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    Brickpicker blog articles on LEGO investing, news, reviews, evaluations, discounts and more...
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    • DoNotInsertIntoMouth
      When I first got into Lego's, my wife was a little resistant. She thought they were cool, but just didn't really see anything about them that made her want them. Then she say a couple of themes she liked, for instance Harry Potter, and all of a sudden my obsession was understandable.
      Two of her favorite movie themes of all time are Star Trek and the Transformers series and so she immediately asked me if Lego had any of these themes. She was very disappointing to find out that Lego did not have anything from those themes.
      However, a while later, we were in Walmart and she walked by an isle near the Legos that had an off-brand called "Kre-o's", and behold, there was Transformers and Star Trek. I told her they were NOTHING compared to Lego. My wife wanted to try them out anyway. So we found several sets in the coming weeks that she liked for really cheap (I didn't want to take a chance since I knew they weren't the real thing) and she built them all. I helped her to a certain extent and then took some pictures of the different sets. I thought I would do short reviews of them and then talk about Kre-o as a brand and how it compares to Lego and why Lego is so much better.
      Be advised, this is just for purchase. I would not for any reason invest in these. A lot of them didn't sell particularly well, which is a bit surprising, but they were all incredibly discounted and still are. I don't think there is any reason to think they will be a good investment - so this is particularly for the builders, the bulk lovers, and the players out there. Plus, if you like Transformers or the Star Trek series, this is a way to get your kicks! Obviously, if Lego ever comes out with either of these themes, don't waste your time on these.
      The reviews are just of the sets we own since I have first hand knowledge of them:
      Tranformers Series - BumbleBee

      This set retails for $24.99 and comes with 335 pieces. On the outside, that is a really good PPP value at $.07. This set was recently discounted by most retailers like Target and Walmart and can be found for $15 or less. At that price (which is where we got it), it is a pretty cool set. See the pictures below:


      These are a lot like the creator sets in that they have two different ways to be set up: in the vehicle and the actual transformer character. My wife likes leaving them in the transformer so we have not built the actually vehicles though they look pretty cool. I can't help but think that Lego would have been able to make them actually transform though.
      This set comes with 3 small Kreons, which are the supposed to be the equivalent of Lego minifigures, but are not near as cool. The set itself is pretty detailed. Most of the pieces were pretty easy to put together and look pretty good. The yellow color is not too bad, but it is not quite as bright and vibrant as Lego yellows.
      I do really like the back of the bumblebee with the actual wheels still on. Makes it at least look like it transformed. Overall, for 335 pieces (which is less for this since we didn't use them all), you get quite a bit. A lot of the pieces are larger pieces wheres I think Lego sometimes splits pieces up smaller. Because of this, it really feels like a 500 piece Lego set.
      Anyway, it is a pretty good rendition of Bumblebee and I think is worth it if you can get it at a discount. Luckily you can find these off Ebay for as low as $15, so I would suggest picking it up if you like transformers.
      StarScream

      This set is $29.99 retail and has 316 pieces. The PPP ratio is $.09 which is still pretty good. I was able to pick this set up for my wife for $15, and at that price it is tremendous:


      This one is really my favorite of all the transformers sets. The large missiles on top and all the missiles on his hands are really cool. This one has quite a bit of play-ability because of that. Unfortunately, they don't really shoot like flick missiles (Lego still wins by a lot).
      The grey and red is a little duller than Lego's greys and reds. This is a recurring theme with the brand as I will talk about below. All in all, the set was very easy to build and came with a lot of cool pieces, including all the missiles.
      Again, for the piece count, there is quite a lot here. The wings, missiles and feet are all single pieces, so they are rather large and make up the bulk of the weight of the set.
      This set can be picked up on Ebay for less than $20 and is a steal at that price (again, don't invest in it though )
      Megatron

      This set is 310 pieces and is $29.99 retail for another $.09 PPP ratio. It is definitely worth it. This set has some of the best detail of all the sets, and has 4 Kreon figures. Most of them are no-name figures, but this is true for every set. Here it is below:


      We got our set for $15 at a discount/damages store, but unfortunately it only had 3 of the Kreons. We don't really care for the Kreons anyway, so it was still a good deal. This set is probably the closest to an actual Lego set. It has quite a bit of intricate little details like Megatron's fingers and the grill from the trunk that is on his chest. I really like the tanker barrels at the top as well. It also has the steering wheel from the truck right behind his head. Man, if this transformed, it would be really sweet (Do it Lego!). You can find it on Ebay for under $20 which is not bad.
      OptimusPrime

      This set is one of the bigger ones in Kreo's collection, which makes sense because it is a truck rig. It retails for $59.99 and has 542 pieces for a PPP ratio of $.11 which is not near as good as the others. I think it is a little over-priced, but we got it at $30 from Walmart on clearance and for that price, I think it's not too bad.


      This set does come with some extras. Optimus Prime actually comes with a little stand and an attached command center. It also has 3 Kreons and two small motor bikes for them to ride that are shown in the bottom of the picture. This is the most flashy of all the sets with the different colors. It is also slightly larger obviously.
      Again, I really like the detail, especially on the back of the piece with all the wheels and the exhaust pipes from the Truck. I have seen this one on Clearance a lot and on Ebay for $30. At that price, it is really a steal. It's funny though, even the most detailed sets don't come close to Lego sets.
      Star Trek - The Enterpris

      This is the only one of the Star trek series we have so far, but it is really impressive. It is HUGE for only 432 pieces and it comes with 5 Kreons, these being the actual Enterprise workers. They look a lot better than the Kreons in the Transformer series. It has 432 pieces and retails for $49.99 for a PPP ratio of $.11. Unfortunately, we did not check before and saw it in TRU for $60. I had a 20% off coupon, so we paid $48, but that really wasn't that great a deal. However, because of the sheer size of the set, it is worth it:


      If you look at the top of the round part of the ship, you can tell most of those are large single pieces, which is why the piece count is so low. This set is bigger than the Jabba's Palace I have which is over 800 pieces. Really the detail on the ship is pretty good, although I don't feel like it comes close to the type of time and detail Lego would put into it. For $48, this was a great set. Having the big pieces does have a downside - bigger sets aren't as fun to build without smaller pieces. Almost more like a model.
      The inside of it is pretty nice too with the command center and places for all the Kre-o's. As you can see on the right, it even has a little fold up screen for driving the ship. My wife likes this one the best out of all of them.
      Since Lego doesn't have these two themes and we have to live with Kre-o for now, what are the big differences and what makes Lego so much better?
      Differences and Pros/Cons
      First off, you would only want to buy Kre-o if Lego doesn't have the theme. They don't come close to Lego sets. After building some of them, they are cool but not anything like Lego. Smaller Lego sets we have look way better and more impressive then the biggest Kre-o sets. Kre-o colors aren't near as vibrant. However, they do have some shades of colors that Lego doesn't have like some shades of green and the larger white pieces in the Enterprise set. All in all though, don't display them next to Lego sets because Lego destroys them color-wise. Kre-o doesn't have numbered bags. This seems simple, but it is a huge downside. You don't know how much easier it is to find Lego pieces. Lego gets a huge win in ease of build. The Kre-o pieces are considerably lighter. All of these sets were way lighter than the smaller 250 piece Star Wars Lego sets I have. May lend to the fact that the pieces are cheaper and may not hold up over time the same way if played with. If you feel the pieces, you can tell the difference between Kre-o and Lego in a second. The Kre-o's don't stay together as well and some parts don't fit. They may be able to warp, although the ones we have gotten together have been fine. Kre-o does detail really well. It is not to the level Lego does, but it is better than pretty much every other Lego impersonator. Kreons are not near as good as minifigures. For one, they are usually all one piece. They are way lighter and don't move as freely as well. I think this is the biggest difference between the two. The legs on Kreons move alright, but they don't stand up as well on display. If you love bulk, buy a bunch of these on clearance. They come with tons of extra pieces - I think our Bumblebee has close to 400 pieces in it. You can get tons of Lego compatible and different pieces by picking up one of these sets and dumping it in your bin for way less than any Lego set that is comparable. Since we don't play with our sets, I don't really know about how they would hold up being played with. Lego's almost can't be destroyed, but I have a feeling these are better just left alone after building. Anyone else have any of these? Do you like any other sets? I thought these two themes were the only ones we would consider buying from Kre-o since Lego doesn't have them. If Lego ever makes them, I would imagine these would not be anywhere near relevant anymore.
    • DoNotInsertIntoMouth
      I had a lot of fun thinking up different Lego sets in part 5 when I did Mario Video games. I immediately had tons more ideas that came into my head. So this time I decided to do Nintendo 64 games. The Nintendo 64 was my favorite system of all time and houses some of the best made games ever in my opinion. I tried to take the best games and pull out the best stuff from them so that I had some good variety. I am leaving out Mario 64 since I already had written about that one. This theme can be called “Ode to the greatest system of all time: Nintendo 64”.
      StarFox 64 – Arwing and Landmaster

