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    • Guest
      Tommorow, I will be headed off to the beautiful land of Asia with my family (visiting some relatives). It will be my first time headed to Asia, and I thought I could take advantage of the trip to give Brickpickers an inside look at one of TLG's emerging markets.
      As some of you may or may not know, Lego said in a recent press release that it is planning to build a factory in Jiaxing, China, to support the Asian market, which saw sales in recent years grow by around 50% annually. The factory will feed only the Asian market, and is expected to be completed by 2017. Currenty, Lego sold in Asia is not exclusively made there.
      I will be travelling to Japan and then Hong Kong, and along the way record my findings in regards to how the price compares, what the locals think of the product, the precense of our beloved brick in Asia, and a look at some of the clone brands that are fighting for the Asian market. One of these clone brands, which now sells select sets at non-Asian locations, is known as Nanoblock. I have two Nanoblock sets, both of them Japanese sets that were given to me earlier. I thought given the surprisingly refreshing nature of the products that they deserved a little review here.
      Nanablock is a relatively young Japanese company, focusing on desktop models (also know as "executive toys") built with extremely tiny, lego-style blocks. The models are very small, with the company's landmark series sets fitting on 20x20 "nano-stud" plate that is about the same size as a regular lego 8x8 plate. The company's tagline "the smaller the block, the better the detail", appears to be true to its name upon first site of a set; while the builds are made up of what we would call "basic bricks", they achieve a detailed, sophisticated appeal. The quality of the bricks is quite good, and I have yet to see a single defect or cause any damage to them, which is a common occurence with other clone brands. Most Nanoblock pieces are blocks about the height of a Lego plate (or a third of a Lego brick). During this little tour through a refreshing change to complete copycat clone brands, I will be looking at my experiences with the Nanoblock sets, NBH_018 Himeji Castle and NBH_221 Great Buddha of Kamakura.
       

      Himeji Castle (NBH_018)

      Great Buddha of Kamakura (NBH_021)
      As shown by the pictures, the sets are far from what most would consider a direct copy of Lego, more of a homage to the brick in tiny form. Construction of Nanoblock sets is level based, meaning the instructions provided a bird's-eye view of the set and construction is mainly just made up of stacking the bricks (although the Buddha does feature some SNOT work). While in Lego sets, stacking bricks on top of eachother is often considered a boring and easy task, the miniscule size of the blocks makes construction a challenging, and sometimes frustrating, event. Both sets are depictions of real-life Japanese landmarks, and are surprisingly accurate to their source material while maintaining their novelty item vibe. The two sets I recieved contain over 200 pieces each, along with a generous supply of extra pieces.
      The sets are small, and make excellent desktop/office displays as they are very detailed. Thanks to the fact that the Nanoblock creators did not try to directly copy Lego (in fact, the bottom of their bricks resemble early versions of Lego rather than current ones as there are no recessed studs), but rather branch off the concept, I would say the series in my eyes is the only Lego clone brand that really works. Their pixelated and modern-art style models are not only a joy to display, but are also refreshing to build. Due to these reasons, and the fact that the company has scored a deal with Toys R Us and is clearly on the rise, I think this will be one of the few clone brands that will weather the storm as Lego ups its precense in Asia. In addition to their Landmark series, the company also offers several different themes; animals, seasonal, and large-scale models.
      The Nanoblock models are beautiful and are an encouraging sign as I head to Japan. Stay tuned for more in the coming days...
       
    • Quacs
      Just a quick blog entry today. This morning there was a post in the forum discussing this, but since I already wrote the blog entry last night, I figured I would release it anyway...
      For all you Star Wars enthusiasts, check out this website that chronicles one man's journey to build a UCS AT-AT that is minifigure scale:
      http://gimmelego.blogspot.com/2013/07/ucs-at-at-they-think-its-all-over.html
      Here's a picture of this behemoth!

      Some stats on this MOC:
      Piece count - approximately 6,250
      Piece cost - estimated $375-$600
      Assuming TLC could produce this set cheaper, but with the licensing fees tacked on, I would estimate that TLC would have to market this at about $600. This price and piece count would really fuel demand as it would immediately become the largest and most expensive Lego set ever built.
      That said, there are a few reasons TLC would never release this:
      1. It's MUCH too fragile. Reading the blog gives you an appreciation for how weak this is.
      2. I don't think Lego will crack the $500 MSRP mark with a model in the near future.
      3. Logistically, this would be a BEAST to box and ship.
      4. The box alone would require some significant reinforcing given the amount of large bricks that appear to make up the model.
      I still think this is an amazing structure, and the designer should be given serious credit for the amazing design, and the author should be given credit for its construction. Please visit the website for further information about this model.
       
