BendyBadger's Brickset BonusBall - SumoLego X Three-Peat Edition

SumoLego

Greetings Bricksetters...

Yes, it is three weeks - back-to-back-to-back!

I have been called upon to do the weekly Bonusball Extravaganza!  The first fifty nine (59) unique posts get a numbered entry for tomorrow's UK BonusBall.

I think I'm going to spice it up a bit by randomly re-ordering everyone's entry for added suspense - so please make your posts with haste!

As I have a wide variety of extra sets, polys, figures and Lego-related whatnot in my inventory, the prize will be a bit of a "winner's choice".  The only condition will be that whatever prize the lucky winner chooses - it will be revealed further below in thread.

I've been recently putting some thought into the most efficient way to display LEGO.  And not to sound like an advertisement for the folks over at LaserLabs, but their line of arcylic display stands are fantastic.  Particularly the display for the Sopwith Camel, Fokker and the Wright Flyer.

What non-LEGO item has help you with your LEGO hobby?  (Doesn't need to be related to display - perhaps a storage system or something else.)

Good luck!

leetshoe

Best non-lego thing that helped with my lego collecting was buying my house. I had a collection of a bunch of sets but I couldn't build them because l didn't have any room. Now l have an entire house to fill and an actual building space. And dozens of giant sets waiting to be built.

Bumblepants

The best non-Lego related item that has helped my marriage my hobby is good places to hide stuff. Also the $0.99 Sterelite shoe boxes for part sorting. Are they ideal? No. But I am a cheapskate and loathe spending money on not-Lego things for my Lego so this is the best fit for me.

DB361

Really useful boxes with inserts. Enough said. In the UK at least, there is no better storage system that's versatile, efficient on space (much more so than the little individual drawers) and at a fairly reasonable price.  I definitely agree with leetshoe above though, buying my first own house last year has made a world of difference to the hobby entirely. A spare room?! Never had one of those before!

BrickByBrick

Ziploc bags for storing minifigs

gmonkey76

My old cd/dvd bookcases. I no longer have my cd/dvd collection, but the bookcases are great to display Brickheadz, and small sets.

datsunrobbie

I have a grandson who is an expert at removing non-Lego parts from bulk lots of Lego. We spend a while almost every weekend sorting through stuff, and he's awesome at spotting the stuff that does not belong.

Adli knock-offs of Akro-Mils storage containers also help a lot.

PJ76uk

Whilst I agree with the above comment that the Really Useful boxes have been a god send to store my figures and LEGO spare parts, the thing that I'm most happy with is my IKEA Kasseby display boxes. Perfect for displaying my minifigs! Closely followed by the wall mounted IKEA Besta cabinets with glass shelves/doors to display my favorite builds!

bandit778

I don't have much room to display sets for any length of time so permanent fixtures and fittings won't do me any good.
But a most valued non-Lego item to aid with the ones that are out (however long I can get away with them being on display without annoying the boss) is one of these...

Makes keeping them dust free a doddle.
Big enough head to not take ages to dust but gentle enough not to move parts from the build (which came in damned useful when it was #76023 The Tumbler's turn out in the light).

Toc13

My most useful thing has been a bunch of small cheap lok-n-lok type boxes.
All of the excess Emmas & other Friends have been disassembled & heads in one box, torsos in another etc. Weapons are in one, helmets, wigs....
It keeps them fairly well contained & my girls can just pull down the boxes they need & build their own minidolls  with a minimum of mess (well, that's the theory)

I also have a dusting toothbrush

theLEGOman

Someone beat me too it, however I was going to say Really Useful Boxes as well.

I have 4 floor to ceiling stacks of draws and quite a few large boxes as well.

560Heliport

Tweezers for applying stickers. Also helpful is to put the part on a bigger part, like a 6x10 plate, to make it easier to hold.

stlux

Hasn't helped me yet, but I do sincerely hope this recent purchase will get my loose parts organized, Tom Alphin-style: a label printer.



Thanks for hosting again this week @SumoLego!

benbacardi

A non-LEGO item has help you with your LEGO hobby? My wife! She's "allowed" me to spend money on it - and even encouraged it!

My two year old is also a big help - "I'm buying this for her to play with, honestly..."

Gibbo1959

Best part of Friday - and down goes my productivity at work again! Thanks @SumoLego. As several others have already mentioned RUBs, I'm going to say it's my shed, without which I would not have anywhere to store all my LEGO, and might have to limit purchasing even more. 

Tkatt

Ikea. Probably 97% of the non-LEGO in my LEGO room is from Ikea. A countertop, shelves, tables, bins, a bag of meatballs....

COOLEGO

Moving house a couple of years ago was the biggest help for my collection, finally having my own ‘Lego’ room, to have the space to display, make a mess, and store everything in one place

Shib

Really Useful Boxes...the dividers are great for parts.

