Tom Alphin Author: Tom Alphin

Tom is the Editor-in-Chief at Brick Architect. He founded the website in 2015 just before releasing his bestselling book The LEGO Architect (which teaches 7 architectural styles using LEGO bricks). In addition to reviewing new LEGO Architecture sets, he likes to write articles exploring technical aspects of the LEGO hobby including LEGO storage, and the LEGO color palette.

Tom has written 291 stories for Brick Architect.

LEGO Storage Podcast — Brick Architect × AFOLs Welcome

My latest thinking on strategies to organize, sort and store LEGO collections – on a podcast!

Last week, I participated in an in-depth discussion with brothers Grinch and West on their weekly conversational LEGO podcast AFOLs Welcome. The focus of our discussion was exploring strategies to organize, sort, and store your LEGO collection.

Listen to the episode on:

You can also watch us talk by viewing the episode on YouTube. (I even cleaned my LEGO room to have a less distracting background!)

AFOLs Welcome Episode 45 - The Brick Architect - Sorting and Storing LEGO.

AFOLs Welcome Episode 45 – The Brick Architect – Sorting and Storing LEGO.

While I encourage you to listen to our whole conversation, you can use these links to jump to a specific topic…

  • 25:47 – Introduction – About Tom Alphin
  • 32:10 – Making ‘The LEGO Architect’ book
  • 35:41 – Making ‘The LEGO Storage Guide’
  • 39:23 – LEGO Parts Guide / Most Common LEGO Parts
  • 43:11 – My Goal: Creating resources for LEGO Builders
  • 48:39 – Creative constraints of the LEGO System
  • 50:12 – Favorite Theme / Set
  • 52:55 – Expanding on my book in the future
  • 59:37 – Sorting Strategies – Part, Color, Element
  • 1:03:50 – How my sorting strategy has evolved
  • 1:07:15 – Storing Air
  • 1:10:01 – Increasing number of unique parts (and labels)
  • 1:12:17 – Importance of a Hierarchal system
  • 1:13:23 – Creating succinct part names for Labels
  • 1:21:10 – BrickLink vs Brick Architect Hierarchy
  • 1:24:45 – Storage recommendations for all ages
  • 1:30:22 – When to stop sorting?
  • 1:33:23 – Minifigs and Instructions
  • 1:37:27 – Final Thoughts
I hope you enjoy listening to our discussions! As always, if you have any questions please leave a comment here or in your favorite podcast app — Thanks!