Best current inventory system - sets / parts

[jedijon]

Would like to know what you consider the best inventory system and why?

Have been collecting LEGO for ~1yr and have a bunch of sets and now just a few extra parts and would like to inventory. From what I can see brickset/rebrickable are the places where folks have an inventory. I'm currently adding sets into rebrickable and can see the draw to its functionality, "can I build this". Apparently I can designate certain official sets (and MOCs should I take the time to upload an inventory for one...) to exempt parts from my collections list of currently available parts for building.

I don't know how to tell LDD or a similar program that I've only got certain elements...so I couldn't speak to the usefulness of inventory for virtual building. But I CAN quite easily see how I could either LDD my own MOC or somehow access a parts list for a set/MOC I don't own and use the inventory solution to tell me what's missing so that I can buy it. Duh, I'm sure. :) Hoping you can help me sort out the pros/cons and available features of each method so I can pick one/several!

My immediate problem with rebrickable is that while I only have a few hundred parts not easily associated with a set...I've got a bunch of incomplete sets. So I can add an Atlantis theme set to my list, but it's missing a handful of pieces. I really don't want it to be 98% accurate...how do I add the set but subtract the missing pieces? Same with a ton of LotR sets, got them w/o minifigs. I don't expect this inaccuracy to impact my ability to calculate and subsequently order missing parts for MOCs when it's the bricks/slopes/arches/etc that interest me but STILL - would like to avoid inaccuracy! Solutions very much welcomed.

[JGW3000]

There is a way to limit the parts list in LDD to only the parts, with the correct quantities, in your inventory. You will need to create an LDD file with all of your parts that you are wanting to build with, either manually or using software such as LDDmanager. Then copy this file into the LEGO application subdirectory, on my PC it is "C:\Users\your user name\AppData\Roaming\LEGO Company\LEGO Digital Designer\UserPalettes". Then in LDD, make certain you in in "standard" LDD mode (not extended or Mindstorms), and on the bottom left, under the brick palette, click on the icon for "filter bricks by boxes", and you should see your custom parts file. You will need to exit and then start LDD again, and it seems to be a bit flakey, but otherwise works great. My custom parts LDD file has 11,000 elements in it, with no problems using it.

[Duq]

My advice would be: don't go there. I was where you are a (good) few years ago. When you only have a few sets and a handful of extra parts you can still just about keep track.

Now you've designed a MOC and you're ordering 200 parts from two different sellers on Bricklink. Are you going to enter all those parts? Maybe there's a way to get the details from the confirmation email or from Bricklink so your parts inventory is still up to date.

Then you go to an event and you get a goody-bag with lots of parts. Or you buy some second hand parts on eBay. Or your inventory tells you you still have 4 of part x but you don't because you didn't build that MOC last year exactly according to your design...

See where this is going? Just look in your drawers and order what you need.

[Erik Leppen]

My advice would be: don't go there.

I went there. And to be honest, I am still using my inventory system quite intensively. However, my inventory system is nothing more than a huge spreadsheet that only contains the parts I'm actually using frequently. I don't list parts that I need once a year - that's a waste of time. But I do list the bricks, plates and slopes - those I actually use. And it's incredibly handy to have a large list of all common parts and see at a single glance which colour scheme is the best for my upcoming idea.

I don't use the online systems. They might have the benefits of using set inventories, but I'm not helped by that because every set contains parts I seldom use and that I don't want to clutter my list. So I keep the list by hand - and I consider it part of the fun, because I get to see which new part-color combinations I have with every purchase.

Interestingly, none of the online systems I know of, allow me to have the part type on one axis and the color on the other, and being able to reorder them the way I want it. All online systems I have seen can maybe put 20 part-color combinations on the screen at once - which is nothing. With my huge table I can get 60 rows and 30 columns on one screen at once. That's an overview :). Also, the parts in the list are sorted the same way as those in my part bins - not using name or ID (who ever thought of sorting by ID? IDs are meaningless numbers), but using the same way I actually sorted my parts.

All those shiny online systems may look nice and have a lot of options for editing data, but they are usually very bad at presenting the data. They just aren't very flexible. (That's probably because they have been designed by programmers - not by designers.)

I'm using this for a few years now, and it has about 40,000 parts in it (althought I might throw out the black pins, I never run short of those so these have no use of being in there).

So my advice - take some time to reall think about what information you expet to get out of such a system, how it will help you, what time will it save, which system will work for you, and whether the time saved by having this info, is worth the time invested in keeping the info up-to-date. After all, it has no use collecting info you won't be using. In fact, it only distracts.

Edited November 13, 2014 by Erik Leppen

[Gongoro73]

^Sounds reasonable. Could you post a picture of one of your spreadsheets? I'm curious.

[alanyuppie]

As a programmer, I coded my own inventory system (a local JAVA web app) to help me store my parts needed for MOCs and parts fulfilled by bricklink so that I can easily calculate the parts list if I where to build n number of them. For eg.

( 3 x LEGO Optimus Prime ) - bricklink-seller-A - bricklink-seller-B = parts not yet fulfilled/ordered

The interface of my app looks clunky but it saved me hours from coordinating multiple bricklink shop ordering sessions.

[mrbradford]

Why not use Bricklink to part out all your sets into your store that is never open for business?

[Erik Leppen]

^Sounds reasonable. Could you post a picture of one of your spreadsheets? I'm curious.

[Kalais]

Had same dilema few weeks ago. Even made topic here.

I tested most of the systems/websites and I stick to Rebricable.

You can edit there missing pieces from sets so you will be 100% accurate with your parts.

You can view all your parts and sort them by color or type or id. It is perfect.

You can see there one huge table with ALL your parts on 1 page!

You can in very easy way import your order from bricklink. No need enter bricks 1 by 1. Everything is very simple.

And site looks very nice.