    • comicblast
      When choosing between the Clone Wars, the Prequel Trilogy, and the Original Trilogy, most LEGO investors turn to the Original Trilogy, because of its superior storyline, and overall quality. In second place usually comes the Prequel Trilogy, with its somewhat muddy storyline, but still above average quality, in my opinion. Finally dead last, comes the Clone Wars. Though it is difficult to compare an animated TV show with a full-blown movie, it is clear that it is the lackluster of the three.
      Does this translate into investment potential and growth, or is it simply an investor’s misreading?
      By looking at the BrickIndex of Star Wars, we can see the Top 20 Performing LEGO sets in the Star Wars theme:
      1. 10174-1: Imperial AT-ST
      2. 10212-1: Imperial Shuttle
      3. 10186-1: General Grievous
      4. 10143-1: Death Star II
      5. 7255-1: General Grievous Chase
      6. 8031-1: V-19 Torrent
      7. 10175-1: Vader's TIE Advanced
      8. 20018-1: BrickMaster AT-AT Walker
      9. 8009-1: R2-D2
      10. 10179-1: Ultimate Collector's Millennium Falcon
      11. 8083-1: Rebel Trooper Battle Pack
      12. 6209-1: Slave I
      13. 7153-1: Jango Fett's Slave I
      14. 4483-1: AT-AT
      15. 7143-1: Jedi Starfighter
      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
      *To see the BrickIndex Star Wars page click here.*
      Of the Top 20 Performers, 2 originate from the Clone Wars, 2 from the Prequel Trilogy, and the remaining 16 from the Original Trilogy. By a stunning majority, there are more LEGO Star Wars sets from the Original Trilogy than from any other aspect of the Star Wars Universe, including the Extended Universe, which did not rank in the Top 20.
      Now, I am not saying that there are no winners in the Clone Wars, the Prequel Trilogy, or Extended Universe, but rather pointing out that the strongest performers have repeatedly originated from the Original Trilogy, which I take to be a sign that it is the strongest “sub-theme” of LEGO Star Wars, from an investor’s standpoint.
      **Please Note**: In the near future, I will be doing more in depth analysis of the Top 20 in increments of 5.
       
    • Fcbarcelona101
      This new blog category will be the place where I post about those CUUSOO projects that I personally like the most. I know that there is a specific thread like this already in the forums, and TOK does a great job summarizing some of the best ideas, but I wanted to make this a more personal and regular type of thing. With the new blog system, I think it is the best place to do it!
      The Legend of Zelda is my all time favorite video game series, so it made sense for me to pick the CUUSOO project scheduled for review as my first entry of this section. Some of you may remember that not long ago the first Zelda based project that was considered by LEGO was in fact rejected, with the argument that multiple new molds for new pieces would need to be produced for this set alone.
      Ragaru's Zelda project was designed after the rejection of the previous one, and according to the creator works mostly if not completely with parts and colors that LEGO has currently in production, so hopefully this won't be the reason for yet another rejection in the review stage. Other than that, I think the appeal and fan base of the series is proven already, and in my opinion would be an extremely successful model that would probably cause at least the same initial reception that Minecraft got when first released. The Zelda series has been around for way longer than Minecraft and has several different games on several different Nintendo platforms, as well as books, comics, etc. so I really think the customer base is there for LEGO to justify this set's production.
      The set itself is pretty cool, and is closely related to the most realistic looking game of the series, Twilight Princess. Even though it may look like just a bunch of ruins and some foliage, it really manages to capture the feel of some of the dungeons and locations of the video game series, and the inclusion of some iconic enemies like the Deku Baba and the Stalfos further make this set an accurate, but small, representation of what the Zelda series is.
      As far as the minifig is concerned, there would only be one included: Link. There is no way to produce this set and not include him, so LEGO would need to figure out a way to make him look as accurate as possible, as his inclusion is what really will be carrying this set in the market. He would include a couple of iconic items that in my opinion are not that hard for LEGO to have in the set. A common bow, a lamp, a sticker for the Hylian shield and the Master Sword would be more than enough for me to be satisfied as far as items is concerned. Epona (horse) would in theory be included as well, but to me that is not particularly essential if we need to choose among that or some other elements.
      Like the creator of the project says I am really disappointed that a couple of other iconic minifigs had to be excluded, but if it helps this first set pass the review stage and be produced, I think that LEGO will experience first hand what kind of a popular theme this is and would eventually produce a couple other small sets like they are more than likely doing with Minecraft now. To me, a potential Zelda mini-theme would be pure gold!
      We will have to wait and see how this project turns out in the review, but I have really high hopes it will go through. I'll leave you with some images of Ragaru's work:



      Thanks for reading!
       