      Alright, someone here tell me they didn't play this game. Honestly you could probably have a whole theme from Starfox because there were so many memorable ships. The game had some of the most ultimate replay value of all time with the 30 different ways you could get to the end of the game, the different secret levels, and the two difficulty levels. I would say I pored at least 500 hours or more into this game, and every year or so I get it back out to play some more. It was just that good.
      So what would we do? Well I think there are two important vehicles everyone would want. First, the Arwing:

      This would come with the retracting wings like the plane in the game had. It could also come with flick missiles for the blasters. A stand would be included so that you could set it upright where no part of it was touching the ground. It would be holding is so that you could easily flip the ship. There would be a speaker in the stand with a sensor and you could flip the Arwing and the speaker would say “do a barrel roll”. This would be a split set, so you would also have a Landmaster - like the old Tie-fighter and Y-wing sets:

      Who doesn't want a tank. It could also do a manual barrel roll – just roll it over.
      Minifigures would include:
      Fox Slippy Falco – mean look on his face like “I guess I should be thankful” Peppy Goldeneye – The Cradle

      Its fairly safe to say that Goldeneye 64 is a near consensus “One of the greatest games of all time”. Had there been online play, I have to assume people would still be playing this game today. This really was the beginning of the first person shooter. Pretty much every game made since then has been modeled after the success this game had.
      This level is pretty well known and iconic to the game and to the movie. Bond is chasing Trevelyan across the Cradle trying to catch him. In the game, this level was a race against time and it was near the end of the game itself. I remember having to play this level over and over because the Cradle kept blowing up before I made it to my getaway plane.
      With the way Lego has done with Bridges and structures of that nature like the in the City theme and the Tower Bridge 10214, I think Lego would absolutely dominate this set. They could make it really large and impressive. Though it would be hard to recreate the whole thing, they could have one main bridge and several branches off of it as well as the lower place Bond jumps to safety from.
      This set would come with the following minifigures:
      James Bond Trevelyan – he would have to be looking like his is running because that is all he does in this level 3 Bad guys to go after Bond. Zelda 64 – Hyrule's Castle

      I don't think there are many people who play fantasy RPGs that haven't played the Legend of Zelda. There were plenty of story games before this and there were several Zelda games as well, but nothing like this. The character development and the story of this game (Legend of Zelda – Ocarina of Time) were really unmatched when this came out.
      If you were into the game, you know you spent quite an amount of time around Hyrule Castle – having to sneak in and deal with the townspeople inside and outside as well as the guards.
      The minifigures would include:
      Link – the main character 2 Castle Guards Princess Zelda There could also be a lot of little extras. Maybe hearts for Link to pick up after battle and diamonds to pick up for money. Also, I think the set needs a chicken. Doesn't everyone remember hurting the chickens and bringing out the swarm of chicken death?

      Super Smash Brothers – Saffron City

      This was another great game in the lineup and one that has really carried on since. This game was the ultimate party game – nothing was more fun than getting together with a bunch of friends and putting the lives on “99” and playing for hours.
      I picked Saffron City for two reasons: it was my favorite level from the game and... if we pick that we can have minifigure Pokemon! I think they could make it look just like in the game with the main building and the two smaller buildings to the right and left. It could come with a barrel and a large box for power ups. There could also be an extra home-run bat, a bomb-omb and a poke-ball or two.
      Minifigures would include:
      Mario as a battler(it's his game right?) Pikachu as a battler Hitmonlee Chancey - would come with eggs Charizard – with flames coming out from him Blastoise Mario Tennis

      This was the only game I ever played that I felt like I couldn't be beat at. I played tennis growing up and I loved this game because of it with all the power ups and and the animation. This would go over extremely well as a Lego set too; anyone ever looked at the CAGR on some of those sports sets?
      This set would come with a full tennis court along with a linesman chair. It could also have the stands that are around the court itself. It could then come with these minifigures:
      Mario (again, it's his game) Bowser Yoshi Wario Luigi – he could be a sub-in or a linesman Donkey Kong – as an alternate because I couldn't cut it down enough. Obviously it could also come with some minifigure sized tennis balls as well as the rackets for the different players.
      That's all for today. What other games do you think would be good for Lego sets? Would you all buy these sets?
      Note: All of the information here are my own opinions and are pulled from my experiences. You may or may not have success with these methods. Thanks for reading!
    • comicblast
      Welcome to the last installment of my analysis of the LEGO Star Wars BrickIndex. In this article, we will be looking at the 8129 AT-AT Walker, 8036 Seperatist Shuttle, 10129 Rebel Snowspeeder,10030 Imperial Star Destroyer, and 4500 Rebel Snowspeeder.
      16. 8129-1: AT-AT WALKER
      17. 8036-1: SEPARATIST SHUTTLE
      18. 10129-1: REBEL SNOWSPEEDER
      19. 10030-1: IMPERIAL STAR DESTROYER
      20. 4500-1: REBEL SNOWSPEEDER
      The BrickIndex is a handy BrickPicker tool that allows the user to view the overall Top 20 Performing sets from all themes, or a single theme. It helps to decide what sets might be skyrocketing in value, and what you may want to pick up for the future. Below is a overview of the sets we will be looking at:
      16. 8129-1: AT-AT WALKER
      This is the third version of the LEGO AT-AT Walker in the top 20, and the second full-sized one. This is the newest version of AT-AT, and has had massive gains over the past year, appreciating 78% over the past year (~$120). All signs of this set’s appreciation point to more appreciation of years to come. There was a predictable spike in sales quantity in December, but the value didn’t increase more than it’s projected growth.
      Though used sets are often scoffed at as investments, I think now is a great time to pick one up. The set has been on a very steep decline, but will undoubtedly make a come-back. I will soon be writing an article on this, so stay tuned!
      17. 8036-1: SEPARATIST SHUTTLE
      This set is a surprise to the BrickIndex list, especially because of its short appearance in the Clone Wars TV show. This set is one of the few that includes the Trade Federation leader, Newt Gunray, which makes this set relatively desirable. I can’t really see this set being a big gainer, especially since it hasn’t really gotten very much more than retail. Though a nice build with decent minifigures, I think that this time, you have to move along.
      18. 10129-1: REBEL SNOWSPEEDER
      The Rebel Snowspeeder is one of my favorite builds, and is a set that you should watch fairly closely investment-wise. There was an odd dip in value during the holidays, down to $720, but it almost instantly made its rebound to $880, making it a great set to invest in, even 10 years after it was released. As a build, it was designed spectacularly, with way more detail than the minifigure-scale ones do, and it is one of the most iconic ships/vehicles in Star Wars. This set is often overlooked by collectors and investors, as it isn’t one of the front-runners of the UCS line, and is overshadowed by other more current sets, like the 10179 Millennium Falcon, or 10143 Death Star II.
      I would pick up this set for investment as soon as it hits about $750, as it will be an easy way to pocket some significant cash!
      19. 10030-1: IMPERIAL STAR DESTROYER
      One of the largest LEGO sets in existance, the Imperial Star Destroyer is one of the biggest, baddest LEGO sets around. It comes in an attractive black, slick box, with a simple, but eye-catching box design. The 10030 Imperial Star Destroyer is basically stabilized, and has only seen gains over the past six months because of a dip in value December. The Imperial Star Destroyer has been remade a few times, with a variety of different models, including the recent 10221 Super Star Destroyer. Each one has a slightly different design, which helps past models maintain value and desirability. This particular model of the Star Destroyer is wider than most, and includes a mini-model of the Tantive IV, where the Rebel ship is drawn into the Destroyer via a tractor beam, and then boarded by Darth Vader.
      There is a dwindling amount of sold listings of this set, as well as a low amount of listings. This set quite possibly could make a large jump in value with the lower quantity of listings. The used version of the 10030 Imperial Star Destroyer has seen fairly good gains over the past 6 months, gaining 27%. It is expected that this set will stay at it’s current value, within about $30 of $600.
      20. 4500-1: REBEL SNOWSPEEDER
      Last but not least is the 4500 Rebel Snowspeeder. This is somewhat of a minimalist model of the Snowspeeder, with only about 200 pieces. The build does manage to include many of the major parts of the set, including the twin laser guns on each wing, as well as the larger-than-normal windshield/cockpit. This set has seen a very steady gain over the past several months, but the gains are so small dollar-wise that it isn’t worth the effort to grab it. There are about 10 listings for new 4500 Rebel Snowspeeders, but the demand for this set probably won’t go up, because of the frequency of remakes for this particular set.






