Do you sort your sets?

[Tom Bricks]

Sorry if this has been asked before but I was wondering if you sort the set like it says in the directions or just build it. I always skipped sorting but today while building MMV I decided to sort half way because I couldn't find some of the parts. So far I think it helped but I just wanted to know what everyone else thinks.

[The Who]

I never sort by color, and most often don't sort at all.

Only with sets like the UCS Falcon have I sorted the parts before building, and that was by the types of parts.

[Siegfried]

I didn't vote as a yes or no answer was too simplistic. I often sort larger (500+) sets while I am building, but I never do it first. For example, while building the Taj Mahal I used the three cardboard trays that came with the set to divide the parts up. The criteria changed thoughout, but as an example, something like big pieces and plates, bricks, small plates. When one box became bigger than the others I changed the criteria.

I almost never sort by colour as that's something you can tell at a glance. If a piece is a normal 2x1, a holed 2x1 or an axel 2x1 you can't.

[Svelte]

Life's too short to sort! Part of the joy for me is rummaging through a pile, looking for that elusive piece. Frankly if I pay $100 on a set, or whatever, I like to enjoy the whole experience, not 'speed-build' it. Otherwise it's like buying an expensive video game and skipping through it using the cheat codes.

The exception is really big builds. Like Sieggy, I sorted the Taj into three trays, and some parts in polybags. I made some bad and frustratingly stupid choices though, like putting white plates of all different sizes together. It seemed logical at the time; not later during the build when I was trying to pick between plates of 1x6, 1x8, 1x10 and so on...

Interestingly, I do sort by colour when I disassemble a set. I usually sort light colours with light and dark with dark and individually bag delicate pieces like cockpits and window glass. This is to avoid scratching and also because I went through a stage of finding white bricks which seemed to have been permanently marked by contact with black and so on.

[Luke McAwesome]

Life's too short to sort!

Well said!

Anyway, I don't get many "large" sets, and I don't even bother sorting them because eventually they'll all be on the set anyway, so no, I don't sort my sets.

[daxflame680]

I normally just use the numbered bags, like you're supposed to

For larger builds that don't come with numbered bags, I open everything and seperate them by bag.

The parts usually manage to mix together though

[posades]

I tend to not sort, but I do like to keep the smaller pieces together. I guess I do a half-way sort with big plates in one pile, bricks and things in another and the smallest pieces I keep in the bag they came in. For larger builds I might sort by color, but it depends on how much time I have.

[filefolders]

I don't sort, but I keep the pieces from each bag in their own piles. Then, I just get a feel for what's where as I build.

[HumanPackMule]

Despite the fact that I have OCD, I do not sort my sets. That may come as a surprise to many of you but it is true. I do not sort my sets. The closest I've come is using a tennis racket to sort out the megabloks and battleship markers I put in my boxes when I was a naiive child. I do sort the rest of my stuff though.

[Modulex Guy]

No.

I find it a bit more fun to build an unsorted set, its a bit more of a time-waster to search for the right part.

For example, when I got the Medieval Market set, I opened each bag and dumped them all back in the box, shook it up like a martini, spilled it on the table and began building.

Took me two afternoons but I finished the set.

[CP5670]

I sort most sets unless they are small. It saves a lot of hassle while building the set. Here is an example:

Life's too short to sort! default_tong.gif Part of the joy for me is rummaging through a pile, looking for that elusive piece. Frankly if I pay $100 on a set, or whatever, I like to enjoy the whole experience, not 'speed-build' it. Otherwise it's like buying an expensive video game and skipping through it using the cheat codes.

I see it more like buying a game and then spending a hour finding patches and driver updates for it. I'm paying for the building, not the part searching.

[The Cobra]

Life's too short to sort! Part of the joy for me is rummaging through a pile, looking for that elusive piece. Frankly if I pay $100 on a set, or whatever, I like to enjoy the whole experience, not 'speed-build' it. Otherwise it's like buying an expensive video game and skipping through it using the cheat codes.

I totally agree! The larger set I've built so far was 7094 King's castle siege, and it wouldn't have been the same if I sorted pieces or just built bag by bag. I ony sort pieces to take pics for reviews, then mix everything again.

