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    Brickpicker blog articles on LEGO investing, news, reviews, evaluations, discounts and more...
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    • Noodlenut
      There has been a lot of success in the world of LEGO investing, but there have also been many losses.  In a previous article, I wrote about successful sets, but to be successful, we must know how to avoid failures.
      There are many things that can make a set flop, like an unpopular theme, bad minifigures, poor design, etc.  We must know the good from the bad, learn from the past, and carefully evaluate all advice given to us in able to succeed in LEGO investing.  
      Unsuccessful Themes of the Past

      With a disappointing CAGR of -7.90%, Prince of Persia is one of the biggest failures in history.  The unsuccessful movie and the big "Disney" logo on the boxes do not help this theme at all.
       
       
      Set Name Retail Price Number of Pieces Market Value (New) CAGR 7569 Desert Attack $10.99 67 $11.26 0.61% 7570 The Ostrich Race $19.99 169 $13.94 -8.62% 7571 The Fight for the Dagger $29.99 258 $22.51 -6.92% 7572 Quest Against Time $49.99 506 $33.59 -9.46% 7573 Battle of Alamut $79.99 821 $66.88 -4.38%  
      As you can see, you can still buy most of the sets from this theme below retail.  Unlike Pirates of the Caribbean, there is not one successful set in Prince of Persia.
      What went wrong?
      I have to admit that I really liked the Prince of Persia theme from a collector's standpoint.  The sets and minifigures were both designed very well, and the surplus of tan pieces made for great part packs.  Unfortunately, the good design was not enough to make this theme a winner.
      Prince of Persia received a 5/10 from most critics and left many fans disappointed.  The idea of creating a movie from a video game itself was a random idea that did not turn out well.  The movie was the downfall of these sets.

      World Racers was an un-licensed theme that performed slightly better than Prince of Persia.  The background story did not make sense and the idea of racing around the world while throwing explosives at each other was... weird.  There were lots of vehicles, but not much variety.  There was not much AFOL or TFOL appeal in this theme.  World Racers was targeted toward kids 7-12, and it tends to be the TFOLs and AFOLs that fuel the secondary market.
       
       
      Set Name Retail Price Number of Pieces Market Value (New) CAGR 8863 Blizzard's Peak $59.99 504 $38.75 -10.35% 8864 Desert of Destruction $89.99 961 $75.73 -4.22% 8896 Snake Canyon $9.99 57 $14.78 10.29% 8897 Jagged Jaws Reef $19.99 191 $14.96 -6.99% 8898 Wreckage Road $29.99 292 $26.40 -3.14% 8899 Gator Swamp $39.99 354 $30.05 -6.89% If you look closely at this theme, you will notice a similarity to Prince of Persia.  Only the smallest set has a positive CAGR.
      What went wrong?
      This was a kid's theme.  There was not much variety, as all the sets were vehicles that were either green or red.  I believe that these two reasons are why these sets failed.  There is nothing wrong with a kid's theme, but when it does not have much effort put into it, the results can be disastrous.