    • DoNotInsertIntoMouth
      For my next article on themes Lego really needs to do, I think I am going to go with the most obvious one out there: Disney World. Now many people have mentioned this, and Disney Land, and all the other Disney type themes out there. It is actually pretty hard to understand how it has not happened as well. Disney now owns Star Wars, Disney has also had along line of Lego sets in Duplo as well as several other film themes like Cars and the recent Lone Ranger. So how has it not happened yet?
      Well, I assume it will very soon. With Disney taking over Star Wars, they and Lego are going to have a bigger relationship than ever. I can not imagine this is not one of the things on TLG's radar. Disney World is the place that every child wants to go and I can't imagine that these wouldn't fly off the shelves, or be huge investment winners.
      So, before TLG and Disney finally decide to do the obvious, I am going to give them a couple of great ideas before hand:
      Disney Minifigure Series

      I think there are a lot of people that love the minifigures Lego has in their minifigure series as they are highly collectable and depict all sorts of different people and characters. If Disney has one thing, it is a lot of different characters.
      Disney has something similar in toys called Vinylmations, depicted in the picture above. These are all sorts of different Disney and non Disney characters depicted in a Disney light; for instance, with mouse ears. Think of how well this would go over as minifigures!
      Since Disney already has their own line of figures, this could be actually Disney characters that were in all of the different movies. There are tons of these, so they could continue series after series. People would collect these like crazy – Vinylmations are something that do really well in the secondary market just like Lego figures. Completing the different sets and different full casts from the movies would keep this series going for years and years.
      It's a Small World

      This is definitely one of the most iconic and popular rides at Disney for several reasons. One, it is one of the most tame rides there so pretty much everyone can ride it without problem. On top of that, the song is extremely catchy and easy for any child to sing.
      The ride itself is a large boat ride which slowly floats around different scenes depicting children from around the world. It is very colorful and vindictive of all the different cultures from different parts of almost every country.
      This would have to be a smaller scale of the ride. It would come with a small boat and the water itself would be lower blue bricks that would go around the outside of a middle piece that would have all the scenes on it. The scenes in the middle would be a few from different parts of the world with all the little characters.
      They could also add in something that could play the song when turned on. Although we need an off button because it can get pretty old.
      Minifigures include:
      The children from around the world for the different scenes. 2 passengers in Disney gear Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

      Pretty much every Lego theme needs a train, right? Trains do about better than any other Lego vehicle and this one would be a huge seller as well. It is a cross between a train ride and a roller coaster. It is one of the oldest and most popular rides at Disney's Magic Kingdom as well. I think it would really be big for Lego because of the status of the ride, as well as the Train/roller coaster angle. It would be like a new take on an old favorite.
      It would have the giant rock structure in the middle with the train ride looping in and out of it just like the actual ride. It is a big ride, so they may have to make it a little smaller for this set, with just a few hills and only the one big rock in the middle. It would also have the giant Thunder Mountain Railroad sign on top.
      Minifigures would include:
      Disney ride operator 6 passengers in Disney gear. The Tower of Terror

      This is my favorite ride by far at the park – which honestly is not too hard since the park is really more designed for children anyway. This ride is at the Hollywood studios. It is based on the fictional story of 5 people who were in a large hotel. As they were crossing the 13th floor during an extremely bad storm, lightening struck the tower causing the elevator to drop and crash onto the bottom floor killing the 5 people. If you ride the ride, you can now enter the twilight zone and relive the terror those people suffered.
      The tower itself is awesome and could really be an awesome modular building. It somewhat could resemble the structure of the Haunted House and we know how well that has done. It would have the Hollywood Studios logo on the front as well as the Tower of Terror logo. The elevator inside would have seats for minifigure passengers and an opening to load in at the bottom. It would be able to be raised up and then fall down just like the actual ride.
      Minifigures would include:
      5 passengers for the ride A Disney ride operator The Epcot Ball

      To me, this the second most recognizable Disney landmark past Cinderella's Castle. The Epcot ball is not anything amazing on the outside: a giant golf-ball looking building with no real outside markers. However, on the inside, it is a giant ride that shows the world of today and the world as we will possible see it in the future.
      It is also amazingly huge – pictures don’t do it justice. If you ever fly over Florida, you will be able to tell how crazy large it is. It would have to be that big if it had a ride inside.
      In my eyes, this would be a very large set. The ball itself would be whole, but the top would pop off and inside there would be a small slow moving ride, just like at the real Epcot. It also will have some Disney dioramas inside that would be somewhat indicative of the actual ride itself.
      It would come with the following minifigures:
      Disney ride Operator dressed as Disney Character possibly. 4 Passengers to ride the rids, all in different Disney gear. Cinderellas Castle

      I know I already mentioned this as being the most recognizable thing from Disney World, but in all seriousness, it really is the one thing that people think of when making a visit there. It is in the theme park called “Magic Kingdom” which is the one with the most rides and is the busiest of the parks. This is also the park that is most geared towards children.
      This would be a pretty large set and would have all of the features of the real castle. As well, it would have the walkway that goes under it and all the decoration in front of it. If you have ever been to Disney World, you know at night they light the castle up; So how about a bunch of light bricks on the bottom! They would all shine up and light up the castle at night time if you wanted them to. And we all know how well Castles do. I would venture to say that this could be the best selling and best gaining castle of all time. It would come with these minifigures:
      Cinderella Mickey Mouse Minny Mouse 4 Park Visitors in Disny Gear Goofy – because who doesn't love goofy? Those are my suggestions so far TLG. I expect to see these by next year!
      What do you all think?Would this go over well? Did I pick the right rides and attractions?
      Note: All of the information here are my own opinions and are pulled from my experiences. You may or may not have success with these methods.
      Thanks for reading!
    • comicblast
      When a rookie LEGO collector, investor, or fan comes comes to the LEGO Shop, one of the primary thoughts must be “How on Earth do they have any sales? Sure they sell to other retailers, but there are almost never any sales at the LEGO Shop!” Well my young Padawan, here is the key to their success: A buyer can save a handful of cash by shopping at a different location, that might even be more well-known than the LEGO Shop itself, such as Toys ‘R’ Us. What money cannot buy from one of their retailers is a promotional item that is exclusive to LEGO.
      Perhaps such items are now well know to you, but maybe not. Nearly every month now, the LEGO Store will have an exclusive giveaway, typically free with a purchase of either $50+ or $75, though on occasion there will be a free item with all purchases. These freebies typically come in polybags. Below are a list of more recent polybags, as well as information on them:
      *The 3300014 Christmas Set came in a box, rather than a polybag.
      To me, these are very interesting results, and enforces the fact that bigger isn’t always better. One reason why minifigure polybags sell for more than builds is that every year, on May the Fourth, is a giveaway of an exclusive minifigure, usually with orders $75. These minifigures only are sold on May 4th-5th, so are then way more exclusive than others that are available for a month.
      If you can get your hands on a Minifigure and Build polybag during a promotion, then you could easily make up for 25% of the cost. The question is when to sell your polybags for the most profit. This time is usually when the polybag has been first released. To get it right when demand is the highest, means that you need to have a LEGO Store on the day the polybag is released.
      Why Buy Exclusives?
      A prime question on exclusive polybags is whether or not it actually saves you money. The average sale price of a S@H exclusive polybag is $16.87, or 22% savings on orders $75 and 16.87% savings on orders of $100. On many sets, including S@H exclusives, this is a bargain, as exclusive sets very rarely are discounted. Though exclusives may end up forcing you to buy more, they can give you savings that you can’t get anywhere else!!
      If you are interested, here are some more recent shop.LEGO.com freebie giveaways:
      Ice Cream Stand
      Mini Mech
      Hoth Han Solo
      Iron Man vs. Fighting Drone
      Jor-El
      Hot Dog Cart
      Hero Factory Accessory Pack
      ​

