Sorting…. 

We all know that sorting Lego bricks is the only reason we are in this hobby. Sure you can buy sets and put them together, but then what? Take them apart and sort them. Now some of you might take the set apart carefully, rebag it and include the instructions so you can rebuild it later. Us true believers, take it apart haphazardly and dump all the parts into a large plastic tub to be sorted later. To you true lego enthusiasts I salute you.

From here we will assume all your parts are in one plastic box, and we now decide how to sort.

1. Sort by Color

This is the most common method of sorting. It comes with its own problems but in general it is a great way to get a clear idea of what is available.

If you are a no nonsense collector then you stick to the classic 7 colors. Gray, White, Red, Blue, Yellow, Black and Green. Every shade of these seven get mixed together. So when you need a Lime colored part, you go to your Green box. Also you only need 7 (maybe 8 for the miscellaneous colors) sorting containers. 

When you decide to sort you put your seven (eight) containers in a semi circle on your table and every part goes into one of those boxes, and your done., This gives you a great advantage when you want to spontaneously build a garden. You go to your green box and all your vegetation is on one spot. One of the limitations is going through 20 pounds of blocks looking for 10 parts. 

2. Sort by Color and Type

This is a slightly more advanced system. You start with your basic seven (eight) boxes and sort in greater detail. Now we pull our Red Box out that we sorted earlier. Now we divide them into Plates, Blocks, Slopes, and Other. So inside the Red Box are four smaller boxes. Now if we need a specific part we can look in a smaller collection for that part. This gives us the advantage of finding our parts faster, but we are touching every part twice.

 

From this subdivision we can infinitely continue to divide our sorting. Plates can be divided into Modified Plates, Technic Plates, Wedges, and even greater division if you work down to the part size. 1×1 Plate, 1×2 Plate, 1×4 Plate and so on. This will decrease the time it takes to find a part, but you could be touching one part three or four times to get it subdivided by color. It will also increase the number of sorting boxes you might have.

3. Sort by Type

Another classic method of sorting is by type and ignores the color. Some argue that it is easier to find a Red 1×1 Plate in a sea of other plates in different colors, than finding the same part in a box of Red parts. 

Bricklink Store Merchants will argue this is the best way to find parts, but Builders will argue it’s easier to build the garden if all of your green pieces are together.

4. Storage Containers

How do you store your bricks? If we have 7 (8) basic color boxes then you can purchase tubs with lids and you’re done. If you have 5 basic sizes then you might have 5 tubs. Once you start to subdivide the parts is when it gets tricky. 

My original goal was to spend less on the packaging of my bricks than I did with my actual bricks. I didn’t want to have $500 in Lego and then have $500 in plastic boxes. Which hobby was it? Collecting Lego toys or collecting plastic tubs to fill with Lego toys? I wanted it cheap, spoiler alert it’s not cheap.

My first try was at repurposing containers that were once filled with other products. Plastic containers filled with snack nuts, cutting the tops off former juice containers, and repurposing ziploc bags that aren’t nasty from lunches. This worked like a champ for a bit. 

Then came the problem on how to store all these odd sized containers. Some did not stack nice, others did not have lids, and others had labels that weren’t clear to see through.

Next, I moved to Bento Boxes. These are subdivided trays that are meant to keep the cool side cool and the warm side warm for my lunch. Or to insure my peas and mash potatoes never touch. I could buy 10 or more of these for a reasonable price. In the end I bought 100, This meant I could subdivide my parts into 300 sets. The problem was with the size of each department. If my parts were small, then the Bento Boxes worked fine, if I had a sizable quantity then I had to use multiple boxes and reduce my organization. 

I looked at tool boxes. I had a few already, they were holding tools. So I tried. I liked the stackability, the size of each compartment, and number of compartments. I did not like the price. 

Next I looked for cheaper versions, and found Sterlite at Target. $5, lots of room and variety of storage. I bought 10, when I went back for more they were sold out. Online they sell for $15 if you can find them, so I needed another option.

 

Next I moved onto Ziploc bags. I liked the price and size. Each part could be put in a separate bag, and sub-divided by color by putting smaller bags in larger bags (if I was inclined). I went all in. After a thousand bags, not exaggerating, I learned that combing through Ziplocs to find the part was only half as bad as if they weren’t sorted, so I numbered the bags and divided the bags into tubs. So I had all my plates in ziplocs in one tub, and all my blocks subdivided into tubs in another tub. This worked for a long time.

 

These days I have broken down and bought the Bricklink recommended Akro storage bins. I lucked out and got a good deal on them used, and a lot of them at one time. I now see the wisdom I was ignoring previously. Each one is of significant size to hold a decent amount of parts, and if I have more parts than space I just use 2 bins.

6. How do you find your parts?

Once everything is subdivided how do you locate which part you want? I created a list. On this list I have the part name and which bag it’s in. If I need a Red 1×1 Plate I look on the list and find that it’s in Ziploc 404. This made a big list. So I put it on excel. Then I can add multiple variables like color, quantity and item number. Well this is a lot of data entering so my hobby isn’t Lego collecting, or collecting boxes to hold lego it’s now Lego data entry. To avoid the data entry you can sort your lego on a few different web sites already created for this purpose, like Rebrickable, Bricklink, and Brickowl. 

Rebrickable is my favorite for giving me alternative build options for the sets I have bought. Bricklink is the best at finding your current market value, and if you want to try your hand at selling. Brickowl is great at tracking Minifigs, which the other two do, but not in as much detail. Each one creates/uses an excel file that can be used to move between the three. 

With all three of these you suffer one flaw, the internet. If the server stops talking to you, then you have to re enter data. If the upload is flawed you have to re enter data. If your file becomes corrupted, you guessed it, you re enter data. There is another option, Brickstore, https://www.brickstore.dev/ . It’s a free program uploaded to your computer. It looks like the others and creates an excel file the others can use, but since it is on your computer you don’t need to wrestle with the internet. 

Now I sort blocks, bag them, tag them with a number then enter the “element id” into Brickstore, I tell it which location and then put the item in that location. It takes a little bit of learning to make all the steps work for you, but after a while it becomes easier.

So there you have it, my favorite hobby. Sorting Lego.