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New LEGO storage & sorting boxes review

by Thita (admin) on March 12, 2014

I was recently browsing the Online LEGO Shop in categories I normally don’t visit. One of these is LEGO storage items. I usually ignore this section of the LEGO website because, in my experience, items in this category are geared towards helping little kids to tidy their toys and not particularly useful for adult LEGO fans. However this time I got intrigued by a new sorting and storage unit I haven’t seen before. I actually liked it so much I ordered two sets right on the spot, and they arrived just a couple of days ago. I thought to share with you what I think of them. 🙂

The LEGO storage box sets I’m talking about are the ones pictured above. Currently they come in two different styles, featuring either LEGO Friends or LEGO Legends of Chima. I got two sets of the LEGO Friends storage units because, as a girl myself, I was smitten by that “Building girlpower” logo. Plus I actually don’t have that much girly LEGO and I thought it would be funny to store my spaceships, armies, and castles in these LEGO Friends boxes. 🙄

Each set of these LEGO storage boxes includes 3 boxes with lids; a large one, a medium one and a small one. They are all the same length and width, and only the depth is different, so they are easily stackable. All three of the boxes are 14 inches (35 cm) wide and 11 inches (27 cm) long. The large box is 9 inches deep, the medium box is 6 inches deep, and the small box is 3 inches deep.

There is also a storage-tray included that you can place in any of the three LEGO storage boxes, plus there are 9 sorting cups (3 larger ones and 6 smaller ones). The sorting cups can neatly fit on the storage-tray, and of course can be removed when you are working on building projects and you want to spread them out.

The official description of these LEGO storage boxes is as follows: Organize your LEGO pieces by color, shape, size, theme, or any other way you like with this fun and colorful sorting system, decorated with characters and scenes from the LEGO Friends (or LEGO Legends of Chima) fun-filled world! Each set includes 3 sturdy plastic storage boxes with lids and a sorting tray with 3 large and 6 small sorting cups. Save your creations or loose bricks in the bigger boxes, while keeping instructions and little pieces safely stored in the smallest one!

Features 3 storage boxes (large, medium and small) with snap-on lids
Includes removable sorting tray with 9 cups (3 large and 6 small) for little pieces
Sorting tray fits into all 3 boxes
Cups can be rearranged or removed from the tray
Large box measures over 9″ (22cm) tall, 14″ (35cm) wide and 11″ (27cm) long
Medium box measures over 6″ (15cm) tall, 14″ (35cm) wide and 11″ (27cm) long
Small box measures over 3″ (7cm) tall, 14″ (35cm) wide and 11″ (27cm) long

The LEGO storage boxes, the tray and the cups are all sturdy plastic with a bit of flex to them, so I doubt these will ever break under normal use. The colors are nice and bright, matching standard LEGO colors (or in the case of the LEGO Friends boxes, LEGO Friends colors). They are made for LEGO by Room Copenhagen, the same Danish company that made the previously released LEGO storage heads and LEGO storage bricks. You can find the storage bricks and head on Amazon. Here is the link: LEGO Storage Head & LEGO Storage Bricks on Amazon

I store my loose LEGO elements in drawer units, so I didn’t need storage boxes for those, however for my LEGO creations that I don’t have room to display and for LEGO instructions I use storage tubs. Of course I could use any generic storage box, but I prefer them to be LEGO themed and also to have a uniform look. I have been using the largest LEGO storage boxes made by Iris, and I absolutely love them, however it is impossible to find those any more, and if they do show up on the secondary market they cost a fortune. So I have been looking for another LEGO storage system I could use, and expand on when needed.

I have already transferred all of my instructions and LEGO creations into the large and medium storage units, and I’m really pleased with them. The medium storage unit is pretty much the same size as the large box made by Iris, so yeah, they can fit a lot of stuff. I’m keeping the smallest unit, the storage tray and cups for working on current projects.

