What 36,000 Pieces Looks Like

Bricksidge · Post by **Bricksidge** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 9:38 pm

Over at Classic-Space, there was a discussion about collection size and buying habits and whatnot, and Roy Cook asked everyone to estimate how much LEGO they have. Many had trouble giving a guess.

Luckily, I know how many pieces I have, plus or minus a thousand or so. Even more luckily, I just finished fully sorting everything. Post-Brickfest Purge, you know...

So then, posted to give people an idea of how much is 36,000 so that they may more accurately size up their own stuff, this is Everything:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevoh/sets ... 275317501/

About 3/4th of it was bought full price from LEGO S&H. I estimate that I've bought 800 pieces from Bricklink.

JPinoy · Post by **JPinoy** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 10:02 pm

Would've been more "whoa" if it was in MOC form, or if it was 36,000 minifigs and not parts.

But thats a nice collection anyways.

nazgul · Post by **nazgul** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 10:10 pm

Hmmph, showoff :evil: . Sorry about that, but I felt a sharp stab of envy to see all of your pieces and the fact that they're sorted(I'm still only about 1/8th done sorting mine wich is only about 4,000 peices). Still, wow, very nice.

Once again, sorry about the snide remark,
-nazgul

Post by **JoshWedin** » Sat Sep 09, 2006 12:20 am

Great pic! I am one of those people who can't estimate the size of their collection, so this pic is big help to me. Now I would guesstimate my collection to be about 50,000 pieces. Mine takes up more room that but not much. A couple of questions, how did you figure out the size of your collection? Did you actually count the pieces or use something like Lugnet's set list?

JPinoy wrote:Would've been more "whoa" if it was in MOC form, or if it was 36,000 minifigs and not parts.
But thats a nice collection anyways.

You almost completely missed the point of this thread...sure, its a little bit of brag thread, but the main point is the issue he pointed out. Namely, being able to estimate the size of your collection. And as far as brag threads go...I like them and you have never been adverse to showing off pics of your figs every time someone mentions large armies. The object of a brag thread is to show what you have, not to be criticized for what you don't.

Josh

smcginnis · Post by **smcginnis** » Sat Sep 09, 2006 12:36 am

Wow, great collection. Judging from the size of yours... I'd say I had a lot less.

Maybe about, oh, I dunno, two to five thousand? Could be less, not sure. I've barely begun sorting my collection, which I eventually plan to have done by color and shape. I'd need a lot more pieces to make that worthwhile. Anyway, nice job of sorting, and again, great collection.

~smcginnis

J1A3L5 · Post by **J1A3L5** » Sat Sep 09, 2006 12:41 am

Hi,

For everyone who isn't a LUGNET member (no access to their setlist function) or doesn't keep a database of their pieces (a cumbersome way, in my opinion) Peeron lets you make a free account, and track your pieces. The interface can be somewhat clumsy to get around at times, but it gives you more information about your collection than LUGNET, and lets you add individual pieces. Ontop of that, if you're already a LUGNET member and keep a setlist there, you can link the two sites so Peeron updates at the same time.

Have fun tracking (and bragging) about your collection,
-John L.

Ps - I'm jealous of your clear brick stash, Kevin...

Bricksidge · Post by **Bricksidge** » Sat Sep 09, 2006 12:42 am

JoshWedin wrote:A couple of questions, how did you figure out the size of your collection? Did you actually count the pieces or use something like Lugnet's set list?

I have a very accurate Lugnet set list (I'd say 100%, but I'm sure I'm missing some little thing or another) and then I came up with an average part-per-Bricklink purchase to figure out how much more to add. The mystery part is the 8 PaB cups. I guessed 1000 in total (125 pieces in each, which is likely on the low end for flowers and plates and 1x2 bricks)

I have the advantage that the majority of my LEGO is from sets, not Bricklink or auctions or garage sales. Makes it a whole lot easier to add it all up.

JoshWedin wrote:
JPinoy wrote:Would've been more "whoa" if it was in MOC form, or if it was 36,000 minifigs and not parts.
You almost completely missed the point of this thread...sure, its a little bit of brag thread, but the main point is the issue he pointed out. Namely, being able to estimate the size of your collection. And as far as brag threads go...I like them and you have never been adverse to showing off pics of your figs every time someone mentions large armies.

Ooohh burn! Josh Wedin with the smack-down!

Regarding "bragging" this was not intended to be. Indeed, according to the statistics calculated on Classic-Space, the average 19-year-old AFOL should have 62,000 pieces, almost twice what I have!

Also, people often ask questions about how others sort, so now I have a handy way to say "I sort exactly like this!"

Bricksidge · Post by **Bricksidge** » Sat Sep 09, 2006 12:46 am

J1A3L5 wrote: Peeron lets you make a free account, and track your pieces. The interface can be somewhat clumsy to get around at times, but it gives you more information about your collection than LUGNET, and lets you add individual pieces. Ontop of that, if you're already a LUGNET member and keep a setlist there, you can link the two sites so Peeron updates at the same time.

What would really be nifty is if one could link in Bricklink, so that BL purchases would be automatically added to your Peeron account. Then I might be able to get a 100% accurate, to the piece count!

