Taking down Lego buildings. Oy!

[Night Elf]

My ds built a Lego city on a 6 foot folding table. It's a mix of sets and his own creations. When he lost interest in it, we moved it from his room where it was taking up a lot of space to the library. He wasn't ready to take it down. That was over a year ago. He's never gone into that room once to even look at the city, let alone touch a Lego. 

 

So... we got the cat and we made the library his room. It's where his litter pan is, and his food/water. The table is pushed up against the double windows so he's moved some of the Lego creations to the side and has created a small space to lay down in and look out the window. That didn't bother me because that back corner of the city was all made-up creations and they weren't really organized.

 

Anyway!

 

Last night the dog got past the gate in the hallway and took off down the hall to my bedroom where the cat spends most of his day. The cat was in the library, probably on the Lego table because we heard a terrific crash and then the cat shot out of the library, across the hall, running past the dog, and dove under our bed in our bedroom. When I looked into the library, there were Legos everywhere! Ds has modular buildings that are stuck together. One building's top two floors hit the ground along with a lot of little things. So I talked to ds about finally taking down the table and he agreed. Success!! I've been after him doing this since he lost interest at age 18. 

 

So I'm helping him make some sense of this table. Only he knows what he wants to do with his personal creations. I'm trying to focus on the sets. I took apart the Market Street modular building this morning working backwards in the instruction manual. I have 5 gallon size bags labeled 1 of 5, 2 of 5, etc. with the building name and floor description on each bag. It really wasn't bad and didn't take me long.

 

BUT now I have to do the Green Grocer modular building. This is the one that is half on the floor. I picked up all the Legos off the floor into one bag and brought it to the dining room. I"m going to have to spread out all the pieces and use the instruction manual to see what pieces go to that set. When I'm finished and all pieces are accounted for, anything left over are the extra creations ds made to decorate the table. This is going to be challenging. I think I'm going to need lots of chocolate to get me through.

 

Now you must remember that ds has Aspergers. He doesn't like change and he believes in keeping his Lego sets together. We can't just break it all down. He's got plastic filing drawers filled with extra Lego pieces sorted by color. Those are all so full that we can't fit much more into them anyway.

 

I'm sure he wants to keep the sets. I'll bag everything up including the directions and anytime he's in the mood to build something he can choose. But my question is what do I do with all those extra Lego pieces he'll probably never touch again? I'd have to ask his permission to get rid of them but I don't know where to take them. I am not excited about using Craigs List. I've heard some bad stories of stuff happening to people who are trying to sell things or even give them away. So I'm not inclined to use them. What else can I do with them? Good Will won't take toys that have small pieces so I doubt they'd take a bag of Lego bricks.

 

I'm so happy we're finally taking this Lego city down but this is creating worries that I don't need right now.

[Bambam]

I must be a mean mom. Because I'd be tempted to bag everything up and let him sort them out. If keeping them separate is important to him, then it is on him to do so. Like I said, I'd bag it up, and see if he still wanted them or he wanted to dispose of them. If no answer or he doesn't take care of getting rid of them in a timely manner, then I'd post them on my local homeschool groups for a reasonable price - or free. Or call any local Children's hospital and see if they were interested. Or Children's Museum - ours would take them in a heartbeat - our library too. 

[Night Elf]

I must be a mean mom. Because I'd be tempted to bag everything up and let him sort them out. If keeping them separate is important to him, then it is on him to do so. Like I said, I'd bag it up, and see if he still wanted them or he wanted to dispose of them. If no answer or he doesn't take care of getting rid of them in a timely manner, then I'd post them on my local homeschool groups for a reasonable price - or free. Or call any local Children's hospital and see if they were interested. Or Children's Museum - ours would take them in a heartbeat - our library too. 

 

He's on the opposite sleep schedule as me and DH. He used to work the overnight shift at the grocery store and when he quit last month, he hasn't changed his sleep schedule. So he does stuff in the night while I'm asleep and I do stuff during the day when he's asleep. That's why I'm choosing the easy stuff, the sets with instructions. I'm not going to bag up that whole table when it has sets and vehicles and buildings. That's absurd. Keeping these sets is important to him. His passion for Legos started when he was 2 and went until he was about 18. That's an Aspie thing, to have such an intense passion. Messing up the table in a non-methodical way would hurt him and makes no sense anyway.

