Answers.Body: <p>There are a number of ways to start figuring it out, my method is as follows:<BR></p>
  
  <p>Try and identify some of the following:</p>
  
  <p>Unique pieces<BR>
  Unique minifigs<BR>
  Stickers on pieces<BR>
  Unique logos<BR>
  Color schemes or unique colors<BR></p>
  
  <p>The minifigs, stickers and colors are usually enough at least point you to the right theme category (ie space, pirates, castle, city, star wars, etc.) and often will narrow it down even further.  A logo or minifig is usually a giveaway of what set group you're looking for.</p>
  
  <p>For example a recent bulk buy I got had a number of Joker images on tiles and a number of unique purple and green colors that made it clear there was a Batman themed Joker set in the mix.</p>
  
  <p>From there you can look up parts lists on Bricklink or Peeron, as well as find directions for assembly.  To narrow it down to a specific set and make sure you have all the parts.<P>
  If your not super familiar with the lego themes these sites will also give you a place to find them.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2014-09-05T21:22:13.663Z
Answers.Text: Those are great sites!  I'd never seen them before.  Thanks for sharing those - definitely useful.
Answers.UserDisplayName: MadTurki
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2014-09-05T20:15:45.820Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2014-09-05T20:15:45.820Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Josh King
Answers.Body: <h2>Find for the rarest piece(s)</h2>
  <p>My usual method for identifying a set I'm not familiar with is to find the rarest part. It's not always possible to find the rarest part but I can usually guess which parts are rare given how many of them I have in my collection.</p>
  <p>For System sets I will usually ignore unmodified bricks, plates and tiles in common colours.</p>
  <hr />
  <p><strong>Example</strong></p>
  <p>When I was trying to find the set in the example shown below from <a href="https://bricks.stackexchange.com/a/8442/132">this</a> question. I ignored all the plates and the two black 1x1 studs as they were all common parts in standard colours.</p>
  <p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/K4aCH.jpg" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/K4aCH.jpg" alt="Example photo" /></a></p>
  <p>The only two parts remaining were the blue <a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=4079&amp;name=Minifig,%20Utensil%20Seat%202%20x%202&amp;category=%5BMinifig,%20Utensil%5D#T=C" rel="noreferrer">Minifigure Seat (4079)</a> and the  blue <a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=3829c01&amp;name=Vehicle,%20Steering%20Stand%201%20x%202%20with%20Black%20Steering%20Wheel&amp;category=%5BVehicle%5D#T=C" rel="noreferrer">Steering Wheel (3829)</a>.</p>
  <p>From those two parts it was easy to identify it as a vehicle and with the arrangement of the pieces I could tell it was a four-stud wide vehicle. Since around 2005-2010 it has become more common for LEGO to produce vehicles 6 or 8 studs wide so I assumed it was a fairly old set.</p>
  <p>To identify these two pieces I used the <a href="https://www.bricklink.com/catalogTree.asp?itemType=P" rel="noreferrer">catalogue search on Bricklink</a>, if I didn't know the name of these pieces I could have search by category, or if I knew the piece number (found often on the bottom of many parts) I could have searched for that as well.</p>
  <p>Every piece on Bricklink has a list of 'Known Colors', the steering wheel had 222 set entries for the colour blue and the steering wheel had the minifgure seat had 68 results for the colour blue.</p>
  <p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/9Rvv6.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/9Rvv6.png" alt="Known Colours list" /></a></p>
  <p>I sorted the list by selecting 'Year Released' to 'Up' so that I would see the oldest sets first and set the preview mode to 'List with Images' so that I could see both a photo of the set and relevant information. (I also recommend using  'Thumbnail Gallery').</p>
  <p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/0O0nb.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/0O0nb.png" alt="Bricklink piece search results" /></a></p>
  <hr />
  <p><strong>General Tips</strong></p>
  <ul>
  <li><p>The colours that I consider 'standard' are Red, Yellow, Green, Blue, Black and White. These colours are probably the most common and are almost always included in bulk brick buckets.</p>
  </li>
  <li><p>Around <strong>2004</strong>, the colour of light/dark grey and brown bricks were changed slightly. Modern grey bricks are often known as 'bley' because of their blueish tint. <strong>Related:</strong> <a href="https://bricks.stackexchange.com/questions/238/what-is-the-bley-blay-color">What is the bley (blay) color?</a></p>
  </li>
  </ul>
  <p><strong>Minifigure Tips</strong></p>
  <ul>
  <li><p>There was only one variation of the head for Minifigures prior to <strong>1989</strong>, the <a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=3626bp01#T=C" rel="noreferrer">classic smile head</a>. This piece continues to be used for classic releases as well as Modular sets although it is not as common. We can rule out any 'non-classic' minifigure heads as being after this year.</p>
  </li>
  <li><p>Minifigures with two-sided heads were not produced until <strong>2001</strong>.</p>
  </li>
  <li><p>Minifigures with <a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=41879#T=C" rel="noreferrer">short legs</a> were not produced until <strong>2002</strong>.</p>
  </li>
  <li><p>The first minifigures with realistic skin tones were released in <strong>2003</strong>. Only yellow minifigures were available previously. <strong>Related:</strong> <a href="https://bricks.stackexchange.com/questions/287/why-do-some-minifigs-have-yellow-heads-and-some-are-flesh-colored">Why do some minifigs have yellow heads and some are flesh colored?</a></p>
  </li>
  <li><p><a href="https://bricks.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/microfigure">Microfigures</a> were first released in <strong>2009</strong></p>
  </li>
  </ul>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2017-10-25T15:15:07.630Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2021-09-29T19:27:50.367Z
Answers.LastEditDate: 2021-09-29T19:27:50.367Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Ambo100
Answers.Body: <p>Lego has an <a href="http://us.service.lego.com/en-US/BuildingInstructions/default.aspx" rel="noreferrer">online page</a> that can be used to download manuals in PDF format. Unfortunately, the page mentions that manuals are only available for kits that were released in 2002 or later: </p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>We currently have over 3300 building instructions available onlinevwhich date back to sets packed in 2002.</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>You might want to contact Lego customer service to see if they might be able to direct you to other resources for these older kits. According to <a href="http://www.squidoo.com/legoinstructions" rel="noreferrer">squidoo.com</a>, Lego customer service can provide older instructions for a fee. That page also lists several alternate resource that you can search to find older manuals for free:</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li><a href="http://freelegoinstructions.com/" rel="noreferrer">Free Lego Instructions</a></li>
  <li><a href="http://www.worldbricks.com/" rel="noreferrer">World Bricks</a></li>
  <li><a href="http://guide.lugnet.com/" rel="noreferrer">Lugnet</a></li>
  <li><a href="http://www.peeron.com/cgi-bin/invcgis/scans/?ct=1" rel="noreferrer">Peeron</a></li>
  </ul>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2011-10-31T04:03:35.960Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2011-10-31T04:14:34.307Z
Answers.LastEditDate: 2011-10-31T04:14:34.307Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: JW8
Answers.Body: <p>One very good way is to look for numbers on pieces, especially when they are printed. A number on a Lego piece is almost always the number of the set.<br>
  These often come in places where there is supposed to be a number; like license plates on cars. If you have a license plate brick with a number, that's almost 100% certain to be the set that the car belongs to.</p>
  