Or my car for driving around for bargains and going to LEGO events

starwars4ever

While it's already been said nearly a dozen times already, IKEA. Their shelves are the only way I can display (most if not all) of my complete sets at a reasonable prices.

jmeninno

Toys R Us (too soon?) had this 6 drawer set up.  White unit with 2 pull out draws with this clear plastic removable separator and the other 4 drawers were little suitcases, for lack of better term.  They were pricey, but I used to get them on Black Friday/Cyber Monday for $25 a piece.  Believe we have 6 of them in our house between me, the wife, and our kids.  May have to look into more someday, or better storage, or better use/organization than they are serving now, but it has helped quite a bit.  Thanks for hosting yet again, Sumo!

Vgang

Ziplock bags for storage and LED lights for Lego photography!

vizzitor

Thanks for hosting this @SumoLego. A great topic for people to share ideas too.

I was going to say the scalpel I was given randomly one day at work that I use for opening boxes and bags but it has to be the not-quite-leather office chair I sit on to build.

I bought it a couple of months ago after a year of sitting at the kitchen table on a wobbly wooden chair. Now I realise it wasn't the ageing process causing back pain and my legs to go to sleep!

Looking through this thread, there are a lot of bits and pieces I've added to my shopping list. Have to get one of those brushes like @bandit778.  It might take a while to save up for @leetshoe's ultimate Lego accessory of a whole new house though.

TheLegoMaster35

Building model cars and working on modding NERF guns satisfies my building craving so I don’t have to spend more on LEGO(not that’s a bad thing!).

historyman

Make up brushes and cotton buds for dusting sets that are always out. 

TheFew

Best non Lego thing is my house. I have secured are large storage cupboard that is six foot off of the ground (so safe from kiddies) and.my own small Lego room. 

ReesesPieces

I would say various storage containers to store my Lego in.

TheOriginalSimonB

Large multi-purpose divided tray/storage boxes from Wilko.  Not as easy to find things in as drawers but they do for me and fit neatly in a spare corner of the room.

Once again, thanks to @SumoLego for hosting.

dannyrww

Moving into the our new house where there are massive amounts of display space in my bedroom.....given neighbor kids keep wanting to come over and see my display....I do let my kids bring their friends over supervised.

paul_merton

Presuming the web server isn't made out of Lego, then Brickset :)

kwkw

Ikea Detolf display case. 

eggshen

That would be my Uncle Henry Premium Stockman pocket knife. I use it to apply stickers, there are three different blade shapes and each one is useful for different sticker shapes and placement locations. It is also useful for cutting flexible tubing for mocs and BrickArms designs. I also might have used it a couple of times to separate pieces when a brick separator isn't handy.

SprinkleOtter

Bricklink. Helps me get rid of what I don't want, so I an get more of what I want- it's a never-ending cycle.

Matt89190

IKEA as it is is amazing, but discovering the joys of modifying KALLAXes by removing partitions to make larger sections changed my life. 

tcc

Definitely ziploc bags--given limited display space, I regularly build sets only to take them apart later to build/display new ones. Without those bags, I have no idea how I would keep things sorted.

MugenPower

A cheapo makeup brush to dust off sets.  Got that tip from one of the threads on this forum.

hoodaddy

I liked the display cases from Michaels for minifigs, and the fold up 6’ banquet tables are nice to display and build on. 

mak0137

Brickset for set info
Bricklink for parts info
Acrylic sorter trays for building
2"X 3" zip bags for minifigures
Tiny precision minus screw driver

Russell844

Gorm shelving from Ikea has filled the entire closet in my LEGO room.

terfsten

The internet for planning my Lego purchases and builds and reading reviews... And buying more lego... also my sterilite? Drawers for sorting and my bookcase and table for building and displaying :)

SeijiAmasawa

my better half’s wallet

nexander

2 things,  zip lock bags for loose brick sorting and storage and Poundland led lights for lighting up displays

Lego_Star

The nicest couple I met in the community. They're an item, they got married! :o)

arathemis

Found some really cheap plastic food containers about a year ago.  When I put about 60 pieces in my cart the cashier lady looked at me with pity in her eyes considering me a crazy person

Harrymattpotter

I found a bunch of boxes that were the perfect size to sort pieces for a pound each

ravendragonwing

I do not even know where to start, I used to cross stitch and the patterns are great for starting making mosaics, so I will just go with that.

devilhead

Any type of storage container.

mampepin

The IKEA frames, hands down

Mr_Cross

Tweezers. Invaluable for applying small stickers.

thanks for hosting again @SumoLego!

Covi

Zip-loc bags hands down for me!

snowhitie

Thanks for hosting and the great question.

A whole lot of items help, in no particular order:

I love my cookbook stand for holding up instructions, Brickset for the database and reviews, my fancy tweezers for the stickers, ziplock for the bricks and samla boxes for storage of sets (be they bagged or assembled), Brickset forum for the friendship and the help, the internet to find bargains, my husband who supports me in the hobby, my son who made me rediscover it and finally my massive tray so that on bad days I can lie/sit in my relax and be still able to build.

Oh and featherlike paintbrushes for dusting.

dmcc0

My credit card