    • MartinP
      The 7884 Batman's Buggy: The Escape of Mr. Freeze is a small set from the Batman theme. The set has seventy-six pieces (76). Since the set has a retail price of $9.99 USD, the Price Per Piece (PPP) ratio is thirteen cents ($0.13 USD) per piece. There is another ratio that I use which is called the Price Per Gram (PPG) ratio. Since the set has a weight of 0.13 kilograms, or 130 grams, the PPG ratio would be about eight cents ($0.0768 USD) per gram.
      The set has two minifigures which are Mr. Freeze and Batman. The set also includes Batman's buggy and Mr Freeze's speedster.
      According to brickset.com, the set was released on May 26, 2008 and was retired on October 10, 2008. This means the set was only available on the primary market for about five months. That is a very short period of time for a set to be sold, which means there would be less set available to be sold on the secondary market making it a great investing set.
      Currently the set has a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 69.18%. That is an amazing CAGR. The CAGR for the Batman theme is 32.33%. The overall CAGR for all the Lego themes is 11.36%. This set is 36.85% above the Batman theme CAGR and 57.82% above the overall CAGR. I cannot stress how great this CAGR is. This is a definite plus when investing in this set. Now, let's look at a chart showing the monthly sold listings for the set new.
      June 2012: 3 July 2012: 1 August 2012: 18 September 2012: 3 October 2012: 1 November 2012: 2 December 2012: 4 January 2013: 0 February 2013: 0 March 2013: 4 April 2013: 0 May 2013: 0 According to the chart, there were thirty-six (36) sold in the past year, which is three (3) sets per month. There were four months were no new sets were sold at all. These may be due to the fact that the set was not on the primary market for very long, thus limiting the amount of sets sold on the secondary market. Here is another chart showing the monthly sales trend for the set new.
      June 2012: $146.33 USD July 2012: $143.00 USD August 2012: $119.72 USD September 2012: $127.21 USD October 2012: $125.00 USD November 2012: $124.83 USD December 2012: $129.31 USD January 2013: $129.31 USD February 2013: $129.31 USD March 2013: $138.47 USD April 2013: $138.47 USD May 2013: $138.47 USD According to the chart, the set is on an upward trend for the past ten (10) months. The set has decreased $7.86 USD in value over the past year, which is about sixty-six cents ($0.66 USD) per month. Although the set has decreased in value, the set is recovering after the value of the set decreased to $119.72 USD in August 2012, which is the lowest value of the set in the past year. When the set hit its lowest price, the set had decreased $26.21 USD from its highest value this year in June 2012 of $146.33 USD. During the year, the set went through some periods of no growth. This happened because there were no new sets sold that month due to the limited availability of the set. Hopefully, the set continues with its growth and continues to have an amazing CAGR.
      Currently, the set has a value of $138.47, which was the same value for the past two months of March and April. Since the set was released, the set has gained $128.48 from its retail value. This means the Return On Investment (ROI) for this set is 1,286%. That is amazing. The set has a ROI of 1,286% after five years. Another great investing factor about this set.
      I would recommend to buy this set. The set has increased in value tremendously from its retail price. The set has an amazing CAGR of 69.18% and ROI of 1,286%. Overall, I think that this set has many great potential investing factors. Thanks for reading!
    • MartinP
      The 10193 Medieval Market Village is one of the larger sets from the castle theme. The set has 1,601 pieces. Since the set has a retail price of $99.99 USD, the Price Per Piece (PPP) ratio is six cents ($0.06 USD) per piece. I also use another ratio called the Price Per Gram (PPG) ratio. The set has a weight of for this set is 1.905 kilograms, or 1,905 grams, so the ratio is about five cents ($0.0525 USD) per gram.
      The set has eight minifigures. They are two Crown Knights, a maid, a blacksmith, a female peasant, an old male peasant, a young male peasant, and a peasant child.
      The set was released in late 2008/early 2009 and the set was retired in early 2013. This means the set was on the primary market for about four years. There may still be sets on store shelves waiting to be sold due to higher prices.
      Currently, the set has a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 8.54%, which is decent. The castle theme has a CAGR of 9.92%. This means the set is 1.38% under the average CAGR for its theme. Also, the average CAGR for all the themes is 11.36%. That means the set is 2.82% under the average CAGR for all the themes. This is not bad at all, but I prefer a set that has a CAGR higher than its theme and the overall CAGR, but it still may be a great investment. Now, let's look at a chart showing the monthly sold listings for the set new.
      June 2012: 13 July 2012: 7 August 2012: 6 September 2012: 39 October 2012: 13 November 2012: 27 December 2012: 76 January 2013: 109 February 2013: 38 March 2013: 48 April 2013: 28 May 2013: 21 According to the chart, there were 425 sets sold in the past year, which is about thirty-five (35) sets a month. Almost half the sets sold this past year were sold during the holiday season during the months of December and January. But, there might have been a lot of sets sold in January because it retired in January 2013. Now, here is another chart showing the monthly sales trend for the set.
      June 2012: $111.56 USD July 2012: $112.94 USD August 2012: $111.25 USD September 2012: $101.82 USD October 2012: $94.77 USD November 2012: $96.15 USD December 2012: $93.89 USD January 2013: $104.39 USD February 2013: $118.82 USD March 2013: $129.40 USD April 2013: $132.71 USD May 2013: $138.76 USD This chart has two parts to it, which are before and after the set was retired. According to brickset.com the set was retired on January 13, 2013. I will analyze both sections of the chart, beginning with before the set was retired. Before the set was retired the set was on a downward trend. The set had kept on going down in value over seven months. The set lost a total value of $17.67 USD over seven months, which is about $2.52 USD per month. The set hit its all time low for the year in December 2012 when the set had a value of $93.89 USD. After the set was retired, the set jumped from $93.89 USD in December 2012 to $104.39 in January 2013. That is an increase of $10.50 USD in one month. Then the set jumped in value again, the set has a value of $118.82 in February 2013. That is an increase of $14.43 USD from the previous month and an increase of $24.93 since the set was retired. Now, the set continues to grow. The recent retirement of the set has made it a great investing choice.
      Now, the set has a current value of $138.76 USD, which is up 4.56% from the past month. The set has a Return On Investment (ROI) of 39%, which is good because of the recent EOL.
      I would recommend to buy this set. The set has a great investing potential and it has a positive growth trend dues to its recent EOL. Also, the set has a decent CAGR of 8.54% that may increase in the near future and a decent ROI of 39% that may also get better. Overall, I think the set has many great potential investing factors.
      Thanks for reading!
    • DoNotInsertIntoMouth
      For my next visual review/investment article, I am doing one of my favorite sets (I finally got one to open!) 5887 Dino Defense HQ. Now I am going to warn you before hand, I am a mega dinosaur fan and one of my favorite movies of all time is Jurassic Park. So this article has no less than 257 references to the movie. So I would suggest you watch it, maybe several times, before reading this article.
      Hold on to yo' butts!
      So, first of all, the box is incredible. I only saw this on the shelves for a short period of time before it was gone, but I can't imagine many kids walked past it without wanting it. The T-Rex is very intimidating on the front with the helicopter flying overhead. I wanted it the moment I saw it! Make sure if you ever sell this on Ebay, you get a couple of good closeups of the box. I swore I heard the Jurassic park theme in the background the first time I looked at it. I mean what have they got in there, King King?
      Opening the box, it is only 793 pieces, but it feels huge. Like at least over 1000. There are several reasons for this as you will see later on: he dinosaurs, the fencing, and some of the bigger plane pieces. I think its really worth the retail price of $99 (Luckily I got this one on clearance!). This is one of the reasons I think it has done so well in retirement so far. It could have been $120 retail and people would have bought it.