    • comicblast
      As many of you know, I have been a LEGO Star Wars believer, through and through. Though I have added on some new beliefs such as SpongeBob and Hero Factory, I never was convinced by the Lord of the Rings LEGO theme. Sure, I did realize that there would be some winners such as the Battle of Helm's Deep or Orc Forge, but this was partially because this was the common concensus with other investors. To further explain why, let's bring you back a couple of years.
      My older brother and I had just walked out of a book store, he with a Foxtrot comic book, and myself with a Sherman's Lagoon comic book. Back then, we were huge comics fans. Not the Marvel and DC comics. Nope, we were fans of the comics you saw in the newspaper, in particular, the Chicago Tribune. While flipping through the Foxtrot comic book, we came across a series of comics about none other than Lord of the Rings:
      Now as you might have read, these comics were quite ridiculous for a person who had never seen nor read the Lord of the Rings. Never the less, it had me curious, but this curiosity never too me over until years later... Exactly 3 days ago.
      I had put off watching as well as reading the Lord of the Rings because just by reading the comics, it had scared me into becoming a nerd who ate onion rings to save Middle Earth. I was also slightly creeped out by this "Orlando Bloom" figure (weird at this point, after I have figured out who Orlando Bloom is), because Paige Fox was absolutely obsessed with every single boy at her school, and sometimes, here judgement was...clouded.
      However, after turning to LEGO investing, my interest was rekindled after learning about words that meant nothing to me, like "Helm's Deep" or "Moria". 3 days ago, while looking for a movie to watch from RedBox, I came across the Hobbit. As you know, the Hobbit is not in one of the LoTR trilogy movies, but it was the beginning of a 2 hour epic journey, searching public library after public library, and finally assembling none other than all the of the LoTR movies. Finally, we accumulated all of the movies in the LoTR trilogy as well as the Hobbit and sat down and began.
      I was thoroughly prepared to be bored beyond comparison by the Hobbit as well as all 3 of the LoTR movies, as they were all nearly 3 hours. Rather fortunately, I was incorrect, and enjoyed the Hobbit. Slowly, everything began to fall into place, starting with the 79003 An Unexpected Gathering and 79010 The Goblin King Battle.
      By the end of the movie, I was positively exhilerated by the action that had gone on in the movie, as well as the mysteries that were not yet fully unravelled.
      At this point, you must be wondering what the point of this article is. For starters, I am providing you with a different perspective of how your targeted consumer might think: how and why they might try to steer clear of LoTR.
      It is my theory that the potential behind LEGO Lord of the Rings as well as the Hobbit are somewhat stunted because of the common misconception that they are "nerd's movies". Perhaps these people may eventually watch it for the stunning amount of Academy awards it has taken, many of the "cool kids" of pop culture disregard the movies because of their sterotype.
      Please don't get me wrong, I do think that the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit LEGO themes will succeed much more than the current Star Wars sets, but the maximum potential in the theme has not yet been acheived, and is still growing. With every new movie on Tolkien's books that is made, hundreds or perhaps thousands are converted to the LEGO theme and movie, and further boost its investment potential, both in individual sets as well as as a theme as a whole. Now by converted, I do not mean into a cult or a new religion believing that there is a magical ring that can only be harnessed by Sauron, and only by him, and not even a legendary onion ring that can be consumed and destroyed for good. What I mean is that I am now convinced that the LEGO theme, books and movies have been, are, and will be successes.
      Sure there will be some mediocre sets and maybe a loser or two, but it is nothing that we haven't seen and nothing that should take a seasoned investor by surprise.
      Thanks for reading!
       

       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
    • Fcbarcelona101
      As LEGO investors, I think it would be pretty safe to say that most of the time we are more focused on getting sealed and big sets in order to secure higher profits on each sale, but there are some other aspects to LEGO investing that can also turn out very profitable with a significantly lower amount of capital. Polybags and promotional mini sets on each theme that is released usually perform extremely well, and given their lower or none existing retail price they tend to reach great ROI in a very short time. There are several other aspects that make polybag and small set investing particularly interesting, but I will leave those for a future blog article currently in the works.
      For now, I want to focus on analyzing some of the items in this category from one of the most talked about themes over the past few months: Monster Fighters.
      If you take a look at the list of CAGR by theme in the homepage, you will notice that Monster Fighters currently places second in that entire list with an overall CAGR of around 41%, surpassed only by the Ninjago powerhouse. If you remember, on a previous blog article I commented that sometimes it is best to use the weighted CAGR measure to gauge a theme's popularity or plain investing performance, however since we are focusing on some of the smallest sets of the theme in this case it actually makes sense to take a look at the simple CAGR measure. You will see that a big part of the theme's very high CAGR actually comes from the great performance of the polybags we will discuss below (and The Zombies).
      - 5000644 Monster Fighters promotional pack


      Comments: This polybag was given away in the USA at TRUs locations as part of a special Halloween themed event. There is really not much as far as parts is concerned, basically what you see in the picture above (skeleton, web, glow in the dark spider, red gem, green crystal) and a sticker sheet featuring some of the MFs characters. Since this polybag was given out for free, anything you sell it for would net you almost 100% profits, that at this point would be around $ 15.
      There are very few of these listed on eBay at any given time, and for the past 3 months or so the price has actually increased after 2 full months of 0 sales. Not really an interesting set, I would not expect this one to go up any further other than the normal fluctuations from month to month.
      - 300200 Zombie Chauffeur Coffin Car


      Comments: This is for sure a pretty good looking polybag. This one was available at LEGO Discovery Centers and later in some TRUs locations. Unlike the first entry of this article, this set actually included a pretty interesting minifig as the zombie driver. Being a zombie themed set was enough to make this particular polybag one of the most sold on ebay during the holiday season, and would have been a great companion for those who were able to acquire a Zombies set.
      The number of these sold each month has declined a lot since the end of last year, but they still sell a pretty respectable number with May being the lowest (19) and February the highest (96). Price has remained very consistent at around $10, so you could really make some money by moving several of these.
      - 30201 Ghost


      Comments: Another very cool polybag that was exclusive to LEGO Discovery Centers and eventually found its way to Target stores. At the same MSRP of the previous one we talked about, this one included a ghost exclusive to this and the 10228 HH as well as one of my favorite "props" of the theme: the antique clock. Overall, its performance has actually been pretty close to 30200, currently selling for around $ 10, but keeping some higher sales numbers over the past few months.
      - 40076 Zombie Car


