LEGO is a toy that many of us have in our homes. It’s a lot of fun to build a new LEGO set, the satisfaction and enjoyment you get out of it is great! The question, then, becomes “should I keep LEGO boxes?” There are benefits and drawbacks to both keeping them or throwing them away. This article discusses the pros and cons of both options so you can make an educated decision about what’s best for your family.
Whether you should keep LEGO boxes or not really comes down to what your intent is for that set. Some people want to build their set and then keep it or display it, so there would be no need to keep the box. Others intend to build it, enjoy it for a while, then sell it to make more space for new sets. In this case, you would want to keep the box as you would get more money when you sold it.
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What Can You Do With LEGO Boxes?
There are several things that can be done with empty LEGO boxes. A lot of LEGO boxes are so well designed and look so beautiful that many people treat them as works of art and like to display them on their walls and bookshelves. The boxes can be flattened and mounted on the wall or kept whole and displayed on shelving.
Empty LEGO boxes can be used for storing pieces of that set where they are all in one place and won’t get lost. Some people like to take the sets apart after they are built, store them away until a later time and bring them back out and construct them again. This way you get the enjoyment of building the set over and over again. If this is something that you think you may do, then keeping all the parts of specific sets in their original box helps keep all the pieces together and prevents pieces from becoming lost.
Where Can You Buy Empty LEGO Boxes?
Believe it or not, there is a market for buying empty LEGO boxes. You can buy empty boxes on various different secondary marketplaces that just deal with everything LEGO including pieces, instructions, and boxes. These sites are not affiliated with LEGO but buy and sell all kinds of LEGO products. One of my favorite of these marketplaces is Bricklink.
The Bricklink website is easy to navigate and has listings for boxes of old and new sets. For some of the sets, there is no corresponding listing for that box. Prices appear quite reasonable but as with anything, expect to pay more for boxes that are from rarer sets.
There are several other online marketplaces that sell empty LEGO boxes too. One of these marketplaces is Brickowl. Brickowl tends to be a little more expensive than BrickLink but may be a good alternative if you can’t find what you are looking for on Bricklink. You can also check eBay which always seems to have LEGO boxes available for purchase.
Why Would You Want To Buy An Empty LEGO Box?
There are many reasons why you may find yourself in the position of needing an empty LEGO box. One reason is the box may have been damaged when it was purchased and you need it to be in pristine condition to display it. Maybe you are going to hold on to the set and resell it once it has retired, then the condition of the box is very important.
Maybe the box became damaged after you purchased it. For instance, your dog chewed on it or your child jumped up and down on it, whatever the reason you need the box to be replaced. Maybe you have regrettably discarded the box and need it in order to sell it as a complete set.
Some people want to buy a retired set but it is no longer available. Older sets can often be pieced together and bought from Bricklink but obviously don’t come with the box and maybe you want the box to complete the set.
Can You Sell LEGO Boxes?
Boxes can be sold on the sites above where you can buy boxes. Selling the empty box by itself though will not bring you a lot of money. It is better to sell the box with the set if you want to make space for new sets. Used sets sold with the box fetch more money than used sets without the box.
It would probably be better to sell to members of a LEGO community as they realize the value of LEGO and how rare certain sets are. The are many Facebook LEGO communities that are very good places to sell your LEGO sets. For this reason, I would list empty boxes on sites like Bricklink and Brickowl over other sites like eBay.
How Do You Store LEGO Boxes?
LEGO boxes themselves are actually a great way to store all of your LEGO boxes for years to come. The best thing about LEGO boxes is that you can break them down very easily and store them in a larger LEGO box. They would take up too much room if you have a lot of them and don’t break them down.
Storing them in plastic totes is another very good option and is actually what I do. Storing LEGO boxes in an air-tight plastic tote prevents them from possibly fading and from water, dirt and dust.
How Do You Protect LEGO Boxes?
There are many ways to protect your lego boxes from becoming damaged. The most obvious way would be to keep them out of the reach of little hands that might want to play with the boxes, but I’m sure we can all agree kids will find any reason they possibly can not only get into the box but also take it apart! For the same reason, you may want to keep your pets away from your boxes to prevent them from chewing or doing something worse to them.
Something else to consider is to move your storage area away from direct sunlight or heat sources like heating vents and radiators. Another way is to use plastic totes as mentioned above. This is a fantastic way of protecting your LEGO box collection.
Why Are LEGO Boxes So Big?
The size of the LEGO box is directly correlated with the size of the completed model inside. The box is not the exact size that the completed model will be but is a little larger. The artwork on the box is supposed to be close to the size of the completed set.
The larger boxes could also be a clever marketing ploy from LEGO to attract the attention of the buyer when on shelves in stores. Also, the larger boxes make people think they are getting more for their money than they may actually be getting.
Can You Recycle LEGO Boxes?
LEGO cardboard box is the only thing that can be recycled and placed in your recycle bin at the moment but LEGO is working on that. In 2018, LEGO began putting how2recycle labels on the bottom of all their boxes. The labels are an effort by LEGO to attempt to relieve confusion by consumers about what exactly can be recycled.
Below is an example of one of these labels which clearly informs the consumer what is recyclable. the line through the plastic bag clearly indicates that they are NOT recyclable whereas the box is. You can also visit the how2recycle website for further information on the labels.
Approximately 75% of the cardboard used in making LEGO boxes comes from recycled material. The LEGO Group has stated that they are moving away from single-use disposable plastic that is not recyclable, towards total sustainable packaging by 2025.
Final Thoughts
I hope this article has helped you understand a bit more about LEGO boxes – whether you should keep them, how to store them, and what your options are for recycling them. Whether you keep them or not is really up to you and your plans for them. As a general rule of thumb, I would say that if you have the space to keep them, then go ahead and hang onto them! This would eliminate any regret you might have later on when you realize you wish you had kept them. LEGO boxes can be a great way to add value to your sets if you do choose to sell them later on down the road.