      Looking at it, I immediately wanted to open the T-Rex, but unfortunately the instructions told me I had to wait a while. As much as I wanted to just pop it open anyway, I decided to wait. Bag 1 did at least have two minifigures and a dinosaur, so it is not like I wasn't getting my money's worth. Minifigure 1 is the pilot. He is pretty cool looking with the goggles and his painted on hunting gear.

      The next minifigure is “Josh Thunder”. Supposedly, he is the main protagonist of the Dino theme and is exclusive to this set. He has a really cool painted on outfit with the straps and bags on his legs and the walkie-talkie. Of course, he also has a nice green sash because we can assume he is into style, no matter whether he is out on a date or hunting dinosaurs. I thought it was cool that he had a gruff look about him with the beard and mustache and his facial expression:

      Now, finally a dinosaur! This was a raptor and it was so well done. It's about two and half times as big as a minifigure itself and looks just like the ones in Jurassic Park. It's got the beady smile when you open it's mouth and the claws are definitely really intimidating. It really stands up well, too which is a big problem with these types of minifigures:

      Clever girl...
      So you get the full size of the minifigure Raptor, here is a picture of the Raptor and Josh Thunder who has clearly tamed the large beast. I really like the green scope on the gun as well – although the shade of green is a little weird and the scope itself looks like a syringe. Still though, it's a nice touch for people using their imagination when playing with the set:

      The rest of bag 1 is a Dino jeep which is pretty cool looking – I really like the stickers they use in this set. It all stays within the Dino color scheme. Anything with flick missiles is pretty cool, and I think it is awesome to have one on the jeep itself, making it a great vehicle to hunt dinosaurs with. The front bumpers are pretty cool as well and give it a very rugged look. I wanted to put a minifigure in it and say “Must go faster! Must go faster!”.

      As usual Lego adds that touch of detail that others would miss with the box of supplies on the back of the truck as well as the holders for walkie-talkies. It even comes with a couple of tools to sit in the supply box:

      Here is all of bag 1 together. This would be pretty good as just a set itself. The way the booklets are, it makes it seem as if this was a side set. Book 1 is just for this and is much smaller. Book 2 and 3 are for the actual Dino Defense HQ:

      Bag 2 gives us a few more minifigures. The driver is up first. He is pretty cool and I love that he has the Dino theme patch on his shirt. Another thing I loved was the dual faces, with one of them being a scared face. Scared faces are always what I leave on my minifigures:

      Sue Montana is the last minifigure, She is well done and really fits into the theme well to get a female presence. As they said in Jurassic Park “Dinosaur eats man...Women inherits the Earth!”. I love her scared face as it has a little more hesitance than fear on it. Maybe a touch of nervousness as well:

      The rest of bag two includes the helicopter and a supply chest that holds the two guns and two helmets. The helicopter is pretty nice and is sturdy – again this could be its own little set as well. The blades spin really well and it has two flick missiles which is always a great added touch for playability. It feels like it's the right size as well. The supply chest is a nice added touch for playability as well if the play-ee wants to put away the guns and have the figures fly the helicopter or ride in the jeep. I did think it was weird you don't open the pilot up with the Helicopter, but maybe both the pilot and the driver can do both:

      And Finally! We have a T-Rex! So, if you read the first article I did in this manner on the Rancor Pit, then you know that I was a little excited about the Rancor itself. This pretty much matched it. Until I actually got it out, I didn't really understand the size of this thing. It is absolutely massive. The arms and legs all move around and lock in place. The figure stands up great and can be put in many different positions without having a problem:

      Obviously, this minifigure is going to be sought after because of the popularity of the T-Rex itself and because of how impressive the minifigure is. But, what really helps is even though there is another set in the theme with a T-Rex, it is a different color. I think this is really going to help the value because everyone that gets one will want the other one so that they have a set of them.
      Before we move on, I think it's important for us to run this T-Rex through the Legendary Minifigure test:
      Be huge –5 times a normal minifigures Check! He is absolutely massive and to good scale if you compare with Jurassic park.
      Have 10 or more pieces He only has 7, but I think we can give him a pass because I had to actually put the claws on the Rancor and the T-Rex's claws are already on. I am giving him a check on this point.
      Be able to eat a normal minifigure Hmmm... let's see:

      Um... yeah, check.
      Be a Rancor So I think I need to adjust this one to “Be a Rancor or a Tyrannosaurus Rex”. It's a legendary minifigures and I think it is right up there with the Rancor as one of the best minifigures of all time!
      Now on to the rest of the set. Bag 3 is the front gate of the defense headquarters. The sides are pretty sturdy and I really like the round feel of the corner areas. It makes this set sit up really well. The fence in the middle is really well done. I love the spikes on the top and there are signs in the middle that have a voltage sign on them. The detail is really amazing:

      I thought the build was pretty fun in bag 3, but evidently my dog didn't feel the same way:

      Bag 4 takes the fence and adds even more detail to it. The bag includes an attachment for the top of both sides of the fence. On the right side, it has a lookout area along with a crane arm and a net to catch dinosaurs with. Along with that, you get another smaller dinosaur to catch in the net. This adds playability to the set, although I don't think the net could hold the other two dinosaurs. I don't know how Lego does this stuff:

      The left hand side is a giant turret type system with a place for a minifigure to control it. It actually swings around and can aim and everything. Tons of playability. There are two flick missiles along with it. I don't have the full data for sets Lego has done with flick missiles, but I would have to say that this set has the most I think I have ever seen. 5 of them! Can't imagine anyone can find something wrong with that (except parents cleaning up after their children).

      Bag 5 is pretty boring compared to what we have done so far. It is just the sides of the fencing for the headquarters extending to the back. I am really surprised as I am building this how well all of these pieces are engineered to stay together, even being fairly thin. When I was building Jabba's palace, I had a couple of issues with the parts properly staying together. Surprisingly this set has been very easy to build and keep together.

      Bag 6 brings us the back of the headquarters and includes some of the bigger pieces. There are a lot of stickers in this set and as you can see from the picture below, there is a yellow door with the Dino logo on it. The Dino logo is also on the back of it. I think these really add something to the set. I like that the back also creates a little bit of a lookout, with railings to keep away the dinosaurs, so that children can play with the characters on the back of the fence area. As you can see, the set is almost done:

      Bag 7 is the rest of the head quarter's back section, including a giant door (I was wondering how they got these huge dinosaurs in there. Again, the sides were very thin but stayed together very well and was very easy to build. As you can see, the sides have an indention for a pulley system for the door I am about to put in:

      The last bag adds on to the top of the tower and finishes the doorway. The top of the tower is really detailed; it provides a glassed in lookout for the characters to use to watch the dinosaurs below. It also has a satellite on the side of it. We are assuming wherever this is, the characters don't have cell service.

      In this step, the door gets put in as well being a large gate (again with the voltage sign on it). The pulley system to allow the door to go up and down is a hook and string. I really like this system better than some of the systems I have seen Lego use where you have to prop up doors that open vertically. The only negative I can see here is that the string was a little hard to properly tie and get put together. A child would definitely need a parent for this. Once it is put together, it is very easy to open and close by just twisting the pulley system.

      Now its time to see it altogether. It is amazing! It is so all-around detailed and impressive, it really stands out when you walk into the room. The T-Rex is incredible and the fencing and tower make this stand out even more as he looks like he could take the whole thing down anytime he wanted. The Raptor fits in really well too. I think I am going to try and eventually hang the helicopter from the ceiling so I can get a better effect on the whole thing. Either way, Josh Thunder is going to seriously have his hands full with these beasts.



