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2947  |  2949
Subject: 
Diary of a sorting man
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.org.ca.rtltoronto
Date: 
Wed, 12 Dec 2001 04:50:11 GMT
Viewed: 
520 times
  
The last few weeks I've been sorting.  In a bad way.  Before rtlToronto9, I
started sorting out pieces.  It made Technic building so easy, especially to
get what you needed when you were trying to assemble something you had in
mind.  It also made cleanup and transport easy.  I can carry 90% of my
competition Technic collection (namely two RISes, a DDK, plus several other
sets) in a backpack now.  Most of it fits in two large Plano boxes (gears,
pins, everything else), and two small Plano boxes (beams, axles).  They're
easily available at any Walmart store for $4-6 each.  I can put everything,
laptop, Lego, power supplies etc into a milk crate-easy to bring to a
friends house or rtlToronto event.

So, I decided, may I should start sorting Town and Train too.  I resisted
for a long long time.  I first Macro sorted.  1xN, 2xN, plates, flats,
slopes into empty 4267 buckets.  Then 1xN, 2xN into empty 3033 tubs, and
flats, plates, and slopes into spare cardboard set trays.  Then making
specialized sorting trays out of spare M1 linepack cardboard boxes I found
in the recycling bin at the office.

But finally, I've now settled on seven NesTier part containers for plates,
slopes and flats.  3033 tubs for 1xN and 2xN.  4267 buckets and washed Tofu
containers for "wrong" items, ie, giveaway, tan, green, purple, orange, and
broken pieces.  Two large and three small Plano for Town parts.  I think
I've made about a 5-10% dent into my Lego collection.

What did I learn?  I have a LOT of windshields.  Wheels in general.
Steering wheels.  Bendy clip things.  Those 1x1 things with the 90 degree
dot on the side that hold headlights onto.  Chairs.  Doors for cars. Doors
in general.  I have so many frickin 4x5x1 red left classic Town doors, it's
not funny.  Ben, if you ever wanted more doors, here ya go.  An unusual
amount of "corro"gated bricks.  Old 80's space parts.  New space parts from
Star Wars-most of my "giveaway/trade" part collection is SW parts-things
like trans orange laserblasters and the "Gasgano the Podracer" figure, those
Gungan Sub glass cockpits.  (hey, at dinner, bring your disliked parts to
trade!) Ugly colours I don't like.  Ick.

So, if you're not sorting, and you're in Technic, DO IT.  It's the best
thing I've ever done, it increases your building efficiency and lets you
really get from concept to working model a lot faster.  No more digging
around in those deep tray pits in the RIS box.  If you're in Train/Town it's
not half bad.  It at very worst will tell you how much of whatever you have,
which makes building a little easier, though less whimsical.  You can't
pretend it's all somewhere in the Big Bucket of Life. :)

Calum



Message has 2 Replies:
  Re: Diary of a sorting man
 
(...) Wow...that is incredible. I tried sorting stuff out, and it DOES make building a LOT easier. And the realized that over the years Lego was just as guilty back then (in the golden years) for putting out specialized elements for certain sets. (...) (23 years ago, 12-Dec-01, to lugnet.org.ca.rtltoronto)
  Re: Diary of a sorting man
 
(...) Excellent! I've had similar experiences myself. It took what seemed forever to sort my Technic, but it pays off whenever I build new mecha these days. I can find any part within a few seconds. The other upside being that I know how many of a (...) (23 years ago, 12-Dec-01, to lugnet.org.ca.rtltoronto, lugnet.storage)

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