 

I'll check with the library. I'm only willing to give away that loose pieces that don't belong to sets. We're keeping the sets. 

[historically accurate]

You can donate to a homeless shelter, a local homeschool co-op, the library, or an afterschool program like the YMCA. You could sell on ebay (usually sold by pound, so 10 pounds bricks = so many $$). Craigslist - some police stations allow sale transactions, maybe yours does? You could freecycle and just leave them on your porch one day for pickup. 

 

Personally, I'd make him do the sorting, but that's just me and my hatred of sorting LEGOs talking. 

[Granny_Weatherwax]

First of all, ((Night Elf)), I can only imagine the stress you and your DS are experiencing at the moment.

 

Does the animal shelter you volunteer for have garage sale days? They might like them to sell and then the profit would help the animals. Perhaps your local elementary school would take them. If you or your DS would like to keep the money, I agree with the PP who suggested selling them on a homeschool website. You might even get lucky and someone here on TWTM might ask you about them.  That would be wonderful.

Edited December 9, 2017 by Scoutermom

[Rachel]

I’ll take them 😉.

 

My brother recently discovered that Legos have a number on the bottom indicating what set they belong to, you can find that number and go to bricklink.com to find the instructions for that set. I’m not saying you should do that, but if your son wants to figure out which set the pieces go to, he can figure it out.

[Granny_Weatherwax]

I’ll take them 😉.

 

My brother recently discovered that Legos have a number on the bottom indicating what set they belong to, you can find that number and go to bricklink.com to find the instructions for that set. I’m not saying you should do that, but if your son wants to figure out which set the pieces go to, he can figure it out.

Thank you for sharing that information. I have a huge tub of Legos and being able to determine which set they go to would be wonderful. It would be a task for a snow day or when I am otherwise stuck in the house but it's good to know.

[hjffkj]

Mail them to me!!

 

But really, see if a place like Ronald McDonald House would want them. Or a children's hospital.

[hjffkj]

Even the library might take them. Libraries around here have Lego building groups. One even has a Lego room

[alisoncooks]

Even the library might take them. Libraries around here have Lego building groups. One even has a Lego room

 

Yup.  Our library has a Lego Club (though the previous leader moved and took all his Legos with him and now the library is having to start over and rebuild the collection).  

[Rachel]

Thank you for sharing that information. I have a huge tub of Legos and being able to determine which set they go to would be wonderful. It would be a task for a snow day or when I am otherwise stuck in the house but it's good to know.

He was able to find instructions for all his sets for the late 80’s, early 90’s. He suggested using the more unique pieces to figure out the sets.

[vonfirmath]

My ds built a Lego city on a 6 foot folding table. It's a mix of sets and his own creations. When he lost interest in it, we moved it from his room where it was taking up a lot of space to the library. He wasn't ready to take it down. That was over a year ago. He's never gone into that room once to even look at the city, let alone touch a Lego. 

 

So... we got the cat and we made the library his room. It's where his litter pan is, and his food/water. The table is pushed up against the double windows so he's moved some of the Lego creations to the side and has created a small space to lay down in and look out the window. That didn't bother me because that back corner of the city was all made-up creations and they weren't really organized.

 

Anyway!

 

Last night the dog got past the gate in the hallway and took off down the hall to my bedroom where the cat spends most of his day. The cat was in the library, probably on the Lego table because we heard a terrific crash and then the cat shot out of the library, across the hall, running past the dog, and dove under our bed in our bedroom. When I looked into the library, there were Legos everywhere! Ds has modular buildings that are stuck together. One building's top two floors hit the ground along with a lot of little things. So I talked to ds about finally taking down the table and he agreed. Success!! I've been after him doing this since he lost interest at age 18. 

 

So I'm helping him make some sense of this table. Only he knows what he wants to do with his personal creations. I'm trying to focus on the sets. I took apart the Market Street modular building this morning working backwards in the instruction manual. I have 5 gallon size bags labeled 1 of 5, 2 of 5, etc. with the building name and floor description on each bag. It really wasn't bad and didn't take me long.

 

BUT now I have to do the Green Grocer modular building. This is the one that is half on the floor. I picked up all the Legos off the floor into one bag and brought it to the dining room. I"m going to have to spread out all the pieces and use the instruction manual to see what pieces go to that set. When I'm finished and all pieces are accounted for, anything left over are the extra creations ds made to decorate the table. This is going to be challenging. I think I'm going to need lots of chocolate to get me through.