      I do not want to get too off-topic by talking about a theme completely different from the others, but I would like to touch on the LEGO Games theme before we move on.
      If you would look at the overall CAGR of this theme, you would find that it is 3.37%.  I was very surprised when I saw this because I knew that there were not many sets in this theme with a positive CAGR.  I will explain the positive CAGR later.
      The one reason that the Games theme failed is because it does not stay true to the LEGO system.  People buy LEGO to build, not to play board games.  Even though the idea of a Games theme was creative and had a lot of potential, it never really took off because they had the wrong audience.
      The reason for the positive CAGR of the theme is because it was such a failure.  I know that sounds like an oxymoron, but it will make sense when I explain it.
      LEGO launched this theme with much enthusiasm and advertising.  Some of the most well-known sets include Minotaurous and Creationary.  LEGO had planned to make some more board games with licenses.  One was Star Wars: The Battle of Hoth, which was only available in the UK.  Two others, The Battle of Helm's Deep and Batman.  The last two never made it to the shelves.  LEGO decided to cancel the sets due to the lack of success the LEGO Games theme had experienced.  As to how some got into the hands of resellers, I do not know, but you should be able to find a small amount on eBay with prices ranging from $150 to $300 and CAGRs at 100 to 200 percent.  If it had not been for these sets, the Games theme would be right next to Prince of Persia and World Racers.
      I know that there were many more themes that failed (e.g. Toy Story, Atlantis, etc.)  As with my previous article, the goal here is not to list every single set that failed in LEGO history.  The goal is to list enough data that you can know which sets will fail and which sets will succeed.
      Analyzing the Data
      After researching these themes, there are a few conclusions that can be made.
      A set or theme can be a failure if...
      #1.  ...the movie the theme is based on is unpopular
      #2.  ...the theme is targeted toward kids and does not have much AFOL or TFOL appeal
      #3.  ...the design is poor
      #4.  ...the theme does not stay true to the LEGO system
      The list goes on and on, but the main ones that affect a set the most is reason #1 and #2.  #1 was clearly the reason that Prince of Persia failed, while #2 is the reason that themes like Toy Story and Cars failed.  Reason #3 is why we find bad sets in a great theme, and reason #4 is why Clikits (for those of you who do not know what "Clikits" is, it was basically a jewelry theme.) and Games failed.  This should give you enough information to discern the good from the bad.
      Possible Failures of the Future
      Predicting failures is much harder than predicting success.  When looking for failures, you have to look at how popular the movie is that it came from, the minifigures in the set, and how big sales have been in the set or theme's lifetime.  When Toy Story retired, I can remember massive discounts.  Even at huge discounts, it was hard to get rid of the sets.  POTC is one theme that I would consider a failure, but that does not mean that there were a few successes in the theme.  No matter how unpopular the movie or theme is, people like ships and trains.  Everyone can remember the Queen Anne's Revenge and the Black Pearl.  Despite the huge discounts on these sets and the failures in the rest of the theme, these two sets were a huge success after the theme retired.
      #1. Galaxy Squad
      This is a very controversial theme.  Some people think that these are the best LEGO sets ever made, and others think that they are lame.  I think that they are neat, but I would not invest too much money in them.  The previous Space Police and Alien Conquest themes failed.  I think that TLG put more effort in these two themes than Galaxy Squad.  What makes this theme different?  Is there any difference?  I would say yes.  The Galaxy Squad sets have great designs.  If there is anything that will save this theme from failure, it is that.  I am not saying that these are terrible investments, just that there are better themes to put your money on.
      #2. Lone Ranger
      Most of the Lone Ranger sets are well designed, but the Disney logo on the box makes the sets unstable investments.  There are many examples of sets that were well designed with exceptional minifigures that failed with the Disney logo on the box.  POTC, Prince of Persia, and Toy Story come to mind.  Like I said before, why invest in possible failures when there are so many better options out there?
      I think that Lone Ranger will be similar to POTC.  I believe that the train will be a winner.  This is just my opinion from what I have researched.  You may or may not have success using my opinion, because it is just a human opinion.
      Summing it Up
      As you can see, there are not nearly as many investmenfailures as there are successes, but when failures come, we must be able to identify them and steer clear from the bad and the ugly.
    • Migration
      There has been a rather lively debate about the suitability of the new Microfighter line as an investment vehicle. Few new lines have been as polarizing as Microfighters (I'm taking about you Chima), it seems that you either love them or hate them with few taking the middle ground. For those that haven't seen them, the Microfighters line consists of a small build of some of the more recognizable Star Wars ships with a "seat" for a mini figure. The effect of having the minifigure seated in such small ships is comical, the sets, as one forum member put it, resemble the cars from Mario Cart. Currently there are six different sets, they are:
      75028 Clone Turbo Tank 96 pieces
      75029 AAT 95 pieces
      75030 Millennium Falcon 94 pieces
      75031 TIE Interceptor 92 pieces
      75032 X-Wing Fighter 97 pieces
      75033 Star Destroyer 97 pieces
      All sets are priced with an MSRP of $9.99 and come with one mini figure (the AAT comes with a droid).  While $9.99 may seem a little high for what amounts to an overgrown and boxed polybag, with the piece count of close to 100 each set has a PPB in the $0.10-$0.11 range, and you get the minifig. With the sets being so new they should Not be purchased at this time to hold long term. They may have some potential for turbo flipping as all six are currently sold out at S&H. Of the six the consensus seems to be that the Millennium Falcon and TIE Interceptor show the most promise for this purpose. If you do plan to attempt to flip these sets, they must be purchased at a substantial discount, a quick look at eBays sold listings show that the Falcon is consistently bringing $10.00-$15.00 as a BIN. A key driving force to this may be the unique printed cockpit piece in this version of the Falcon.
      For more of a long term perspective lets go back to 2003/2004 and look at a few similarly sized sets, although without mini figures.  
        4492-1 4484-1 4488-1 4491-1     STAR DESTROYER X-WING FIGHTER & TIE ADVANCED MILLENNIUM FALCON MTT Set Pieces 87 76 87 99 Set Year 2004 2003 2003 2003 Theme STAR WARS STAR WARS STAR WARS STAR WARS Sub Theme MINI BUILDING SET MINI BUILDING SET MINI BUILDING SET MINI BUILDING SET Retail Price (USD) $6.99 $3.99 $6.99 $6.99 CAGR 8.02  14.69  17.60  6.95  Six Month Performance Price Per Brick $ 0.17 New $ 0.13 Used $ 0.08 Retail $ 0.20 New $ 0.16 Used $ 0.05 Retail $ 0.40 New $ 0.33 Used $ 0.08 Retail $ 0.14 New $ 0.09 Used $ 0.07 Retail LEGO VALUE COMPARISON: NEW SETS
      A breakdown and comparison of new values for your selected sets. Current Market Value: New $ 14.67 $ 15.33 $ 34.76 $ 13.69 One Month Change: New 4.79%  2.42%  1.67%  — Six Month Change: New 14.71%  7.43%  36.85%  1.79%  One Year Change: New 13.35%  3.02%  7.72%  10.35%  Change from Retail: New 109.87%  284.21%  397.28%  95.85%  LEGO VALUE COMPARISON: USED SETS
      A breakdown and comparison of used values for your selected sets. Current Market Value: New $ 10.93 $ 12.00 $ 28.80 $ 9.33 One Month Change: Used — — 6.16%  — Six Month Change: Used 2.44%  14.71%  16.13%  13.05%  One Year Change: Used 7.16%  20.00%  14.06%  1.48%  Change from Retail: Used 56.37%  200.75%  312.02%  33.48%    Of these older sets the Millennium Falcon 4488 is the clear winner at nearly five times original retail, more interesting is that it's up almost 37% in the last six months. It's acting more like a set that's just recently retired than one that's been out for ten years. While the MTT has yet to double its MSRP over the same time period. It would seem the the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy is a popular ship among collectors. I expect a similar pattern to repeat with these newer sets, if you chose to buy and hold any of the Microfighter line grab some Falcons. Now, however, is not the time to be loading up on these. They were just released and should have at a minimum 18 months to two years before retirement. Wait it out and watch how they do in the primary market.              
