Subject:
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Re: Brick Storage
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.robotics
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Date:
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Sun, 20 Aug 2000 03:09:53 GMT
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Original-From:
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Doug Wilcox <doug@#spamcake#wilcoxfamily.net>
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Viewed:
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460 times
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----- Original Message -----
From: Steve Baker <sjbaker1@airmail.net>
To: Lego Robotics <lego-robotics@crynwr.com>
Sent: Friday, August 18, 2000 7:18 PM
Subject: Brick Storage
{snip}
> I'm planning to catalog the collection by using my new-found discovery • that
> a flatbed scanner can take great photos of bricks. By taking scanner • pictures
> of each brick type (there are about 300 of them in the collection my son
> and I now share) - and putting them on a large poster above the build • area,
> it should be much easier to find out which drawer each brick type is in
> without endless hunting.
Very clever! I've used my flatbed to scan parts of completed models (the
CCDs are not too range-sensitive), but never thought of scanning individual
pieces.
> One concern I have is whether 'creativity' will be stifled by not • stumbling
> over an obscure brick that is 'just the thing' in the course of looking • for
> something else. I've heard that some people prefer to just spread bricks
> all over the floor when building - but it's hard to imagine people at work
> doing that.
I've had my collection organized since about age 7. My mother always
lamented, "If only the _rest_ of your room were as well organized as your
Legos!"
I would argue that the ability to find a particular piece quickly is an
important part of the creative process, as it allows various ideas to be
constructed/tested more rapidly than would be possible otherwise--especially
as the available piece count tops a thousand or so.
>
> Incidentally...
>
> I'm amazed at how many brick types there actually are - clearly many of
> them are unnecessary...some of the bricks seem to have 'evolved' from
> earlier Lego designs - which makes sense - but others are *highly* • model-specific
> but could easily be replaced with just two or three 'standard' bricks. I
> wonder why Lego did that.
This, IMHO, is the one mistake that TLG continues to make (and it seems to
be worsening). Now that I have access to digital photography, I'm going to
be devoting a Web site/page to combating this evil. The whole concept of
Lego is that one can assemble the pieces into virtually limitless creations.
These "macro" pieces represent devolution. I personally find them
abominable.
::: breathes deeply :::
With that out of the way, I find that much of the specialization has been a
good thing--especially in the Technic area--it's given us consistently
better and more diverse methods of building mechanisms. In the various other
Lego worlds, the specialization has, overall, allowed more cosmetically cool
construction (See the Lego Idea Book 1 at BrickShelf!) and more fun in Lego
after-construction play.
{snip}
> Another thing that suprised me was how very nasty the • non-Lego-but-compatible
> bricks are. We seem to have a number of 'MegaBlocks' bricks - but they are
> of harder plastic and seem to have worn out much faster than the regular • Lego
> kind. I've dumped most of them into an overflow bin - but some of them • are
> in really nice colours and are definitely worth hanging onto.
Purge the imposters! Despite the higher price tag, Lego is by far a better
value. And Lego has gotten more colorful of late - which is straining my
sorting methods. Used to be that _only_ base plates and trees were green,
and I've had to do lots of rearranging to accommodate more green, brown
(never had any before recently), dark-gray, etc. ...
> I guess most of these things come as no suprise to anyone on this • list...but I
> would like to hear about storage techniques.
Some of the best storage in my collection is old Lego boxes. Unfortunately,
many Lego sets (especially in the past 15 years) have shipped in
non-reusable or non-divided boxes. I would love to find a commercial storage
solution that is roughly equivalent to the old set 190 or 404 boxes. My wife
told me this week that the crafts section of Wal*Mart might have what I'm
after, but I haven't gotten there yet.
[End of Rant]
--Doug Wilcox
"And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (John
8:32.)
"But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ.
Check out the Wilcox family at http://www.wilcoxfamily.net/
Find out what's cooking with Lego MindStorms at the Wilcox house at
http://www.wordsmithdigital.com/mindstorms/
See how to build your own light saber at
http://www.wordsmithdigital.com/saber/
Help promote Capitalism ... order books, videos, and more from Amazon.com
via http://www.wordsmithdigital.com/saber/books.htm
30 George Street
Brockton, MA 02302-3635
508-584-6853 phone
508-284-4408 cell
http://www.wilcoxfamily.net
http://www.wordsmithdigital.com
ICQ# 24868783
- Officially Registered in Dogbert's New Ruling Class
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Brick Storage
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| This probably ought to be in the FAQ - and you've probably had this question 1e6 times before....How do people with *VAST* Lego collections store them? I've just spent about four evenings collecting every Lego brick in the house and sorting them (...) (24 years ago, 18-Aug-00, to lugnet.robotics)
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