When is to much, to much

[Lcuan82]

My sign of "too much" - when my back starts hurting from sorting + organizing my collection, then I know I have too much.

Or that I am just getting too old (27!!), haha.

[melonkernel]

Hmm. Good question. At the moment I can't imagining having too much. But i got out of my dark ages only a year ago with only a childrens airplane consisting of 10 pieces i got on an airplane to start with. Lyckily others do get into their dark ages and sell their collection on the interent .
Currently i want to have twelve dwarves (I have 10) in order to allow Bilbo to go on an adventure with Gandalf. After that there will be new sets, and i will find a thing i would like to "achieve" that would require several of the newest and coolest sets. And then some coloring change and you suddenly get gold helmets that you need to build an army with, or there would come new factions. etc...
The motivation for getting more and more are also that the sets will eventually disappear in the future, and this is the only chance to get this and that ...

[Heir of Black Falcon]

Well if 27 is old then some of us are in big trouble!

I have thought about this lately as well. I never have been in to having to own every set per year but think less multiple copies of single sets might be in my future. I have a decent collection for what I need. Since one of my main reasons for getting back into it was something to do with my son, that was quiet and non destructive, I think I have enough. As he gets older I will buy less and him more (or us more for him). I

n the end I think it can get out of hand as anything can. I know people who have lost jobs or blown their educations from playing to much WOW!!! If your lego habits control you it might be time to get back in charge.

Heir[/i]

[Count Blacktron]

Time and space are a direct relation to what is too much. If you have the space, then fill it. If you have the time then use it wisely. Having enough Brick to follow the directions of your creative interests is important, but having too much is that storage tub of Znap I still can't figure out a good use for.

[Munchy]

42

Cute. Don't forget your towel.

Or that I am just getting too old (27!!), haha.

Boy am I in trouble if this is the new "old".

[The Crusader]

I am 28 myself....started building the medievel Market Village last night. Like how we get normal folks for that set that can be used as neutrals to all my factions.

I thin i need to do an inventory...

look what i have to build still:

Black Monarchs Castle
Dungeon masters castle
Fire Breathing Fortress
Kings casle siege
Troll Warship
Skeleton Ship
night Lords Castle.
Some Large dark Forest castle set.

I have quite a few already built....I'll list them if i ever get off work today lol

[Dunechaser]

My collection spans over 30 years, but according to my up-to-date Peeron inventory, I only have about 73,000 parts from sets. I very rarely buy multiples (impluse sets if they're on sale, but nothing else), and tend to buy the largest sets in each theme so I can get the broadest selection of parts and figs at once. What I don't get in sets I supplement from Bricklink, though I only spend between $50-150/year on Bricklink orders. In total, I probably have less than 100,000 parts and less than 1,000 minifigs across all themes.

And yet, I can build pretty much anything I want, from vigs and microscale to substantially larger MOCs. I don't have the dedicated LEGO time to spend building SHIPs and truly massive castles, so I don't need the parts to do so. I have far more minifigs than I need for any one MOC, and just enough to contribute meaningfully to group displays.

Like Bruce, I don't understand the army-building mentality...

[Gumby]

However, I must note that the buying habits are the interesting tidbit. I changed my buying habits around late 2004 or 2005 (thanks to the color change, I toned down), but if it weren't for that, I probably would've kept buying just about *every* set that came out, often in multiples-- and that would've probably put me in the 700k ballpark. I'm not sure if I would've stopped if my collection had simply started getting unwieldy.

Now that you mention it, in a way I'm glad they made the colour change (can't believe I'm saying this). Otherwise, like you, I'd still be buying multiples of sets (but not *every* set). But then again, discounts haven't been as deep these past few years.

I don't know how you guys with 500k+ piece collections manage; I've got around 200k and I've already reached my limit! I'm already storing some excess at my parents' place still...

[davee123]

Now that you mention it, in a way I'm glad they made the colour change (can't believe I'm saying this). Otherwise, like you, I'd still be buying multiples of sets (but not *every* set).

Yeah, it was a good thing for my wallet, but bad for me as a builder. I wish I didn't care about the new vs. old gray, but it makes me loathe sorting, and it's tough to build when you're not sorted. As it stands, I've tried to keep most of my new colors separate, but they themselves aren't sorted, they're just in a massive heap of several bins.

DaveE

[rogue27]

How do people even estimate the size of their collection? I probably have over 100,000 pieces, but beyond that I have no clue if I have 150k or a million.

At any rate, I find that I am always sorting and never building. In fact, I just spent the past two days sorting out my collection which has been a mess since I moved 2+ years ago. I definitely have more than I have room for, which is why I haven't been opening most of the new sets I buy.

I don't even know what to do with it all. I don't want to get rid of it, but I don't feel like I can really use it in it's current state and it's a very overwhelming mess. I guess I have too much.

