There and Still Here - An Unexpected (Lego) Investment Journey

Investor: Veegs
Investments (LEGO) to date: About $8000
Sales to date: About $600
Wife (One day overdue now...and still very pregnant) anger level: 9.5/10
Most Recent Acquisition(s): Captain America at TRU.ca (only to get 30116 polybag)

I was just perusing the other community blogs and really enjoyed reading articles that are a mix of personal as well as Lego. I also have the ability to type, so I figured I could emulate my fellow Legoists and provide a little (more) content to a site that I use so frequently. I do have three (count'em!) *pat self on back* published articles done prior to the changeover to this fancier version of the site, which make excellent light reading. They would have been better, but I blame my editors - they took out all the Lego conspiracy ramblings I threw in and just left investment-based information. Now, no more. I love that this blog feature lets me bare my investing soul with little to no oversight. To celebrate, I'll start with a run-of-the-mill, how I got into this hobby type post. I know there have been a few threads here and there with the same general idea, but I am on a power trip and feel like describing my unexpected journey in more words than most people would want in a general forum reply.

It started slowly, the way things tend to start in the beginning, with a single cell that begins to divide. Wait - that is how my wife got pregnant...I think my Lego investing started at Pearl Jam Twenty. For those who don't know me, I am a little crazy 'bout Pearl Jam. I grew up on 'grunge' and now, in my mid-30's, still love the band but have more discretionary income to travel to see shows and stock up on merch. Two years ago, celebrating the band's 20th anniversary, I traveled from Ontario to Alpine Valley via Cleveland to see a weekend of PJ. Once there, I saw tons of people buying concert posters and cradling them like newborn infants. I wondered why, and after spending hours chatting with other music nuts, realized that collectors grab silk-screened prints to commemorate shows they have been to (or just prints that look awesome). I realized I a) had a house with a room just for me, and (gah! I can't get a the letter b and a bracket to NOT make that little emoticon) I suddenly needed posters and tokens from every show I've been to. Things quickly spiralled out of control and after getting back from the show I spent hours researching gig prints and their value, the artists, etc. I learned just enough to start spending money. I actively purchased below expressobeans (a must have site for print collectors) averages on any prints I could get my hands on. My wife grew weary of the castle of cardboard I built with my poster tubes. Then something magical happened - I started to list these posters on ebay and during November and December people bought a heck of a lot of them - presumably in an offering to Santa/God. My paypal account began to grow flush with cash and I got better at picking with prints were solid investment choices and which would languish in my portfolio, waiting years to be sold for minimal gain (The Lego Atlantis version of prints). Then Pearl Jam decided to do a short Euro 2012 tour and 3 US dates. Interest in the band wanes when they aren't touring or making new music, and I had read everything I could about their prints. I was hungry for more information and wondering what other collectibles I could invest in (keeping one for myself, obviously).

Then it hit me like something heavy hitting you in the head, but metaphorically - other collectibles! I stayed with the PJ community and read a lot of threads about how expensive vinyl records were. Apparently musicians make very small amounts of vinyl available when a record is released, and, unlike CDs, *rarely* reprint (it seems okay to reprint if it has been out of print long enough - like remaking Jabba's Sail Barge or X-Wing Red Five) which means that hot items (listed as limited or on colored vinyl) command big secondary market prices. I started reading/researching and watching ebay sold listings, salivating. My work life began to suffer, my home life as well. My wife wanted to know why I was now adding 12 inch cardboard mailers to my giant castle of round cardboard poster tubes. Some nights, I slept in that castle, not by choice. Record Store Day and Black Friday Record Store Day brought some opportunities to make a little cash with a little hard work, and I spent a lot of time pre-ordering the best vinyl (the best vinyl being perhaps the first 1000 pre-orders worldwide, which will get a different edition of the album instead of plain black vinyl) and got better and better at making investment picks. Unfortunately, much like LEGO, the popularity of Record Store Day and vinyl in general meant picking very carefully. Picking very carefully also meant purchasing sparingly, only for records I was close to 100% certain I could later flip for at least a 30% profit after fees. I left a lot of smaller fish out there, and soon realized I only really wanted to invest in vinyl I also loved. I couldn't bear following bands/record labels of music I didn't really care for (invest in something you love, can read about for hours and never grow weary of discussing ad naseum on various forums or you'll eventually ditch your new 'hobby') so I now only have a small, manageable amount of bands/record labels I need to check. This gave me more time to get into another market - LEGO! (yes, I will finally talk about Lego. If you have read this far the tip in parentheses above about reading literally anything even remotely related to your passion and never growing weary likely describes you - we can be friends)

I always checked out the Lego aisles when I went shopping with my wife, and have always loved Lego, but I spent most of my twenties travelling the world and living in various locales abroad. No base to set up a serious Lego habit, but I had always loved Lego and occassionally checked out the Shop & Home website just to drool over cool Lego. I joined the mailing list of TLG and even while living abroad in Dubai got their emails and thought about how cool it would be to build that Taj Mahal. Anyway, one day at 'work' I took a gander at some of the sets I had loved years before and was a little surprised at their secondary prices on ebay. Within minutes I was on brickipedia and minutes after that, brickpicker. An investing legend was born. I had a fair amount of money from selling vinyl and prints, a total much bigger than my wife assumed, and basically started making it rain hundreds at toy retailers in the fall of 2012. Now I'm sitting on over 10K of mixed collectibles and I've got enough good sets that I'm gearing up to sell (I'm aiming to be a powerseller by Septmeber) and start to split the profits - half to a retirement fund and the other half to plow back into Lego.

I am going to see Pearl Jam next month in London, Ontario and with a fall tour there will be plenty of merch/print opportunities this Oct. and Nov. I've got dollar signs in my eyes and a 'music & Lego' room downstairs that still has some space. Time to placate the wife and make some more investments.

Was your journey as long and convoluted as mine? Do you have a pregnant wife who hates your investment hobbies (until you sell for a profit, of course, then it is all smiles and weekend getaways funded by your 'hobby') are you a pregnant woman/wife yourself? Do you like Lego? If you've read all this gibberish, and fit some/all of the above criteria, let's be Lego friends. I promise to read and post on your blogs even it is tangentially related to Lego investing.

Veegs