With LEGO set instructions coming in many different sizes, I find it somewhat suboptimal to just stack them on top of each other in a box, so I am hoping that some of you have found great ways to store and organize your instructions, and would like to share.

How do you store your instructions?

So I stow them in folders arranged by topic. very effective!

I have a giant 3 ring binder and I have full page size clear paper protector things, and I put one instruction booklet per sleave. I will be moving to a filing cabinet soon.

Used to keep them loose in a collection of plastic bins. They'd get torn to shreds a lot of the time, and it was hard to find the ones I needed.

Now my siblings and I have them in a rack of file folders, sorted by theme. Of course, now we have no place to put the folders...

I have a giant 3 ring binder and I have full page size clear paper protector things, and I put one instruction booklet per sleave.

This is exact thing I use as well, but for smaller instructions I can fit multiple per sleeve. The only problem is very large instructions may stick out/have to be folded/stored somewhere else. And obviously thicker instruction books will fit tight in the protector pages.

In drawers, un-organised with some other LEGO leaflets thrown in, with older ones in zip-lock bags.

Gosh, I really need to organise them.

With LEGO set instructions coming in many different sizes, I find it somewhat suboptimal to just stack them on top of each other in a box, so I am hoping that some of you have found great ways to store and organize your instructions, and would like to share.

How do you store your instructions?

I currently store them in 'flip-top' LEGO set boxes, loosely by theme. Example: a City box has my City instructions, Wild West, as well as Creator and any 'oddball' sets that I picked up...a Castle box has all of my various 'Castle'-type sets...a Pirate box has all my pirates...another Castle box has all my 'licenced' instructions, etc., etc.

Have to move to a better system though...it's getting crowded. LOL

Stacy and I put ours in plastic hanging file-folder totes and each set has its own folder. They keep the instructions very nice and safe.

-Davey

Nice topic,

I lost all my childhood instructions because I did put them in the same box as my Lego.

They are all torn apart and ended up in a trash can. I regret this until this day.....

SO

From 2005 until now I keep them in a 'showmap'. I want to keep them in a good condition.

Store your instructions as well as your LEGO.

Fenrir.

I have them organised by theme in a folder/box.

I lost all my childhood instructions because I did put them in the same box as my Lego.

They are all torn apart and ended up in a trash can. I regret this until this day.....

SO

From 2005 until now I keep them in a 'showmap'. I want to keep them in a good condition.

Store your instructions as well as your LEGO.

Indeed, I also remember torn and otherwise worn out instructions from my childhood. Exactly what I want to avoid repeating.

Is a "showmap" similar to a clear plastic sleave?

I have a giant 3 ring binder and I have full page size clear paper protector things, and I put one instruction booklet per sleave. I will be moving to a filing cabinet soon.

File folders or binders seem like the easiest way to go, but I really like the idea of an entire filing cabinet for instructions. It'd be like a vault of sacred manuscripts

By the way, does anyone know if LEGO instructions really come in all different sizes (like it seems to me), or do they stick to a few select formats?

Indeed, I also remember torn and otherwise worn out instructions from my childhood. Exactly what I want to avoid repeating.

Is a "showmap" similar to a clear plastic sleave?

File folders or binders seem like the easiest way to go, but I really like the idea of an entire filing cabinet for instructions. It'd be like a vault of sacred manuscripts

By the way, does anyone know if LEGO instructions really come in all different sizes (like it seems to me), or do they stick to a few select formats?

There are definitely select formats, although I'm not sure how many. In BIONICLE sets it's most obvious (IMO) because the sets are structured in "tiers" of sorts-- small sets; canister sets; large sets. And even then there's variation in the size of instructions-- there are square instructions somewhere between 8 and 9 inches for some large sets, while for others it's closer to 8.5x11 inches.

I ought to sometime go through my instructions to take exact measurements of the sizes. From what I've seen they're pretty standardized.

I have some in an expanding folder.. others in some Magazine-style racks.. and the rest just stacked in a pile on a bookshelf.

When I was younger, my mother used to laminate (contact adhesive paper) all the instructions, so they wouldn't tear.

She also used to cut out the pictures from the boxes, and then stick them to the sides of plastic Ice-Cream containers (and use contact to cover them), that I used to store my Lego in, when I had such a small collection

sigh.. I sometimes miss the time when all the Lego that kept me happy for years fitted into a small childrens suitcase... nice and handy to take away on trips to play with....

...glances at the 10 x 35litre tubs of ABS bits behind me ... now it'd barely fit in the back of my car!!

RB

I'm really inconsistent with these...

Sometimes, I keep the instructions in the box, or I just randomly find them after a few years.

I keep my instructions in the original set box. It takes a lot of room, but it keeps m nice and almost new :)

I keep them in a cardboard shipping box, arranged like in a file cabinet according to the theme and set number. The box is nearly full now and must weigh around 50 pounds, so I'll probably have to get a second one soon. Modern sets tend to have very big instructions, much bigger than they did in the 80s and 90s, so the box has filled up quickly in recent years.

i've used A4 ringbinders since before my dark ages, but i think i'm gonna advance to A3 :)

many of the instructions for the big technic-models are bigger than A4, so it's a bit crappy.

or maybe i should get a A3 filecabinet or something like that...

I keep them in a box. It's almost full but I already have a replacement lined up: A bigger box. I don't think I have enough to require a filing system yet but given my OCD for filing stuff, that's inevitable.

I kept mine in an old big Lego box. My instructions from 1980s are still pristine.

I use a 3-drawer filing cabinet and use hanging file folders, sorted by theme. With hundreds and hundreds of instruction books, it definitely fills up the drawers! Still, it's organized enough to make it very easy to find what I'm looking for.

I use a 3-drawer filing cabinet and use hanging file folders, sorted by theme. With hundreds and hundreds of instruction books, it definitely fills up the drawers! Still, it's organized enough to make it very easy to find what I'm looking for.

just what i was thinking, although i only have around 50 instructions, but i hope more will come :)

Edited July 21, 201014 yr by mortenm

I put my instructions in folders. I usually put each instruction into a transparent envelope before they go into a folder. One big folder is already full. About two thirds of a second big folder are full. I also have a small folder for smaller instructions (Santa Fe engine and waggons, for example), but it's also already full. I also have instructions of older sets. I used to punch-hole them when I was a child, but now I don't do it any more. Punch-holed instructions are also in my folders.

Edited July 22, 201014 yr by legotrainfan

I divide my instructions into clear files. I have two licensed clear files which houses my Star Wars, Toy Story, NBA and Indy set instructions. One clear file for City instructions and another for random set instructions from when I was a kid. It works really well and its a good way to keep them pristine and dust free.

I keep all my instructions in 3 ring binders. The clear sleeves work perfectly for large manuals, and I've found out that picture album refills work perfectly for smaller ones The same 4x6 photo sheets are used in these photos for 3 different sized manuals:

The only manuals I have a hard time with are the square manuals from some sets.

For extras, they are stored in an Rubbermaid clear container.

Also for my sticker sheets (I haven't applied stickers to a set in years!) I have them all on their original sheets in a picture album as well (the albums with the pull back sheets). Keeps them nice and clean and uncreased.

Great Topic btw.

I keep my instructions in a cupboard stacked on top of each other and arranged by size, but only the big ones. The small ones I keep in a box in a a different cupboard together with some of the boxes that I have. This system uses very little space but it is quite hard to get the instructions from the bottom of the stack.