Post by **Bruce N H** » Sat Sep 09, 2006 2:11 am

Hmm, I've done so much of my buying from Bricklink that I could never guestimate the actual number of bricks without doing a very painful count. Perhaps a better way of comparing collection sizes would be to use weights. I could easily weigh my bins.

Bruce

Lord_Of_The_LEGO · Post by **Lord_Of_The_LEGO** » Sat Sep 09, 2006 3:11 am

I prefer the counting one-by-one technique...

kelderic · Post by **kelderic** » Sat Sep 09, 2006 3:27 am

Judgin by your collection, I'd say I have a bit less. Mine is in several buckets, though, and completele unsorted.

Kelderic

JPinoy · Post by **JPinoy** » Sat Sep 09, 2006 3:28 am

JoshWedin wrote:
JPinoy wrote:Would've been more "whoa" if it was in MOC form, or if it was 36,000 minifigs and not parts.
But thats a nice collection anyways.
You almost completely missed the point of this thread...sure, its a little bit of brag thread, but the main point is the issue he pointed out. Namely, being able to estimate the size of your collection. And as far as brag threads go...I like them and you have never been adverse to showing off pics of your figs every time someone mentions large armies. The object of a brag thread is to show what you have, not to be criticized for what you don't.

Josh

And putting up big numbers, big mocs, or whatever else in a brag thread is in and of itself I way of saying "look what you don't have"....

Don't you ever notice how others seem to feel a bit "humbled", a bit "envious", as well as in "awe" of those with large MOCs, armies, and collections? It's psychological....

Not to mention that the posts of whatever we show off, whether its armies, MOCs, or whatever, generally carries with it these things called "Opinions". Pardon me for expressing mines, but I tend to say whats on my mind rather than trying to put sugar into every post, comment, or verbal statement I make.

What was my opinion if you did not see it? That I feel that parts are better assembled into MOCs, or into armies.... Yes, it's good accounting (keeping tabs on your collection size)... I *DID* say that he has a nice collection, didn't I?

If you want a parts count for my collection, I have about 28,000 give or take a few hundred... (I print out my BL purchases of which I've conducted about 310, for record purposes... and this does not include the non-BrickLink Lego shopping) and not including minifig parts like legs, arms, hands, heads, and etc.

HenrytheV · Post by **HenrytheV** » Sat Sep 09, 2006 4:06 am

I'd say I have about equal with you Bricksidge, maybe a little less. I need to reorganize though, I just bought a couple more yard sale lots.

Anyways, I don't see how you guys can afford to buy sorting cases and more Lego. I just can't break down and buy just plastic cases. Maybe Lego will make some sorting boxes with little drawers soon.

Bricksidge · Post by **Bricksidge** » Sat Sep 09, 2006 4:40 am

HenrytheV wrote: Anyways, I don't see how you guys can afford to buy sorting cases and more Lego. I just can't break down and buy just plastic cases. Maybe Lego will make some sorting boxes with little drawers soon.

Always look for sales. The shoebox sized bins will go on sale at some place or another all the time, especially after Christmas.

I just picked up 10 bins for 10 dollars. Dollar a bin.

J1A3L5 · Post by **J1A3L5** » Sat Sep 09, 2006 5:06 am

Bricksidge wrote:
J1A3L5 wrote: Peeron lets you make a free account, and track your pieces. The interface can be somewhat clumsy to get around at times, but it gives you more information about your collection than LUGNET, and lets you add individual pieces. Ontop of that, if you're already a LUGNET member and keep a setlist there, you can link the two sites so Peeron updates at the same time.
What would really be nifty is if one could link in Bricklink, so that BL purchases would be automatically added to your Peeron account. Then I might be able to get a 100% accurate, to the piece count!

Hmm, that would be even more useful. Unfortunately, unlike you, I don't know exactly where my collection rates since I've bought various unsorted bins (I counted one piece-by-piece from a friend at just over 6000 pieces, which was quite extraordinary) from places, and have several bricklink orders made before I was intent on keeping track of them. After a length of time (6 months?) the orders get cleared out of the system, so those ones remain a mystery to some extent. I also have a box I'd forgotten about until a few days ago, which is what I'd estimate to be 3000 pieces.

I'd also like it if Brickset could link to LUGNET & Peeron, but I don't think that functionality is added yet. I find LUGNET to be the easiest to pull up sets in, and loads much more quickly. Each other site just has functions which are more useful, and show different bits of information...

-John.

Edit:

HenrytheV wrote:Anyways, I don't see how you guys can afford to buy sorting cases and more Lego. I just can't break down and buy just plastic cases. Maybe Lego will make some sorting boxes with little drawers soon.

For plain bricks I use official LEGO tubs & buckets mainly. For finer sorting, there's a store in Canada & the US (That I know of) called "Michaels" that sells craft supplies. They sell containers intended for beads or thread for $2CAD. The spaces inside are small, but perfect for fine sorting. For example, I have most of my minifigure accessories, 1x1 plates and tiles, and many other small or rarish pieces in them. Fairly cheap for what you get. Pick-A-Brick Cups come in both small and large sizes, and also make great LEGO-styled containers. It's only necessary to sort the pieces you use...I have two large bins of what I describe as "useless" pieces, such as castle wall sections, spaceship pieces, car bases, premold pieces, etc. This makes sorting a much less daunting task, especially at the beginning.