Lego brick belongs to

[kakulinasia]

How can I find which set a Lego brick belongs to? I have a box full of loose Lego bricks from my youth, and I want to organize them by set, find the instructions online, and build them with my son. Do the numbers on the bricks refer specifically to the set, or (for example) does each 1x1 red brick have the same number, regardless of the original set it was packaged with?
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[Nepenthe7]

I have had some luck typing in the piece number into peeron.com and looking through those results to find the set. It helps to use unique pieces and if they were yours, then you could probably recall which sets you owned. Each 1x1 red brick would have the same piece number, regardless of the set it came with.

[SpaceViking]

bricklink.com and peeron.com both have good set inventories. I'm more familiar with bricklink, so that's what I'll use in the example below.

Most LEGO pieces have two sets of numbers printed on the bottom. One is the part/mold number, the other refers to the color and sort location. The first one is the one you need, and after some practice you'll soon pick up which is which.

The Bricklink catalog is sorted by the part number. For each part, they list the 'know colors' the part comes in. Once you select part number and color, bricklink can list the sets it comes in.

For example, boat hull sections have the number '2560' on the bottom. If you search for '2560' among the "Catalog Items" on the first bricklink page, it will bring up the info page for "Boat Hull Large Middle 8 x 16 x 2 1/3 with 9 Holes". Clicking on the Known Colors --> Dark Brown, will list two sets: 10210 Imperial Flagship, and 7048 Troll Warship. There is an next to each to list the full inventory of each set.

I find its easiest to start with the unusual parts, which are limited to a few sets, then match other parts in the pile to the inventory lists that come up for those parts. Other good parts to start with are plain parts with stickers that have the set numbers on the them. This occurs most commonly with City and Racers sets.

There is a program named Brickstore that is invaluable for this process, too. You can download the set inventories with it, and check off which parts you have.
And, if you decide to store your part inventory list in brickstore, you can then upload it to rebrickable.com, and it will show you which sets you can build from your collection.

HTH. Happy Building!

http://www.peeron.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.bricklink.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.brickforge.de/software/brickstore/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://rebrickable.com/home" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Brick & Blue]

^What they said, you can also go by part at Brickset.com now.

Plus I'm guessing you have some memory of the LEGOs and years the sets might be from, so that will be helpful too.