterilite drawers, only more expensive. Sure, it's got the "studs" design on it, which might give you some ability to mix up how you stack the individual units, but it seems like it would be ridiculously expensive compared to Sterilite. Taller Sterilite units can also give you variations in drawer sizes. I just am not excited about this, nor do I see the appeal over what's already available.

[DavidJSevern]

Hi all,

I was wondering - if there are any Bricklink sellers here - what storage systems you all use? At the minute, I only have 44 drawers and about £2000 worth of stock, so the majority of sets are just lying in boxes, making picking orders VERY difficult. Especially if I've sold that piece before and have to search through a set only to realise it's not there!

Anyway, this is the cheapest drawer set I've found so far:

http://www.maplin.co...7-x-147mm-nd82d

Does anyone have any better suggestions? Americans are getting 60 drawer units for 18 dollars! I've looked at importing, but it works out more expensive than the 44 drawer cases.

Edited July 26, 2014 by DavidJSevern

[TheLegoDr]

I'm not sure what you mean by Americans are getting those units for that cheap considering that is a UK website??

But that drawer does look awesome. Very useful for smaller pieces in larger quantities.

[zux]

From what I saw, BL sellers use custom brick storage systems, as prebuilt ones are quite expensive.

[DavidJSevern]

I'm not sure what you mean by Americans are getting those units for that cheap considering that is a UK website??

But that drawer does look awesome. Very useful for smaller pieces in larger quantities.

As in they're getting them for a lot less money than what we over in the UK have to pay for them. I dont understand the confusion :P

[Bennemans]

I have a bunch of those exact ones, and the investment was well worth it!

[Bennemans]

My problem with this kickstarter product is that it's almost just like Sterilite drawers, only more expensive. Sure, it's got the "studs" design on it, which might give you some ability to mix up how you stack the individual units, but it seems like it would be ridiculously expensive compared to Sterilite. Taller Sterilite units can also give you variations in drawer sizes. I just am not excited about this, nor do I see the appeal over what's already available.

You nailed it. My thoughts exactly!

Overpriced plastic tubs that offer nothing new… You could buy similar containers at every discount-store imaginable for a fraction of that $20 price tag

[TheLegoDr]

The confusion was it was a UK website, not a US website, so shipping alone would kill us over here. I haven't seen anything that cheap over here in the States, so that's why I asked...

[weavil]

Amazon has all kinds of them. This one brand has just about every size and shape. Plus they have inserts for them too. I remember years ago you could buy them with inserts included.

[Duq]

Your problem seems to be that you just have open sets lying around so a part can be in a number of different boxes. When I put stuff in my shop I part out the set. My storage system is pretty basic: ziplock bags in big Ikea tubs. If I'm looking for a part it can only be in one place.

[tedbeard]

You could buy similar containers at every discount-store imaginable for a fraction of that $20 price tag

I might be wiling to pay $5 for the standard and $3 for a half-size version but no more.

Edited July 27, 2014 by tedbeard

[DasMatze]

I recently discovered this video:

At 1:25 he shows the trays and says they're about $1.50 each. I really want to know where he got them. But even if I could get them, I'm not sure what is the right system for me.

Fast access is important to me as is movability of the containers. I'd love to get IKEA's Trofast system or the Rotho Systemix system but since I have a hundred different categories, I'd need a hundred different containers == ~750€.

Right now I have around a hundred ziplock bags full of parts lying in a display cabinet.

[antp]

such trays can be easily found in do-it-yourself shops (where they sell tools etc.)

[Andy D]

This is such a great topic. It seems that frequently when new people come to EB they ask this question. If one reads through this thread there are many answers, and occasionally someone contributes a new thread with a new idea which could add to this resource.

I guess what I am getting at is...Since this is such a wonderful resource, why can't this thread be pinned so it is easier to find?

Andy D

[henrysunset]

I really like the Akro Mils drawers, but no matter what system you use, I've created a set of labels you can print-at-home on waterproof labels.

LINK: http://tomalphin.com/2014/04/printable-labels-to-sort-your-lego.html

Take a look and see if they will work for you!

I use these labels on 3 Akro-Mils modules for my all-white Architecture brick collection (2x 44 drawer modules and 1x 64 drawer module). I also have 8 drawers upstairs which are used to store my larger all-color collection which is sorted by Part ID rather than color.

[Andy D]

I really like the Akro Mils drawers, but no matter what system you use, I've created a set of labels you can print-at-home on waterproof labels.

LINK: http://tomalphin.com/2014/04/printable-labels-to-sort-your-lego.html

Take a look and see if they will work for you!

I use these labels on 3 Akro-Mils modules for my all-white Architecture brick collection (2x 44 drawer modules and 1x 64 drawer module). I also have 8 drawers upstairs which are used to store my larger all-color collection which is sorted by Part ID rather than color.