In summary I would say that these are the most useful LEGO storage boxes that LEGO ever released and is currently available. Again, I do like the Iris boxes as well, but since the large ones that are most useful to me have been discontinued, I pretty much lost interest in them. If you liked the Iris boxes, and looking for a new system to store your LEGO, I highly recommend these. They are available at the Online LEGO Shop here: LEGO Sorting & Storage Systems

The included storage tray and cups are a very thoughtful addition, and are great for separating out small parts within the storage boxes, as well as for sorting and storing LEGO elements while working on a project. My only negative feedback about these boxes is that the lids don’t snap on (even though it says so in the official description). They kind of just sit on top of the boxes. Even if not completely secured, a bit snugger fit and reassuring snap would have been a welcome addition.

Another thing I hope for in regards to these LEGO storage units is that they will be available in more themes and colors. As I have mentioned, currently you can only get LEGO Friends or LEGO Legends of Chima themed boxes, which is fine, but more themes would be welcome: LEGO City, LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Ninjago, The LEGO Movie… to name a few. It is not a big deal if they don’t make more as the main thing is that the boxes are very useful, however it would be nice to have them in other themes and colors. If not, I will just get more of the LEGO Friends ones.

How about you? How do you like these new LEGO sorting and storage boxes? Or what is your favorite LEGO sorting and storage system? Do you like to use official LEGO boxes, or just use whatever you find? How do you store your LEGO instructions, loose LEGO elements, and already built LEGO creations? Feel free to share in the comment section below! 😉

You might also like to check out the Care & Feed of LEGO section for more storage and display ideas or select from the following related posts:

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Your Personalized Minifigure by minifigME.com

by Thita (admin) on March 11, 2014

in LEGO Customizers

(Written by Taylor of minifigME.com)

LEGO sets are imaginative, character-based, interactive experiences and are the only toys my son and his friends consistently choose over media. LEGO has it all, except for just one thing; a way for kids and adult LEGO fans to have a perfect reflection of themselves in the form of a LEGO minifigure that can be used for play, display, gift giving and more.

So we thought to do something about this, and thus minifigME.com was born. We invented a brand new way of customizing LEGO minifigures to completely reflect a real person. To achieve this we first we take a close-up photograph of someone’s face, transform the photo into minifigME art and then apply it to a LEGO minifigure head-piece. We then complete the process by adding a finish that will protect the artwork and make it durable and long-lasting for both play and display. (UPDATE: this website is no longer available.)

We recently saw The LEGO Movie, and got inspired to create some new examples of our work. We took a shot at profiling some of the LEGO Stars “taking a break in between shooting”. We also did some cameos including Chris Pratt as Emmet, Will Ferrell as Lord Business, Will Arnett as Batman (yeah, we know it’s the wrong Batman suit… but he had to fly soon), and Liam Neeson as Bad Cop. It was a fun project!

We’ve also done minifigs of other starts; like the recent Sochi Olympians with Jenny Jones winning 1st ever snow medal for GB, Ellen DeGeneres hosting the Oscars, and David Beckham – LEGO lover and greatest soccer player ever.

Creating custom LEGO figures of real people is not just a fun process, but it also allowed us to be part of peoples’ lives during heartfelt moments that we never expected. We had the honor of making young LEGO-fan Mitchell Jones’s entire family into minifigME characters, which brought him joy just days before his tragic passing from Muscular Dystrophy (read full story here: Remembering Young LEGO-Fan Mitchell Jones). We also made a minifigME of a single father Marine and his young son and they, literally, carried each other around in their pocket (and their hearts) until they were reunited. We’ve also done minifigME characters of siblings for 3 families of separated foster kids that helped soothe their feelings of being apart.

These examples (and others we’ve experienced) just goes to show that LEGO is so much more then just a lifeless toy. We believe that facilitating kids to have their faces printed on “the all-time greatest toy ever made” fosters positive self-esteem as they can play out being Olympians, princesses and superheroes with their very own minifigure. And for parents minifigME characters are the perfect keepsake – like a child’s handprint from kindergarten.

If you would like to make your own minifigME character or considering minifigME as a gift to someone, come by to our website at minifigME.com and we can help you with the process. Also, if you have any questions, comments, suggestions or requests, please feel free to ask in the comment section below. Thanks for reading! (UPDATE: this website is no longer active.)

And you might also like to check out the following related posts:

Remembering Young LEGO-Fan Mitchell Jones

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New LEGO storage & sorting boxes review

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