      Comments: The best performer of this whole bunch, this was an actual promo polybag given away by LEGO and S@H on qualifying orders in September 2012. We once again have a zombie theme set, specifically another driver, along with a cool looking car and a glow in the dark spider. This is one polybag that caught on the market and is selling for around $ 21 at this point. It actually peaked in the month of March at around $ 25, but it has since declined to its present level.
      -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
      As you can see, Zombies made an appearance in two of the three actual promotional sets and polybags, testament to their current popularity in our society. Other than that we had a very cool looking ghost set and a very disappointing TRU promo (in my opinion) that still sells for a decent amount of money considering what you get.
      From the data above you can see where the MFs theme currently pulls the majority of its overall CAGR number, with the small sets presenting numbers as high as 180%. This promo sets from this set have been quite popular in the secondary market, unfortunately it seems it is now too late to invest in them. Still, they provide us with a very nice example that sometimes the good things also come in small packages!
      Thanks for reading
       
    • Quacs
      Throughout the Golden Age of Baseball, when Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays patrolled the game's outfields, baseball writers and fans used three primary statistics to explain a player's offensive prowess: runs, home runs and RBI. This had been the case for a hundred years, but in 1977 a little known statistician named Bill James produced a magazine called Bill James Baseball Abstract. In it he presented a number of new statistics that more accurately represented how baseball players created or saved runs. As time went on James' Abstracts gained acceptance, and eventually he became the prophet of a new way of measuring baseball statistics called sabermetrics, popularized most recently in the movie Moneyball. Today, many of these sabermetrics have been accepted by the mainstream baseball community and are routinely used when comparing baseball players across generations. Without James, these sabermetrics may never have taken root.
      Like baseball junkies, Lego investors also use statistics to estimate the future performance of their investment sets. Among these, the Price Per Piece statistic seems to have caught on as the default metric to assess the "value" of a set. PPP shows up prominently in Brickpicker's very own set review template, asking reviewers to assess the set's PPP for a better understand of the set's value. Its concept is simple: the more bricks a buyer receives for their dollar, the more they "get" for their money. Typically, buyers and investors have used a $.10 per piece benchmark to label sets as good or bad values.
      In the context of investing, using PPP to estimate future demand for a given set is at best limiting, and at worst, flat out wrong. In order for PPP to help in measuring future performance, we need to see a correlation between PPP and secondary market performance. Unfortunately, there are hundreds of examples where low Price Per Piece sets don't perform well after retirement, and a similar count of high PPP sets that are phenomenal performers. In my earlier blog, Lego Truths and Myths, I showed how 5525 Amusement Park has a strong PPP ratio of $.052/piece and a dreadful secondary market performance, with a 32% loss from MSRP. Yet in the same theme, 10183 Hobby Trains has a PPP of $.093, with an amazing 135% incredible secondary market gain, while 5526 Skyline has a ridiculously low PPP of $.047 with an even better 144% post-EOL yield. As you can see, there is no correlation between low PPP and high earnings within the Factory theme.
      For other themes, the trend continues: here is the performance of a recent, relevant theme, Pirates of the Carribean:
       

      For a theme with some pretty similar PPPs, there is a huge difference in post-EOL performance. The takeaway is this: there is NO correlation between PPP and secondary market performance. Demand for a secondary market set is largely determined by other set characteristics, most notably primary market demand and primary market availability. So can PPP be used for anything, or is it a complete strikeout for investors? To answer this, we must determine whether there are secondary market buyers that are price-sensitive, or more willing to buy something if it's priced lower. Here is a simple market segmentation showing the types of secondary market buyers that I presented in a previous blog article:
       

      Among the secondary market's two submarkets of AFOLs and parents, there is one market segment that is very price conscious: MOCers. MOCers are AFOLs (Adult Fans of Lego) that design and build their own models referred to as "MOCs", an abbreviation for "My Own Creations". They often require specific colors or unique pieces for their MOCs and will pay what they need to get them. However if there are cheaper, more reliable alternatives, they will use them. In the past, a few bold expert investors have tried to purchase retail sets anticipating the set's pieces will be more desirable than others after the set has retired. To find these sets, most use Bricklink.com, a website with a function that provides the total part-out value of a set based upon the last six months of sales, so comparing the retail PPP against the part-out PPP may provide investors with a good gauge to whether MOCers might pay inflated prices once a set has retired. Here are some randomly selected retail sets with their current part out and retail PPPs:


      This table shows us that MOCers would likely pay a premium over retail for 79003 and 79111, but NOT for 9493 and 21008 since their Part out to Retail PPP ratio is significantly lower. Technically, this is a metric that can be calculated without PPP, but translating it to PPP allows meaningful comparison across all types and sizes of sets. When using this new metric, it's important to bear in mind that this Part-out to Retail PPP ratio isn't an assessment of future secondary market performance, only a guess whether MOCers will still purchase sets above retail after retirement. While Burj Khalifa has a terrible ratio, it still may be a winner in the secondary market because of its collectability as part of the Architecture theme. While the Part-out to Retail PPP ratio allows us to think about PPP and investing from a slightly different angle, it will likely never become a meaningful or widely used statistic since it only measures demand from one small segment of the overall secondary market.
      There are two other insights from PPP that provide additional information to our beloved Lego universe:
      On average, licensed themes are more expensive on a Price-Per-Piece basis than non-licensed themes. Comparing the average theme PPP among a group of licensed themes could provide a very rough comparison of Lego's licensing costs. We surmise that Star Wars has the highest licensing fees because their sets' PPPs are, on average, higher than others. Comparing the aggregate PPP for a theme would likely show this even better. The PPP ratio can also be used by Lego buyers to quickly expand their Lego piece collections by purchasing only low PPP sets. This would apply to a VERY small segment of Lego buyers with a negligible effect on either the primary or secondary market. While these PPP fun facts are interesting, they aren't particularly illuminating for investors.
      We know from our assessment of PPP that there is no correlation between PPP and investment success. Yet, while the best analysis in the world can give you a great chance at making money, the immortal words of Yogi Berra still echo loudly in the relatively immature Lego investment market:
      "In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is."
      If you are determined to use Price Per Piece as part of a systematic approach to investing, you can still make money. As always, invest accordingly.
       
