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  • Brickpicker Raffle Fundraiser for a Great Cause!!


    Ed Mack

    Hello LEGO fans, collectors and resellers…

    Many of you may already know who I am, but for those of you that may have just learned about Brickpicker, my name is Ed Maciorowski and I would like to ask you for a few moments of your time. Over the past five years, my brother Jeff and I have operated the BrickPicker site at no cost to members and fans. All we ever asked from members was to click on affiliate links to help pay for the site expenses, which cost members little or no out of pocket money. Many of you have gained valuable information and insight from our data and forum community that enabled you to make money from LEGO collecting and reselling. Often, people would ask how can we help the BrickPicker site and its creators and we would say thanks for the offer, but no thanks, we felt uncomfortable taking donations. Well, we have a way for all of you to help out not only me, but over 150 children and their families.

    Let me introduce you to the St. Paul School of Burlington, NJ…

    My son, Max, is a member of the Kindergarten class in St. Paul School. He has attended the school since September and adores it. My wife, Jane, and I also adore the school. It is everything a school should be. It’s a school where everyone knows your name and there is a sense of pride and respect not found in many other larger schools. I cannot explain it, but there is an ambience of goodness in the building. Sounds corny I know, but as a person who has the word “evil” in his email address, I can tell you that I know when something deserves special recognition as a “good” thing. But it’s not only me who recognizes a great school. St. Paul School was voted the “Best Private School” in Burlington County, NJ and won numerous other awards. St. Paul School’s graduates constantly excel in high schools throughout Central NJ, with a large portion of graduates appearing on the National Honor Society and finishing top in their classes as Valedictorians and Salutatorians. To find out more about the St. Paul School, you can check out their website

    stpaul_school_fundraiser_max_small.jpg.d

    So here is the situation. St. Paul School is a Catholic school and as many people know, Catholic schools always have a hard time paying the bills to remain open. While St. Paul School and other Catholic schools welcome all religions and people, they are not funded by state or federal tax dollars and must adhere to many policies of the Catholic church and their Dioceses. Unfortunately, due to the weak economy and other forces outside of their control, enrollment in Catholic schools is down, putting more and more pressure on the school’s and local church’s budgets to remain open. This is an ongoing battle and fundraising has become an annual ritual in every Catholic school in the nation and most likely, the world. Everyone has to do their part to help out and Jeff and I are doing ours. Here is our plan…

    Jeff and I are going to personally RAFFLE OFF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS OF RARE AND RETIRED LEGO SETS! These sets are from our personal collections and they include the:

    • 10188 Death Star
    • 10228 Haunted House
    • Sealed Case of 64 Series 10 Collectible Minifigures (MR.GOLD might be in there!)
    • 10224 Town Hall
    • 10225 Ultimate Collector Series R2-D2
    • MORE SETS HAVE BEEN ADDED!!!

    That is well over $2000.00 in LEGO sets. All are retired and appreciating in value as we speak. I will personally ship them to anywhere in the world at my cost and in a proper shipping container. There will be one winner for each set and you must buy tickets for each raffle separately. One person can win all the sets if they enter all five raffles. There are discounted tickets available and the raffle will be run on the www.rallyup.com website, which is a very reputable and trustworthy fundraising site. They will automatically pick the winners at 11:59 PM on January 31, 2016 and will notify the winners. I will then ship out the winning LEGO sets to their new owners. The raffle and link to share can be found below:

                                               https://rallyup.com/stpaul-2016

    Each ticket costs $10.00 and enables you to enter one LEGO set raffle of your choice. $50.00 will cover all five iconic LEGO sets. ALL OF THE PROCEEDS (besides the commission to www.rallyup.com) goes to St. Paul School and to its corresponding church, The Parish of Saint Katharine Drexel, which helps the school operate. Tickets can be paid with any major credit card and the site is secure. Unfortunately, PayPal does not get involved with “raffles,” so PayPal can only be used for direct donations. I know that is a minor inconvenience, but if their is an issue, contact Jeff or I and we can see what we can do about transferring money to our PayPal account and paying for your raffle tickets. If we get a great response from people, we might add a few major sets or collectible and rare items to the raffle contest.

