Nowadays, when the use of plastic is excessive, the toy industry is one of the main culprits, producing tons of plastic waste that is nearly impossible to recycle. This is why Sort A Brick, a Kaunas-based startup that gives old LEGO building bricks a new meaning, decided to chip in with a unique solution. The startup collects pre-loved brick sets, which usually just collect dust on shelves, and cleans, sorts and repackages them into new models with lower prices, having a positive impact on the environment.

At the moment, the project has not yet been launched and is in the final stages of development with the team actively developing and testing its product. AIN journalist talked to Aurimas Slapšys, co-founder and Managing Director of Sort A Brick, to get to know more about the project, asking how it will operate, make money, and its plans.

Сan you tell our readers about Sort a Brick and explain how your service operates?

Sort A Brick helps customers reuse their existing LEGO bricks by transforming mixed collections into organized, buildable sets. Customers send in their bricks, which Sort A Brick then cleans, inventories, and sorts.

Then, the bricks are returned as build-ready sets, allowing families to enjoy new brick-play experiences without purchasing new sets - offering an affordable and eco-friendly way to reduce plastic waste and maximize fun.

The sorting and repackaging process sounds like a lot of manual labor. Is there any technology involved? 

We are developing both software and hardware to automate the quite complex brick-sorting process. Currently, the recognition of the individual bricks is fully automated, while most other processes are handled semi-manually. However, we see automation and efficiency at the core of our business and improving the entire process is an ongoing commitment that never stops.

How do you determine the pricing for your new models compared to traditional LEGO sets?

The cost of our set restoration service will be based on the weight of each incoming mixed brick collection. We aim to price this service at around 1/4 to 1/3 of the set’s original retail value. 

Final pricing hasn’t been set yet, as we are still evaluating customers’ willingness to pay and the demand elasticity, we expect to complete these assessments and announce the pricing at our public launch soon.

Previously, AIN reported on Sort A Brick’s €1.15 million financing to fund the idea of giving toy building bricks a second life.

When building new sets, what do you start from, do customers give you any parameters or suggestions? 

Currently, Sort A Brick can restore only original sets produced by the LEGO group. To our knowledge, the LEGO group has released over 20,000 sets since its inception. While most of these sets are themed, e.g. Star Wars, City, Harry Potter, etc., and make perfect sense to be restored, some are probably not worth restoring, such as buckets of random bricks, advent calendars, etc. 

Later, we plan to offer the restoration of custom sets, also known as MOCs (My Own Creations) created by independent designers.

We provide our customers with a list of possible set options. If fewer than 10% of parts are missing from a restorable set, we will source the missing bricks for customers at an additional cost.

Why did you choose to work specifically with the LEGO sets? How large is this market?

LEGO is a highly durable and popular toy, and we estimate that over 1.5 trillion LEGO bricks have been produced worldwide. While LEGO is working to make its bricks more sustainable by transitioning away from oil-based plastics by 2030, reusing existing bricks is currently the best way to reduce their environmental impact. 

Could such a narrow business focus pose a problem with larger revenue generation in the future? 

We believe that introducing an affordable, sustainable, and easy-to-use method of reusing pre-loved LEGO bricks can unlock huge market potential. Once we can efficiently sort incoming bricks into sets, we could offer our customers many additional complementary services with an extra potential for revenue generation.

While working with popular brands like LEGO there is always a chance to face legal issues, for example copyright claims. How do you plan to avoid this? 

When working with popular brands like LEGO, the potential for legal challenges, such as copyright or trademark claims, is always present. We highly respect LEGO's legacy and the intellectual property they have accumulated. We adhere to LEGO’s Fair Play policy and other relevant rules and regulations to ensure compliance. 

What is the inspiration behind reusing old LEGO bricks? Did your personal experiences shape this idea?

Ilya Malkin (co-founder of Sort A Brick) came up with the idea back in 2022 while playing LEGO with his kids: 

“Like many parents, I've struggled to make sense of buying new LEGO sets while unused bricks accumulate dust in our closet. I tried sorting old bricks by hand, but it proved too tedious. That's when the idea for automatic brick sorting was conceived.”

What challenges have you faced in the early stages of your business, and how have you overcome them?

We are building a consumer-oriented business based on an integrated software and hardware stack. This is quite a risky and challenging place to be, so each day brings its challenges. 

Technical challenges are the most crucial right now. However, as we start serving customers, the business and market challenges quickly catch up. The only way to work through those challenges is to have a strong team with a winning mentality that works tirelessly.

Do you plan to expand further and cover other types of building sets or a broader range of toys? 

Not at the moment, but there is certainly potential for that in the future.