Second row, second from left in flight direction was my first Lego set I got during my first visit to West Berlin in Nov '89. I played lot with this set 
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That one’s on my list; it’s currently on backorder until March.
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Ah man, I see Futuron, Magnetron, AND Blacktron in there. That brings back a lot of fond memories.
Speaking of, have y’all seen this? I’m having a hard time saying no to it:
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It is a cool set but I prefer the old one.
Edit: gah, the longer I look at it the more I like the new one.
I bought the new Invader for my brother though, because the old Invader is his favorite lego set ever, and it is pretty great.
I the meantime I built this. It was called the Aerial Intruder (or Spy Intruder):
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Had this one too. Those space ships had many cool features like dockable fighter pods or the rover bay.
I think I still have the complete collections of M-Tron sets in the basement…
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I always wanted more M-tron but they were too expensive so I never got more than the one small set.
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My brother and I mostly had Space Police (both generations) and Ice Planet.
The kids are ALMOST old enough to get out old Lego collection, but frankly we don’t have the space for it.
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My inner child wants this. Maybe my adult side, too. I resisted buying the Galaxy Explorer re-release. Something I may regret, years from now. Nostalgia is strong.
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You might like this one:
And I also built this Beholder (D&D monster):
Turns out building Lego is a great thing to do if you really don’t want to think about something bad that is happening in your life. You are… in control.
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OMG I love this so much! Where did you get it?
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There is an official D&D Lego set (set number 21348).
It is large-ish (over 3700 parts) and expensive (360€) but it contains several nice elements, among them a red dragon, a gelatinous cube, an owlbear, a displacer beast, myconids, and the beholder.
There is also a D&D 5E adventure that uses its elements so you can play a session or two with it.
It is nicely done but too expensive for me, which is really sad because I wanted that beholder, which isn’t sold separately.
So I did the following: I downloaded the instructions pdf from the Lego site, built the beholder in the free Bricklink Studio Lego CAD software, and used the file to export the parts list, which I then ordered at Bricklink.
I think the colors of a few parts of mine are slightly off from the original, as I couldn’t get the parts in the original color. But it is quite close.
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I had no idea you could do that!
UGH! Yeah it is expensive… but it looks amazing. Darn…
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There have been parts databases and Lego CAD software of varying quality for a while, but the new Studio 2.0 software is really pretty darn good. It knows every Lego part ever made, and its import/export function are decent (they have a few quirks, but those are manageable), so it can give you a csv file to make an order at Lego.com or you can upload the studio file itself to bricklink and turn it into a wishlist that you can then order.
I have been building old Lego sets for a few weeks now, and bricklink is really great for looking up and organizing your stuff, and to order spare parts.
…and that reminds me that I should make a list of sites that I am using in my Lego building adventures. Maybe y’all find it interesting.
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Hell yeah!
Ok, so here is a short and by no means complete list of cool tools that help Lego builders.
Lego.com is the main Lego site, with news, a store and everything, the usual.
But it also contains a shop for parts, they call it “Pick-a-brick”: LEGO® Pick a Brick | Offizieller LEGO® Shop DE
(I automatically get the German version, you will probably get switched to whatever fits best automatically)
On Pick-a-brick you can order all parts that Lego still makes. Well, almost all of them. There are parts that are exclusive to sets.
The problem you are facing is their naming system, which can be very confusing. I’ll tell you how to overcome it later.
Then there are several sites that have information about sets.
One I often use is https://brickset.com/
You can look up sets by year, name, or category.
I usually don’t use their search function though. Putting something “Lego sets space police brickset” or “lego sets city 1987 brickset” into a search engine often produces good links.
I found all my childhood lego sets there without problems, and brickset provides you with links to other sites that have the instructions, part list, or where you could buy the whole set. It is great if you don’t know the set number already, although the site still has uses if you know the number.
I am on mobile, which makes long posts difficult, so I’ll post the next few ones separately.
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Ok here we go with the next step: instructions.
Of course an Internet search for “lego + set number + instructions” usually gets you there, but if you have brickset open anyway you can use their links, which either point you at the official lego site (for rather new sets) or at one of these two:
Both are good. But sometimes they don’t have what you want. In that case your search engine might send you to worldbricks.com or toysperiod.com which are also decent sources. I like having pdfs but sometimes a jpg on a website will do. Their quality varies, depending who scanned them. And beware: old Lego instructions are a lot less detailed than they are now. Often they just show you before + after pictures and you have to see what changed. I grew up with them so I don’t mind it that much, but the newer ones make it a lot easier.
So now you have the set number and instructions. You need parts.
Brickset has a parts list, but it isn’t quite as good. The better alternative IMO is bricklink.com
Bricklink was originally a third party database and marketplace, but at some point Lego bought it so it is kinda official now.
You can search for sets and part numbers here. It will tell you which sets has which parts, when parts contain other parts, and so on.
As I understand it, Bricklink doesn’t exactly use Lego’s numbering system, they modified it a bit. The original Lego one is a bit confusing but bricklink can help you translate if you want to check if you can still order a part from Lego. Bricklink also knows about new parts that replaced old parts, and alternative numbers which for some reason exist. Lego sometimes has completely different part numbers for transparent vs. non-transparent parts of the exact same shape for example.
Bricklink will also tell you which parts were available in which colors, when they were produced, and how many are available on the market right now.
Bricklink also lets you create an account and you can make your own little database of your sets and parts, create wishlists for sets or parts (you can buy whole sets on the marketplace as well), and then you can throw the wishlists (called wanted lists) into the marketplace and it will try and find registered stores that sell the parts, and you can even let it auto-fill shopping carts so you can order. So far it works fine for me, but keep in mind that you sometimes have to shuffle stuff around a bit to keep shipping costs low.
