How do you store seperate lego sets?

[goingbacktowork]

Hi - I want to get my son a few lego sets but I assume once the nice box has been ripped opened I have to find somewhere to store and have to keep the sets seperate. Are there any special ways to do this? A huge plastic box is not going to do it as there are not that many pieces. How do people store the sets seperately? Thanks very much.

ha hahahahahahahahaha.

Unless your DS is 26 and a 'collector' they will all end up in a massive boxy jumble. Just give in as soon as possible.

I did however get a small 'hobby box' with little teeny compartments for him to keep the men in. DS likes playing with the figures so having them in a separate box means the whole lot doesn't have to come out all the time.

I 2nd Nagoo. I spent months painstakingly sorting out each set into it's own ikea trofast tub (the shallowest ones). Only to have to kids empty them on top of each other. I gave up. It wasn't worth the stress. I do try and keep the lego colour coded though (although that isn't working very well either).

I have found though that despite us having sets (e.g. a house, a boat, police station) the kids never want to build them as the instructions say. They just build whatever they want (which I guess is better for their imaginations). So I wouldn't reccomend buying sets, if I had my time again I'd just buy a large tub of lego bricks and a few of the square bases.

great advice - thanks!!!!

DD is not yet interested in Lego but I use www.reallyusefulproducts.co.uk/uk/html/onlineshop/rub/b03_0litre.phpthese boxes. My local homebase had some in pink a while ago so got them for dd. They also had blue there and come in various sizes. As a guide the 3L one holds the Duplo farm set.
DD needs help to open them so I manage to maintain the rule of put one thing away before getting another out. So far........

www.reallyusefulproducts.co.uk/uk/html/onlineshop/rub/b03_0litre.php

Sorry dodgy link.

Third time lucky

www.reallyusefulproducts.co.uk/uk/html/onlineshop/rub/b03_0litre.php

I've put it all in one box but cut out a picture of each set and the manual and added it to the box.

Cut the picture off the front of the box and file it woth the instructions, then get a great big tub for it to all.go in.

Also, the Lack side tables from IKEA are great and.cheap.to stick a few of the base boards to.so he has a Lego Table. Lego Creator is best for basic bricks.and windows etc

<a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=lack+side+table+lego&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&rlz=1T4ACAW_en___GB393&tbm=isch&tbnid=q7ezVhEHE6cbQM:&imgrefurl=www.ikeahackers.net/2010/08/lack-lego-table.html&imgurl=3.bp.blogspot.com/_XGRz6uWGK3I/TGp6SQN5U0I/AAAAAAAAJf4/2VVZrpqltd0/s640/rsz_cimg6319-737142.jpg&w=450&h=600&ei=zsk8UPPsA9PY0QW8_YDIBg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=803&vpy=246&dur=162&hovh=259&hovw=194&tx=101&ty=220&sig=118064170111793934404&page=1&tbnh=126&tbnw=95&start=0&ndsp=22&ved=1t:429,r:4,s:0,i:85&biw=1366&bih=618" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Lack table for Lego

Nagoo has it right.

We have enough Lego to replace most of Legoland if someone makes off with it. The best we could manage is boxes/stacking plastic drawers for different colours and shapes (flat pieces, 4s, 6s & 8s, etc). That worked for a while but as the kits got ever bigger and more complicated I just gave up.

Once the kids leave home it will take at least a decade to sort them all out and eBay them.

£££££££££

If DS gets a particularly expensive/complicated set we keep it separate for a short while (it stays downstairs, rest of lego upstairs). Doesn't last more than a few days before it all ends up in the massive box.

I was completely anal about keeping the kits together. It got to the stage when I nearly cried as they were 'messing' up the system.

I too gave in. 1 big box and a small one for men and really odd bits. Instructions for kits in another box. On reflection, I wouldn't buy too many kits either. In our house, they only get built once and then used to do what they want with.

You will go mental if you try to keep the kits as kits.

Depends on the age of the child. DS started with a big box of mixed lego, mostly passed on from family. Later on (from age 8ish) he wanted sets like Harry Potter, Toy Story, vehicles, etc. He still likes both types, but plays with them in different ways.

If it's going to end up mixed together, don't buy the individual sets. They're really expensive and only worth it if you're going to keep the bits together.

DS has lots of plastic boxes and biscuit tins containing the sets and instructions, and sometimes I cut out the picture from the box and sellotape to the lid. The original boxes are way too big and don't re-close properly anyway.

As long as you keep the instructions then it doesn't really matter. One square 4 dot brick is much like any other when it comes to it. And part of the joy of Lego is making your own creations - DS3 makes the sets up as he gets them, but is just as happy making his own spaceships/fighter jets when the original kit model gets broken up.

I don't.

Once they have been built nicely then destroyed they are colour coded in different clear boxes. DS has never wanted to build the same thing twice so it's futile keeping the Star Wars / police / explorer sets together. The instructions are filed in a ring binder.

We often have stormtroopers carrying police handcuffs and spacemen sitting in a little house.

We have kept all the boxes but sadly the sets have got mixed up in one bix box, we do have seperate boxes, one for free style lego and one for dd1's ninjago sets (which are now mixed up thanks to dd2), as others have said though 'as long as you keep the instructions they can still build the sets'.

I have just bought a tool box from B&Q for DS1's lego - it has a big bit at the bottom and a couple of shelves that open up when you open the lid plus some lidded compartments in the lid so you can do seperation of pieces of sorts. Will see if I can find a link...

I know it is not supposed to be but this thread is v amusing. It has put me off even buying the lego as it seems to have the potential to get very frustrating :) Thanks for all the replies.

This thread is making me hyperventilate - mixing sets ?? Nooooo
They are all put back in their boxes , only one box out at a time. Instructions photocopied and copies in box, originals in plastic wallets in ring binders.

ceeebeegeebies a tool box! I am so going to get one for DS's birthday, he will love storing some of his Lego in there.

DS has clear Really useful boxes . They're not cheap so they were part of his Xmas present last year. He was happily tidying up Lego on Xmas day.

Ooh, I like the idea of using photocopies and keeping the originals. I'm going to do that.

You can still get the instructions and spare bits online if you mix it all up.
Ds 17 tells me . Insists on keeping all Lego

Oh don't be put off. Lego truly is the best toy ever. And it lives forever - youngest is still playing with lego that once belonged to oldest, who is 25. It's good for fine motor skills and good for the imagination.

I am desperate to start stockpiling Lego for dd but she is only 8mo so I cant yet

Who would have thought a thread about lego would make it onto popular threads. Looking forward to link to toolbox :)