Does storing Legos clipped together affect their "clippiness" more over time?

JayB-SoCal

I love how brand new unused Legos snap together tightly (sometimes too tightly) and of course notice how some heavily-used pieces have minimal grip. I know that the over-used pieces are because of the constant use in building (friction causes loss of surface and wears away just enough to affect that snap) but I also wonder if Legos stored snapped together somehow lose that snappiness more than if stored loosely?

I ask because in order for me to store my Legos with any efficiency, I snap them together in certain ways to both save space and make it easy to take apart. So basically 80% of my parts will be sitting in a bin snapped together even when not used in a build. I don't know if that constant tension somehow affects the snappiness over time, even if it's not as much as would happen by using the pieces in constant building & re-building?

Markyd7

Personally I wouldn't, my office/storage can reach 16 degrees overnight in the winter and probably 30 degrees in the summer. The parts expanding and shrinking over time can't be good!
If you're keeping the room at a steady temperature throughout the year, it's probably ok.

Stellar

For my experience buying used lots, some small parts that are snapped for years (most white) have cracks on one side. 1x1 bricks, cheese slope, headlight brick and that kind.

PD: the "clipiness" you mention has a name by LEGO, it is Clutch Power.

JayB-SoCal

It's in my house, temperature varies between low 60s and high 70s F most of the year depending on season & time of day. I don't think that's enough to cause any temperature-based expansion/contraction. Stellar, those small parts I tend to store loose as there's little gain to clip them together for space savings. Anything that's about the size of a 1x2 brick or bigger I clip. I do clip together 1x2 & longer plates but I got extra storage bins recently and will probably start storing those plates loosely.

robernat

Anything that's about the size of a 1x2 brick or bigger I clip.

The more commonly used word is 'stack', bricks and plates are 'stacked' ;-)
I stack myself to save some storage space, but only used parts, I would never do so with new parts, regardless whether for selling or for my own projects, obviously when I do build my project, the parts get 'build with', but then they are no longer 'new' anyway ;-)

JayB-SoCal

Stacked. Stacked. OK, just an interesting note - I forget where I was reading this but there was someone writing about how very strict sellers should be about what is considered new versus used, etc, all good, I don't mind people wanting to be particular - I consider a part used if I just touch it. But anyway I kind of laughed when I remember reading that person's write-up how he designated in-store Lego as "new". I'm pretty sure with in-Store Lego pieces we would all have to presume 80 kids with runny noses have clipped^^^^^stacked each piece about 15 times and dropped it on the dirty floor 30 times to be swept up by store staff and put back into the bins.

robernat

It is indeed a never ending discussion... Sellers simply need to be 'honest' about the parts they are selling. Now there are PaB walls where one can fill cups, grab a handfull of parts and fill the cup, they can normally be considered 'new', but it remains a sellers duty to actually inspect the quality of each part, as some might have dropped on the floor and put back...
I'm not sure whether high quanties are 'sorted out' by the staff and placed back in the correct bin, that might be an intersting thing to ask them.
Now, if from that same wall, a re-seller goes trough the trouble of 'stacking' bricks and plates to save space and put more in the cup (not even sure if it's worth the effort), then they should be self critical and simply sell those stacked items 'used', because there is deliberate action which is no different compared to 'building'.
When it comes down to other 'mass' picking of parts in mixed tubs, that are designed for kids to build and play 'in store' then it is more realistic to consider all of those 'used', as indeed they fall on the floor, kids build with it, take them apart, and the 'used' condition actually starts by the rummage in the boxes.
By individual inspection of each part, sellers could simply sell 'used' with a note saying 'as new from mass picking' and ask the same price as new parts, would be more 'honest' and at least buyers know where they came from and can judge for themselves whether or not they should buy such parts. If all sellers would be honest about the condition of their parts, then there wouldn't be such discussions, but unfortunatly some prefer making extra benefit...

fitbricks

Just a point to note and by no means am I suggesting this a Lego Store policy:

I while back, in a local branch, I child was messing with a small PAB pot which had been left on the side. He dropped it and quickly walked away. I was about to tidy it up myself (into the pot) but a staff member came by and cleared it up into the pot and then tipped it all into one of the play bins. None of it was put back on the PAB wall.

leopard37

Lego store policy is anything that hits the ground will be recycled eventually. PAB wall drops are considered a loss. However, management I would assume be different from store to store... RobErNat, if you buy say 2x4 bricks from a PAB wall and put them in your inventory to sell and you stacked them in the cup, do you still consider them new?

Tyson.

robernat

RobErNat, if you buy say 2x4 bricks from a PAB wall and put them in your inventory to sell and you stacked them in the cup, do you still consider them new?

Tyson.

I already gave the answer to your question even before you asked ;-)

Re-quote:

Now, if from that same wall, a re-seller goes trough the trouble of 'stacking' bricks and plates to save space and put more in the cup (not even sure if it's worth the effort), then they should be self critical and simply sell those stacked items 'used', because there is deliberate action which is no different compared to 'building'.