  <p>There are exceptions; for example, the Lego trains from the eighties had a "timetable" sticker that listed several numbers; each number was the number of another train set. (In other words, each train had a separate entry on the timetable). If you find that sticker, you have either a railway station from that time, or a train set from that tine that included a timetable. But, this will still narrow down your search.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2014-09-06T18:44:05.173Z
Answers.Text: I've never noticed that!  I'll have to check some of my pieces!
Answers.UserDisplayName: MadTurki
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2014-09-06T05:11:08.197Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2014-09-06T05:11:08.197Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: S.L. Barth is on codidact.com
Answers.Body: <p>Your best shot is to identify an individual piece and look it up on <a href="https://rebrickable.com/parts/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Rebrickable</a>, <a href="http://www.bricklink.com" rel="nofollow noreferrer">BrickLink</a> or <a href="https://brickset.com/parts" rel="nofollow noreferrer">BrickSet</a>. Since these all carry set inventories, you'll be able to find lists of sets in which the parts can be found. Try to start with more unique parts, chances are they are in a few models only.</p>
  <p>Once you're sure you've found a model for which you've all the parts, build it using the instructions from <a href="https://www.lego.com/en-us/service/buildinginstructions" rel="nofollow noreferrer">LEGO.com</a> or for older models instruction scans <a href="https://rebrickable.com/instructions/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Rebrickable</a>.</p>
  <p>If <a href="https://bricks.stackexchange.com/q/154">identifying LEGO parts</a> proves too difficult for some of them, <a href="https://bricks.stackexchange.com/questions/ask">ask experts</a>.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2011-10-31T08:58:57.333Z
Answers.Text: You might want to include the note that almost all parts have their element or part id embossed on the underside.
Answers.UserDisplayName: Zhaph - Ben Duguid
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2011-10-31T09:07:56.753Z
Answers.Text: Actually, no, I don't want to do that as it's not really the point of this question and it has been covered in another question. However, you're quite right that I should have at least pointed to that corresponding question on [how to determine the name of a brick](http://bricks.stackexchange.com/q/154). I've added that.
Answers.UserDisplayName: Joubarc
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2011-10-31T14:03:00.807Z
Answers.Text: Also, once you have parts for at least one kit identified, use http://rebrickable.com/ to find other kits that you may also have had with those parts.
Answers.UserDisplayName: Nathan
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2011-10-31T17:28:06.027Z
Answers.Text: @Joubarc +1 for a good answer, I check out those links and I'm sure they will help with ID'ing the more obscure pieces.
Answers.UserDisplayName: bakoyaro
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2011-10-31T17:36:31.960Z
Answers.Text: @Zhaph-BenDuguid Some of the kits I have date back to the early 1970's, and don't necessarily have part numbers embossed on them.
Answers.UserDisplayName: bakoyaro
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2011-10-31T18:43:22.687Z
Answers.Text: @bakoyaro: good point, I shall make a mental note of that
Answers.UserDisplayName: Zhaph - Ben Duguid
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2020-08-02T13:20:48.290Z
Answers.Text: This is great information. Thanks so much for sharing.
Answers.UserDisplayName: AllanM
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Answers.LastActivityDate: 2023-09-24T00:37:19.900Z
Answers.LastEditDate: 2023-09-24T00:37:19.900Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Joubarc
Body: <p>I am a lifelong LEGO Maniac, and my kits from when I was a kid were passed down to my nephew, who has just passed them down to my son (40 years of history...).</p>
  <p>The trouble is that none of my old plans/directions are still around, and neither are the plans/direction from my nephew's kits. My nephew and I started to do a quick inventory, but he couldn't remember all of the kits that were in the hoard (three <em>large</em> boxes so far).</p>
  <p>Is there an easy way to figure this out? Does LEGO offer any of their old plans for free online or will I need to pay for them?</p>
  <p>Can anyone offer help in identifying some of the fairly recent stuff? I can post images if needed. Some of the newer parts are quite unique.</p>
  