    On a personal note, I just have to say that I feel awkward asking people to help and for money, but the St. Paul School kids, faculty and community are worth it. They need to raise $200,000 by the end of January in order to keep the doors open and I am pulling all of my strings to help get them to that goal. I need your help. Period. If you value quality education and teaching children morals and respect, then supporting a school like St. Paul is paramount to the future well being of this planet. To the BrickPicker community...Show the LEGO world that we are more than just a bunch of Quick Flipping Low Lifes….that we care and have a heart, even though we buy all of Little Timmy’s LEGO sets up to resell. LOL. Honestly, this is important to Jeff and I and I want to be proud of our community that we have built over the past 5+ years. If you want to repay us for all of the efforts we have made over the past five years, buy a ticket...or two...or five. My son and 150+ other kids and families, faculty and friends of the St. Paul School will thank you…

    CLICK HERE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE FUNDRAISER

    PLEASE HELP AND SHARE THIS BLOG POST ON FACEBOOK, TWITTER AND
    OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA OUTLETS!!

     

    If you are interested in just making a donation and want to use Paypal, you can.  Just click the purchase link on the right side bar.  On the next page you will see a checkbox that will allow you to just make a donation.  Check that box and you will then see options for payment.  Paypal is not available for buying raffle tickets, it is against their terms.

    stpaul_fundraiser_donation.thumb.jpg.85a

    Edited by Ed Mack

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    On a happier note, congratulations on raising $50,000 (no less than one quarter of the total goal!) 

     

    Screen Shot 2016-01-31 at 13.17.09

    Oh hmm... well... get ONE more then :D

     

    Screen Shot 2016-01-31 at 13.22.32

     

    The school community must be baffled by these results and at the same time very motivated to raise the remainder. If two people can get 1/4, the rest is bound to follow! 

    Still 19 hours to go. In case you're unsure whether to get (a few more) tickets and if so, which are probably wise choices I refer to my hereunder post. 

     

    11 hours ago, Roy vd M. said:

    So this being a Lego investment forum and all, I thought it might be a good idea to write a small post about which raffle tickets to purchase, with only a few hours to go before this set of opportunities becomes a retired product*. 

    There are 11 lots in total. Here's an overview + value** + my thoughts + rating. 

    • 1. Death Star (10188). Value: $530. Hoarded from day one, though one of the best opportunities of the first wave. Rating: 6/10.
    • 2. UCS R2-D2 (10225). Value: $350. Hoarded from day one. Rating: 4/10. 
    • 3. Case of minifigures, probably including Mr Gold (71001). Value: $615 (or more, if Mr Gold is included). Bit hoarded maybe but many people aren't aware of the value (including me before Ed informed me). So rating: 8/10. 
    • 4. Haunted House (10228). Value: $385. Hoarded because of sentimental value I think. Rating: 5/10. 
    • 5. Town Hall (10224). Value: $500. Second wave, which is good. Nice value. Rating: 8/10. 
    • 6. Grand Emporium (10211) & Parisian Restaurant (10243). $425. Third wave, which is better. Nice sets. Rating: 7/10. 
    • 7. Mystery box 5000+ pieces. Value: probably $400-$1,000. Probably not too many raffle tickets sold for this one. You don't know what you're going to get but it certainly isn't going to be bad with that many pieces. Rating: 8/10. 
    • 8. Create a bundle 5000+ pieces. Value: probably $500-$1,000. You get to pick them yourself... honestly? This is a must have. One of the latest additions to the raffle, many people who first bought their tickets weeks before probably didn't notice this or didn't get the tickets. Rating: 9/10. 
    • 9. Tumbler (76023) & Arkhan Asylum Breakout (10937). Value: $530. This is a very good value for a lot overlooked by most Brickpickers, probably. Rating: 8/10. 
    • 10. Brickpicker bundle: 11 desirable sets. Value: $935. Yes you read that right, I added all values and this turns out to be by far the most valuable lot (that we know the value of). It was also one of the last added. So this is, for me, easily the lot that is best worth getting. Get it now... while you still can. Rating: 10/10.
    • 11. Friends bundle: 10 Friends sets plus 1 ideas set. Value: $260. Not unexpectedly, the least value lot. Few raffle tickets sold for this one, probably. Because it's the last added to the raffle and because of the value. So still not bad for your $10. Chances of winning this are of course relatively good. Rating: 5/10.   