[Delmar]

i have a bunch of plastic containers so i usually put one polybag in each. No need for sorting since they are usuallly sorted pretty well to start with.

[Siegfried]

I see it more like buying a game and then spending a hour finding patches and driver updates for it. I'm paying for the building, not the part searching.

I feel the same. I have no interest in making it harder to find the piece I want; I have enough problems there when I drop them!

[Dragonator]

I don't sort, but I keep the pieces from each bag in their own piles. Then, I just get a feel for what's where as I build.

This is how I build most of the time too. I built the Millenium Falcon without sorting the pieces. It wasn't actually that hard, because you very quickly learn where most of the pieces are anyway, particularly in sets with bulk in certain parts. Despite the frustrations of occasionally searching for one piece for over 10 minutes, it works fairly well for me.

[ILikePi]

When it's my first time building a set, I just dump each bag in a separate pile. When I rebuild an old set, I sort by color, but usually I find that sorting by color makes it even harder to find a part, since the parts around the one you're looking for are the same color.

Edited July 16, 2009 by ILikePi

[Peppermint_M]

When I make a set I don't often sort the parts, unless I have had trouble finding the smaller parts while building it. If I start taking to long to find parts, I'll sweep parts into similar piles, but often times the numbered bags are easy to find parts trough anyway.

[Yloquen]

Depends on the set but almost always - no. The only one I sorted was the Batcave, because it was 1000+ parts in unnumbered bags.

[Perterz]

This is to avoid scratching and also because I went through a stage of finding white bricks which seemed to have been permanently marked by contact with black and so on.

I have my white plates in the same bin as my black plates at this moment, I don't see what you mean with permanent marks? At first sight there's nothing wrong with neither the white or black. Is it really not good to put black and white together?

Anyway when I build a set without numbered bags, I just clash them all together and start building. Sets with numebered bag are just build bag per bag as in the instructions, I don't sort these bags.

When I started on the MMV I was surprised not to have numbered bags so I thougt what the hell and opened each bag and let all pieces flow over my desk. It took me a while to build the MMV due to so many great small parts all over the place!

I recommend sorting very large sets or sets with a huge amount of small bricks while building.

As for the poll, no, I basically doin't sort out my sets.

[PocasNuckie]

NO sorting. Really, i've never done it, and will never do it.

Spending a few minutes (and sometimes going into real madness) trying to find that piece you need, is part of the fun (for me it is "the" fun) and therefore shall always be a not skipable part of building any LEGO set.

Cheers

[legoleo]

Nope, i just cut the bags open and dump them out

[UserNameInvalid]

I do sort of sort.

Plate pile, brick pile, wheel and tire pile, etc. Then small stuff, minifig stuff, etc.

Sometimes I sort to the extreme. Not for fast building.

I do it cause I don't find the "where is it...WTF.... where is it?!...just my luck to have an incomplete set...oh never mind, found it..."-experience very relaxing or enjoyable.

[prateek]

Well said!

Anyway, I don't get many "large" sets, and I don't even bother sorting them because eventually they'll all be on the set anyway, so no, I don't sort my sets.

Same here

[alex12]

I think part of the fun ( and sometimes frustration ) is to dump all the bags , numbered or not , onto the table and go from there.

This does backfire every now and then with the more piecey sets.

I feel cheated if its too easy with the numbered bags but for kids its a really good idea.

[salty tbone]

NO sorting. Really, i've never done it, and will never do it.

Spending a few minutes (and sometimes going into real madness) trying to find that piece you need, is part of the fun (for me it is "the" fun) and therefore shall always be a not skipable part of building any LEGO set.

Cheers

If you haven't already gotten it already, I recommend the 10188 Death Star. You'll have LOTS of fun building that set without sorting.

Seriously, though, I understand the hunt is part of the fun, but I have resulted to sorting some of the bigger, more chaotic sets (Medieval Market and Death Star). Otherwise, I just empty the bags and shuffle, and maybe set aside tires or other big pieces so that they don't get in the way.