Is this OCD?

While I've had all this time off, I decided to do a terrible, wonderful thing.

My LEGO bricks (okay, our LEGO bricks) were all dumped into this big green plastic box:

While compact and expediting clean-up, this made building anything specific a challenge. LEGOs form layers in the opposite manner of sedimentary rock: the tiny pieces filter through and end up on the very bottom, while the massive plates float on top. So, when you needed that one silver 1x2 vent to finish your model, you had to dig and dig and make a huge racket; this is satisfying by itself on a primal level, but not on a serious building level.



As you can see, I started a rudimentary breakdown a few years back, with a smaller box for all the minifigs and their tools, apparel, animals, and weapons; another small box for small pieces (in LEGO terms, that meant anything sized less than six studs total); and a third for hinges, swivels, and other special pieces. This worked somewhat, but I knew it could be better. The box of small bits was so full, it was still nigh impossible to find what you needed.

So Jacob and I spent several hours doing this:

Whew!

Here's what youre looking at: a standard hardware store parts bin system, with one drawer for round 1x1 flat studs; one for square 1x1 studs, flats, and wedges; one for 1x1 round and cone bricks; one for 1x1 square bricks; one for 1x1 bricks with side studs (including the famous "washing machine" pieces); one for 1x2 flats with a single center stud; one for regular 1x2 flats with two studs; one for transparent 1x2 flats with two studs; one for 1x2 tiles (no studs on top); one for 1x2 vents; one for 1x3 flats; one for 1x4 flats; one for 1x4 tiles, one for 2x2 square flats; one for 2x2 tiles, one for 2x2 round flats; tiles, and round-bottom sliders; one for 2x3 flats; one for 1x6 flats; one for 1x6 tiles...and so on. All the 1x2 bricks ended up in the large bin that previously housed all of the small pieces, as there were so many of them, and I may have to split the 1x2 flats into two drawers.

That's about 20% of the collection sorted. I'm just doing this for the small bits that would otherwise end up on the bottom of the box. I've still got a lot of work to do, but it will be much easier to build stuff after this. It's also surprisingly satisfying to get this done.