Wow! That is a great start. I use a different storage solution, so for me I need to scale up your idea. I am sure your label make files will help many. Even though I can't use it I do thank you for sharing your files.

Andy D

Edited September 2, 2014 by Andy D

[fred67]

Take a look and see if they will work for you!

Like Andy D said, that's very cool of you to make those available. I also am actually moving away from Akro-Mills, and just substantially reorganized my entire collection by color AND parts. I'm using the Stanley "suitcase" style containers so that I can just grab the color I'm interested in and have all the various pieces in that color available.

While I'm back on the subject, I was going to take pictures and post what it looks like at present, but it seems nearly impossible to do it efficiently.

I mean, what do you do when you have ONE of something? For example, if I have a hundred 1x2 plates in black... but at the moment I only have ONE 1x1. Does it really get it's own bin? That's a ridiculous waste of space! And if I did that, I'd need a half dozen Stanley containers for each major color, two or three for the others. As it is, I generally am trying to sort colors into two containers, one each of the smaller 25 compartment one, and one of the 10 compartment one... although I have been freely mixing and matching the bins, since you can organize them any way you want.

I still have a few Akro-Mills left over less common colors, and parts I've decided to keep separate, like vehicle and certain structural parts; things like supports, doors, windows, and I have a whole Akron-Mills just for flora.

But if you've made it this far, I'm wondering if anyone else has figured out anything for that problem... when you have a LOT of different color/part combinations, and you only have one or two of some of them...

What I've done is crammed them all into the containers with similar elements, keeping them separated by locking baggies. In fact, in my whole reorganization process I'm left over with a couple dozen sterilite shoe-box size and larger containers, and hundreds of locking baggies in 7 different sizes, from minifigure size up to gallon.

I have the opposite problem, too... sometimes I have a LOT of a single kind of piece, from buying a k-box or something. I've been using the leftover sterilite boxes for "over flow."

[Modelmaker]

I use these little boxes for small parts..

They came from my local printers, they are the boxes they use to pack business cards they have printed.

But i had to buy a full box of

144 for €80 but that works out to about .55cent per box

They also have bigger boxes to pack leaflets which are about 4 times the size of the card boxes

So check your local printers to see if they have anything similar

Edited September 1, 2014 by Modelmaker

[antp]

I mean, what do you do when you have ONE of something? For example, if I have a hundred 1x2 plates in black... but at the moment I only have ONE 1x1. Does it really get it's own bin? That's a ridiculous waste of space!

For parts of which I have low quantities, I regroup similar ones.

For example I have a lot of 1x2 purple tiles from the pick-a-brick wall, they have their own bin. But all other purple plates/tiles go together in a second bin as the quantities are much lower for these (and bricks in a third one, and a fourth one for rounded parts, as I got many via the Harry Potter buses).

And for rarer colors (aqua, azure, light orange, silver, etc.), there is usually only one or two bins for all the parts of that color.

Edited September 2, 2014 by antp

[fred67]

I do that, but I keep them in their little zip-loc bags, but then it makes it harder (or more annoying). The other thing I'm encountering is that I'll do that, then visit PAB and get a bunch of those parts I only had one or two of... and now they're sharing a bin with other parts and there's no open bins in the case. It's just annoying, but what're you going to do?

Edited September 3, 2014 by fred67

[TWO2SEVEN]

I really like the Akro Mils drawers, but no matter what system you use, I've created a set of labels you can print-at-home on waterproof labels.

LINK: http://tomalphin.com...-your-lego.html

Take a look and see if they will work for you!

I use these labels on 3 Akro-Mils modules for my all-white Architecture brick collection (2x 44 drawer modules and 1x 64 drawer module). I also have 8 drawers upstairs which are used to store my larger all-color collection which is sorted by Part ID rather than color.

Looks really good. If I ever expand my BL store I will use these. Thanks for posting them!

[Paul B Technic]

As my LEGO Technic collection has grown, I was to the point where I needed more storage space for it. I also wanted something which was enclosed to keep cats and little fingers out of it. I had been thinking about a two door pantry cupboard and adding a lock to the front of it.

After our display yesterday I had all of my models packed up in crates so it was the best time to do this. I did some research online and while looking for suitable cupboards this model which Bunnings sells came up, I went for a drive and after seeing it in the store I purchased it.

http://www.bunnings.com.au/kis-plus-650-x-450-x-1750mm-4-door-high-garage-cabinet_p2583013

It comes as a flat pack in a box with a 15 minute build time, I took a little longer then this as I stuffed up one step and had to fix it :(

Photos: http://paulstechnic.blogspot.com.au/2014/09/new-storage-cupboard-kis-plus-4-door.html

[Mikuri]

Simple setup with most used pieces on the table. I have some towers and many more near my table :3

Edit: file too large, will update when i'll be back home...

Edited September 15, 2014 by Mikuri