    • legoaddiction
      I have never liked Chess as a kid or as a teenager. It was just one of those games that looked boring and bland. A game for nerds. However in the past several years after buying my first iphone, I could not find a app that suited my needs. Ultimately I needed an game that required some strategy and would never get boring. A game that I could improve on over time and a game that would pass time while I was playing it. That game ended up being Chess.
      At first, I was VERY BAD at Chess, and in some ways I still am. I remember losing to a group of kids while on a cruise. After 100 or so games I realized that Chess was not so bad. In fact It became an addiction.
      Now here I am finally wanting to get a customized Chess board. Since I am into Fantasy and Medieval characters, I thought about buying the "Crusaders Chess" set.
      However I want my Chess pieces to be able to be customized and I preferred my pawns to be holding shields and swords. I just could not justify the one or two hundred dollars to get this Chess set it. The pieces are nicely painted but will wear and crack and this was something I did not want.
      While browsing eBay, I found this this amazing chess set! The Castle Giant Lego Chess Set. Unfortunately this set was released in 2008 and is a limited edition set. It was priced at $200 back then but now fetches anywhere between $1500-1800. A fairly steep price for an Awesome set. Until Lego decides to launch another limited edition Chess set I have decided to custom make my own!
        Here is another set that is readily available for $50. The Kingdom Chess Set. The pieces are nice but the Chess board is small and untiled. This would mean for every move I would have to pull the piece off one section of the board and try to push it back on the desired square without the piece falling apart on me.
      It was then I decided to build my own chess board using the "Castle Giant Lego Chess Set" as a template and even improving on the individual pieces.
      Budget? $200-400 And so my journey began.
      I scoured Bricklink and eBay and bought minifigures and all the pieces i needed. I also spent hours looking for the instruction manual on Google for the pieces from "The Kingdom Chess set".
      End result:
      White army overview
        Here is the red army showing the front pawns (with the center commander pawn). The commander pawn holds a two handed battle axe and is armored. Behind them are the two wizard bishops and knights. At the rear are the two rooks.     Black Army overview
        Here is an overview of the black army showing the black pawns up front with two black knights flanking the two black bishops. Behind them are two cave trolls which can be switched in for the black rooks. I thought it would be more interesting to have the black pawn army led by a single commander pawn (as the center pawns are the strongest in a game of Chess).         INVESTMENT VALUE?   Well - as this is made from Lego minifigures I expect them to at least hold their value.   For Chess players I expect them to find this set very desirable and if I wish I may be lucky enough to find an interested buyer.   I certainly do not expect this chess set to escalate in value like the Giant Lego Chess Set; however I am enjoying this set a lot more than what i would with the Giant Lego Chess Set as it is tailored to my liking. If ever I decide to have a game a Chess with a friend, i show them my Custom Lego Chess Set and it certainly becomes a focal point for discussion.  
    • Grolim
      If like me you’ve ever struggled with the temptation that having a closet or room stuffed with shiny new Lego sets for investment presents in terms of building and playing or displaying them, this short blog may help! Rarely have I succumbed to this temptation.  I tend to try and keep my collecting hobby side of the Lego game separate from the investing side.  There is occasion where I have dipped in to the investment pool to provide a last minute gift for a young lad or lass, or when I really just had to build the Lone Ranger Train. One thing that helps me do this is looking at the decision to open an investment set with a clear approach involving the true cost of doing so. Often I hear talk on the forums of “Buy what you like, so you can open it if investment growth isn’t as strong as you’d hoped” or “I only paid 50% of retail for it so I might just open and build it…”  The decision to open a set should be made with as much information as possible when you are a profit maximising investor. When you open a set the price you paid for it should have almost zero consequence on that decision. This is a very important mind shift for most people.  The trade off you make when opening the set does not relate to the price paid, instead it is: When you open a set the true cost of doing so is the opportunity cost you forgo.  This is mainly related to the current secondary market price minus a few other factors. If you have a set in hand the trade off you make when “consuming” it is the price you could currently sell it for.  This can be approximated using the Brickpicker current market price for new sets, or you can estimate that cost yourself if you could sell it locally for a different amount.  Basically you take what the maximum is you think you could successfully sell it for right now.  Now from that there are a few deductions to take into account:
      The listing and selling fees if applicable Time to set up the sales listing Packaging and postage Time to post or meet the seller Tax from any profits remaining if applicable If you can estimate those costs you’ll have a pretty good idea of the expected gross revenue you would have from selling the set.  This is you opportunity cost.   Now there are a few other things to take into account as well. Firstly when you open a Lego set to build you don’t “consume” it.  A Lego set is not like a candy bar or loaf of bread, after using it you are still left with a tangible asset – the used set.  This used set still has a value.  The used value of sets are tracked by Brickpicker as well and you can estimate just like as above for a new set.  So if you plan on keeping your opened set indefinitely then you can’t discount your opportunity cost by this used set value.  But if you don’t and you just want to have the build experience, take a few photos, and maybe display it for a few weeks you can subtract the used set value to determine what the act of opening has cost you. Things get more complicated if your intentions are to build the set and display it for a longer term, or if you think you’ll keep it forever but change your mind later on and decide to sell it.  To work out the cost here you’ll need two estimates.  The future value of a used set and the future value of the set if it is still new and sealed.  This can obviously be pretty hard to determine.  My advice would be to look at the current prices for similar sets to the one in question.  Check out similar sized sets and sets from the same theme and look for the price difference between a sealed set and a used one.  That should give you a bit of a guide to the future opportunity cost. So in conclusion, if you want to open a set go ahead, but remember the price for doing so is not the cash you paid at the retail counter but the opportunity cost incurred by not being able to sell a new sealed set.
    • Migration
      Much has been said of all the shiny new Star Wars and Super Heroes sets for 2014, but in my opinion Cuusoo has the most interesting and potentially most profitable sets this year. For now I want to take a look at 21104, Curiosity Rover. It is some what of an enigma. An S&H limit of only 1 and a "Limited" designation in the catalog has given the Rover a wild ride and it hasn't even been out for  two months yet.  It seems that upon its initial release it sold out in  mere 7 hours and each subsequent release hasn't even lasted that long. What is it about 295 pieces of geeky goodness that can drive sales trends like that? Let's take a look at some similar sets.
       