      Investing wise, what do we think this set is going to eventually do? Ah, Ah, Ah! You didn't say the magic word!
      Well, first of all, looking at this set as an investment is cheating a bit since it has been retired for about 6 months or so and has had some pretty incredible gains at a CAGR of 49.95%! So my analysis is going to look at whether or not it is a good investment from here on out.
      Currently, it's new price is $149.95. So where can it go from here? Let's find a few sets to compare. We can use the following criteria:
      Dinosaur set including a T-Rex One of or the largest set in the series I came up with the following sets, the first form the Dinosaurs theme and the second two from the popular Dino Attack theme.
      6720 Tyrannosaurus Rex
      10.95% CAGR with a current price of $34.76
      Originally $9.99 – 250% return over retail
      7471 Typhoon vs T-Rex
      6.69% CAGR with a current Price of $117.47 (was around $150 in December)
      Originally $69.99 – 68% return over retail
      7476 Iron Predator vs. T-Rex
      10.50% CAGR with a current price of 88.87
      Originally $39.99 – 122% return over retail
      So looking at these three sets, it is a bit surprising that this set has had around a 50% CAGR. On the other hand, these sets have all been around a while and we all know that Lego sets see their growth curve generally plateau within the first few years.
      What I see in this data is the ceiling for return over retail. The T-Rex's all did really well. Before it's decline over the last 6 months, (which could be due to the popularity of the new Dino line hitting retirement) 7471 was above 2 times retail. 7476 is well above 2 times retail and 6720 is about 3.5 times retail. So this gives us a good idea for the ceiling of this set being at least 2 times retail and most likely greater. Right now it is at 1.5 times retail, so it still has some growing to go.
      Also, this set really shot up quickly after retirement. Because of this, I think the stop in growth is going to be very slow. It would be very wild to see the growth line stop all of a sudden and go down to 10%. The above sets only show 10% because they have been around for 8 years or so.
      There are some X-factors here though that really help us explain why this set shot up so quickly and why it will be a good investment over the next several years:
      There aren't a lot of these out there: This theme was popular, but nothing like some of the other themes like Star Wars and City. If you look at the data on Brickpicker, there have not been 30 of these sold in a month since February. Actually, there have barely been any months when 20 have been sold. But does this mean no one is buying them? No actually. I have been actively looking for this set on Ebay and there have barely been 20 listings a month (cutting out the unreasonable listings it at $300 or more). To compare, there are almost 50 10212 Imperial Shuttles sold on Ebay per month – a much more expensive set. This bodes well for the sets growth because there is limited quantity. The Dino theme characters: First, several of the characters have names like Josh Thunder and Sue Montana which makes theme more collectible. Secondly, every minifigure to this set is exclusive as Lego used different designs for pretty much every set. This really helps if someone picks up one of the sets and is enamored with it. They will want all of them (This is how I came to get Dino Defense – I bought one of the others and got hooked). The T-Rex is exclusive and looks incredibly more real than the T-Rex' in the last two Dinosaur themes. I think this will be sought after for quite awhile driving this set up in price. If you look at sold listings on Ebay, the T-Rex has gone for around $70 for a few months now. At a current price of $149.95, that means it's worth almost half the set! This set is by far the biggest in the series, and the biggest of any of the other series: If a person loves Dinosaurs and looks at all Lego has to offer, this set is for sure at the top! Relatively short run: This set was only around for a year. It came out in the beginning of 2012 and was gone by 2013. Just as we saw from the Ebay data, this set is not in great supply. As more and more are opened and set up, the price will go up more and more. The new Jurassic Park movie: There will be a new movie in the next couple of years, and if you ever never noticed, Jurassic Park is one of the best grossing movie series of all time. This movie will be viewed by young and old and especially will turn a new generation into dinosaur lovers. So what does this mean for the set? Well, these two sets were above 10% CAGR at their peak a few years ago. Taking that as a scale, with all of the things we have talked about before, I think a safe bet would be that this set will see about 22.5% CAGR over 5 years (Honestly than would be over a half decline in CAGR over 4 years which is hard to believe. This is very conservative). So that means in 2017, we are looking at $275.85. This would go along with what we saw with the older sets being worth over 2 times their value.
      So if you can get it this year for $150, is it worth it? Money wise, this means you would hold it for four years and sell it for $275.85 in 2017 achieving a ROI of 83% over 4 years, or a little over 20% per year. That's not too bad right? Adding to that, there are no more sets coming into the market to slow it down, there are no more Dinosaur themes on the horizon, and it's a known entity: it's already been a great gainer!
      To me, this makes this set worth it if you can score a MISB one for $150. You don't want to spend your whole budget on them, but for those of us who like to wait and see what a set will do in retirement, this definitely seems to already look like a winner. I have found several of these in stores still on clearance as well which is just free money! I have this set in one of my searches on Ebay and whenever I see one for under $150, I grab it.
      If anything, I think you could just grab the T-Rex as well. The first of our three comparison set's was just a T-Rex minifigure. It has been out for 12 years, but is still worth 3 times what it was sold for. It may as well be worth over $100 in a few years!
      If you don't see this set as still worth the investment, believe me, you still need it. If you like dinosaurs at all, this is the pinnacle of Lego Dinosaur sets. And I would get it now while you still can for a decent price because I feel this set is only going up, up, up! What do you all think?
      Oh, and remind me to thank John for the wonderful weekend.
      Note: All of the information here are my own opinions and are pulled from my experiences. You may or may not have success with these methods.
    • DoNotInsertIntoMouth
      So after my Rancor article, I knew it was not going to be very long before I got the Jabba set out and completed this masterpiece of a Lego duo. I was actually a bit afraid it might be a little bit of a letdown after how much fun I had putting together the Rancor Pit. On the other hand, this set was a decent amount bigger and had a lot of cool little details as well as a ton of minifigures so I figured I would still be in for a good time. So I got the set out and dumped it out just as before. First off, this set looks a lot bigger than 800 pieces just like the Rancor pit looked bigger than 380. The reason behind this are the giant plane pieces that have to hold up Jabba and his eating addiction. The roof pieces are also very large as well – there are only about 9 pieces that make up the whole round top of the palace. Here is a picture of what I got out of the box:

      Looking at the booklets, building this set is really fun because you get minifigures in several of the bags, not just a the beginning, and we all know that putting together the minfigures is the most fun part of building a set. First up in bag 1 is Leia in the Boushh Disguise. I really like this one because it adds a lot of playability to the set if someone wants to re-enact the scene from the movie (not that I did it). The outfit and helmet are great:

      I believe this disguise is exclusive to this set so this minifigure will be sought after by anyone collecting.
      The Chewbacca is next and he is just the normal Chewbacca that has been in tons of sets. I would have enjoyed to have a different one here, but he did normally wear the same thing so I guess there isn't much they could do different:

      Next up is Jabba himself. Honestly I have never opened any of the sets that had Jabba in it before. It is a pretty great minifig, but after opening the Rancor, he is just not near as impressive. Next to normal minifigures he looks pretty good still. I guess it is all about perspective. I think they maybe could have made him look a little more scaly and little more nasty. I would have really liked some fat flabs.:

      Next up is B'Omarr Monk. Hes a cool guy just because he is completely different than other normal figures. Even though he is the same as the original set, he adds a ton of playability to this set – I mean his legs are made of swords! I went ahead and included him in with the picture of the first bag which includes the bottom part of the tower.
      The tower is fairly easy to build, but at most points is a bit unstable. I had to redo it a few times because it kept coming apart. I think it could have been just a little more sturdy if they used less 1x1 pieces and less of the slanted pieces here. I have unsteady hands though so this may not bother everyone. It definitely still looks good – I just worry about playability with it unless a kid just leaves it there and doesn't touch it – buildings coming apart while you are playing is no fun.

      Next up with bag 2 is the Gamorrean Guard. The same figure as in the Rancor Pit. I like the figure a lot so I am totally cool with having two of them. On top of that, when have you ever seen a guard alone? They travel in pairs. You can't guard something by yourself properly. That's just science:

      The rest of bag 2 is the top part of the tower. The top is fairly vanilla, but I do like the playability with the added lookout spot where minifigures can chill out and guard stuff. The opening door is really pretty cool as well. I really like the detail here that Lego added at the top of the tower. I will say that I wish the door had some easier method to open and close for playability sake, other than you having to open it and then set a piece in to keep it up. It works either way though, I may just be lazy:

      The back of the tower really shows this awesome Lego detail. The box with the Laser in it. The guns hung up on the wall of the top tower. Unfortunately that's really only an added playability bonus as the way this tower faces, you don't really see that part when displayed.:

      Bag 3 brings us Oola next. This is an exclusive minifig to this set and a really good one at that. Though Oola doesn't really have a big part in the movie (I think she gets eaten by the Rancor right?) I love the figure. Lego's shades of green are so bright and vibrant. She really stands out and really contrasts the other minfigures well. This will really add to the set value:

      Now we have Han Solo (which is a slight redesign) and his carbon chamber. The chamber itself is a slight redesign as well. While I think its pretty well detailed and looks good, I wish it stood out just a little bit more. The dark color doesn't help it as much – not sure how they could have done it better, but I think far away from it, it seems a bit dull :

      Bib Fortuna is next – this is not an exclusive minifigure but its only the second set its been in so I think it does add some value to the set. Hes really well done with the cape and all. The best part though is the facial expression. Its very mean and devilish looking:

      Bag 4 is the base if the palace. It's a pretty bland building though it doesn't take very long to build. I will say it was a little bit flimsy while putting together. This is one of the parts I think would be hard for a small child to put together without some help because there are only small pieces holding the large flat pieces together until it is finished. Several times I would push too hard and pop something else apart:

      Bag 5 seems like its just separated so they didn't have to really pack in bag 4. It isn't that many pieces at all because they are fairly large. These include the pieces to finish the floor and add on the trap door. The trap door was obviously expected, but its great for playability. A child can keep dropping Luke down over and over – or I guess anyone else they want to feed to the Rancor (although I would venture that a Rancor doesn't want to be fed – He wants to hunt!):

      Bag 6 includes the sides of the of the palace. This is much sturdier that the tower piece that I put together earlier. It stays together a lot better while building. Lego does something a little bit out of the ordinary for them: They actually have a few steps where they seem to be rushing the build a bit. A few of the steps you are adding 10 or 12 pieces. I can't complain because I normally am irritated with putting together two pieces and then turning the page, but this was tricky not to miss a piece here or there. Again the detail is amazing on the front of the palace. There is also a little spinning stand for the Carbonite Han which is pretty cool:


      Salacious B. Crumb finally! I love this little guy in the movie – he reminds me of Alf! Honestly I was a little disappointed with the minfigure unfortunately. It is very small (which makes sense) and is made of soft, bendable plastic. I was hoping he would be more of a Lego piece like the other minifigures, but the detail on the figure makes up for it pretty well. Again, an exclusive minifigure and one that I think will be very good for the set's growth.

      Bag 7 includes the back part of the palace. Most of it is is just normal brick laying. As you can see it is coming together nicely:

      Bag 8 is very quick and easy as it includes the roof for the palace and as I mentioned before it is mostly big pieces. I like that they did this with bigger pieces as I really like the smooth top to the palace. More Lego pieces equals rougher roof.:

      So now it's done and it's time to take it to the Rancor Pit and put this masterpiece together. The palace has small places on the bottom of it for the slanted pieces on top of the Rancor Pit to fit inside. It doesn't actually attach; the Palace just rests on top of the pit. This makes it pretty easy to put together, but may be harder to keep together for a child playing with it. I got it together and I have to say it is pretty impressive together. No one is walking by this in my house without commenting on it:

      Honestly, my only downside display wise is the tower section that's separate from the palace. It looked really cool on the box next to the palace as a lookout, but now it's much lower because of the Rancor pit. I guess it would have been tough, but I need a way to get it to the right height so it will look more natural again. The set's themselves look awesome together with the mass amount of minifigures and the flow of the set, for anyone who has seen the movie, is really spot on. I will say that looking at the sets together makes the Rancor even more impressive, but I wont harp on that now because I did for a whole article. So after all the pictures, what do we see in the future for this set? I am going to go out on a limb and say it did intrigue investors for a short while sometime around Marchish? But what about interest now that all that is over?
      To compare to other sets, I decided to take the following criteria:
      Iconic Star Wars movie scene or vehicle Must have been redone in a similar manner several years later Set must be retired Here is what I came up with:
      Bobba Fett's Slave I – 6209 in 2006 and 8097 in 2010 The AT-AT Walker – 4483 in 2003 and 8129 in 2010 The Clone Turbo Tank – 7261 in 2005 and 8098 in 2010 Jabba's Palce – 4480 in 2003 and 9516 in 2012 I decided to take the old and new and the percent difference between the old set and new set between CAGR so we could use the old Jabba set to predict what the new one might do. What was actually very intesting is that two of the remakes did better than the original by a considerable amount! This is most likely because of the improvement in detail of the sets and the increased popularity in Star Wars and in Lego. Below are the results:

      Wow is all I can say. The Slave and the AT-AT CAGR increased significantly which is a good sign for investors interested in this set. The old Jabba's Palace is sitting there at 16.94% CAGR which is pretty good on it's own with the mean being around 8.5% for Star Wars sets. I would have been satisfied for this set to have shown 15% CAGR but this suggests it will be better.
      Averaging the three together, and comparing how this set would look after 2014 from the data we have here (each of the newer sets we are comparing are 3 years old) the average suggests that the new Jabba's Palace could see an increase in CAGR of 76% which is astounding! This would mean Jabba would see an increase to ~30% CAGR which would put it at a value of almost $200 after two years EOL. Now most of this is predicated off how well the second AT-AT did, but this is somewhat fair because of several things I will discuss below. What I decided to do was weigh a few negatives and positives before deciding where this set might sit:
      Pros
      The new Jabba's Palace in considerably better than the old set. Way better compared to the increase in the other sets we compared it to. The original Jabba only had a few minfigures – this one has 8. And the original didn't have the Rancor pit. It also 600 more pieces. The controversy – This set should EOL at the end of this year from what Lego has indicated giving it a shorter run. Also we saw that people were willing to pay $175 for this set which is always a good sign. Discounting. This set's retail has been a little bit high but retailers have really shown a commitment to discounting it. I think you could score a lot of these for $80 before it's gone. Playability – this set has so many figures and trap doors and everything that it will appeal to kids quite a bit. The new Star Wars Movies – Introducing a new generation to Star Wars can only help. 2 Exclusive minifigures and several that are only in a few sets. Cons
      Will Most likely be targeted by investors. With the controversy a lot were purchased and stored – we may not ever know how many. Discounting will keep a lot of consumer's buying it as well. Jabba wont be in the new Star Wars movies. Clone Turbo tank going down is a little troubling (although it's less iconic) So where does it put us? I think a safe bet on this set would be 23-25% CAGR in the first two years. Honestly it could go way up and way down. The set is really nice and I love it with the Rancor Pit. However, even though nothing is a sure thing,
      I hesitate more on this set just because of everything that has gone on with it. I don't necessarily guarantee it will do better than the Rancor Pit. I think the Rancor Pit is the safer bet, but this set has more potential because its worth more in general. I honestly think either way we will see a bunch of these sell again right as this set goes EOL and it will drive the price up. If we see it go up to 25 CAGR in the first two years, most of us should be satisfied to get out then with the price right around $185.
      My advice: Don't target this set as a top investment, but if you see a good deal on it under $90 or so, I would pick it up. While I don't know that you should put tons of money into them, I think they will definitely gain money and if anything could be a really good quick flip if the flames start back up when the set EOLs.
      Either way, if you are a Star Wars fan, this set is definitely a must have even if you have the first one already. The colors and detail have improved immensely over the old set and as I talked about, the Rancor Pit and this set together are amazing.
      What do you all think? Do you think this set will do better than the Rancor? What's your prediction on the CAGR?
      Note: All of the information here are my own opinions and are pulled from my experiences. You may or may not have success with these methods.
    • DoNotInsertIntoMouth
      So I think it would be a little bit of an understatement to say that the Lego Lord of the Rings Orc Forge (9476) has caused a stir in the last couple of weeks. If you haven't been paying too much attention, here is the rundown of what happened:
      The Orc Forge goes to “retiring soon” status in the Lego Store in late June The Orc Forge Sells out in the Lego Store around the first week of June. About a week later, it sells out at Target.com (it is a target exclusive so now it is technically unavailable via retail. It comes back in stock on Target.com a few days later It sells out again about a day later It comes back in stock again on Target.com It sells out again another day later Several days later it comes back in stock again on Target.com Lego changes it to “temporarily out of stock” from “sold out” on the website. Slight panic ensues This has mattered so much to everyone because there is a general consensus that this set will do really well after EOL. It is an exclusive, so there have been less made and bought than normal sets. It is also part of a theme in LOTR, that is expected to do really well – most likely match the Harry Potter series.
      I have recently ordered 8 in the last several weeks as we have seen them sort of, almost, maybe go retired. I love LOTR, so I decided I wanted to pop one open and actually build it, And of course, write a review/investment article about it. For all the talk we have seen about this set, I really feel like no one has offered any first hand experience about how great, or not so great, the set is build and playing wise. Isn't that what really matters?
      So once again, I am writing this for you as I put together the set. This one should be really fun as it is a perfect build – 363 pieces – it will most likely only take about an hour.
      The box itself:

