cloud_weaver Posted April 10, 2014 Share Posted April 10, 2014 Hi! I'm a mom of three small boys, soon to be four and all of my kids love Legos! I've really been struggling with how to sort the Legos into their sets so that they can pull out the boxes one at a time and build from the booklets without having to dig through a huge tub to find the small pieces. I finally solved my problem! I got this box at Michaels and it works perfectly for sorting the small sets. And the boys actually keep them separate too. We still have a box of regular bricks so they can build creatively, but I love this as my kids will sit and build one set from the instruction booklets. The case was originally $40, but this week it's on sale for $20. Now, any tips on how you sort the bigger sets? We have only dived into the small $10-$15 sets so far, but I don't have any thoughts on the larger sets and how to keep them divided for easy building. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vincevaughn Posted April 10, 2014 Share Posted April 10, 2014 I like the way you did that...looks very clean and great for your application! not sure on bigger sets...maybe big ziplocks in the original boxes? Most of us display our collections and the used sets waiting to be sold go in ziplocks with a 3x5 notecard with set number, inventory and notes etc etc. then stored in a plastic bin as I try to keep costs down. Anyway welcome to brickpicker and thanks for contributing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
@rtisan Posted April 10, 2014 Share Posted April 10, 2014 First off, welcome to Brickpicker! In regard to these containers, they look great! Very practical and they appear to work really well for what you are doing. Really good idea, seriously! For larger sets I`d probably suggest larger plastic containers. Yes they can be expensive, but I`m certain I`ve seen cheaper ones (would have to think about where) that have snap on lids. Only a few dollars each, not $8-10+. The main reason for this is because as you`e already figured out I`m sure, they are clean and tidy. Ziploc bags can work if you have the right system (for example bags into 1 larger plastic container) but you would likely have to store instructions separately to avoid wrinkles. If you can find a line of containers like these that are bigger, that would be my best suggestion, nice and tidy and very easy to store well. Keep up the fantastic work mom! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzy_bricks Posted April 10, 2014 Share Posted April 10, 2014 We use these, or something very similar. http://www.sterilite.com/SelectProduct.html?id=472&ProductCategory=250§ion=1 There are several sizes and they stack nicely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seapotato Posted April 10, 2014 Share Posted April 10, 2014 There are plastic shoe boxes that go on sale for $1 each that would fit a large set very well. Not sure about the intructions though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
segreto Posted April 10, 2014 Share Posted April 10, 2014 Very cool idea. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest brickcrazyhouse Posted April 10, 2014 Share Posted April 10, 2014 for the bigger sets you could divide each book into a container. the modulars should fit. each floor per container. I'm cheap, I use ziplocks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheOrcKing Posted April 10, 2014 Share Posted April 10, 2014 We use these, or something very similar.http://www.sterilite.com/SelectProduct.html?id=472&ProductCategory=250§ion=1 There are several sizes and they stack nicely.I do like using Sterilite for storing just about everything really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sahminnj Posted April 10, 2014 Share Posted April 10, 2014 I love this. I never saw that before. I am a mom too:) but I am definitely the bigger addict in our house:) I use the sterilite containers or ziplock for my daughters sets. Most of mine are on display except I swap out monster fighter and winter village for their respective seasons. My son is harder on his sets and everything constantly gets broken apart and mixed together. My OCD hates it but it really is the point of Legos, to be played with so what can you do:) I am definitely going to go to michael's and check that case out. Thanks for the tip! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
binici Posted April 10, 2014 Share Posted April 10, 2014 That's pretty awesome. I once was messy and disorganized as a young lad. My mom would always tell me to be more organized and careful, even to this day! Sent from my iPhone using Brickpicker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cloud_weaver Posted April 10, 2014 Author Share Posted April 10, 2014 Thank you all for the great organizing tips! I'm really thinking about the zip locks as a temporary solution, but my kiddles are a bit hard on bags (as well as booklets!) so I don't think they'll last all that long. I love the sterilite cases, I might have to look into that. Though I am hoping to find something a little more compact as we don't have tons of space for storage. One more question - what is the best way to "preserve" the booklets? My kids riffle through the pages all day long and they look a bit worse for wear. Also, is there a place on the internet to print out copies of what may get destroyed eventually? Or should I just start scanning in page by page before I give them their booklets? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnorlund Posted April 11, 2014 Share Posted April 11, 2014 Thank you all for the great organizing tips! I'm really thinking about the zip locks as a temporary solution, but my kiddles are a bit hard on bags (as well as booklets!) so I don't think they'll last all that long. I love the sterilite cases, I might have to look into that. Though I am hoping to find something a little more compact as we don't have tons of space for storage. One more question - what is the best way to "preserve" the booklets? My kids riffle through the pages all day long and they look a bit worse for wear. Also, is there a place on the internet to print out copies of what may get destroyed eventually? Or should I just start scanning in page by page before I give them their booklets? It might be more time saving to get a super cheapie Andriod tablet and use Brickpicker's scanned manuals whenever one goes missing. Works for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seapotato Posted April 12, 2014 Share Posted April 12, 2014 I belive there is a section on lego.com that has the instructions uploaded. Thank you all for the great organizing tips! I'm really thinking about the zip locks as a temporary solution, but my kiddles are a bit hard on bags (as well as booklets!) so I don't think they'll last all that long. I love the sterilite cases, I might have to look into that. Though I am hoping to find something a little more compact as we don't have tons of space for storage. One more question - what is the best way to "preserve" the booklets? My kids riffle through the pages all day long and they look a bit worse for wear. Also, is there a place on the internet to print out copies of what may get destroyed eventually? Or should I just start scanning in page by page before I give them their booklets? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comicblast Posted April 12, 2014 Share Posted April 12, 2014 A few sites that have free instructions: Official LEGO Website - has most of the more recent sets Brick Instructions.com - they have a nice browsing function, but I don't really know about the depth of their database Let's Build It Again - a decent amount of older manuals World Bricks.com - Probably one of the more sophisticated sites, fairly similar to Brickset BrickOwl - a recent startup that has mainly newer manuals BrickSet - Same as the Offial LEGO Database, but might be easier to browse and find sets BrickPicker - Haven't really explored this unfortunately, but I am assuming it has a large number of sets, given the huge database You probably should get your instructions if you just type something along the lines of "lego <set number> instructions manual" into Google. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.