JayB-SoCal

I do this (when buying from PaB), plus I plan on building with all my bricks. If I ever put a store up to sell bricks, even if I never build from them I would just list 100% of my pieces as used. It would honestly be too time-consuming to separate. The only time I would not consider a brick used is if it's still in the packaging from Lego itself (a shipment from them, a PaB box or an unopened set or still in the plastic Lego bags). Everything else I would consider "used" and apply different levels of used: like new, good, adequate, poor.

JayB-SoCal

I got extra bins recently and re-organzed my parts so that now most of them are stored loose and not stacked. The only ones I'm keeping stacked now for storage efficiency are thick bricks (1x2 brick or larger) unless they're specialized or premium colors. Meaning, the simple standard bricks which are easy to replace (reasonably cheap) and easy to take apart when clipped. If I do clip plate pieces, I offset the stacking so that they can be pulled apart easy.

I may need to re-organize & get more bins again soon as I think today I'm ordering 2 of a large set + spare bricks from Lego.com PaB which will add another 9,000 pieces and bring to around 50,000 parts with enough variety to build most (non-Technic-y) things I would want.

That will bring me me to what I'll probably be hunting down color-specific through the summer & end of year: tan, dark tan, sand green & sand blue. Basics I can get OK, it's the slope/roof & special pieces that cost way too much. Then bargain & discount hunting toward Christmas to get sets for parting out.

LaurenMac

As a seller I normally sell all my inventory as good used since most of it second hand and not new. I generally stack them together cause it takes up less space in the little baggies and in the bigger bins, and my basement stays a consistent temp year around. Stacking them together makes them easier to count when I am adding them to my store.

robernat

@LaurenMac quite ok offcourse, your bricks are already 'used', stacking them won't make the slightest difference to their already 'used' condition ;-)
Another advantage on stacking used bricks is you can have a better quality control, as you will be able to quickly weed out the really bad ones.
So your method is quite good, I've applied it on 'used' for many years :-)

JayB-SoCal

OK, so basically I don't think there is likely any concern over loss of "clutch power" if they are stored stacked (in a climate-controlled environment) - however, I have noticed that many bricks I get from PaB wall initially have some kind of super-clutch strength that goes to normal after a couple re-stacks.

Now onto the last question, if we simply store new bricks this way and thus honestly should consider them "used" are they "like new" used or "good" used? This may be where the bloody line is drawn in the sand. If I've barely or never used the bricks but have stored them stacked, I would consider this "like new" used unless there is obvious usage (minor surface scratching or very slight usage visibility).

LaurenMac

I rarely sell New bricks. I know that when I go to the PaB at my local lego store, I click the bricks and plates together cause it allows me to get more into the bucket. More value for my money. When I get home, I typically unclick them and put them in my bins in my personal collection of Lego. I rarely buy new bricks and sell them on here. I know that many of the 1x2 bricks I have come across could pass as like new or even new, but I still list them as good. If a customer orders 20 and I have 100+ in stock, I try to give the customer the best of that crop. Over time, the hues of yellows, blues and red brown have changed, and I try to give the customer the same hue in the best condition possible.

LaurenMac

I used to sell Lego on ebay, but then I switched to just selling lego here. One of the advantages of ebay is the ability to see exactly what you are getting as a buyer from the pictures. In some ways it would be nice, especially with sets (I sell a lot of bionicle type sets) to have a picture of what you are actually getting from me. What some would label as "like new" others pass off as "good". What some pass as "good" are better described as "acceptable". Some people are more picky than others.

Markyd7

There's a guide for part quality.
http://www.brickowl.com/help/item-conditions

fitbricks

Lot of food for thought here. Accordingly, have slightly updated my Quality & Condition page.
http://fitbricks.brickowl.com/page/qualitycondition

Cheers! These discussions can be of real value.

JayB-SoCal

Most of the parts I get through here I would consider "like new" and the ones marked "new" have almost always appeared legit new.

I was reading about ABS plastic and it seems that over time it's oxygen in the air that discolors the surface even if they're sitting unused - which is easy enough to clean if someone wants to take the time.

Anyway in reading that about the oxygen reactions over time, it now makes me believe that in a reasonable smoke-free climate-controlled environment (no huge temperature of humidity variations - basically an air-conditioned house) that keeping them stacked when stored may actually be BETTER for long-term clutch power because the connection is air-tight which them limits the oxygen reactions for at least where the pieces snap together - which I think reduces the likelihood of the surface building up clutch-reducing friction.

I read claims of people who carefully clean their parts with at least some warm liquids that the clutch power and new feeling of the bricks is restored. I'm a little skeptical of that claim because any bricks that have been continuously stacked & taken apart will have microscopic scratches & scraping that will reduce the tension. It's possible that the heat restores the plastic to a less rigid state which the oxygen reaction over many years might introduce. Then again, that same heat may warp the bricks slightly if too high thus making them worse.