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2011-10-31T12:05:22.827Z
Comments.Text: The following question also has details of how to get hold of instructions for older sets: [Where can I find instruction booklets?](http://bricks.stackexchange.com/questions/64/where-can-i-find-instruction-booklets)
Comments.UserDisplayName: Zhaph - Ben Duguid
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2011-10-31T14:42:24.143Z
Comments.Text: This previous question raises the problem of identifying kits from list of parts: [Is there anything like a 'recipe generator' for LEGO models?](http://bricks.stackexchange.com/questions/102/is-there-anything-like-a-recipe-generator-for-lego)
Comments.UserDisplayName: pcantin
Tags: <set-identification>
Title: How can I identify LEGO sets from a box or bag of parts?
UserDisplayName: bakoyaro
ThreadText: # How can I identify LEGO sets from a box or bag of parts?
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2011-10-31)
  
  I am a lifelong LEGO Maniac, and my kits from when I was a kid were passed down to my nephew, who has just passed them down to my son (40 years of history...).
  
  The trouble is that none of my old plans/directions are still around, and neither are the plans/direction from my nephew's kits. My nephew and I started to do a quick inventory, but he couldn't remember all of the kits that were in the hoard (three *large* boxes so far).
  
  Is there an easy way to figure this out? Does LEGO offer any of their old plans for free online or will I need to pay for them?
  
  Can anyone offer help in identifying some of the fairly recent stuff? I can post images if needed. Some of the newer parts are quite unique.
  
