One And Done: The Castle Reboot Edition

So, is the largest set rule applicable to Jurassic world, Scooby doo, or city subthemes?

So, is the largest set rule applicable to Jurassic world, Scooby doo, or city subthemes?

Yes and no

7 hours ago, thoroakenfelder said:

So, is the largest set rule applicable to Jurassic world, Scooby doo, or city subthemes?

For me, as a collector, it was important to have all the Scooby Doo Villains and characters so I bought the entire line.

For my boys, they wanted all of the various JW dinosaurs, so again, all the sets.

Recently picked up 82 boxes of 70400, at £3.99 per (50% off UK list).  Sold the figs off in sets of 10, at £20 per 10.   

They literally sold as soon as I listed them and within 2 months they were all done. So I could probably have got a higher price.  I still have all of the parts and will likely sell of the spare weapons and greenery and then the rest in 1kg part bundles.  

The small sets worth way more if parted, even basically just into figs and rest.   Whilst this doesn’t alter the current market price of a set, the market price shouldn’t necessarily be taken as the market value of a set. 

It doesn't help that this line was out at the same time as LotR and Hobbit sets, where you had characters that you could associate with a movie.

2 hours ago, thoroakenfelder said:

So, is the largest set rule applicable to Jurassic world, Scooby doo, or city subthemes?

I think people will want all the Dino's and their variants from the JW line, but the biggest is likely to be the strongest if history has taught us anything. All of the Dino sets from a few years back are doing pretty well.

As for Scooby Doo, i think the MM will be one of the strongest in this wave. I don't delve into City much so i can't comment on those sets. All of this could change based on how much and of what set the horde masses though....

This Castle line almost had a "Juniors" vibe to it. I never built them myself, but that's just what i got from box art/reviews.

First the directly on topic comments -  thanks for the brief analytical take on a theme that appeals to me (I grabbed one of each for myself and a couple extra of the big sets that paid for the others about a year ago.. but never believed in it as a top investment.) I do think more highly of the Kingdoms line as well but was not part of the initial discussion on this Castle re-visit... sorta all the same as far as I'm concerned, with LotR / Hobbit being more interesting still.

Now I've gotta chime in on Scooby Doo. If this line is one-and-done in a year, I see good investment potential in it for sure. But every new investor and their dog will have a dozen vans stashed away, and every serious investor in the theme will have stockpiled the Mansion. Enter the "Sea Cow Effect", otherwise known as "that which is not not liked as widely is not hoarded as much and can therefore appreciate faster than sets which are more popular". I really don't like the Museum, and it's tiny, the Plane is cool and affordable, and the Lighthouse is appreciated by more folks it seems, but a little harder on the budget. Will these 3 sets outperform the 2 obvious targets? Three years from now I might have my answer. Until then, I'm keeping my eyeballs peeled for signs of a true winner from the "gang".

For Scooby Doo, the plane is my favorite set in the theme.  I'm not like everyone, but I think the Headless Spectre is awesome.  Availability for discounts is a big deal to me, so if I can't find the larger sets on discount, I may go for the smaller sets in the theme.  I feel there's less risk that way too.

Amazon had a BOGO where you could get a pair of King's Castle for ~$60 each if I'm thinking right.  I didn't buy any, but obviously should have, I was newer and the hype train just wasn't rolling on this theme/set at the time. 

I noticed the performance of this set when I picked up a King's Castle from AWD and then decided to flip it during Christmas.  After that I was convinced that Brick Bounty should also be a solid pickup as it was a classic theme that hit similar beats of the King's Castle.  I know I'm in the minority, but I wouldn't mind seeing a classic western theme, with a big Legoredo style fort.

It is interesting that King's Castle performance is handily beating Helm's Deep, but maybe that is explained by the fact that they hype train was full steam ahead for that set and LOTR/Hobbit fans aren't as numerous or hardcore as portrayed.