Some of those registered stores are also official Lego stores it seems, so you can get both used and new parts from Bricklink.
It is quite possible that new parts are cheaper at Lego’s own site though. Especially since Lego itself provides free shipping if your order is more than a certain amount (I think 12€ here in Germany, YMMV).
There is another third party site/database/marketplace named BrickOwl. I haven’t used it much, but some people say that it is easier to use. Bricklink is the larger one though, and has the better database it seems. But there is a learning curve to it.
I’ll talk about Studio 2.0 in my next post.
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Ok, so what is Studio 2.0 and how do we use it?
If you have ever used a 3D CAD software such as Blender, 3DsMax, AutoCAD or a similar one, that’s what it basically is, except you cannot draw freely.
It a bit like EAGLE in that you have a parts list that you can search, and then you drag and drop the parts in, choose their color and orientation.
It has steps (kinda like layers), it has submodels, you can copy, paste, rotate, mirror, and connect things with each other, and you can of course manipulate hinges and stuff. The parts snap into the correct position automatically most of the time, and the program tells you when they collide.
The software can analyze your stability, find disconnected or too weak parts, and in the end it can help you create instructions for your new creation, or even render realistically looking pictures.
Apparently it can also create lego sculptures from standard 3D files, and create lego mosaics from photos, but I haven’t tried that yet.
Here is a link, it is free to download and use without registration (although it interfaces with Bricklink quite nicely if you have an account).
https://www.bricklink.com/v3/studio/download.page
Its part catalogue is the one from Bricklink, but it had import/export functions to help you if you need other formats.
On first glance the parts list is a bit confusing, because it is large and if you are like me then you have no clue how all the parts are named.
But after a short while you will find out that most parts fit in one of around 16 categories, of which most have logical names. Once you have that, searching parts becomes a lot easier. I’ll get into that soon, but first I’ll show you the way to find some part when you have no clue:
- Find a set that contains the part in any color
- Look up that set’s inventory at Bricklink
- Find the part in the list and click on it
- On the part’s info page, check its item number
- Put the item number into Studio’s search field
You’ll quickly learn the categories.
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@Troll please- someone, anyone! Create the title of “Master LEGO builder” and assign it to @Aginor ! 
What he’s writing might not be completely forgotten knowledge but it sure as hell easy to read and something that massively simplify the task of doing the research oneself.
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So, about those categories:
If you are like me then your old Lego is not sorted in any meaningful way. You don’t remember all the sets you had, you have no instructions, and all the parts are in a few large boxes that also contain 30+ year old dirt, dust, junk, broken parts, parts you arent sure are even Lego, and maybe like in my case: gummy bears that you probably should not eat.
I suggest washing parts by hand with dish soap and water, but people do wash them in washing machines (in a closed cloth bag).
Be careful: some of the (pre-1990) parts with prints you shouldn’t scrub too vigorously, and you probably shouldn’t wash the ones with decals at all. Just dust them off.
Afterwards you need around 20 containers of different sizes. Lego had more categories but those 20 should do it unless you have an absolute metric ton of Legos at home.
These are roughly the categories that BrickLink also uses. Occasionally you will get parts that don’t properly fit their categories, or fit multiple ones, but both the Bricklink sites and Studio also know alternative names and they usually make sense. Once I trained myself and my family, the categories made our lives MUCH easier. Less searching, more building.
The large ones are:
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Brick: Most of the tall parts. Usually rectangular or round footprint. “Normal Lego”. You can put corner parts in here or not.
You may want to make an extra category for the very small ones (4 studs or less) -
Plate: the low parts that have studs. Usually rectangular or round. Plates are usually 1/3 the height of bricks. You may want to make an extra category for the very small ones (4 studs or less)
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Slope: everything that has a slope, inverted or regular, as long as it still has a rectangular footprint and at least one stud.
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Technic part: Everything that has holes for technic pins, or is an axle or pin, all gears and racks and stuff.
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Wheel: everything that is a wheel, rim, or tire or has one attached to it in a way that makes it not easily removable.
The smaller ones are:
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Tile: everything that has no studs at all, is completely flat.
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Brick, modified: same as brick, but with studs on the sides, and/or protrusions in some direction.
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Plate, modified: same as plate, but with protrusions or something.
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Tile, modified: same as tile, but with protrusions.
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Window/door: self explanatory.
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Hinge: stuff that can move, regardless of direction. This includes simple hinges (vertical, horizontal), bricks or plates, but I also put winches in there.
You may want to make subcategories here. I used a box that has compartments and just sorted them between vertical and horizontal movement, and “others”. -
Wedge: Usually plates or bricks, or even slopes that have fancy shapes instead of being rectangular.
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Panel: footprint like a plate or brick, usually at least brick height, but not “filled”, only a wall.
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Bracket: like a panel, but with studs on the side. Some of the seats (the space seats) qualify.
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Antenna: all antennas, regardless of size.
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Minifigure part: all guys/gals or body parts, or things that they can hold in their hands. All plants and animals and their accessories.
I also have these two:
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transparent parts that are not windows. I don’t put the transparent 1x1 plates or tiles into the large box. That makes them too hard to find.
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parts with prints/ decals on them, regardless of their category.
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everything else. I call them “special parts”.
For sorting them I just printed out a piece of paper with the category name and short description, and pictures of one or two examples. I put those on a table and the ground and put the containers on top. Took my family and me a few days to sort but it is worth it in the long run.
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