LEGO fan Tom Alphin is well known in the community for his LEGO Architecture models, and his book The LEGO Architect. Tom has been also working on a list of labels for LEGO fans who like to keep their loose LEGO pieces tidy and organized. Tom’s labeling system is especially useful if you have a large LEGO collection that you store in drawer cabinets. 🙂
Each of the labels shows the image, name, part-number and dimensions of the piece, so you can find it quickly in your storage units. Tom recently updated his labels by adding a large selection of LEGO Technic parts, creating the most complete collection of labels that you can print at home to organize your LEGO collection. There are over 600 labels in all!
The labels are designed to be printed on 1/2″ plastic label tape, which is compatible with Brother P-Touch Label Printers. These labels are waterproof, smudge-proof, durable, and they come in a variety of colors like white, pink, yellow, lime-green, clear and even gold. To create professional quality, long-lasting labels it is recommended that you do get a label printer (see below printers that would work with the labels). However if you don’t want to get one, Tom also provided a PDF preview version of the labels that you can print out and use any way you like. You can find both the label tape version and the PDF version here: DOWNLOAD LEGO BRICK LABELS
- Brother PT-1230PC – lower-end model for PC only
- Brother PT-P700 – good model for PC and Mac
- Brother PT-2430PC – older model for PC only
The most commonly used drawer storage cabinets used by LEGO fans are either made by Akro-Mils, or Stack-On. I use the Stack-On cabinets because they are taller and narrower, and fit perfectly in the space I have. However you may find that the Akro-Mils cabinets work better for you. They are both high quality and work the same way. Which one you choose just depends on what kind of space you have. Both systems come with either smaller or larger drawers, or a combination of both. Examples below:
- Akro Mils 24-Drawer Cabinet
- Akro-Mils 44-Drawer Cabinet
- Akro-Mils 64-Drawer Cabinet
- Stack-On 18-Drawer Cabinet
- Stack-On 39-Drawer Cabinet
- Stack-On 60-Drawer Cabinet
If you have the cabinets already, then you can just print out the labels on your label printer or regular printer, and attach them to the cabinets. Tom has been maintaining these labels since 2014 by adding new LEGO elements, so you can depend on his collection as the most complete to give your storage system a uniform look.
What do you think? What kind of storage system are you using for your LEGO collection? Do you use a labeling system to find the parts easier? Feel free to share in the comment section below! Also, if you have any questions or requests for Tom, you can add them here as well, and I will make sure he sees them. 😉
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Pretty cool!
I’ll never have that kind of storage system. Just not ambitious enough and don’t have that volume of bricks. But I think it’s incredibly generous of the guy who did all that work to share it!
Yeah, Tom is a very nice person and active in the LEGO fan community. It is indeed very nice of him to provide these labels. BTW, that fountain set that you asked about before is coming out in June! 😀
Thanks for that tip! I just noticed it on the new calendar yesterday.
I’m really delighted to think it won’t be that much longer!
Yeah, interesting that this set has been rumored for so long. I started to think it was canceled.
This has come at an ideal time for me: I had just begun creating the very same kind of thing for my LEGO storage. I’m greatful to Tom for saving me hours/days of work!
Since I don’t have a dedicated space for my LEGOs, I use the large Parts Organizers from the Container Store. I can keep my collection in storage, and pull out the containers I need. I don’t worry about things getting knocked over and spilling. I don’t have a huge collection (about 20,000 pieces, according to Brickset), so this works well for me.
Brienne, nice idea! Those Container Store organizers are awesome! 😀
I do almost the exact same thing. While I like these labels, I don’t like how they don’t have colors. Some of us organize our plates and bricks by color, and need that. I’ve pulled mine from the BrickLink thumbnails where they don’t look as nice, but have color. The Stack-On containers are great!
That’s a good option to add color if your drawers are not transparent. Another thing you can do is to simply use smear-proof color markers to add color to the labels. Just a smallish dot should do the trick.
i sorted my lego a month or two ago i used plastic bags to keep them in because i don’t have any money 😀 and i would like to get something like this maybe when i get my own room (i share a room with my 3 other brothers)
Plastic bags are actually a good option that even LEGO fans with a larger budget use. It is often used for sorting large amounts of the same piece that doesn’t fit into the regular storage system. So yeah, plastic bags are awesome whether you have money or not. 😀
At least Zip-Loc bags for the smaller pieces…
Thank you so much for these! Just going through my collection right now (estimate about 35-40k pieces accumulated over 3 decades) and this is the way!
For anyone curious, setting up this type of organization system is not cheap; it’s 2023 — I have four 44 drawer and five 26 drawer Akro Mils containers, those plus the Brother label printer was about $500. It’s also taking me a lot of time to sort and organize. But the pleasure and enjoyment of having all of my LEGO organized is worth the cost!
Thanks for sharing, Matt! Yes, nothing like walking into a room with nicely organized LEGO! 🙂