      I think the box matters more to a Lego set's popularity than a lot of people think. You cannot take a good box for granted. Take a look at the first Tie Interceptor in the Lego SW theme – the box is more impressive than the actual set. Sure, people would probably buy a Lord of the Rings set if it was in an unmarked card board box, but these sets are for children. We know children have to see something spectacular on the box so that they run up to their parents and say “I want it, I want it”. I think this makes a big difference after EOL as well. When people see a sealed one and it looks impressive , it will influence their decision to buy it.
      In this case, I really love the box. The Lord of the Rings boxes are all pretty good, but this one just has a lot going on. I love how they made the torches and the actual forge smoke and light up. They also have the rocky lava area in the background. On the right, they have all of the blue mist looking area that really stands out in contrast to the heat coming from the left side. The minifigures are all interacting with the Orc Forge as well, instead of just being shown up the side of the box. Plus you have the light brick, which one of the things that made me really want to buy the set. As well, the minifigure picture in the left bottom corner has a “Hard to Find” logo on it. This makes a lot of difference to the set in my eyes. When you say it is hard to find in your listing 2 years from now, you have something obvious to back it up.
      Moving on, let's open it up.

      Honestly, the Rancor Pit just has a few more pieces than this set and it looks a lot bigger. This was because it had such big pieces in it as well as the rancor itself. The Orc Forge feels a lot smaller for the same number of pieces, but it is $20 dollars cheaper so the value is still there.
      First up out of the first bag is one of the Mordor Orcs. I love the Orcs and the other LOTR sets' lack of them really bodes well for this set. His face is really mean and nasty looking and the color of the Orc himself and the outfit is just right. This guy comes with the forge hammer, which is a nice change of pace for a hold item. I like weapons, and while this one can be used as one, I think it adds something for the more non-violent children who play with this set.

      The second Mordor Orc is the same, but he comes with a shovel – again a practical piece instead of a weapon. There are plenty of weapons in the set, and with 4 Orcs, I think it gives the set some variety.

      Alright – for the blocks part of bag 1. Most of it is pretty simple "ground-up" building. Luckily, we get to the piece I was waiting for pretty quick – the light brick. I wondered how they did it. I was assuming it was just a battery in the brick and that is exactly what it is. There is a button on the back of the brick that, when pressed, lights up the brick. As you can see from the picture below, it is very bright. I think this is an awesome idea in Lego's catalog of special pieces and I think it is really impressive for a single piece. Think of all the things they can do with these in future sets. Excellent for Play-ability.

      The rest of the building is fairly simple, just outlining the rocks and building the forge itself. The fire coming out from around the pot is a really nice touch and because they are see-through as well, when you press the light, they really shine. I will say that part of the building was a little difficult. There are some trapezoid and slanted pieces that are only held together by one small 2x1 piece. These are not really secured until you put the top brown pieces on top of the rock-like pieces. This made it a little hard to keep it together. After putting the top pieces on, it still is not particularly stable. Not sure how else they could have done it, but I have a feeling that if it is played with in a rough manner, it may come apart.

      I do really like the anvil shown above as well. It is 6 small pieces, but it makes all the difference to the Orc and his hammer. Though it is simple, it really looks pretty good matching up with the color of the forge itself.
      The next bag brings us the other two minifigure Orcs. The first one up is Uruk-Hai. He is pretty awesome with the red mean face and the Orc shield and armor. I think the shield, sword, and Orc armor are all really well done. They are very shiny, more than you can really tell in the picture, and you get two full sets as well as two extra swords because of the Forge itself. I think these make it fantastic for Orc battle scenes and army building.

      The other is the Orc, Lortz. Honestly, they show him with his long hair and just a sword, but he isn't that much different from the other Orcs – just a little redesign on the body an a brown head instead of green. No one is gonna argue with another Orc. I just wanted to dress him up in the armor like Uruk-Hai though.

      The rest of bag 2 is not very much – a small sword cooling place and another base for the rest of the set.

      The base piece on the right stays together a little better than the first one, which is good since it holds the majority of the sets weight. I do have to admit, I like the simple touch of the dark grey pieces as rocks and the little green slope pieces.
      The last bag of the set is really the most fun, even though it has no minifigures. It includes the windmill-like piece with a string and hook that can carry a basket up to the top with all the metal pieces. The string is a little tough to tie, so I think that some children might have to have help with that. I think the pulley system is really cool looking though, and the basket actually looks wooden:

      The rest of the parts include the stand for the metal to be pored on and the metal chute for it to slide down into the melting pot. I enjoyed the bricks that are made to look like wood. They give the set a nice touch and they aren't stickers. I don't have any ability to apply stickers properly so this is always a plus for me. The torches on the top of the set are really nice as well:


      I really like the set as a whole. It is obviously not as impressive as Helm's Deep or Mines of Moria because it is smaller, but it is a very detailed small set for the right price. It also only took about 50 minutes to build, which is perfect in my eyes. Because of all the extra pieces and weapons, the set has a ton of play-ability. I really struggled trying to decide exactly how I wanted to display all the different extra little pieces because there is so much here. I decided to have the armor on both orcs and display the weapon cooling area in the middle with the Orc using the anvil on the right:

      Here is a close up of the forge itself.

      And one with it lit up:

      The light brick makes this set. Absolutely excellent.
      Investment time: Do my thoughts on it as an investment change? What do we have to compare it to?
      Well, we don't have any retired Lord of the Rings sets to really compare it to, but I think the general consensus is that the theme will do really well. They have all sold really well, have not been on the shelves too long, and is from a very popular movie series that is recent. So instead, I decided to compare to it old Target Exclusives that have a comparable piece count and retail price. This chart is shown below:

      This is definitely good news. With exclusives there are definitely good things and bad things that arise. On one hand, there are less of them made and less bought during production. On the other, they may not be as well known because no body ever sees them. This could be a problem in bigger themes too like Star Wars because there are close to a billion sets. But we still see here that the Pirate tank and the Republic Fighter Tank both still had some solid growth.
      I think the Lord of the Rings theme is more comparable to the Coast Guard Platform and the Agents theme because there was a limited number of sets in the theme. People that liked the theme will definitely want to collect all the sets in the theme and it will be doable.In the Star Wars theme, it is not that doable.
      Both the Coast Guard set and the Agents set saw fairly solid growth, with the Coast Guard set tripling in value. Where do we think the Orc Forge fits in? Well, currently it already shows a 37% CAGR which is wonderful. I think this representative of the people who may not have a Target in their area or a Lego store and buy off Ebay.
      The build was really pretty good and I think most children could handle it. The play-ability with the set is off the chart and with the light brick and all the cool Orcs and weapons, I think the set's build and play-ability match right up with it's alleged investment potential.
      This set has also not really seen a lot of sales, so I don't think there are tons of people out there who have 100s of these stashed away. I think once it finally does EOL, the value will steadily rise to about $80 after a year or so. For the more long term investment, I think it will see gains not quite a good as the Coast Guard set, but close since the theme is so popular. I expect about 25% CAGR after 5 years, which is a very low estimate. Honestly, I think it has the potential to do even better as more and more people find out there is another Lord of the Rings set. And these sets aren't done, so I think there will be more and more interest generated.
      At 25% CAGR, the 5 year value would be $122.07 which would be a really nice 200% return over retail. If you do not have this set, don't worry about all the possibility of an extended run. I guarantee that all the mid level sets in the Harry Potter series sold more than this set and I think the current performance has shown how popular this set is.
      As well, this set is not sold in every target. I have three in my city and none of them carried this in store. I think it is way too early to worry about how many will be sold. Honestly I don't think they will come back in stock at Lego and all of this will die down. Just don't be caught without one. In my opinion, this set obviously has really solid growth potential, and this could be a 40% or more CAGR set in a couple of years – it just has that type of potential with its exclusivity and the theme's popularity itself. It's not a bad thing it is still in stock – because you have plenty of time to get more of them!
      Note: All of the information here are my own opinions and are pulled from my experiences. You may or may not have success with these methods. Thanks for reading!


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