41405 – Andrea’s Shopping Play Cube

In my quick look at the new 2020 sets, I noted the usefulness of the portability of a set-in-it’s-own-container like the story book sets. This is less of a necessity for something like a vehicle which is relatively self-contained, but for a set where the main play feature is moving things around for make believe scenarios, it’s a real boon. And such is the case with this little 2020 set.

Storing Parts Together

I keep all my parts in plastic tubs according to broad categories – such as bricks, plate, plate special, technic beams etc. Most parts are separated out into the element types and kept in an (often labelled) ziplock bag. All my bricks and plate, however, I had stacked together in element types. So there’d be one big block of 1×4 bricks with all the same colours together, then another stack of all the 2×2 bricks, then all that would be fitted neatly into a tub.

5004890 Minifigure Display Case 8

I’ve mentioned here a couple of times, that in theory, I don’t approve of clutter, so I don’t display built sets. I also claim not to be a Lego collector, but that I buy sets to disassemble for parts for MOC building.

In reality, Lego does creep out of the Lego room and into my living spaces. Every time I dust the Speed Champions Ferrari (set 75886) that’s been sitting on the stereo in the kitchen since it was built over a year ago, I plan to clean, disassemble and store it; but it just never seems to happen. Minifigs are also prone to this problem. They get opened when I get home with groceries, or unpack a Bricklink order, then seem to hang around in the kitchen awaiting cataloguing and packing away in their neatly labelled bags.

Unbuilding

I pulled a big set apart this weekend, and thought it might be interesting to lay out my thoughts around the disassembly of sets. I rarely keep sets in their assembled state – I’m not much of one for displaying things, and I hate dusting. Every now and then a particular model might take my fancy and stay out for a while – my Speed Champions Ferrari 488 GT3 has been sitting on the speaker in my kitchen for a few months along with UniKitty and a spaceman – but usually models get built then pulled apart a few days later.