    • comicblast
      This will be my first entry in my new Blog category dedicated exclusively to polybags and minifigs.Even if sealed sets or sets overall usually get most of the attention in the forums, both minifigs and polybags also play an important role in the market, and it is good that we also keep them in mind when analyzing all of the aspects of LEGO investing.
      In this particular series named Minifig Corner, I will talk a little bit at some of the most expensive or interesting minifigs ever released by LEGO. Even if we don't really have that much data currently on the site, I think we can at least make some comments and see some information from the latest sold listings on eBay. With that introduction out of the way, let's get talking about the first LEGO minifig to be featured: Mr. Gold.
      I think it really should not come as a surprise that I selected this particular character as my first choice, especially since we have been talking a lot about him over the past few months since it was originally announced. Anyway, Mr. Gold is kind of an appendix of the LEGO CMF's Series 10 that was released a short time ago, and is limited to only 5,000 copies randomly placed among the thousands and thousands of regular characters of the series, making it a really hard to find and sought after item.
      From the beginning, we all knew the minifigure would be selling for a pretty high amount of money, but once the first reports started about some Mr. Golds selling for over $1,000 I have to say I was really surprised. Still, it was to be expected that the price would stabilize once more of them where found and listed for sale, as it ended up being the case. The last bunch of Mr. Golds that have been sold on eBay have gone for quite a lower price, going from $ 600 to around $ 800 in some cases, a drop of from 20% to 40% from the first sales.
      There is really not much we can do as investors to put our money into this minifig, since you will usually find it, if you find it, completely by chance. Once you get one, you have to make the choice to either hold it or sell it now (unless you keep it), and there are two ways you can look at that great "problem". First, by selling now you secure a large amount of money that you will be able to further invest and keep the cash flow going, while you run the risk of missing out on future growth. This future growth possibility is what takes me to the second scenario, where you keep the figure at least until Series 10 retires hoping that the lack of availability of sealed bags will reduce supply, and more importantly hope of getting the figure at "retail". Anyway you look at it though, I think there is no way to lose in the end.
      What I mentioned above takes me to something that is somehow related to the figure itself but that really is not based on acquiring it. A very good strategy that will probably net you some great profits in the not so long term would be to invest in sealed Series 10 boxes. As it has been said on the forums a lot of times, the 5,000 Mr. Golds will never be accounted for, either because of people not registering theirs or by the fact that there will be some sealed boxes that will never be opened. You can take advantage of this by holding your SEALED boxes until the series retires and people start to scramble and look for ways to get a hold of the minifigure without having to pay $ 600 at the least. ALL of the sealed boxes will rise whether they include a Mr Gold or not just based on the chance that it is included, and to me those are way better odds than trying to find 1 in the thousands of bags currently in the market.
      Thanks for reading!
       