       
        Hayabusa Minecraft Arch Studio CuriosityRover     2012 2013 2014 Theme CUUSOO CUUSOO ARCHITECTURE CUUSOO Sub Theme CUUSOO CUUSOO ARCHITECTURE CUUSOO Retail Price (USD) $49.99 $34.99 $149.99 $0.00 CAGR 68.89  65.28  82.88  — Six Month Performance — Price Per Brick $ 0.23 New $ 0.16 Used $ 0.14 Retail $ 0.10 New $ 0.10 Used $ 0.07 Retail $ 0.28 New $ 0.13 Used $ 0.12 Retail N/A LEGO VALUE COMPARISON: NEW SETS
      A breakdown and comparison of new values for your selected sets. Current Market Value: New $ 85.33 $ 45.95 $ 336.33 $ 0.00 One Month Change: New 1.07%  20.54%  22.61%  — Six Month Change: New 20.00%  5.80%  82.79%  — One Year Change: New 52.29%  20.80%  — — Change from Retail: New 70.69%  31.32%  124.23%  — LEGO VALUE COMPARISON: USED SETS
      A breakdown and comparison of used values for your selected sets. Current Market Value: New $ 59.75 $ 46.27 $ 153.86 $ 0.00 One Month Change: Used — 4.76%  — — Six Month Change: Used 1.58%  21.54%  — — One Year Change: Used 3.91%  7.46%  —   Change from Retail: Used 19.52%  32.24%  2.58%  — First off, yes I know that 21050 isn't Cuusoo, more on that in a minute. Second, 21100 Shinkai 6500 was only released in Japan and had a very small production run. I considered it to be an outlier and am not including it in this analysis.
      Third, 21104 has no data, it hasn't been out for two months yet. I'm hoping to fill in some of the blanks.
      From a design standpoint the Rover most closely resembles 21101 Hayabusa. Hayabusa was released in 2012 with an original retail of 49.99. The Rover and Hayabusa have a similar piece count and both are based on actual space craft. Hayabusa has been retired for less than a year and new examples currently sell for over $85.00. So that's it, a CAGR near seventy less than a year after retirement. Homework done, let's party. Not quite.
      Minecraft. Set 21102 was also released in 2012, it has a piece count of 480 and an original MSRP or $34.99. Minecraft also had a stated production run of 10,000 sets. They lasted about ten minutes and eBay quickly sent the price into triple digits. TLG responded by releasing another run, and another, and another. The set is still available at retail.
      Architecture Studio. While 21050 has four times the piece count and is four times the price of the Rover I bring it up for a reason. Anyone who even casually followed Lego from October of 2013 to February of 2014 should be familiar with this set. Released in 2013 and exclusive to Barnes & Noble brick and mortar stores (it was available elsewhere online) Arch Studio was one of those sets that TLG completely underestimated.
      By November this set with a $150 retail was easily bringing $250 on eBay and as supplies dwindled after the first of the year prices surpassed $350. In early February TRU released about 120 units with the usual TRU markup, but prices held. Then a couple weeks later Target released a large number of sets and S&H quickly followed. So endith the high eBay returns. Before Christmas of 2013 as this set was aggressively flipped there were highly animated discussions on when this set would go EOL or if it was already gone. Both sides were adamant, both sides had very good arguments and both sides lacked one thing. Evidence.
      Now for the hard part. While at first glance Curiosity Rover has much in common with Hayabusa those similarities disappear with closer inspection. Hayabusa, while it is a cool set, is more targeted for a Japanese audience. It's a Japanese satellite on a Japanese mission. The Rover is targeted for the American consumer. It's an American craft and as such has had much more exposure to a wider audience. While I had to look up Hayabusa's mission, I was already aware of and interested in Curiosity Rovers mission. The Rover also has a much longer mission and more public mission, anyone can google its latest and greatest images and discoveries (do it, the pictures are amazing).  More public awareness can only help the returns of this set.
      Now for the really hard part. The Curiosity Rover was released on January 1, 2014 with an MSRP of $29.99. It sold out in seven hours. It has had quantities show up on S&H at least twice since its initial release and has sold out within an hour on each occasion. Currently it is only available on S&H, with some showing up at Lego Discovery Centers, and has a U.S. limit of one (those lucky Europeans have a limit of five).  This set will do well, how well depends on what TLG does. Will they let it sell out only to release in cycles like Minecraft? Will it disappear for a few months only to show up unannounced like Arch Studio? As of this writing the BIN average is around $75.00 shipped. That's about double retail after fees. Do you hold? Should you flip? To be, or not to be? I have a hard time not flipping a set I can double if it has not even been out for two months. I also believe this set will see substantial growth after EOL, so I am holding several. Will it see the same gains as 21100? I don't think so, at least not for many years after retirement. It's simply too small and isn't rare enough. Will it out perform Hayabusa? Without question. Get this set. Flip or hold, ask me in three years which was the correct strategy.      
    • Noodlenut
      Photographing LEGO minifigures, boxes and sets can be a difficult task to do correctly.  It can mean the difference between selling or not selling an item on eBay or similar sites.  Before I found out how to create this light box, it was a time consuming process to set up a good lighting system, take pictures of my minifigures, and list them on eBay.  When I was in a time crunch, I would just put the minifigures flat on a piece of paper, which did not look the greatest.  This light box is easy to construct, deconstruct, and store away.  The purpose of this article is to show you how to easily light minifigures or other small objects without the constant hassle of setting up and tearing down a complex lighting system.
      Material List

