So ... Many ... grey ... bricks ...

This post is about brick sorting and storage.  A recent post featured my Spring 2020 castle build.  As I said there, that build was due, in part, to the fact that I had so many grey bricks sorted (or at least assembled in one build) after I had done my Chartres Cathedral build.  I did not want to "unsort" them by consigning them back to my build unsorted bulk brick bins.  So I ended up trying to figure out a new sorting solution for those grey bricks (which ended up being very helpful in the castle build). ​

Like many others, I have used the plastic cabinet bins with small and medium sized drawers as well as the ones with the larger drawers (i.e. the ones with a few wide drawers in a plastic cabinet).  However, I was not finding that these satisfied my needs for what I wanted to do with the grey bricks.  I wanted them in stackable open faced trays (as opposed to being in a plastic pull-out bin drawer) and I wanted them to be large enough to hold a considerable number of sorted pieces that exceeded what typically are held in small or medium size drawers.  And the larger drawers that I had were not easily dividable.
So I went with about a half dozen large plastic trays from ULINE shown in the photo with my sorted grey bricks.  Those ULINE trays are quite substantial and, overall, I am very happy with them.  Not sure that I'd use them for sorting out a whole collection.  But for the high use grey bricks in my collection they have worked well.  I have set out here some more thoughts on the pros and cons of these types of trays in case you might have a similar need or interest in trying this type of storage solution.

Please note that nothing in this post is intended as an endorsement of this product and this is not any sort of paid endorsement.    

  PROS:

• Durable bins that are stackable on top of each other.
• Reconfigurable based on how you prefer sorting the bricks.
• Heavy duty and won't easily spill.  
• Large enough to hold a lot of sorted bricks.

CONS:

• Expensive investment, there are certainly cheaper options.  The shipping is not cheap, as ULINE uses a dedicated premium shipping service and not services like UPS or FEDEX.  The upshot though, I must say the shipping is fast and customer service top notch.  You might find similar trays for cheaper or less costly shipping.
• Not good for small pieces (smaller than a 1x2 brick or 1x4 plates).  Those tend to slip under the dividers.
• Can be heavy to move around as you need to access them.  Although this can be a plus as well since they are not prone to being tipped over or spilled easily.