    • Guest
      Welcome to the exciting world of Lego Investing! This primer is intended to provide you with as much information as possible to create a buying strategy for yourself as you buy Lego from Canada/USA/Europe. Buying and selling anything can be hard, but as with all commodities, if you can buy low and sell high you can make a lot of money doing this with Lego over time! This article is more Canadian focused as it was created with the Canadian shopper in mind, but it should have some tidbits that can provide you with good insights to buying regardless of where you are from.
      Buying from Canada
      If you're going to be buying from Canada it's really imperative that you only buy when there's a sale or some type of clearance going on (or if it's at this moment at Jul 6, 2013, the only retail priced set you should even be thinking of is Orc Forge ). Walmart typically does clearances twice a year like the ones seen by our American friends: summer (e.g. starting now) and winter (e.g. after the christmas season). That doesn't mean, however that you should only buy during these two seasons as in store promos and other promos (e.g. Lego exclusives at the Lego store) can happen all the time. It's a little bit tough but you can definitely score deals. Here's some places to keep on checking as you are looking for Lego to buy:
      Amazon.ca
      Walmart (both online and in store)
      Target.ca
      PlayValue Toys (never shopped here before but some members have given it good reviews)
      Toys R' Us
      Buying from the USA
      You can also buy from the USA but keep in mind most of them do not ship Lego to Canada due to customs rules and the complications in tracking (which is very weird because Lego is a category 5 import, which means no duties on toys made from anywhere in the world). To get the great prices that our American friends get, some of us buy Lego online and then have it shipped to a US warehouse for pickup later. A great example is CBI USA (www.cbiusa.com) which you should check out if you're close to the Buffalo border. If you're going to the US you can always try to hunt down deals as you're cruising along the interstate to your destination as well. I usually star every Walmart/Target/Kmart along the path from my starting point to my destination on Google Maps so I can hit them all up if/when I can.
      Some of the places that you will ship to US warehouse (or if you have time, in-store pickup) include:
      Walmart.com
      Amazon.com
      Target.com
      Kmart.com
      Lego.com (only if you use a US-based Lego gift card as they have stopped accepting any Canadian-based form of payment to the US due to "privacy issues". Not sure when they will stop with US gift cards as well)
      Toys R' Us
      Buying from Europe (currently my favourite )
      The third place that I usually look for is buying from the European Amazon sites which include:
      Amazon.co.uk
      Amazon.de
      Amazon.fr
      Amazon.es
      Amazon.it
      I generally only focus on UK and DE as FR charges way too much for import taxes, and ES/IT have a lot of items that do not ship to Canada. One of the things that's really advantageous to North American shoppers is that they discount the VAT when you buy the product. European prices often have the tax baked into the price, and it is this tax that they take out when you get to the checkout. There was a very good article on Euro shopping by Quacs that relates to this and you should read it here:
      http://www.brickpick...e-at-amazon-uk/
      Read the part about shipping carefully though! When you are buying from Euro Amazon the biggest risk is shipping/packaging as many shoppers (myself included) have had damaged boxes of Lego arriving on this side of the pond. However, their shipping has seen considerable improvement due to numerous complaints, and the items are now arriving much better than in the past.
      Region-Independent Tools
      Brickpicker.com - For price trending, history and sales reporting
      Brickset.com - For detailed information pertaining to a specific set.
      ToysnBricks.com - for checking promotions in case you don't have time to do it all yourself
      Camelcamelcamel.com - For tracking Lego sales as soon as they hit on Amazon (regardless of geographical region)
      To conclude there's really no limit to the amount of places you can go to scour deals. A lot of it takes time and patience, and sometimes really really good luck. Buying and selling Lego is pretty much a grind, and if you're focus on making big bucks on the short term this might not be a good investment avenue for you. Most of us buying here are also Lego hobbyists with some spare change sitting around so we're not forced to do quick sells to recover our capital.
      You might not score an 80% off deal all the time but if you work hard at it you'd be amazed how many good deals you encounter (and how much poorer it will make you). Another thing is to pay attention to the Canadian exchange rates as I was doing some analysis on it late last night and realized that the Loonie has lost 4-6% of its values in just the last 2-3 months alone against the US greenback; which means even I may slow down my US buying and concentrate more on Europe. Good luck and happy hunting!
       
    • mikeur86
      With the recent disappointment of Pirates of the Caribbean and Price of Persia LEGO themes, are we looking at another flop theme when seeing the Lone Ranger? Not to say that the POTC sets weren't well designed and put together, but the overall popularity of the fourth movie didn't have the same appeal as say the first movie. The Lone Ranger is out in theaters and with that we have seen the LEGO Lone Ranger sets out on the shelves. I personally have put together three of these sets and I am very impressed by them. In 2002, LEGO had a theme out called "Western" and it has done very well in the secondary market and overall seemed to be a very popular theme. So why hasn't The Lego Group introduced more Westernized themes? That's a great question and I'm sure someone at the wonderful Lego Group has an answer but it's definitely a riddle for me. What we do have though is The Lone Ranger.
      Let's take a look at the available Lone Ranger LEGO sets:
      I didn't grow up watching The Lone Ranger and I have no idea regarding anything of the show. I've never read any of the books, seen the television show or played with any of the toys. I absolutely know nothing of the character. What I do know is that the six LEGO sets released a couple of months ago are brilliant. It's the closet "Western" theme since 2002 and I personally believe it's going to have a lot of potential. But what kind of potential can we see from this? If the movie flops at the box office we may not see much movement in the sets after retirement. At least that is what we have come to know with the recent movie related sets that haven't done well. One thing that stands out about The Lone Ranger sets though is the look and feel of them. LEGO has put out plenty of Pirate related merchandise. Prince of Persia was just lame(sorry) and Indiana Jones actually did quite well in the secondary market because the sets were well designed, very interesting and had some value to them. Like Dr. Jones, I feel Tonto and the Lone Ranger are going to have some value to them as well.
      I'm going to break down each and every one of these sets from the smallest to the largest and share my opinion why these are going to be some sleeper sets. Every investor is going to want to have their hands on these sets after retirement. At least that is what I'm telling myself! So, before you come take a journey with me I just want to reiterate that when making an investment choice please, please, please do your own research! Don't take the word of others, especially people like myself whom you have never met before. I'm no expert, I'll be the first to say it. I'm not a Lego investor veteran either. What I do know how to do is read numbers and see patterns and that is what I have done with every single Lego investment I have made. And folks, so far it's turning out pretty well! So sit back, put your bandana on and come take a ride with me through the wicked wild wild west!