      1.  Two shallow boxes.  I used boxes that previously had cans in them.  You can probably find them at a local grocery store.
      2.  Three sheets of white paper
      3.  One sheet of card stock.  Any color is fine, but do not use pink. ;)
      4.  Tape
      5.  Desk light.  Fluorescent lights tend to work the best.
      Assembling the Light Box
      Take the two shallow boxes and stick one box inside the other.  It should look something like this:

      Now stand the box assembly so that one box is flat on the floor and the other is sticking up in the air.  Then, take the piece of card stock and tape it in the boxes so that it looks like this:

      Take one of the pieces of white paper and tape it to the side.  This does not have to be perfect.  The reason the piece of paper is there is to reflect light.

      Next, do the same thing on the other side of the box.

      After this, take your last sheet of white paper and tape it over the card stock.

      After you place the desk lamp over the box, you are done!

      I use a Nikon Coolpix P90, which is not the best camera (as you may have noticed.)  However, under the right circumstances, it can take nice pictures.  Here is a picture that I took in my light box:

      I realize that this is not the best method to light a minifigure, but it is better than placing a minifigure flat on a piece of paper.  I would usually try to avoid the direct light, but I found that it worked fine for this purpose.
      Please share how you like to light objects in the comments.  I would love to hear everyone's different techniques.  Thanks for reading!
       
