If I Could Go Back and Visit a LEGO Store 15 Years Ago

1 hour ago, Jeff Mack said:

 

2000 was during the time I was selling parts and used sets on ebay and built my own "bricklink" site.  did that for a couple years in college then closed up shop around 2001, when i no longer had the time or space to manage it.  If i could go back, I would try and keep that business going rather than taking a 13 year break...

I'd simply slip back to 2004-5 when I had my first, brief stint with Lego "investing." If I had the time, space, and family support then that I do now... well, let's just say I might not have a day job anymore.

This picture was taken Sept 2010 in Rockefeller Center Lego Store...I I was still in my dark ages, I wish I had a clue and bought all the 10212 and the 10019.... I would have no issues leaving the DS for later..... 

I remember year 2008. In Germany there was a long term discount of Town Plan, regular about 130 Euro I think and it was discounted to 70 Euro. I have bought about 15 and made good money selling them at 150 Euro.

Why not bought 50 and waited till today? ;-)

3 hours ago, boliramirez said:

This picture was taken Sept 2010 in Rockefeller Center Lego Store...I I was still in my dark ages, I wish I had a clue and bought all the 10212 and the 10019.... I would have no issues leaving the DS for later..... 

Ah... the death star. The universal LEGO constant

If I were to go back in time I'd rather invest my money in Magic cards. With buying the right cards gains of 5000% wouldn't be difficult to achieve. Also, storage would be so much easier.

49 minutes ago, boliramirez said:

This picture was taken Sept 2010 in Rockefeller Center Lego Store...I I was still in my dark ages, I wish I had a clue and bought all the 10212 and the 10019.... I would have no issues leaving the DS for later..... 

 

Or that lambo police car in the corner next to the shuttles... http://www.brickpicker.com/bpms/set.cfm?set=8214-1

3 hours ago, boliramirez said:

This picture was taken Sept 2010 in Rockefeller Center Lego Store...I I was still in my dark ages, I wish I had a clue and bought all the 10212 and the 10019.... I would have no issues leaving the DS for later..... 

Not that there weren't plenty of other amazing sets available during that time, but that is a 10198 in the picture, not 10019. 

As that old saying goes, if I knew then what I know now!!!  Man, seriously I think about the 10 years of dark ages for me, and if I had just stuck it out, what my collection would look like and everything it would entail.  There were so many fantastic sets back then.

I would also not leave those Battle of Endor sets behind. I love that set.

7 minutes ago, citymorgue said:

As that old saying goes, if I knew then what I know now!!!  Man, seriously I think about the 10 years of dark ages for me, and if I had just stuck it out, what my collection would look like and everything it would entail.  There were so many fantastic sets back then.

I agree. I had the disposable income 10 years ago. No kids. No wife. If you catch my drift.

1 hour ago, Ciglione said:

I agree. I had the disposable income 10 years ago. No kids. No wife. If you catch my drift.

Same boat as you.  I was single in the military with basically no financial obligations other than basic rent and stuff.

3 hours ago, boliramirez said:

This picture was taken Sept 2010 in Rockefeller Center Lego Store...I I was still in my dark ages, I wish I had a clue and bought all the 10212 and the 10019....

I wish I could have bought that dragon.

26 minutes ago, TheOrcKing said:

I wish I could have bought that dragon.

This is the best they'd sell you, in 2001. 

I would head back to 2002 and pick up as many Santa Fe Super Chief train sets as I could afford.  I have the complete set, but should have bought two of everything and kept one complete set in the boxes.  However, even used these sets have done very well in value.

On ‎11‎/‎24‎/‎2015‎ ‎9‎:‎54‎:‎01‎, boliramirez said:

This picture was taken Sept 2010 in Rockefeller Center Lego Store...I I was still in my dark ages, I wish I had a clue and bought all the 10212 and the 10019.... I would have no issues leaving the DS for later..... 

Common mistake to get the 10019 and the 10198 mixed up.

On ‎11‎/‎24‎/‎2015‎ ‎9‎:‎54‎:‎01‎, boliramirez said:

This picture was taken Sept 2010 in Rockefeller Center Lego Store...I I was still in my dark ages, I wish I had a clue and bought all the 10212 and the 10019.... I would have no issues leaving the DS for later..... 

Honestly, the 1st thing I saw in the picture was the 10188 box. Not the dragon, the other sets or the people. Just the 10188.

If I had the ability to go back in time I'd walk straight past the Lego shop with it's large cumbersome sets and into chains of betting shops armed with my sporting knowledge. No need to worry about storage, postage and fees. The only waiting one would have to concern themselves with is the time it takes to count your winnings before placing the next bet.

For me, I would invest as much money into Apple, Amazon, Google, etc.  I wouldn't even worry about investing in Lego.  Lego would be for chumps if I knew then what I know now.  But then again, what can you do?

Although, just for pure nostalgia sake, it would be nice to walk into a Lego store 15 years ago to really appreciate how far Lego has grown since then.

On 24.11.2015, 13:07:45, Jeff Mack said:

The article's opening paragraph reminds us that it wasn't that long ago that "LEGO was losing nearly a million dollars a day".  I wonder how often they would ban people or stop them from buying large quantity of multiples if we can warp back to that time period.

That sure would have seemed odd. But then again, it's quite common for companies with a strong brand to prioritize brand integrity over profits/revenue. Obviously with the aim of increasing the latter through the stronger brand in the long run.