  **Tags:** set-identification
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_1**: The following question also has details of how to get hold of instructions for older sets: [Where can I find instruction booklets?](http://bricks.stackexchange.com/questions/64/where-can-i-find-instruction-booklets)  
  > **username_2**: This previous question raises the problem of identifying kits from list of parts: [Is there anything like a 'recipe generator' for LEGO models?](http://bricks.stackexchange.com/questions/102/is-there-anything-like-a-recipe-generator-for-lego)  
  
  ---
  
  ## 5 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_8 on 2011-10-31. Score: 26 | Accepted answer
  
  Your best shot is to identify an individual piece and look it up on [Rebrickable](https://rebrickable.com/parts/), [BrickLink](http://www.bricklink.com) or [BrickSet](https://brickset.com/parts). Since these all carry set inventories, you'll be able to find lists of sets in which the parts can be found. Try to start with more unique parts, chances are they are in a few models only.
  
  Once you're sure you've found a model for which you've all the parts, build it using the instructions from [LEGO.com](https://www.lego.com/en-us/service/buildinginstructions) or for older models instruction scans [Rebrickable](https://rebrickable.com/instructions/).
  
  If [identifying LEGO parts](https://bricks.stackexchange.com/q/154) proves too difficult for some of them, [ask experts](https://bricks.stackexchange.com/questions/ask).
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_1**: You might want to include the note that almost all parts have their element or part id embossed on the underside.  
  > **username_8**: Actually, no, I don't want to do that as it's not really the point of this question and it has been covered in another question. However, you're quite right that I should have at least pointed to that corresponding question on [how to determine the name of a brick](http://bricks.stackexchange.com/q/154). I've added that.  
  > **username_9**: Also, once you have parts for at least one kit identified, use http://rebrickable.com/ to find other kits that you may also have had with those parts.  
  > **username_0**: @Joubarc +1 for a good answer, I check out those links and I'm sure they will help with ID'ing the more obscure pieces.  
  > **username_0**: @Zhaph-BenDuguid Some of the kits I have date back to the early 1970's, and don't necessarily have part numbers embossed on them.  
  > **username_1**: @bakoyaro: good point, I shall make a mental note of that  
  > **username_10**: This is great information. Thanks so much for sharing.  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_5 on 2017-10-25. Score: 22
  
  ## Find for the rarest piece(s)
  
  My usual method for identifying a set I'm not familiar with is to find the rarest part. It's not always possible to find the rarest part but I can usually guess which parts are rare given how many of them I have in my collection.
  
  For System sets I will usually ignore unmodified bricks, plates and tiles in common colours.
  
  ---
  
  **Example**
  
  When I was trying to find the set in the example shown below from [this](https://bricks.stackexchange.com/a/8442/132) question. I ignored all the plates and the two black 1x1 studs as they were all common parts in standard colours.
  
  [![Example photo](https://i.sstatic.net/K4aCH.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/K4aCH.jpg)
  
  The only two parts remaining were the blue [Minifigure Seat (4079)](https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=4079&name=Minifig,%20Utensil%20Seat%202%20x%202&category=%5BMinifig,%20Utensil%5D#T=C) and the blue [Steering Wheel (3829)](https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=3829c01&name=Vehicle,%20Steering%20Stand%201%20x%202%20with%20Black%20Steering%20Wheel&category=%5BVehicle%5D#T=C).
  
  From those two parts it was easy to identify it as a vehicle and with the arrangement of the pieces I could tell it was a four-stud wide vehicle. Since around 2005-2010 it has become more common for LEGO to produce vehicles 6 or 8 studs wide so I assumed it was a fairly old set.
  
  To identify these two pieces I used the [catalogue search on Bricklink](https://www.bricklink.com/catalogTree.asp?itemType=P), if I didn't know the name of these pieces I could have search by category, or if I knew the piece number (found often on the bottom of many parts) I could have searched for that as well.
  
  Every piece on Bricklink has a list of 'Known Colors', the steering wheel had 222 set entries for the colour blue and the steering wheel had the minifgure seat had 68 results for the colour blue.
  