    • matrosov
      This article attempts to describe Craigslist experience of buying bulk Lego lots and provide some lessons learned from newbie perspective so others can benefit from experience and hopefully not make same mistakes that I've made..
      I've been fan of Lego since childhood, never really entered a dark age there was always a set or two or three around the house most of them were technic.  I seriously considered Lego investing 3 or 4 months ago and turned to Craigslist bulk buys to offset the burden of long term investment.  Below are my observations of the process, lessons learned and some real life examples of to date purchases.
      Observations:
      Targeting lots of sets is the easiest way to start- Buying Lego pounds and trying to resell them is a very difficult proposition, there are tremendous number of power plus sellers on E-bay that are doing Lego pound selling full time or nearly full time, competing with their prices, rankings in search results or supply sources poses a significant challenge to a newbie who is just starting out.  When you target Craigslist lots that have identifiable sets in them you at least know what you are getting and also know upfront the demand rate for those sets.
      Determining Your Price Limit -Lot of set is quite a bit more expensive then paying per pound with prices in a hundreds of dollars you need to make sure that you can recoup this initial investment before money exchanges hands. Unless I get a distinct feeling from the seller that he is a builder going into dark age or he is a pack rat that never misplaces anything I usually shoot for a purchase price of the lot to be 50% of the market price of the sets in it or 20% percent off asking price whichever is lower.  This leaves me with a lot of wiggle room in terms of money I can spend on rehab and a healthy profit in the end, or so I hope.
      Being a Fan of Lego is an absolute must-If you don't enjoy building, the whole affair will quickly become an exercise in frustration.  If you don't treat time spent rehabilitating sets ordering missing parts from Bricklink and then building those sets to photograph them for listings and then break them down piece by piece to verify completeness, as your personal fun time you will quickly realize that you are losing ton of money because you are making less than 2 dollars an hour.  If on the other hand you treat this endeavor as getting paid for something you are willing to do for free the process is quite enjoyable.  In my case I have a son who is a Lego addict and will build anything you throw at him as long as he gets a day or two to play with it and a better half who is willing to do a lot of dirty work like sorting and packing as long as she gets to build some of the Modulars with me.  In my case it became a good family past time that everyone enjoys.
      Restraining an evil AFOL -As you will see in the examples below it is essential you restrain your evil AFOL side and quit while you are still ahead.  That means you have to remember at all times that the set you are building is not for keeps and once you reach a certain dollar point of missing bricks it's time to call it quits and stop hitting order button on bricklink.
      Keeping Records
      It is also important to cost each set in a lot purchased according to its relative market value weight this ensures that you don't overspend or underspend when rehabbing those sets.  Needless to say that you need to be very meticulous in recording cost of each brick, plus shipping, that you ordered for every set you are rehabbing.  Once you start selling newly restored sets you need to keep an eye on your profit margin per set as well as your overall lot profit margin.  It is tempting to make an overall profit margin of 30% on a lot but if it means leaving items sitting for year on Ebay waiting for their buyers, time value of money concept kicks in.  In those cases a lower profit margin in a shorter time frame is preferable to a higher profit margin over a much longer period.
      Managing your expectations
      Even when dealing with the upstanding citizens you cannot make a purchase expecting that everything will be as described. Bricks could be cracked small little pieces could be missing, some sets might be beyond rehab.  You have to be ready to spend more money on top of the purchase price before you can make money with any CL purchase you make.
      Patience
      You cannot be pressuring yourself into trying turnaround those lots for sale ASAP.  It takes time.  Bricklink is a great resource but it's wanted list feature is totally outdated.  Trying to get the best possible price for missing bricks for 40 sets in your lot is the most tedious and time consuming part of the whole process.  Allow yourself to get frustrated and you will quickly give up.  CL flipping will not make you 100's of thousands of dollars overnight but it will help you subsidize your long term investments as well as scratch that itch to build stuff if you are AFOL.  
      Now let's look at some examples. 
      The profit shown is net before taxes.  That is I accounted for E-bay/Paypal fees, postage costs, packing materials, bricklinked bricks and of course the initial purchase price of the lot. First lot I purchased was a 5 gallon bucket full of individually bagged smaller to medium sets Atlantis, Sponge Bob, Cars, Toy Story, and probably two dozen of Series 2-4 minifigs. Total cost for that lot $100. Purchase date mi December. As you can see there were 47 identifiable set/minifigs in that lot.  To date I turned in a healthy  30%  profit and I expect the remaining sets to bring my profit margin to 41%.  This was a case of a pack rat and is atypical from what I've seen with my other purchases.
      Lot NumberPurchase DateLot CostQuantityBoughtQuantity AvailableBricklink CostGross RevenueCOGSRealized ProfitProfit MarginProjected Gross RevenueProjected COGSProjected ProfitProjected Profit MarginLot 112/18/2013100471447.65476358.34117.6632.83%599.06423.94175.1241%Lot 1 Total  471447.65476358.34117.6632.83%599.06423.94175.1241%Grand   Total  471447.65476358.34117.6632.83%599.06423.94175.1241%Lot2-Was purchased around Christmas time and included mostly complete Star wars sets including 7676, my favorite.   Of course now that 75021 re-make is on the shelves the profit on this lot is uncertain, but I essentially broke even on it so I am not too concerned.  Here is how this one faired. Purchase price of that lot was $100.
      Lot NumberPurchase DateLot CostSum   of QuantitySum   of Quantity AvailableSum of   Bricklink CostSum   of Gross RevenueSum   of COGSSum   of Realized ProfitSum   of Profit MarginSum   of Projected Gross RevenueSum   of Projected COGSSum   of Projected ProfitSum   of Projected Profit MarginLot 212/19/20131006126.78180.44184.99-4.55-2.46%313.45210.08103.3749%Lot 2 Total  6126.78180.44184.99-4.55-2.46%313.45210.08103.3749%Grand   Total  6126.78180.44184.99-4.55-2.46%313.45210.08103.3749%  The first two lots  made me fancy myself an expert in Craigslist buying and then I purchased Lot 3. With this lot  I decided that it would be a good idea to play Russian roulette with a semi-automatic handgun and then when the gun functioned as intended I decided that I want to do it few more times.  A shorter version of it could be an Evil AFOL awakes.  Dealing with upstanding citizens buying first two lots made me believe in general goodness of human kind, lot 3 had proven me wrong.  Craigslist ad described a lot of 8 99% complete  sets including 7659, all minifigs and manuals.  My first clue that something was off should have been a really hurried kid that seemed very anxious to be on his way, but AFOL was salivating over Slave I in the open box so money exchanged hands. When I got home none of the minifigs were present, 7659 was not there and surprise the sets were not 99% complete they were about 75% complete mark.  Evil AFOL was at full swing hitting order button on bricklink ordering minifigs at  13 bucks a pop.  Below is the result of that fiasco.  Needless to say that when the responsible female population of the house found out, it got really loud I think the nicest thing I heard was something about looking for wife number 3, my eardrums were rupturing so I cannot be sure.  Purchase price of this lot was $190 and it was purchased around Christmas time as well. Bulk of the expenses came from minifigs, had I bought just missing bricks I would've broken even.  
      Lot NumberPurchase DateLot CostSum   of QuantitySum   of Quantity AvailableSum of   Bricklink CostSum   of Gross RevenueSum   of COGSSum   of Realized ProfitSum   of Profit MarginSum   of Projected Gross RevenueSum   of Projected COGSSum   of Projected ProfitSum   of Projected Profit MarginLot 61/4/201419086171.0678.06386.14-308.08-79.78%299.23454.67-155.44-34%Lot 6 Total  86171.0678.06386.14-308.08-79.78%299.23454.67-155.44-34%Grand   Total  86171.0678.06386.14-308.08-79.78%299.23454.67-155.44-34%  While recovering my hearing on the couch late at night I figured that it is time to get back on Craigslist and got my next lot. This one was the most fun  of them all It had  40 mostly complete sets from the 80's and early 90's, some of them I remember from my childhood.  5978, 6073, 6076 were just the few.  Purchase price was $500.   And the numbers for it are below.  This one and the promise of not building Parisian restaurant by myself put me back in good graces with the Mrs.  
      Lot NumberPurchase DateLot CostSum   of QuantitySum   of Quantity AvailableSum of   Bricklink CostSum   of Gross RevenueSum   of COGSSum   of Realized ProfitSum   of Profit MarginSum   of Projected Gross RevenueSum   of Projected COGSSum   of Projected ProfitSum   of Projected Profit MarginLot 101/24/2014500382191.89405.76719.65-313.89-43.62%1,099.96921.79178.1719%Lot 10 Total  382191.89405.76719.65-313.89-43.62%1,099.96921.79178.1719%Grand   Total  382191.89405.76719.65-313.89-43.62%1,099.96921.79178.1719%The last lot I purchased was for 7 Harry Potter Sets and two star wars sets.  When I started sorting thru them, I quickly came to realization that this lot had 12 Harry Potter sets, all of them with minifigs, but no manuals.  This one put me back on track.  Here how this one turned out.
      Lot NumberPurchase DateLot CostSum   of QuantitySum   of Quantity AvailableSum of   Bricklink CostSum   of Gross RevenueSum   of COGSSum   of Realized ProfitSum   of Profit MarginSum   of Projected Gross RevenueSum   of Projected COGSSum   of Projected ProfitSum   of Projected Profit MarginLot 132/6/20143001414111.8444890411.84-411.84-100.00%807.18599.08208.1035%Lot 13 Total  1414111.8444890411.84-411.84-100.00%807.18599.08208.1035%Grand   Total  1414111.8444890411.84-411.84-100.00%807.18599.08208.1035%And here's the overall performance of my purchases to date.  As you can see if you keep yourself in check you can expect 20% or more in net profit  in a relatively reasonable period of time.
      Lot NumberPurchase DateLot CostQuantity Quantity AvailableBricklink CostGross RevenueCOGSRealized ProfitProfit MarginProjected Gross RevenueProjected COGSProjected ProfitSum   of Projected Profit MarginLot 112/18/2013100471447.65476358.34117.6632.83%599.06423.94175.1241%Lot 212/19/20131006126.78180.44184.99-4.55-2.46%313.45210.08103.3749%Lot 61/4/201419086171.0678.06386.14-308.08-79.78%299.23454.67-155.44-34%Lot 71/5/2014541125.64079.94-79.94-100.00%124.9999.0625.9326%Lot 101/24/2014500382191.89405.76719.65-313.89-43.62%1,099.96921.79178.1719%Lot 132/6/20143001414111.840411.84-411.84-100.00%807.18599.08208.1035%Grand   Total  11457474.861140.262,140.90-1,000.64-46.74%3,243.872,708.64535.2320% 
    • Noodlenut
      I was strolling through my local Walmart and saw two Cloud Cuckoo Palaces.  Aware that this set was becoming hard to find, I decided to purchase one to part out.  I knew that parting out a set is something that many Brickpickers would like to know more about; therefore, I decided to write an article based on my personal experience. This article is for members who would like to have more knowledge on this subject. Without further ado, let's get started!
      Part I: Know Your Set

