It feels like we are due for another BrickNerd article about part sorting, and getting our LEGO organized, don’t you think? ... Well, I don’t. I say “Sorting, schmorting!” to all that! If you ask me, I’d say it’s about time we wrote an article about getting DISORGANIZED for a change!

“So, when are you going to clean all this up?” … “I don’t see how you can build like this?” … “Aren’t you embarrassed to have people see this mess?” – comments from an actual AFOL’s spouse.

“Creative Chaos” deserves its day in the court of AFOL Opinions, and I am here to plead its case. Allow me to present “Exhibit A”; an overhead photo of my building table, which is also affectionally referred to as “The Chaos”. Did a tornado find its way into my basement building area, or is there actually a method to this madness? Let’s take a closer look.

Setting the Table

Welcome to my building table. For my LEGO room, I was lucky enough to find a “counter height” dining table on sale that is the perfect height for me to build at while standing. I generally prefer to build standing up, as I’m at that stage in life where being hunched over on the floor to build, or constantly getting up and down from a chair to grab parts, becomes a literal pain in the back. That said, I do still sit in a chair from time-to-time during extended building sessions, but floor building is a definite no-go.

My building table is at its most cluttered in the aftermath of a building spree; making MOCs to display at an upcoming convention, or making entries for a multi-category/multi-build contest like Summer Joust, Space Jam, Bio-Cup, Iron Forge, etc. Building for them always becomes a whirlwind of ideas, with tons of trial-and-error before finally arriving at the finished build. My building process is very iterative. For every completed MOC I build, there might be 3 or 4 ideas left behind on the table that didn’t quite work out. The metaphor of a tornado leaving a path of destruction in its wake is not much of an exaggeration, especially as the thought of having to clean it all up afterward is just as daunting.

Another daunting thing to overcome after a building spree is the dreaded “builder’s burn-out”. I happen to be in the midst of a sizable building lull myself. It’s not for a lack of ideas, but just a lack of motivation to build them. Right now, my building table is cluttered with half-built ideas just begging for me to finally bring them to life… but… I just can’t find any personal motivation or inspiration to complete them. Maybe that will remedy itself on its own, once more in-person LEGO Conventions wake up from their extended COVID-mandated slumbers. After all, BrickUniverse Louisville is coming back in January 2022, and the crew from the “MOC Talks” are really chomping at the bit for its return. But until then…

“To everything there is a season”, and right now that season seems to be “anything but building” for me. I finally admitted that fact to myself, and decided maybe it was time for a “reboot”; to entirely clean off the table and to start over with a clean slate. I looked over the massive array of parts laid out on the table and tried my best to decide where to begin the purge. However, everywhere I looked I saw things that I felt had a valid reason for being there versus being put away… Then it dawned on me - “Wait. This entire mess is actually a MOC in its own right. There is a story to tell here.” At first, I just took a picture of it all for posterity’s sake, but then I thought I should write about the multitude of reasons why I am having such a hard time cleaning it off.

The Breakdown

Here is a categorization of the things found on my building table, and the reasons why they are still sitting there:

NPU Part Reminders – In my sorting system, I have a couple of “miscellaneous drawers” where I store new, unique, or specialized LEGO parts that I don’t have enough of to merit putting them in their own drawer. However, what I have found is that once I put them in those drawers, they become “out of sight, out of mind”. Eventually I end up forgetting that I even have the parts, let alone which of the “miscellaneous” drawers I had put them in. So instead, I usually leave them out on the building table somewhere as a visual cue, especially those that I know I will want to use fairly soon… it’s true that they tend to get hidden anyway, as more NPU parts get left on the table around them, but I will still see them again sooner rather than if I had put them away in a drawer.

Part Swap Outs on Minifigures – Acting as another visual reminder, I typically leave any minifigure that I have borrowed parts from on the table until I have made them whole again. I have a couple small silicone quiche pans that I will sometimes place them in so that I don’t lose the smaller minifig hands, accessories, etc... and I use those pans for holding many of the unique parts I mentioned earlier too, like in the photo above… as they say, “real men” don’t diss quiche pans!

Examples of Clever Part Connections – Similar to the NPU part reminders, sometimes I build examples of various SNOT connections, part frames, etc. that I find interesting and then leave them out on the table as a visual reference. I’ve done this a lot recently with some of the newer modified 2x2 plate brackets, as well as some clever connections I’ve found using Constraction parts.

Building in New Themes/Areas – Speaking of Constraction, building characters and creatures is an area that I have been trying to do more in (and trying to compete in Bio-Cup, etc.). It’s still a lot of trial-and-error for me at this stage. I get off to a good start, but then I stall trying to finish the rest of the build with the same quality. Many of the half-built things on the table are from those creature/character attempts, and I am not quite ready to give up on them yet—or to officially call them “fails”.

Repurposing the “Fails” – For the things that are “fails” (or “table scraps” to some), I usually leave them on the table for a while. They typically come from those design iterations that didn’t work out that I referred to earlier. At some point, I tend to find a way of repurposing them into something even better than what I originally built them for.

Building Design Iterations – Awhile back I came up with a clever cockpit design using the Vahki block eye/brain stalk Bionicle parts. I ended up building quite a few different vehicle types out of that design. For last FebRovery, I was working on creating an iteration for the “Rascal Rover” in black, with a single large wheel at the back… It never really worked out, but I’d still like to come up with a different style of rover using the cockpit… maybe I will give it another go for FebRovery 2022…

What do I see here? Is that Ted’s creative outlet?…

Building Color Iterations – Sometimes I simply build the same design but in different color schemes. I have been playing around quite a bit with different color schemes for the “Storm Cycle” speeder bikes I came up with earlier this year as a trophy prize for the Speeder Bike contest. You can see a few of them there lying on the table in the above photo.

Tools of the Trade – Last but not least are all of the “tools of the trade” that get used during the building process, I take to conventions, or are just nice to have around; Part separators, scissors and Swiss Army knives (for cutting and placing stickers), camera remote, a Classic Space drink coaster from EclipseGRAFX, smartphone stands, batteries for light bricks, duct tape, and of course my trusty BrickNerd glasses… I also built a ruler to figure out proper human figure proportions as well (in the picture above, it is that light grey plate with the 2x2 red plates attached on top).

Broken LEGO Bits – I lied. I remembered that there is actually one more thing that can be found on my LEGO side table, and that is broken LEGO bits. The majority take the form of the reddish-brown shrapnel of broken plates (scroll up and view the pile in the central minifigure picture above), broken Bionicle ball socket parts, or broken clip hands. Honestly, I should just throw all those out, but some part of me says I will still find a good use for them someday. I leave them out on the table so they don’t get sorted back into the part drawers with their healthy brethren… and also as a constant visual reminder to “Be careful! REALLY, REALLY CAREFUL!!!” when using those parts, especially when taking them apart.

The Verdict

So, there you have it. I have presented my case. I now leave it to you, a jury of my AFOL peers, to deliberate and deliver the verdict. What say ye? Do I have a valid case here, or are these just the excuses of a LEGO hoarder that doesn’t want to clean up? Any justifications that you have for your own messy tables that I might have missed? Let me know your verdict in the comments below.

Why is your sorting area chaotic and does it work for you? Tell us about it in the comments below!

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