  [![Known Colours list](https://i.sstatic.net/9Rvv6.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/9Rvv6.png)
  
  I sorted the list by selecting 'Year Released' to 'Up' so that I would see the oldest sets first and set the preview mode to 'List with Images' so that I could see both a photo of the set and relevant information. (I also recommend using 'Thumbnail Gallery').
  
  [![Bricklink piece search results](https://i.sstatic.net/0O0nb.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/0O0nb.png)
  
  ---
  
  **General Tips**
  
  * The colours that I consider 'standard' are Red, Yellow, Green, Blue, Black and White. These colours are probably the most common and are almost always included in bulk brick buckets.
  * Around **2004**, the colour of light/dark grey and brown bricks were changed slightly. Modern grey bricks are often known as 'bley' because of their blueish tint. **Related:** [What is the bley (blay) color?](https://bricks.stackexchange.com/questions/238/what-is-the-bley-blay-color)
  
  **Minifigure Tips**
  
  * There was only one variation of the head for Minifigures prior to **1989**, the [classic smile head](https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=3626bp01#T=C). This piece continues to be used for classic releases as well as Modular sets although it is not as common. We can rule out any 'non-classic' minifigure heads as being after this year.
  * Minifigures with two-sided heads were not produced until **2001**.
  * Minifigures with [short legs](https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=41879#T=C) were not produced until **2002**.
  * The first minifigures with realistic skin tones were released in **2003**. Only yellow minifigures were available previously. **Related:** [Why do some minifigs have yellow heads and some are flesh colored?](https://bricks.stackexchange.com/questions/287/why-do-some-minifigs-have-yellow-heads-and-some-are-flesh-colored)
  * [Microfigures](https://bricks.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/microfigure) were first released in **2009**
  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_3 on 2014-09-05. Score: 7
  
  There are a number of ways to start figuring it out, my method is as follows:
  
  Try and identify some of the following:
  
  Unique pieces  
  Unique minifigs  
  Stickers on pieces  
  Unique logos  
  Color schemes or unique colors
  
  The minifigs, stickers and colors are usually enough at least point you to the right theme category (ie space, pirates, castle, city, star wars, etc.) and often will narrow it down even further. A logo or minifig is usually a giveaway of what set group you're looking for.
  
  For example a recent bulk buy I got had a number of Joker images on tiles and a number of unique purple and green colors that made it clear there was a Batman themed Joker set in the mix.
  
  From there you can look up parts lists on Bricklink or Peeron, as well as find directions for assembly. To narrow it down to a specific set and make sure you have all the parts.
  
  If your not super familiar with the lego themes these sites will also give you a place to find them.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_4**: Those are great sites!  I'd never seen them before.  Thanks for sharing those - definitely useful.  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_6 on 2011-10-31. Score: 5
  
  Lego has an [online page](http://us.service.lego.com/en-US/BuildingInstructions/default.aspx) that can be used to download manuals in PDF format. Unfortunately, the page mentions that manuals are only available for kits that were released in 2002 or later:
  
  > We currently have over 3300 building instructions available onlinevwhich date back to sets packed in 2002.
  
  You might want to contact Lego customer service to see if they might be able to direct you to other resources for these older kits. According to [squidoo.com](http://www.squidoo.com/legoinstructions), Lego customer service can provide older instructions for a fee. That page also lists several alternate resource that you can search to find older manuals for free:
  
  * [Free Lego Instructions](http://freelegoinstructions.com/)
  * [World Bricks](http://www.worldbricks.com/)
  * [Lugnet](http://guide.lugnet.com/)
  * [Peeron](http://www.peeron.com/cgi-bin/invcgis/scans/?ct=1)
  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_7 on 2014-09-06. Score: 4
  
  One very good way is to look for numbers on pieces, especially when they are printed. A number on a Lego piece is almost always the number of the set.  
  These often come in places where there is supposed to be a number; like license plates on cars. If you have a license plate brick with a number, that's almost 100% certain to be the set that the car belongs to.
  
  There are exceptions; for example, the Lego trains from the eighties had a "timetable" sticker that listed several numbers; each number was the number of another train set. (In other words, each train had a separate entry on the timetable). If you find that sticker, you have either a railway station from that time, or a train set from that tine that included a timetable. But, this will still narrow down your search.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_4**: I've never noticed that!  I'll have to check some of my pieces!  
  
  ---
  
  