If you don't know about craigslist.org, you should go check it out. It has become the place to post your wanted/ for sale ads. It is a great place to find deals on anything, but since this is a Lego blog, we'll talk about the Lego part of it.
Every now and then you come across great finds. Lego popularity will not die down anytime soon and the majority of people posting ads know this. However, a small portion don't know the value of their Lego. Example, I just bought 40 pounds of Lego, 15 baseplates, 15-ish manuals, 100 + minifigs and more for just $120 from a seller on craigslist. Average value for that lot on eBay is around $350 - 400. I will go more into craigslist and eBay in a later post, for now I want show how I go about sorting a large lot of Lego.
Basic methods of sorting Lego usually include, color, type, size, and quality. Anyone can sort the way they want to and as much as they want to. The way I sort works for me and is not necessarily the only way to go.
When dealing with a large quantity of elements, I like to break down the lot into the smallest number of groups possible. I don't want to get overwhelmed right away be sorting the pile into types, (plates, bricks, tiles ...) and have 50 different piles going on. Color is the first sort that I do. You can easily sort a large pile down into 6-8 piles. Here's a picture of the lot that I just got.
This is all ready sorted out a little bit. I have the bulk of the pile poured out on a blanket, (for easy cleanup) manuals off to the side and have picked out the large pieces ( from a plane). As I said before, I don't want to be overwhelmed by sorting out all the different types of pieces in there. I want to start smaller. Sorting color is probably the fastest way to break up a lot this size. Red, yellow, blue, white, black, gray, clear and wheels are the main groups I sort to first. Through the years Lego has introduced new colors. So my color groups have grown to include "like" colors. For instance, yellow also includes green and lime colors. Here's what my pile looks like now.
As I sort through, I also keep a look out for any piece that seems "special". Pieces like 9v battery boxes, large canopies, or any element that doesn't look like Lego but is. These usually lead to build an interesting set that I may want to keep together. Also during this first sort, I try and find any non-Lego parts. The world would be a better place if the "Mega Blocks" were gone. Any non-Lego elements find themselves in the trash. So once the first sort is done, I go on to sort by type. That will be next, stay tuned.
The other part of my storage are these white boxes. These are sold by Ikea and are meant to store CD's. I found they are perfect for any size Lego set. They won't be able to hold any base plates though. Ikea used to sell a wider and shorter box but have discontinued them. The shorter box fit any size base plate and had plenty of room for the rest of the set. Anyways the current model is W 6 ¼" x D 10 ¼"x H 6". Being from Ikea you need to put them together which can take some time if you have 20 or more. The display tag works great for the set name or set number or both. One downside to these is that after you build them the bottom corners naturally have a hole, which can be bad for those pesky 1 x 1 round plates. My solution are 1" round mailing stickers from any office supply store. Just push those into the corners on the inside of the box and you have a fully sealed Lego box. The best part, 2 for $7.
As I sort through, I also keep a look out for any piece that seems "special". Pieces like 9v battery boxes, large canopies, or any element that doesn't look like Lego but is. These usually lead to build an interesting set that I may want to keep together. Also during this first sort, I try and find any non-Lego parts. The world would be a better place if the "Mega Blocks" were gone. Any non-Lego elements find themselves in the trash. So once the first sort is done, I go on to sort by type. That will be next, stay tuned.
picture courtesy of peeron