    Conclusions (from worst to best):

    - Lot 2 is probably not the right choice at this point in time (value 4/10). 
    - Lots 4 and 11 I also wouldn't try, unless you really want that Haunted House or are a friends' friend (value 5/10). 

    - Lots 1 looks okay (value 6/10). 
    - Lot 6 is a very understandable choice (value 7/10). 

    - Lots 3, 5, 7 and 9 are probably rather overlooked and have high values. Much recommended (value 8/10). 
    - Lot 8 is a must-have. Get a few of those tickets or you'll regret it later. 

    - Lot 10 is, in my view, the best of the bunch. Get as many tickets as you can while you can. This is a winner!
     

    Guess I'm going to get myself another ticket for lot 10. 
     

    *The tone of this post is not to be taken too seriously, was however written with respect for the good cause and its contents are in principle true and useful. The use of terms as 'retired' and 'hoarded' is intended as playful and should not be interpreted as businesslike or disrespectful. 
    ** For the value I took a look at Brickpicker's price guide + current listings. 

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    2 hours ago, Jeff Mack said:

    Personally I am taking major offense to this.  Ed and I do not have access to anyone's info

    It wasn't meant as offense, and I am sorry if it sounded as one. What I wanted to say is that I don't know what of all the information rally.com gets is given to the ones holding the rallies. I doubt they would give more than the email addresses and names, but even if so, it would not be your fault and nothing to take offense at.

    All I wanted to say that people do get nervous whenever they have to give a lot of their info, and they should - and they don't always want to do research to make sure everything is ok, especially not when donating. I wonder why rally.com requires so much, and I suspect  as you, that his has something to do with the IRS and their non-profit (?) status. Maybe that is why they do not (cannot?) accept paypal.

    As I said, I did give in even before my post, and I hope the same was true for a lot of others. It would just have been nice (from the side of rally.com, not yours), if giving would be possible in a little more anonymous way. It might just mean more donations. I am truly sorry, I didn't want to offend anyone.

    And hey - let's party: $50k + $1! This is almost unbelievable!

    Edited by dinner41
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    20 minutes ago, dinner41 said:

    It wasn't meant as offense, and I am sorry if it sounded as one. What I wanted to say is that I don't know what of all the information rally.com gets is given to the ones holding the rallies. I doubt they would give more than the email addresses and names, but even if so, it would not be your fault and nothing to take offense at.

    All I wanted to say that people do get nervous whenever they have to give a lot of their info, and they should - and they don't always want to do research to make sure everything is ok, especially not when donating. I wonder why rally.com requires so much, and I suspect  as you, that his has something to do with the IRS and their non-profit (?) status. Maybe that is why they do not (cannot?) accept paypal.

    As I said, I did give in even before my post, and I hope the same was true for a lot of others. It would just have been nice (from the side of rally.com, not yours), if giving would be possible in a little more anonymous way. It might just mean more donations. I am truly sorry, I didn't want to offend anyone.

    And hey - let's party: $50k + $1! This is almost unbelievable!

    As I have mentioned several times, PayPal does not accept "raffle" payments.  They will accept direct donations and Rallyup.com does use PayPal with their many other charity programs: auctions, crowdfunding, pledges, sales, etc...It is an issue with PayPal, not Rallyup.com.  I wish they had PayPal.  They do not.  But as I have done many times already, I will use my credit card to buy people tickets if they send me the money to my PayPal account.  I do this at a cost to myself.  I pay the PayPal fee, so I take a hit, but that is OK...I'm good with it.  Feel free to use me as a conduit.  

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    About 102 likes / $102 dollars in nearly 2 days.  The % of likes have slowed down drastically. 

     Please click the post below and LIKE it (not this specific post).    A simple click and more money is put toward a great cause.  Please also donate anything to St Paul's Parochial School if not already. 

    ONLY 90 minutes left for my  I'm pleading for more Likes in my original post below  

     

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    3 hours ago, Ed Mack said:

     I don't know if it is tax deductible nor do I really give a crap

    I agree with you.  While I doubt anyone can have enough tax deductions, if you can't occasionally look past the "I must find the tax deduction in everything I do" the you're leading a sad life.