      Before you buy a set to part out, you must know the set you are purchasing.  I bought this set knowing that I would probably be able to sell the minifigures for about $30 to $35 dollars.  After that, I still had the rest of the set to sell.  If the rest of the set sells for $10 to $15 dollars, then I would make $20 to $30 dollars.  I consider that a successful endeavor.
      Part II: Should I Break the Seals?

      I spent quite a bit of time wondering if I should break the seals of this set.  I did some research on eBay and found out that the sealed set was selling for $30 to $40 dollars.  I figured that it would be good to get more experience in parting a set out, so I decided to break the seals.  For people looking for convenience, parting out might not be for you.  One thing that I was surprised by was the amount of time that it took to part this set out.
      Part III: Shipping Costs/Creating Your Lots
      This part does not take a whole lot of work, but with just a little bit of planning you can cut your overall shipping cost by a decent amount and make more money at the same time.  Even though the shipping cost will only be a few dollars, it is good to keep thinking about ways to save money.
      The shipping cost is approximately one dollar for each padded envelope, and each envelope costs about fifty cents.  The rest of the set can go in a small box and the cost will be approximately $2.50.  I combined the cost of the envelope and the shipping cost to simplify the table.
       
      Lot Name Shipping Cost Emmet $1.50 Wyldstyle $1.50 Unikitty $1.50 Executron $1.50 The rest of the set $2.50 The total expenses are $8.50. This one way to part the set out, and it is an effective way to accomplish the process - but is there a better way?
       
      Lot Name Shipping Cost Emmet and Wyldstyle $1.50 Unikitty and Snail $1.50 Executron $1.50 The rest of the set $2.50  
      The total expenses are $8.50.  This one way to part the set out, and it is an effective way to accomplish the process - but is there a better way?
       
       
      Lot Name Shipping Cost Emmet and Wyldstyle $1.50 Unikitty and Snail $1.50 Executron $1.50 The rest of the set $2.50 I would say that this is a better way.  By combining Emmet and Wyldstyle, we can subtract $1.50 from our expenses, bringing the estimated shipping cost down to $7.00 dollars.
      You may have noticed that I added the snail to the Unikitty lot.  The snail is not nearly as popular as Unikitty, but when combined, the snail can make the lot sell a bit faster.
      Part IV: Taking Pictures and Lighting
      This part is optional.  Some people use official images in their eBay listings, but I like to show buyers exactly what they are buying.  The main problem with taking pictures is lighting.

      I like to use an Ott-Lite that looks similar to this.  It gives a white light instead of a yellow light that most ceiling lights tend to give.  The second thing that I use when taking pictures is paper.  It can reflect light very well and can also soften it if you wrap it around the light.  Do not get paper near the light if it tends to get hot, as this could start a fire.
      If possible, do not let light directly hit the object you are trying to photograph.  My favorite method to light a picture is to open the Ott-Lite just enough to turn it on and then slide a piece of paper in between the light and the bottom support to reflect the light indirectly onto the object I am lighting.

      This way, there is not a nasty glare that hinders buyers from seeing the object you are photographing.  After you get your lighting system rigged up, you can place your minifigure on another sheet of paper and take a picture.  This is the result I got:

      This is one of the simplest ways to light a minifigure.  It does cast a shadow at the bottom, but buyers can still see what they are buying, and that is the most important part.
      Part V: Selling Your Items on eBay/Pricing Your Lots
      After you have taken your pictures, you can just load them onto your listing.  I chose to use a padded envelope to ship the small things and a small box to ship the rest of the set.  I decided to list with free shipping.
      Because I was familiar with this set, I had an idea of what the lots had been selling for, but it is always good to double check by looking up the sold listings on eBay.  After I researched trending prices, I decided on my prices, which you can see in the table below.
       
      Lot Name Shipping Cost My Price on eBay Minus the Shipping Cost Five Lots $7.00 $52.38 $45.38 Emmet and Wyldstyle $1.50 $17.97 $16.47 Unikitty and Snail $1.50 $15.97 $14.47 Executron $1.50 $7.47 $5.97 The rest of the set $2.50 $10.97 $8.47  
      All this minus the $20 dollar retail price equals $25.38 profit!  That is approximately 127% profit!  I would say that this has been a success.  *Note* If you do use eBay to sell your items, they will automatically take away 10% of your profits.  I did not calculate that on my table.
      Part VI: Packaging the Lots
      Before I put my items in the padded envelope, I placed them in plastic bags to give the minifigures an extra layer of cushion to prevent scratching.  Here are a few of the minifigures in plastic bags:

      After I dealt with the minifigures, I taped up the original bags with clear packaging tape so that the pieces would not fall out.  Now everything is ready to be shipped.
      Summing it Up
      I hope that you have found this article helpful and useful in your own investing experience.  Please leave a comment on what you thought about this article.  Your feedback is appreciated!  Once I finish selling all my lots, I will leave an update in the comments sharing the rest of my experience.  Thanks for reading!
    • Migration
      I deal with bulk Lego more than any other type, I find it relaxing, I get to spend some quality time with my seven year old, and it is very profitable so long as you don't over pay or spend to much time on it. Time, time is the killer of an otherwise perfect lot. While there is no single solution to speed the process of finding value in a lot, there are several ways to speed up the process of sorting and building, thus finding the value quicker. Take the lot below, it is roughly 20-25 pounds of seemingly random lego and while I did get many sets of instructions with it, some of the sets were without instruct

      Regardless of whether you get instructions or not with a lot like this one (completely mixed) I use the same techniques to figure out what sets I have. I will start sorting a bulk lot as I wash it, sometimes before. The most effective way to tell what you have (unless you have the instructions) is to know your mini figures. With my first run through I pull out every mini figure and mini figure part I find. Say hello to Ten Numb, he was one of the first figures I found and he is only in set 6208. Looks like I have a B-Wing.

