LEGO Vacuum Sorter vs LEGO Brick Sorter (Detailed Overview)

Playing with LEGO is a great but there is one part that us LEGO enthusiasts never look forward to and that’s picking the bricks up at the end, this is where a LEGO Vacuum Sorter or LEGO Brick Sorter comes in! Using a LEGO Vacuum Sorter or LEGO Brick Sorter you can not only pick up your bricks with ease but they will also be organised by size in the process too. In this post we will take a look at both inventions and the pros/cons of each, we will also take a look at other great ways to easily sort your LEGO bricks too.

Unnecessary Inventions LEGO Vacuum Sorter

The LEGO Vacuum Sorter invented by Unnecessary Inventions is a simple but effective way to clear up your loose LEGO bricks and minifigures.

This LEGO Vacuum Sorter is made up of 4 sections, each section has been divided using plates that have different sized holes which only allows certain types of bricks and pieces to pass through.

Let’s cover the pros and cons…

LEGO Vacuum Sorter Pros

• Can be designed for any vacuum
• Quickly pick up any loose bricks
• Easily sort your bricks by size
• Sections are held together by magnets so you can easily empty each section
• Potential to make it bigger than 4 sections
• Potential to have multiple sections with the same sized holes
• Different sections can be made with bigger or smaller holes

LEGO Vacuum Sorter Cons

• Some pieces do not fall all the way through if it doesn’t hit one of the holes
• There is a limit to how much you can suck up
• Requires access to a 3D printer to make
• As more bricks are sucked up the sorting will become less successful
• Would require frequent shaking or emptying to effectively use the sorter

If you are interested in learning more about Unnecessary Inventions LEGO Vacuum Sorter you can watch their YouTube video below.

If you are a gadget person and love to see what Unnecessary Inventions designs you can follow him on YouTube and Twitter to never miss one of his innovative inventions!

How Do You Make a LEGO Sorter?

After reading and watching Unnecessary Inventions LEGO Vacuum Sorter are now feeling like you need to make something of your own? Perhaps you are more interested in to make your own LEGO Sorter?

DIY LEGO Brick Sorter by I Like To Make Stuff

Unlike the LEGO Vacuum Sorter this method does not rely on a vacuum cleaner to create a suction to pick up your LEGO bricks.

This LEGO Brick Sorter requires you to put the bricks manually in the top of the sorter and then give it a gentle shake to move the bricks around to fall through the holes.

Even though you have to manually put the LEGO bricks in the top of the sorter there is a potential that this actually makes the sorting process easier, this is especially the case if you mount it to the side of your table.

Let’s see what the pros and cons are of this LEGO Brick Sorter.

LEGO Brick Sorter Pros

• Can be made bigger than this version if required
• Wall or table mountable for ease of use
• LEGO bricks fall through the LEGO Brick Sorter in to a container
• Do not have to dismantle the LEGO Brick Sorter to get the LEGO bricks out
• Can be designed at a fairly low cost
• Can be designed in any colour

LEGO Brick Sorter Cons

• Small surface area meaning you can only sort a small amount at a time
• Requires you to shake the LEGO Brick Sorter to get it to sort your LEGO bricks

LEGO Vacuum Sorter or LEGO Brick Sorter?

I think that the LEGO Vacuum Sorter is a great innovative invention but to me its more of a gadget providing more style than function.

The LEGO Vacuum Sorter does allow you to pick up your LEGO bricks easily due to using the vacuum’s suction but there are times when it just isn’t practical to do it this way.

What if the LEGO bricks are on a table with other things around it for example… the last thing you want to happen is other things being sucked up whilst you are trying to tidy up / sort your LEGO bricks!

The LEGO Brick Sorter seems a far more viable solution because of a few reasons. The deciding factors for me are:

• It can be made to any size you want, you can make it work to the amount of available space you have
• It doesn’t require a vacuum cleaner to be on hand
• You can wall or table mount it so you can actually just use it whilst you are building your LEGO if you wanted
• It is cheaper to produce as you don’t need to use any expensive tools such as 3D printers

I would be interested to hear which LEGO sorter you would choose. Share this post on social media and give your opinion, remember to tag us in!

Other Ways to Sort Your LEGO

The LEGO Vacuum Sorter and LEGO Brick Sorters are great innovative ways to sort LEGO but if you aren’t a DIY type person then don’t worry as there are a lots of other ways to sort and store your LEGO bricks.

Here are some ideas I have personally used and found to be an effective way to keep your LEGO bricks in order.

LEGO Sorting Bin

There are a few types of LEGO Sorting Bins you can get, which one you pick really just depends on your intention of sorting your LEGO bricks.

LEGO SlideAway Holder

If you are just looking for a convenient way to play and pack away your LEGO bricks this product is amazing.

With this product all you have to do is keep the LEGO on the pull out sheet and then once you are finished just pick it up and slide the LEGO bricks back in the holder… as simple as that.

LEGO Stackable Storage Hobby Boxes

This method does take longer to do but once you are done you will really reap the benefit from being organised.

If you are in to designing your own LEGO MOCs for example it is really crucial that you can find the LEGO bricks you need as quickly as possible, otherwise you will spend hours just finding the bricks you need… that is if you even have the one you need.

These types of storage are also great to work in tandem with the DIY LEGO Sorter solutions that we covered earlier. Just sort the LEGO bricks and then store them appropriately.

LEGO Storage Head

The LEGO Storage Head is a fun way to store your LEGO bricks, the biggest downside to this type of storage however is its a nightmare to find anything you need without tipping the whole lot out.

Tubs and Containers

This is a really simple way to sort and store your loose LEGO bricks… tubs and containers.

I have used old yoghurt pots, butter tubs and ice cream tubs before. Basically if it is a container it will work just fine.

Once you have your containers take a sharpie or another type of permanent pen and write on the side of the container identifying what is inside.

Remember if you think of a coding system and use a website like Bricklink to manage your inventory you can easily find which container has the piece you want inside it.