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    Well, I caved and donated a bit more, payday was last Friday, so I've got a little extra extra cash. Here's hoping we make it to at least $55,000...Maybe even $60,000!

     

    My bank account isn't too happy, but I like to think of it as an investment into the students, teachers, and staff at Saint Paul's and the community in Burlington . . . And those kinds of investments really are the best kind. Money is just little slips of paper with value attached to it, and while helping individuals, families, and communities thrive may sometimes seem small, it's those little things that help to change the world—As Mother Teresa said: "We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop."

    Ed and Jeff both obviously put a lot work into the things that matter most to them.That's evidenced by both their involvement with Saint Paul's and the amount they invest into BrickPicker. Quite simply, it's inspiring.

    On a side not: Anyone have website design experience they could offer to update Saint Paul's website? It's a little outdated and having a strong online presence can really help draw attention to an organization. I know because I voluntarily help manage the online components of a small, local Taekwondo place at it's astounding the amount of extra attention, inquiries, and students we've managed to draw in since we've updated our website and stepped up or online activity. Sadly, though, I'm not familiar with the exactitudes of website design.

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    Thanks to those 106 members that liked the post below to continue supporting this wonderful cause.  The $110 donation was just posted.

     

    On January 29, 2016 at 0:21 PM, jaisonline said:

    @Mos_Eisley  "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery".  i would like to totally rip-off Mos' great idea of likes.  This is a good cause so I don't think Mos will mind plus he's far more original than me when it comes to ideas like this.

    In addition to already donating 2 SW TFA sets along with a small donation, my wife and i will like to give even more by engaging other Brickpicker members.

    *** For each LIKE this post gets, we will donate $1 per by purchasing fundraiser tickets. No limit of likes.   *** 

    The cutoff time for my likes is Sunday @ 12:00 PM EST.

    note: I think we can get 500 likes with this post alone! Lets work together make it happen.

     

    Mos' post can be found below.

    More info =

    https://rallyup.com/stpaul-2016/

    -----

    @Ed Mack @Jeff Mack

     

     

     

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    It seems that the horde knows no bounds.  Whether it be gobbling up the last Tumblers, or getting into a raffle, there's nothing like waiting until the last minute.  I think this thing has gained more support in the last 12 hours than the first 2 weeks.  I almost felt bad for Ed/Jeff in the beginning because this thing really wasn't taking off and showing real lack of support, but the last week or so has been truly inspirational and a true testament to this group.  Hopefully the rest of the parents/faculty at the school are doing 10% of what this group and its creators have done.  If so, the school should be in good shape.  Hopefully enough is gained that they don't have to go through this year after year.

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    1 hour ago, Huskers1236 said:

    It seems that the horde knows no bounds.  Whether it be gobbling up the last Tumblers, or getting into a raffle, there's nothing like waiting until the last minute.  I think this thing has gained more support in the last 12 hours than the first 2 weeks.  I almost felt bad for Ed/Jeff in the beginning because this thing really wasn't taking off and showing real lack of support, but the last week or so has been truly inspirational and a true testament to this group.  Hopefully the rest of the parents/faculty at the school are doing 10% of what this group and its creators have done.  If so, the school should be in good shape.  Hopefully enough is gained that they don't have to go through this year after year.

    In hindsight it seems only logical. Just compare the raffle to a LEGO set. Who would buy a set on release day (with no intention of building it) when one exactly knows the exact "sold out"-date, no discounts are being offered in the meantime, quick-flipping isn't an option and buying limits are not applied at all? :geek:

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    In for a couple tickets.  It's cool that the receipt shows you the total number of tickets sold for the prize pack so far.  Will have to be pretty lucky to win!  Good luck all.

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     OK guys, I know this isn't the appropriate thread to post this to, but I searched all over and couldn't find the topic. Do you guys know if for the fundraiser they except PayPal? Mods, please move this to the  appropriate location if there is one. 

    Edited by exciter1
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    7 minutes ago, legodelorean said:

     OK guys, I know this isn't the appropriate thread to post this to, but I searched all over and couldn't find the topic. Do you guys know if for the fundraiser they except PayPal? Mods, please move this to the  appropriate location if there is one. 

    The Fundraiser Thread would be a good place to post this.

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