      Stickers are the next method I use to identify sets. Some like a license plate will actually give you the set number. Same goes with printed tiles. A quick note about stickers, they HATE to be washed. I will try and pull any piece out that has a sticker on it before washing. Washed or not as I find pieces with stickers or printing I sort them into a tray.

      The same goes for any unusual pieces, as I find them I set them aside in trays or boxes depending on how big the lot happens to be. I will also sort out some of the more common bricks and plates by size and shape, while I don't generally sort by color if you find it helpful by all means do so. An average tray of sorted plates looks like this.
       
      Makes your pile smaller and whenever you need a plate of any size you know where it is. I will do the same with bricks, rounds, smalls, and all the other more common pieces. When I am done I will always have a few pounds of random unsorted pieces that don't seem to fit in with anything. With those I just put them in a box and dig through it as needed.
      Sometimes, even with a lot as random as this one, you luck out and will find pieces of sets or even ones that are near complete. It's not something that happens all the time but it's worth mentioning. Just be alert, for every chunk of a set that I have found I've also run across two or three altered sets or flat out MOCs.
      Anyone who has ever processed a bulk lot will know that they always come with non Lego. As I'm sorting anything that I don't think is Lego goes in its own box.

      Saving non Lego was a painful lesson to learn. While sorting one of my first bulk lots I took a quick look at the head to the creature from 7255, and thinking "no Lego looks like this" tossed it in the recycling bin. Oops. At least I could still sell Grievous. So, trust me, keep your non Lego until you're done with the lot.
      I have always found it difficult to wait to start building so while I'm sorting a lot I tend to start assembling sets. I'll even work on several at once, I keep each one in their own box as I go.

      I got all the bins from one of the nicer lots that I purchased, each set was in its own bin with its instructions. That has only happened once so don't expect it to be the norm. And I have no idea why this pic seems to be sideways.
      With the first bulk lots that I processed I would only consider a set "worth the trouble" if I could get $20 or more for it, sometimes if much of the value was tied to a single figure I would just sell the minifig and be done with it. Over the last year or so my son has started helping me and I've had him do some of the smaller sets on his own, he enjoys it and when selling a bunch of $10 sets you wind up with the same amount of profit as you get from selling one more expensive set. A word of caution though, wait to sell the smaller sets until you've sold all the larger ones, it saves having to Bricklink pieces for an expensive set after using them on cheap one. I will still sell a mini figure to save time, but not as often as I have in the past. With older lots I would end up with 10-15 pounds of leftovers that I would sell in one shot just to get rid of, didn't make as much as I could have, but I saved time, now I wind up 5-10 pounds and sell it off in smaller lots or as sorted pieces. It's all about what your time is worth to you. I hope y'all have found this informative, and please comment on anything you do or do not agree with. I only need another 997,207 Brickpoints to get that 10179 and each comment is a +1
    • comicblast
      Welcome to the fifth and final installment of a series started by Comicblast called “The Superior Market - eBay vs. BrickLink”. If you haven't read the previous articles, I suggest you start at the beginning and read Comicblast's initial articleshere ($0.00 to $9.99 and here ($10 to $24.99). The third installment can be readhere ($25 to $49.99) and gives further background about the purpose of these articles and my approach to continuing the analysis. The fourth installment is here ($50 to $99.99).
      Fees for eBay were calculated as follows:
      No insertion fee was included. 10% was subtracted off the sale price for eBay. Fees on any shipping cost were not included since it is impossible to calculate. 2.9% + 30 cents was subtracted off the sale price for PayPal. Fees for BrickLink were calculated as follows:
      3% was subtracted off the sale price for BrickLink. 2.9% + 30 cents was subtracted off the sale price for PayPal. ** One word of caution for the BrickLink values. BrickLink shows me the values in Canadian dollars and doesn't offer the ability to switch to a different currency despite the claims made by it's settings. I used an average of the exchange rate (1.0504) between the CDN and US dollars over the last 6 months to find the BrickLink US sale price. I.e. $1.00 US = $0.952 CDN  ** The results for MSRP Over $100 are as follows:
      BrickLink is the clear winner in terms of being the marketplace that earns sellers maximum profits. As usual, without fees eBay appears to be the winner as 12 sets sold for more money: 9.22% vs 6.99% With fees, 9 of those sets move to the BrickLink side of profit even though the remaining 3 give eBay a real advantage: 18.11% vs 11.21% For sets with a MSRP over $100, we see the biggest difference between the two marketplaces. While those that sell for more on eBay make a higher return for the seller, BrickLink is the clear winner in terms of your chances. More sets make more money on BrickLink.

      Additional things to consider:
      If you have an eBay store, you may pay significantly less fess. There is no free shipping on BrickLink, so the sale price shown is the true sale price. eBay prices will more than likely include listings that had free shipping as part of the sale price. This round scores a TKO for BrickLink. Despite the fact that the Fire Temple sold for a whopping 38% more on eBay, it is clearly an oddball set (though a fantastic one, I love dragons in Lego). People are clearly paying high prices on eBay but there is just no match for BrickLink's lower fees. Sets that appear to make more money on eBay usually don't sell high enough to cover the fee difference. At these price ranges, that also translates into some significant money being paid in fees and lost profits.


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