How to Catalogue a LEGO Collection (and What It's Worth)
To catalogue a LEGO collection, make one record per set with its set number, condition, and what you paid, then look up recent sold prices for each set in the same condition. The set number does most of the work: it identifies the set exactly, and every price guide is organised by it. Start with the sets you can identify easily, record a few facts about each, and value them last.
If you have a few shelves, some boxes in the loft, and a tub of loose bricks, this is the order that works.
Step 1: Gather and sort what you have
Put everything in three piles before you write anything down:
- Sealed sets. The set number is on the box, so these are quick.
- Opened sets you can name. Built models, or bags of parts with the box or instructions. The instructions show the set number on the front.
- Everything else. Loose bricks and builds you can't name. Leave these until last; you can identify the set later.
Doing the easy sets first gets most of the collection recorded quickly, and keeps the slow part from stalling the whole job.
Step 2: Decide what to record for each set
Record what changes the value or what you'd need for insurance. Everything else is optional.
The essentials
- Set number, such as 10294. Note the version suffix if there is one (10294-1), because some numbers were reused.
- Condition. Sealed (often written NISB, new in sealed box), opened but complete, built, or incomplete. This matters more to value than anything else.
- Box and instructions. Whether you have them, and their condition. A complete used set with its box and instructions is worth noticeably more than one without.
- Completeness. Complete, missing a few parts, or missing minifigures. Missing minifigures hurt value the most.
- What you paid and when. Useful for insurance and for seeing what has gone up.
Useful extras
- Where you bought it (shop, gift, second-hand, bulk lot)
- Whether the stickers are applied
- Notes, such as "box has a crushed corner"
- If you own two copies of a set, a separate record for each, since they're rarely in the same condition
You don't need to record the name, year, theme, or piece count by hand if your tool can fill them in from the set number. In a spreadsheet, you'll type those yourself.
Step 3: Spreadsheet or app?
A spreadsheet
Excel, Numbers or Google Sheets, with one row per set and a column for each field above. A simple starting layout:
Set number | Name | Condition | Box | Instructions | Complete? | Price paid | Date | Source | Notes
- Good for: small collections, total control over the columns, and it's free. You can sort, filter and total columns, and the file is easy to give to an insurer.
- Falls down on: everything is typed by hand, including names and piece counts. There are no pictures and no parts lists, and current values have to be looked up one set at a time and pasted in. Past a few dozen sets, keeping it up to date becomes the hard part.
An app
A collection app with a built-in catalog fills in the set details from the set number, shows the parts list, and can show market values next to each set.
- Good for: larger collections, collections that keep growing, and checking used sets for missing parts.
- Falls down on: you work within the fields the app gives you, and most apps need a paid upgrade for large collections.
Many people use both: an app for day-to-day tracking, and a spreadsheet export when they need a file to send someone.
Step 4: Value each set with BrickLink
BrickLink is the largest marketplace for LEGO sets and parts, and its price guide is the usual reference for what a set is worth. Search for the set number, open the set's page, and choose Price Guide. It shows four boxes:
- Last 6 Months Sales, for new and for used sets
- Current Items for Sale, for new and for used sets
Each box shows how many sold or are listed, and the minimum, average and maximum prices.
How to read it
- Use sales, not listings. Listings show what sellers hope to get. The last six months of sales show what buyers paid. See why sold prices are the number to trust.
- Match the condition. "New" on BrickLink means sealed. Anything opened is "used", even if every part is there. Value a sealed set against new sales and everything else against used sales.
- Check how many sold. An average built from three sales is a rough guide. One built from fifty is a reliable one.
- Look at the range. Used sets vary a lot. If yours has no box or instructions, aim toward the lower end of the used range. If it's complete with box and instructions in good condition, the average or above is reasonable.
- Discount incomplete sets. A set missing minifigures or key parts is worth well below a complete used one. Either price the missing pieces and subtract them, or treat the set as a parts lot. Tracking missing parts tells you exactly what's gone.
Adding it up
Write the value next to each set, add a column for the date you checked, and total it. Prices move, so recheck the valuable sets once or twice a year. For insurance, keep the list with photos of the sets and any receipts, and ask your insurer what evidence they want. A dated list based on recent sales is a sensible starting point.
Doing it in Afolio
Afolio is a LEGO collection app for iPhone, iPad and Mac, and it covers steps 2 to 4:
- Set details fill in automatically. Search the built-in catalog and add the set; the name, year, theme, piece count, picture and parts list are filled in.
- The fields from step 2 are built in. Each set's Inventory tab records overall, box and instructions condition, built status, stickers, completeness, how and where you got it, the date, what you paid, and notes. With Pro, each copy of a set gets its own record.
- BrickLink values on each set PRO. Add your own BrickLink API keys and a set's Overview tab shows new and used values, listed and sold, with average, median, minimum and maximum, next to what you paid. Afolio shows values set by set; it doesn't add up a total for the whole collection.
- A spreadsheet when you need one. Export your collection to CSV, with one row per copy and every field above, and open it in Numbers, Excel or Google Sheets. Export and import are free.
- Unknown sets and missing parts. Identify Set narrows the catalog by what you can see PRO, and the parts checklist shows exactly which pieces a used set is missing.
On iPhone you can add sets while standing at the shelf or in the loft, and the collection syncs to your iPad and Mac through your own iCloud account. Afolio is free for up to 25 sets, which is enough to try the method on part of a collection.
Try it yourself
Afolio tracks your LEGO collection on Mac, iPhone and iPad, with free iCloud sync between them. It's free for up to 25 sets, and Pro is a one-time upgrade with no subscription.
Prefer not to use the Mac App Store? Download the Mac version directly.
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