Review: Blokpod sorting and storage system
Posted by Huw,
Blokpod is a new product designed for sorting LEGO and other construction toys by size.
Having been sent one by the manufacturer to review, we have put it through its paces to see how well it performs.
The product consists of a lid with holes to facilitate carrying, and four circular containers each of 26cm diameter, three of which have a sieve base and one that has a solid base. Overall the unit stands 42cm high.
The four sections are connected by a bayonet mount system and the sieve bases are also held in place using a similar method.
It's very well made, easy to operate if a little stiff at first, and everything stays in place once it's all assembled. The sieves are colour coded and have different sized holes. In the top red one they are 23mm square, the yellow one, 18mm and the bottom blue one, 15mm.
I'm sure you can work out how to use it: you simply pour your unsorted LEGO in the top and shake. Before you even shake it some parts fall through to the lower levels.
After a minute or so's vigorous shaking the device has done its job and the parts are sorted by size.
Brick sorters such as this are not new, but this one works well, and is particularly well made and designed. It also doubles as a robust storage system that isn't prone to spilling.
I'm not sure that the AFOL who meticulously sorts by shape and colour will find a lot of use for it although it could be handy for pre-sorting second hand lots bought at boot/garage sales or eBay.
However, for families with young kids with a growing and unsorted LEGO collection, it's an excellent idea that solves two problems: sorting and storage. It will save hours of frustration sifting through mounds of LEGO looking for that elusive green headlight brick you know is there somewhere but can't find...
It's currently available at Amazon.co.uk for £34.99, and Amazon.com for $34.99. So, it's not cheap by any means but it is well made and compared to other modular storage solutions, it's not too bad. I believe these may be introductory prices so if you're interested, best place your order sooner rather than later.
I understand the manufacturer has plans to produce solid bases and perhaps other grids in the future so it's a system that can grow as your, or your kids, collection does.
Here's the manufacturer's video showing it in action:
Thanks to Blokpod for providing the device for review. The opinions in this article are mine.
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23 comments on this article
I have one of the old sorter heads and it isn't much good for proper sorting. My kids like playing with it though. I think the same will be true with this system. Like you say it will be fun for kids with about enough loose Lego to fit in the container. One problem with the grid system though is that long, thin pieces will slip through to the smaller piece layers. Then you end up with 1 x 8 tiles among your 1 x 1 whatevers. Good luck to the people making this!
It's £35 and the price may rise beyond that? No thanks. I'd rather spend the money on actual LEGO.
I like those kind of things, but I'm not rich sadly. So I'd rather invest that money in bricks. If it would be much cheaper, I'd might buy something like that.
This would have been great for me about 10 years ago, but as my collection has grown I have organized my parts by type. Much more efficient.
Hmm, the finest sieve in a Box4Blox is finer than the one on this tool, and I think I prefer it. I find it more convenient to have the bottom bin full of nothing much bigger than a 1x1 plate.
£34.99 in the UK and $34.99 in the US, so the US get it for cheaper than the UK using a good converter it would equate to £24.60 (ish). so not really a good deal for UK buyers, I would buy one at £25 but not at this price and if it is going to go up in price then definitely not .
For that kind of money, I would rather buy a few kilos of Lego and sort it by hand.
This would probably work for me! Thus of my small sorting space (a few feet by 8 - 9 ish feet), I sort in color. This would make it a lot easier!
But then I look at the price... Am not rich in splendor or money right now!
Hold off, but glad for the review!
Thanks for reviewing this. It looks like a great idea, and I would use it regularly when taking sets apart (as a pre-sort) or to find the small pieces from among the big pieces. But I wouldn't want to shell out £35.
By "pitch", do you mean the hole size, and do you mean mm rather than cm? I wonder if there's been any research to find the optimum pitch size for sifting Lego bricks.
Nice to see they chose the standard Lego colours for the sieves. Nice touch. It'll probably sell well.
There is one major problem with these kind of sorting devices; all that vigorous shaking will scratch up your pieces quite a bit. Trans-clear pieces, and printed pieces will suffer the most. There is no way I would use this on my LEGO. And I don't really see the benefit for kids either. The sorting is very inefficient and not very accurate as the same size pieces get caught on all levels. You can even see this on their demo video.
Awesome! I'm very much tempted to buy one of these!
$35 is nothing. People are rich and spoil their children and family's children. It's sick.
^^^ Doh! Yes of course I mean mm, and I've changed the text to make it clearer.
^^ I would not use it on my new bricks either, but for well played with ones it won't be an issue. I think a 'rough sort' still has its uses but it won't sort perfectly by any means.
Cool, this will be usefull.
I could use one to sort my childhood Lego parts bin; that thing is a mess!
But with that price tag, ouch!
It looks a lot like the LEGO sorting head, which I picked up at Target on clearance for $10US. I used the sorting head a few times, but it was VERY noisy. Dumping a pile of bricks onto a bed sheet and sorting manually goes just as quickly for me, without bothering everyone else in the house.
It could have its uses but I think I'd actually like to improvise something that would sort small parts into even smaller increments. Maybe better for people with kids who aren't fussed about keeping their bricks pristine and find it frustrating to spend ages searching for the little pieces.
So many Negatives, I will add in a Positive. I'm thinking it is a good gift for my almost-8-year old son. I like that it doubles as storage and can probably hold some finished MOCs, too, for display. As a father to two boys who have all my old sets from the 70's/80's mixed in with new sets, I'd be happy to just have the LEGO off the floor.
Another Lego tool that to most AFOLs is just "I'd rather end the money on Lego bricks!"
Or you could 3D print your own: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1396351
I agree with theBrickBlogger, shaking will scratch up Lego, which is especially noticeable on clear pieces like car windshields. Fun for the kids, but not so much for an AFOL who wants to take care of their pieces.
I also agree. Shaking is not the best for Scratched Straight From The Box legos.
Having 1x2 bricks on the bottom on the sorter is in my opinion not sorted at all.
Sorting bricks 2bysomething from 1bysomething can do even 1 year old child.
I complete waste of money and it was a waste of my time to review it and I got it for free too