Hi guys, dan here from CT. Just recently got bit by the LEGO bug. A quick question to the veteran brick pickers on this site:

When picking through a pile of loose bricks, what, if any, are the high value or harder to find pieces I should look out for and maybe seperate out.

Thanks a lot! Looking forward to talkin bricks with you all in the future!

Welcome to Brickpicker! As far as your question goes, I recommend Bricklink`s catalog for figuring out pieces for sets. Only drawback is you kind of have to tell what is in the lot by yourself, then you can use Bricklink to fill in the gaps. Takes a bit of a trained by, but many use it, and it works really well. Unfortunately I don`t know of a way to just enter pieces and then figure out a set, and if there was a way it would take quite a bit of time as well as a familiarity with the official part names in teh catalog. I`d take a look at whatever lot you have, go through Bricklink`s catalog to see if you can find a set similar to what you have, then go from there. That`s just one way, there are others (someone else will surely chime in). Best of luck!

Love the name. Welcome, SuperNintendad!

Welcome to Brickpicker! My suggestion would be to set aside any pieces that look od or strange to you, then you can use Bricklink.com to identify them.

Welcome to Brickpicker!

Thanks everyone I'll definetly check out brick link. I literally bought a 50 lb bin of loose Legos from the 90s at a tag sale today. So I've been rummaging through it and organizing to see what I have. The lady said there are complete sets in there but it almost seems impossible to pick out all the pieces to the sets. A lot of pirate theme, some Star Wars and what appears to be some kind of cowboy & Indian theme? It's been quite the daunting task to say the least.

Welcome!

Welcome! Where in Ct? I am in Southington.

Welcome! Be careful, the Lego bug is nasty.

 

Further to what others have said .. Also be on the lookout for unique looking minifigures, parts with stickers/printing and then odd shaped parts. You could also take a few "good" pictures of the entire lot and post them in the Name That Brick forum: http://community.brickpicker.com/forum/57-name-that-brick/

Welcome.  If you find some unique blocks, you can search for them and find which set they came from.  From there, you can download the instruction manual for that set from Lego and build it.  You might be missing a few bricks, but, if you have a semi-complete set from the 90's, you can buy the missing bricks and sell it as a complete set.  This might net you a bit more than selling a few rare pieces, and you get to do the best part of Lego investing - building an actual set and making money from it.  Maybe that's the best 2 parts. 

 

Anyway, welcome to the addiction.

Welcome! Where in Ct? I am in Southington.

Cool. I'm in Norwalk.

Thanks everyone I'll definetly check out brick link. I literally bought a 50 lb bin of loose Legos from the 90s at a tag sale today. So I've been rummaging through it and organizing to see what I have. The lady said there are complete sets in there but it almost seems impossible to pick out all the pieces to the sets. A lot of pirate theme, some Star Wars and what appears to be some kind of cowboy & Indian theme? It's been quite the daunting task to say the least.

Welcome!

There was a western theme a while back. That was the last series I collected before I stopped back in the mid to late 90s.

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Yeah, for rare pieces, you gotta put in the work, generally it be stickered/ printed or an usual shape or colour. Also bear in mind some figures you won't have a clue about but could be worth a bomb, 80 's Lego is jammed packed with rare pieces, you can not go far wrong buying 80's bulk if you know a little about Lego. Getting harder to find all the time.... Trains, space, town, pretty much all you need to know.