You bought a lot that supposedly has complete sets. How do you know without sorting piece by piece? Honest answer up front: there's no app, brick'em included, that scans a pile of parts and reliably verifies a set is complete. Anyone claiming near-perfect automated completion checking is selling fiction. What you can do is verify completeness efficiently with official inventories, and use scanning where it genuinely helps: identifying the minifigures and pricing what the lot is actually worth.
Why automated completion checking doesn't exist
A midsize set has hundreds of parts. Many are near-identical in a photo, pieces hide under other pieces, and color and mold variants confuse even sharp eyes. Computer vision is genuinely good at identifying individual minifigures. Verifying that 700 specific parts are all present in a bin is a different problem, and nobody solves it reliably today. Treat any tool claiming otherwise with suspicion.
How to check set completion manually
The dependable method is checking against the official inventory:
- Pull the set's full part list from BrickLink's catalog. Every set page has one.
- Check the minifigures first. They're the fastest to verify and usually carry the most value.
- Sort parts against the instruction booklet's bag sections, or do a quick build. Sections localize what's missing.
- List missing parts as you go. Common pieces cost pennies to source; rare ones decide whether completing is worth it.
It's sorting time, not magic. Budget it into what you pay for "complete" lots.
Pricing incomplete sets honestly
Incomplete sets still sell, but price them wrong and you either eat returns or leave money on the table. Sets missing a couple of common parts typically sell near complete value once you source the parts cheaply. Sets missing rare parts or minifigures drop hard, because your buyer inherits the hunt. Missing minifigures hurt most of all; on many sets the figures are half the value.
Where brick'em actually helps
brick'em won't check set completion, and we won't pretend it does. What it does is fast and real: photograph up to 50 minifigures at once and get identifications with live BrickLink prices, at a published 98% accuracy, from a database of 18,900+ figures. It also shows which complete minifigures you can build from loose parts you've scanned, which turns a parts bin into sellable figures. In a mixed lot, that's usually where the money is, and you'll know it before you've sorted a single brick.
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FAQ
Is there an app that checks LEGO set completion automatically?
Not reliably. No tool, brick'em included, can scan a pile of loose parts and verify a full set inventory. Checking against the official part list is still the only trustworthy method.
What's the fastest way to verify a set is complete?
Check the minifigures first, then sort parts against the official BrickLink inventory or the instruction booklet's bag sections. Minifigs are the quickest check and usually the biggest value swing.
Do missing instructions or boxes affect completeness?
Buyers treat complete as all parts and figures. Missing instructions and boxes lower the price, but instructions can be downloaded or bought cheap. Missing minifigures hurt far more.
How does brick'em help with set lots?
It identifies minifigures and their live BrickLink values, up to 50 per photo, and shows which figures you can build from loose parts. That tells you what a lot is worth fast, even before you verify any set's completeness.
Completion checks take sorting time. Knowing what the figures are worth takes seconds. Scan the minifigs in your lot and price them with live BrickLink data. Start your 14-day free trial. Pro is $20/month or $200/year.