[Duckingham]

I don't even know what to do with it all. I don't want to get rid of it, but I don't feel like I can really use it in it's current state and it's a very overwhelming mess. I guess I have too much.

You might try box 4 blox. That will do a bunch of the initial sorting.

A couple years ago I got a 55 pound bulk lot of used LEGO on eBay. I spent a couple hours a night for months sorting that batch and still haven't completely got it. That about doubled my collection at the time.

My approach to sorting was to make several passes.

First pass: This one is mostly a skim; you're pulling out all things like loose instructions, building plates, and base plates.

Second pass: this is the main one: pull all bricks, plates, and minifgs (toss them in three separate boxes). This is actually the bulk of the process, b/c what's left are mostly "special pieces."

Third pass: sort by major part families -- make a box for anything that has wheels or is wheel related (stering wheels, tires, axles, etc). Another box for doors/windows. Another Box for all things slopes.

The basic idea here is that you're not trying to sort to your "finsihed sorting" up front. You go a pass at a time breaking down into smaller, logical batches of stuff.

At some point you may get to splitting your bricks up into 1-bys and 2-bys. And then down to the 1x1s, 1x2s, 1x3s, etc. I've got enough that I even break my bricks down into colors (but color should almost always be the last thing you sort by.

How do people even estimate the size of their collection? I probably have over 100,000 pieces, but beyond that I have no clue if I have 150k or a million.

That's a good question. I've been trying to figure that one out myself. I guess that key thing there would be to (AFTER you have your collection sorted) count (or do some serious estimating) your pieces ONCE, and then keep track of how many pieces you are adding every time you buy more.

At any rate, I find that I am always sorting and never building. In fact, I just spent the past two days sorting out my collection which has been a mess since I moved 2+ years ago. I definitely have more than I have room for, which is why I haven't been opening most of the new sets I buy.

Hopefully the tips I've mentioned above can help, and perhaps some people will have some good tips, too. Perpetual sorting defeats the purpose of building and is just no fun when you're itching to build. But it is important (esp. when you have 100K+ LEGO pieces) to get it done good once, and then stay on top of it.

[rogue27]

My approach to sorting was to make several passes.

Thanks for the tips. That is similar to my technique. In fact, part of my mess involved sorting out two huge tubs I bought at a garage sale a few years ago, and it is a lot of work. I just finished that part of the sorting which I had been doing off and on since summer 2006.

Perpetual sorting defeats the purpose of building and is just no fun when you're itching to build. But it is important (esp. when you have 100K+ LEGO pieces) to get it done good once, and then stay on top of it.

I know. I could say a lot about everything I've missed out on because my collection was a mess, but I'm trying to get enough room to build something for the visiting Harold figure. I should do that instead of lamenting the size of my mess.

I return to work on Monday after a three month layoff. If I don't get everything sorted this weekend, it will probably be a few more years before I get another chance.

[KingDavid]

I didn't really know where to post this, but I am taking a look at my collection...and have been asking myself:

1. Do i have enough crownies? Do I really need more?
2. How many Black Falcons do I need?
3. How many forestmen so I need?

Well, I can't say I'm really the expert, as I only have roughly 20,000 parts that I've collected completely in the last three months. But I have about 50 Crown Knights, no Black Falcons, and 6 Forestmen. I need more Forestmen.

Oh yeah, and I have 15 Bulls and one of King Leo's guys that came with 6096 Bull's Attack. He's just screwed. He doesn't even have a weapon to use against that army.

[Grrr]

How do you know you have too much?

- You have hired students to help sort your lego.
- You have hired students to help inventory your lego.
- You fired the students for getting one or two pieces in the wrong container.
- You remember Lego part numbers to speed up inventoring.
- You have a part database accurate to the nearest piece.
- You email your peeronmyparts.csv file to your insurance company on a monthly basis.
- You spend more time in the shed building shelves and furniture for your lego, than building lego models.
- You have been injured by a cascade of falling boxes of Lego.

Need more?

[davee123]

How do people even estimate the size of their collection?

Pretty accurate records! I inventoried all my sets when I came out of my dark ages, and kept track of all of them going forward. Then, when I started buying my first non-set stuff on eBay in 2000 or so, I went through each lot that I purchased and hand-counted the number of parts. And I've done it ever since-- Pick-A-Brick cups, used parts, BrickLink orders, etc. It's annoying to think about, but it wasn't too bad once I got into the habit.

One way to estimate is to go by the approximate 350 pieces per pound ratio. I did some checking on this a few years ago to figure out roughly how much my collection weighed. Assuming your collection is primarily a minifig-themed stuff collection, 350/pound is a good guess. If you're more technic intensive, it's probably higher (though I don't know how high). Obviously remember not to include the weight of instructions, boxes, etc, like so many people include on eBay lots and so forth.

DaveE