      The first set we are going to dive into is the 79106 Cavalry Builder Set. This is one of my favorites of the theme and the first one that I bought. It is also the set that has built me over fifty eBay feedback in the last two weeks just by buying the set, breaking it down and selling it individually. First though let us take a look at what's included.
      Four Mini-Figures ​The Lone Ranger Three Cavalry Men A White Horse(Silver) A Cannon(Works very well too!) A camp fire with a pot and pan A small fort wall with a flag A half dozen of weapons. This little $13.00 set really packs a punch here! I typically sell The Lone Ranger figure for about 3 bucks plus shipping. The Cavalry Figures get me about 9 bucks plus shipping. Silver has constantly been selling for around $2.00-$2.50 and the Cannon yields $2.00. The camp fire I sold for 25 cents plus shipping, the weapons were included with the figures and the small fort wall's I haven't been able to move yet. So about $16.25 (before fees) plus I charge a flat rate of $2.98 for shipping. It costs $1.69 to ship each item and the rest helps cover the bubble mailer and time spent. The profit is very small, in-fact there really isn't much. But, I'm getting positive feedback for free! Some buyers will take a loss to earn feedback for small items, and that's not a good business practice. Don't buy your feedback, earn it and if you want to be a LEGO businessman you need to have LEGO sales!
      So, we can see that this set has some good value in it even though it has an extremely high price per piece ratio. But what of the potential growth in the set? Out of this entire theme, three sets really catch my eye and those three are the ones I feel will do the best. This set, stagecoach and the train. This little pack is similar to the Star Wars battle packs. I have a feeling a year after retirement this set is going to easily double in value and hopefully continue to increase to around $26-$28 at it's peak.
      The Cavalry men alone can be used to create one hell of a scene later down the road when people realize that they can start building one. Collectors are going to wish they had purchased these retail but they will be left to the secondary market. As an investor, you're going to be the one that wants to be there for them in their time of need.
      Overall, I rate this set a big 10! It's the first set I have given a ten too! It has so much potential, it's already yielding profits now, eventually it will catch a discount and that will leave you with no more excuses to pick this up! When the time comes, my man-closet will be holding a small stock pile of these for sure!

      The second set up is 79107 The Comanche Camp. I have actually participated in building this set but we do not own it. I will say right off the bat that the tent doesn't securely stay down that well, at least it didn't for us. Here is what is included with this nifty set though:
      Three Mini-Figures ​Tonto(Really cool head piece with the bird on top) The Lone Ranger Red Knee(Another very unique head piece) Tent Campfire with fish Few Weapons A Canoe and Row This is another set that has the potential to be broken down and re-sold. Quite a few of these pieces are already selling on eBay and yielding some fine results. By the looks of it a couple bucks profit could be made and potentially 7 feedback opportunities. It's worth it to add free shipping and 1 day handling time In order to get the 20% off discount. This will save you quite a bit of money down the line when you want to off-load that pallet of $100.00 Helms Deep sets you just stocked up on. So keep that in mind!
      The set is pretty neat and definitely fits the age group. The Indian theme is really cool and have a couple of tents in your collection would be nice so as a collector I could see why someone would want to own this set. To me, this set is priced a little high, not to say $20.00 is high but I feel like we all will have the chance to grab this in the $15-$17.00 range soon enough. So be patient! Patience is the key with all Lego investments, remember that!
      As far as overall growth of this set I don't see it doing as well as some of the others, but I do see it performing well enough to invest in. When the price drops, grab a handful of these and sit on them until the appropriate time. I'll grab at least ten and won't feel bad doing so!

      Next up we have 78108 Stagecoach Escape. This set is very cool and it was also the one that I personally wanted to get the most out of the theme. It's the first time I have seen a Lego stagecoach and it's very cool once built too! I think the fact that the is the only (could be an older stagecoach from the western theme) recent Stagecoach set out that it will hold value just on that. It's built well and holds together, I thought the wheels would come off easily; however, it's the exact opposite. I can barely get the wheels off! Included in this set:
      Five Mini-Figures ​Lone Ranger(which can be found in 3 other sets) Tonto(which can also be found in 3 other sets) Red Harrington(A unique figure to this set! Very cool design with one white leg and one red) Jesus(A unique figure to this set! Has a brown cowboy hat and red bandana) Barrett(A unique figure to this set as well! Has a cool chest piece) Two Black Horses Some accessories, including a letter and a wheel handle to turn the chest open and a silver bar Overall, this set has a lot of potential. With three unique figures, a really well built stagecoach and the perfect addition to the The Lone Ranger Theme I think we will see some good profits here. When it comes to thinking of a westernized world the first few things that come to mind are cowboys, Indians, horses and stagecoaches. This is an iconic piece and will help drive prices up. Who wouldn't want a stagecoach in their collection?

      79109 Colby City Showdown is next on our list. I haven't seen this set built in person yet so all of my evaluations are from the help of Google. Included in this set we get two buildings a small wagon and five mini-figures. The two buildings are a Bank and a Sheriff's station. Overall the buildings are very cool and would be a excellent addition to any Lego city constructed. On top of the Sheriff's building the wall folds down and a cannon can shoot off little pieces. I love these cannons, they are a lot of fun. The bank isn't quite as detailed on the outside as the Sheriff's station but there is a lot to offer from the inside. A small vault with Lego money bricks is a nice touch. Inside the Sheriff's station we get a small cell that opens and closes. Here's whats included in this 587 piece set:
      5 Mini-figures ​The Lone Ranger(which is available in the four sets) Tonto(whom is available in three sets) Dan Reid(which is a unique figure included only In this set) Frank(another unique figure that's included only in this set) Ray(yet another unique figure included in this set...whom happens to wear a cool bowler hat) Some of the accessories include: a brown box, cannon, ladder, green money bricks, dynamite,barrel, a small key, a plump brown sack, handcuffs, a small bush and a bottle. This set definitely offers quite a bit of little things that really help make it a nice set overall. I don't personally own this set but I think beyond the three that I do own this will be my fourth. Also, I think this has quite a bit of potential for future growth. Buildings usually do very well and especially when the set includes multiple buildings. This set In particular includes two pretty cool looking designs that have some function and overall curb appeal to them! Add in the three mini-figures and you are looking at a real winner here!