 

Now you must remember that ds has Aspergers. He doesn't like change and he believes in keeping his Lego sets together. We can't just break it all down. He's got plastic filing drawers filled with extra Lego pieces sorted by color. Those are all so full that we can't fit much more into them anyway.

 

I'm sure he wants to keep the sets. I'll bag everything up including the directions and anytime he's in the mood to build something he can choose. But my question is what do I do with all those extra Lego pieces he'll probably never touch again? I'd have to ask his permission to get rid of them but I don't know where to take them. I am not excited about using Craigs List. I've heard some bad stories of stuff happening to people who are trying to sell things or even give them away. So I'm not inclined to use them. What else can I do with them? Good Will won't take toys that have small pieces so I doubt they'd take a bag of Lego bricks.

 

I'm so happy we're finally taking this Lego city down but this is creating worries that I don't need right now.

 

1. If your library has a Lego club, donate the extra Legos to them.

 

2. School libraries (at least at the elementary level) also appreciate Legos Very Much. "Maker time" where they put out various types of building tools for kids to build with is a popular thing now.  So my 1st grader goes to library to get books once a week and to have Maker time once a week as well.

 

3. I'm VERY surprised your Goodwill will not take Legos. But really I'd do 1 or 2.

 

Edited December 10, 2017 by vonfirmath

[scholastica]

He's on the opposite sleep schedule as me and DH. He used to work the overnight shift at the grocery store and when he quit last month, he hasn't changed his sleep schedule. So he does stuff in the night while I'm asleep and I do stuff during the day when he's asleep. That's why I'm choosing the easy stuff, the sets with instructions. I'm not going to bag up that whole table when it has sets and vehicles and buildings. That's absurd. Keeping these sets is important to him. His passion for Legos started when he was 2 and went until he was about 18. That's an Aspie thing, to have such an intense passion. Messing up the table in a non-methodical way would hurt him and makes no sense anyway.

 

I'll check with the library. I'm only willing to give away that loose pieces that don't belong to sets. We're keeping the sets. 

You're a really good mom. I just want you to know that.

[Annie G]

Have you taken pics of his creations? A Shutterfly book with pics of his Lego creations might be a nice gift one day. 

[vonfirmath]

I'll check with the library. I'm only willing to give away that loose pieces that don't belong to sets. We're keeping the sets. 

 

The libraries only want loose pieces. They are not going to keep sets together. Too much work. They have a huge bin of Legos for their Club members/patrons to use to build with.

[TheReader]

One trick we learned when we moved back from Brazil (and half our luggage was Lego, so I completely, utterly get it, 10000%) -- anything you are unable to break apart just yet, or can't find the instructions, or even just want it off the table but able to work on it in shifts.....if you don't have bags large enough for the large buildings put together, you can wrap the full item in saran wrap (several layers) and it will keep it together enough that you can pack these into a tub or box or such and dismantle at a later time. Then you could pair the building and the instruction booklet, and then sort into the baggies later. 

 

Alternately, my boys don't seem to mind the "dump & sort" when it's time to build, so if you don't get all of the individual sets sorted into numbered bags (and some of the sets may be old enough they didn't *have* numbered bags in the beginning), you can still pair the building & instruction booklet, either wrapped or dismantled and in all one bag, and if/when he is ready to reassemble, he can sort at that time. 

 

For the one you are working on now....definitely a project for listening to an audio book, half-watching a TV program, etc. Kudos to you for doing it for him; I'd very likely do the same.

 

For the extra pieces that you do want to donate, yes, libraries, elementary schools, homeless shelter, after school program (Big Brothers/Big Sisters), YMCA, etc. would likely all be willing and happy to get any leftovers. 

[Night Elf]

Thanks everyone. Turns out he's not ready to get rid of any of his Legos. I'm not surprised. He's finally able to dismantle the city but he wants us to keep the loose pieces. I still have one of those big rolls of plastic cling that you use to wrap large items when you're moving. I'm going to seal the drawers in the rolling bins and the plastic boxes with lids. I already have Lego sets in the attic. I think they are Star Wars. I'm just going to move everything up in there and keep it until he feels ready to let some of it go.

 

FWIW, he still has a really big box of Matchbox and Hot Wheels cars. Another passion of his. It's so heavy I can't even lift it. That just sits in his room. I have no idea if he'll ever get rid of those things.