      Next up on our list is 79110 Silver Mine Shootout. With 644 pieces this little set is a decent size. I recently saw it put together at my local Lego Store. Retails for $69.99 which makes it about 10 cents a piece. Not too shabby. From what I could tell the overall look of this was pretty neat. The tan, brown and grey blocks really help construct the mine. The rail in the middle is pretty cool and the water entrance on the left hand side was a very nice touch! Here's what's included:
      Five Mini-figures ​Chief Big Bear(A unique figure to this set, looks really neat. Absolutely love the headpiece with the hair coming down in the front.) Butch Cavendish(Awesome looking mini-figure that is unique to this set. Slick black hat with a neat design of a suit on the mid section and legs. Has long hair as well.) Kyle(Also appears only in this set, has a red bandana attached and a brown hat.) The Lone Ranger(In a new outfit. He is wearing his Mine Outfit which makes it unique as well!) Tonto(Also in a new outfit, the mine one. Unique as well) Accessories included are: longhorn skull, a "Keep out" sign, small barrel, window shutters, a piece that resembles water falling, a ladder, a dozen weapons and a neat pulley system As previously explained this little mine is a pretty good size, much bigger than I had imagined when I first saw pictures of it. There is a lot to do and a lot going on at the same time. I feel that this was a really good design on Lego's part. This could easily be complimented with some of the other sets especially the Colby City Showdown. With five unique mini-figures the worth of this set could really grow into something worthwhile. My advice is keep a close eye on this one and if it dips below 30% try and scoop up as many as possible. If this scene becomes a crucial part of the movie it may change the overall value of the set as well.

      The last set we will be looking at is one of the more important ones. The set I feel will likely have the most potential and the best growth. That is 79111 Constitution Train Chase. This set provides us with one awesome looking train and a good amount of track to let it ride on. We also get quite a few mini-figures and accessories. I feel its priced right because it's a train. The price per piece ratio is a little high compared to some of the other sets at 14 cents each. But if you aren't absolutely sure which Lone Ranger set to invest in, pick this one! Here's why:
      7 Mini Figures ​The Lone Ranger(found in other sets) Tonto(found in other sets) Rebecca Reid(unique to this set) Danny Reid (unique to this set) Butch Cavendish(Has a different outfit making it unique) Latham Cole(Unique to this set) Captain Fuller(Unique to this set) 16 Curved Tracks 4 Straight Track One hell of a train A Gatling Gun! Horse, Barrel, a handful of accessories and weapons. Do yourself a favor and pick this up! This is probably the first Gatling Lego gun I have seen! That alone may drive some extra worth into this. Some of the other weapons include a rifle, sword, slingshot and revolvers. There are lots of little pieces that really help make this set what it is. The locomotive though is very authentic looking, very detailed and can easily be displayed. I absolutely love it and we purchased this to own. I don't foresee this dropping in price much unless you can catch it on some kind of sale. My advice is you can't go wrong with this piece. Pick up a dozen, hell two dozen and you will double your money back easily. Trains never fail in the Lego world, people love Lego trains plain and simple. Do some research and deep dive into the locomotive sets and you will find this out yourself. What makes this train so unique is the age that it represents. It's very much detailed and presentable, I have had many of my friends ask me about it. We currently have it displayed in my office. Don't waste anytime, pick this up now!
      So, we have taken a close look at each and every set in The Lone Ranger minus the small polybags which haven't been discussed. The overall consensus that I have found is that this theme has some true potential. The movie really needs to succeed though and help win the audience and children over to go buy these sets. Some of the sets will sell regardless like the Locomotive one and the Cavalry Builder set. But others will truly rely on the movie for their sales. I'm not sure how the film will do and I'm not convinced of the idea yet but I will say The Lego Group has produced six wonderful sets that are all very detailed and very well put together. Whoever thought these up were geniuses. My kid loves them, I love them, and everyone overall loves them. While the theme may be a hit or miss the sets included are golden. They can hold up on their own and that alone show profits in my eyes. Give it some time, see how the audience rates the movie and then start planning out your investment strategy. My advice, grab a lot of the train chases and Cavalry Builder sets and a handful of the Stagecoaches and you won't go wrong.
      I hope you enjoyed our little trip through the Lone Ranger theme taking us back to the Wild Wild West. I also hope that what I have provided above will help you make the right decision when the time comes. What we have here is a very unique theme with a lot of "first timer" sets and pieces. There are some iconic pieces that will really be wanted later on in life, especially that Stagecoach. Not to mention, every army needs some cannons and you can never have too many Gatling Guns! Hi Ho Silver-O I hope you enjoyed the show!


       


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